Even though technology has its pros and cons, I’ve only met one person around my age (27) who doesn’t own a cell phone. I met him at my current job, since he used to work once or twice a week (as a dishwasher) in between his main job (Walmart)
I’m not sure if he has a computer, laptop, or any other devices back at home, but he told me that he doesn’t like feeling distracted by technology, along with minimizing any extra attention towards him as well.
However, since Walmart employees use work phones, I used to talk to him back then, even though he texted sporadically and sometimes didn’t respond until the next day.
However, when I reached out to him about a month ago, I haven’t gotten a response (yet) which means that he probably works somewhere else now and I’m not sure if I’ll ever see him again.
I gave up trying to even get my cousin to use a smart phone years ago. And he quite well aware that google is on his phone and able to answer questions, but prefers to ask me google for him. He is 65 and has just refused to adapt. Still only has OTA TV as well, like many of his friends.
My FIL owns a cell phone but only uses it for one week out of each year, when he goes on a church retreat. The other 51 weeks it sits in a drawer powered off. Unsurprisingly it’s an old flip phone.
He has a desktop computer but uses it only to watch the occasional YouTube video. He has Dish satellite tv which he can navigate pretty well.
Just another post here of, “yes, I know such people, but they are all age 80+.” My 91-year-old father has a smartphone, which he mostly doesn’t understand how to use beyond making phone calls, and a Chromebook (which I gave to him), which he uses to read several newspapers online, but he relies on a set of step-by-step instructions which I gave to him. My 84-year-old mother has a smartphone, which she nearly never uses (even for phone calls), and has no interest in using any other devices.
I don’t know a whole lot of people who are in the OP’s age range, but all of the ones I do know grew up in a digital world, and wouldn’t go anywhere without their devices. (To be fair, most of them also have jobs which require extensive use of computers and smartphones.)
This statement suggests to me that the OP’s co-worker might have some fears or concerns (legitimate or not) about being tracked or monitored by the government or other organizations.
I’m a big PC user, reluctantly got a mobile phone through necessity, and though that’s more than plenty tech in my daily life, I still feel like I don’t compete with most other people’s constant connectivity.
My mother-in-law has never used a computer, or the internet, as far as I know. Of course she is in her 80s and barely speaks English. (She immigrated from China many years ago.)
Your response makes sense, since it usually depends on the person and if they feel the need to use technology or not.
However, the statement I made about “drawing extra attention” didn’t mean to come across that way, but since you mentioned another reason, it made me wonder if there’s more reasons behind my friend not owning a cell phone, even though he always said that he didn’t like the aspect of becoming “popular thru technology” or “too well known” on social media.
And if other people limit their technology usage for various reasons?
Technically I’ve never owned a cell phone. Although, my husband’s declining health means I’m now in charge of his. I mostly didn’t need one, for many years, because he had one.
I rarely use it, mostly to get cabs when we go somewhere. Plus he saved everything under numbers, no names. Truth is, I barely know how to use it. It’s not like I have a manual.
Every now and then someone shows me how to do something I didn’t realize was possible.
I realize I probably won’t be able to do this forever, and at some point something has to change or be upgraded. I guess I’ll deal with that when it’s time?
Like others allude to, Pennsylvania Dutch in my area don’t use them if they are Old Order, nor do they use electrified houses (though they do use for example gasoline engines with electric ignition and starters). They don’t have landline phones either, but can use them, at neighbors or mounted on utility poles to share. It’s common to contact them by leaving messages.
This doesn’t exactly fit the OP, but there is a guy I work with who has to come into the office every day because he doesn’t have internet access at home and therefore is unable to work remotely. I can imagine someone not having a smart phone or a laptop or a tablet, but it’s just hard for me to wrap my head around not having any sort of internet access at home these days.
I find it more common for people to have a smartphone for surfing the web but no internet service at home. People have to determine which is more useful to them and budget accordenly. And these people choose cheap plans that most likly have limited or no hotspot capibility.
If you don’t have multiple users in your home an internet connection can be a luxery you can live without by getting by with your phone. In my observation, most people need their phone connection more.
My neighbor across the street is an odd duck. He inherited the house from his mom when she passed maybe 25 years ago. He in his late 60s.
He has never had a cell phone, internet or cable tv. He gets by with a land line and a tv antenna. He drives an old car from the 80s. He could probably figure it out. He’s just weird.