Or was life better when technology was simpler?
I know not. For me, technology offers a way to escape from life: Video games, films etc. It helps me forget life’s negativity for a while. Plus, I’m kind of tech-savvy person so it keeps me busy.
In terms of other things, apart from escapism, I really have no idea about whether my life would be more convenient without technology or not. What do you think?
Unplug your microwave for a month.
Sure, technology makes lots of things more convenient - I can research things on the internet without going to the library or museum. I can automate things I used to do myself, I can take a photo and see the end result within seconds instead of sending the film off to be developed and printed, etc.
Not to mention all the ways in which technology has made my life more convenient by keeping me alive - the tech to make medicine, safety gear, etc.
And we’re not obliged to adopt technology in a wholesale sense if we prefer not to - for example I still make bread by hand (although the flour was ground by a machine). If you want to do something the old fashioned, less-technological way, or the stone-age way, there’s nothing to stop you - and it can be a refreshing change.
And your washing machine.
And your vacuum cleaner - go ahead, beat those rugs. And be prepared to walk instead of drive everywhere.
Finding your way on a map!
Honestly, just cutting out email/text/social media communication and internet-obtained information, like maps and such, would be cripplingly inconvenient, and that’s just putting the clock back ten years.
There is a difference between convenience and happiness, of course. Modern technology doesn’t do anything for the later, but one would be hard pressed to argue against the later.
Writes TokyoBayer, using his laptop while riding a bus from Taipei to a small city on the eastern coast of Taiwan, connected via wifi.
Yes.
No.
Try living without electricity for a week, as I did in 1987. January with no heat in Montreal is no picnic.
Actually, after two days, I went to a friend’s who did have power–most of the time.
This is another time to link Louis CK’s “Everything’s amazing and nobody’s happy” speech.
And who says you can’t pick and choose how much is in your personal life? At my place, the following things use electricity: the lights, a microwave (for popcorn), the refrigerator, my wi-fi transmitter, iPad and a laptop, and for quite a while I got by with just the lights and a fridge. 
What I’d grouse about losing the most is the iPad - electronic books and car magazines mean I no longer have to winnow my collections every once in a while or squeeze in more book cases.
Technology definitely makes life easier and more entertaining. The biggest reason I’d like to live a long (healthy) life is just to see what new technological doodads people come up with. I’ll die happy when little kids start skating on hoverboards.
But convenience has its trade-offs. There were no gaming addicts before the invention of the computer. People have become mentally and physical lazier, and our imaginations are kind of stunted since no one has to create anymore. And then there are the environmental impacts. So there are real costs to technology. But the benefits generally outweigh them. The exception might be all the innovations in food processing. As tasty as they are, I think humanity would be better off without Cheetos.
In fairness, living in a house that was built with the assumption that you would have electricity and then losing it is very different from not having it to begin with. Since then you’d have a wood stove, stock up on firewood for the winter etc.
That said, my mother, who grew up without it, vastly prefer electricity and indoor plumbing, particularily in the winter.
I don’t really consider electricity, vacuum cleaners, washing machines and microwaves to be the exact cutting edge of modern technology. All existed for most of my life.
Genuinely modern technology, which I love, makes it more convenient to live a modern life. Many items are almost essential to function efficiently. However I think most of the techo toys that I own would have made little contribution to my life, the way it was lived decades ago. But of course with the same availability of stuff my friends and I wouldn’t have led that simpler life.
Yes, there were. Usually restricted to wargammers and RPG’s (which, yes, existed before the computer).
Computers have made the addiction easier to acquire and maintain, though - I can get my WoW fix 24/7, there is always someone on-line due to the global reach of the internet. I no longer have to get several other people together for a D&D session in the same physical location. I can now obsess with several other people who may be in Canada, Brazil, and the UK while I’m in the US (and I have WoW guild members from all of those countries).
In days of yore, they used to be called "gamblers"and they would use cards or dice.
Technology has become too addictive. I’d see no drawback to a technological setback of about 15 years (just enough internet to do research and keep informed, but the average person didn’t waste nearly as much time on it).
This is one of those questions that really isn’t a question. OF COURSE Modern Technology makes things better and more convenient.
That has come rather VOCAL downsides (Texting while Driving, Obesety, Mortgage Bubbles) and very quiet upsides (life extension, general lack of disease, effortless contact with friends and family).
The Average person in the Average populated area doesn’t have to worry about being attacked by animals, dying of dysentery, or Dial-up Internet Service. Their internet connectivity to their PHONE is better than what I had at my home, 15 years ago…by an order of magnitude.
At the same time, it means there are HUNDREDS of crappy movies released each year that I’ll never watch. It means I’ll still have stress induced insomnia. It means I’ll continue to spend more money on my Cellphone than I’d like, with worse customer service than I’d like. Good with the bad.
I just wish there was such a thing as a backyard Roomba, to pick up my dog’s waste. Then, I’d be happy.
She would agree on much else, but my grandmother would certainly agree with the Vatican about the washing machine doing more to liberate women than the birth control pill. That and disposable diapers.
Meeting people to do stuff used to be such a hassle. You’de make a plan to meet and some time and place. If you had a problem on the road, like bad traffic or a subway delay, there was no way to tell the other person. You would just hope they’d wait, or else they would just end up being stood up. Likewise, if you were first to arrive, and the other person wasn’t there, you wouldn’t know why and you’de have to make a judgement call on how long to wait.
Just the other day I was meeting a friend at a store, and she got to the address and thought she made a mistake writing it down, because she couldn’t find the meeting spot (the place we were meeting was on the 4th floor of an office building, not a storefront location, and she didn’t realize that). She texted me and I was able to immediately tell her she was in the right place, just come upstairs. In days of yore she probably would have wandered around confused for a while, then gone home after wasting her afternoon.