I own four computers (two PC, two laptop) but absolutely REFUSE to have anything to do with Facebook and Twitter. In fact, I’m not sure what they really are. And don’t want to know.
And what’s a Blackberry? Put them on cereal?
A technological snapshot of me
Up-to-date:
Brand-new Android smartphone. Hardly ever texted on my old phone, now I text as much as I phone. An actual keyboard makes a big difference. 
Laptop with mobile broadband.
Ipod Nano, almost full.
Pay all my bills online, except for one monthly bill I have to pay by check. :rolleyes:
Not:
1990s television with built-in VCR.
No cable, no dish, had to get a converter box to keep the television from becoming a large sculpture.
Basic DVD player; none of this Blu-Ray stuff.
No Tivo or the like.
No game system of any kind.
Not on Facebook, don’t use Twitter.
Not on Netflix or the like. Actually go to movies in a movie theater. 
Have plenty of digital photos from my phone(s) but don’t have any of them online.
I had to clear Itunes off my work computer (unrelated virus necessitated a system wipe) but I haven’t gotten around to installing it on my laptop so my Ipod is “frozen” as far as buying more songs. :smack:
Summary: neither Luddite nor cutting-edge. Spend significantly more time and money on the Internet than on television.
I’m up to date with most stuff, but woefully behind on some things.
13" tube TV
My cell phone is just a, you know, telephone. I don’t text, and it’s hardly even on. Due to the nature of my plan, I only have 60 days of activity left but I have something like 548 minutes. I’m never going to use them.
I don’t have a microwave oven.
I have DSL. I don’t have cable TV and use a digital convertor for broadcast TV. I don’t have either a VCR or DVR., but I do have a DVD player and a Roku to stream movies and shows from Netflix and occasionally Amazon (which is how I’ve been watching The Walking Dead). I have a few DVDs, but mostly I borrow them from Netflix or the library or stream movies. My TV’s a small flat screen I bought used from a relative.
I finally broke down and bought a cheap prepaid cell phone when I finally realized it was getting almost impossible to find a pay phone any more. After a while I canceled my landline because I saw no point in paying for two phone services.
I have a few CDs, but most of my music collection is still on cassette. On the rare occasions that I play CDs, I play them on my computer, which is hooked up to an amplifier and speakers I bought at Goodwill together with a couple of cassette decks. The computer plays internet radio and MP3s ripped from CDs borrowed from friends, relatives and the library.
I’ve never owned a game system. I’ve played a few first person shooters, bought used on eBay or given to me by friends, but I’m not a gamer.
I do all my banking and bill paying on line. Haven’t written a paper check or bought stamps in three years. Pay is deposited directly, automatic payment means the bills get paid every month without my having to lift a finger.
I have no use whatsoever for Twitter or Facebook and absolutely cannot comprehend why anyone would bother with texting or tweeting.
I’m not a Luddite or a technophobe, I just don’t see any need to have all the latest technology. Plus, I’m cheap. When I do decide I need something, I hunt for the cheapest way to do it. I bought my Roku real cheap from a friend of a friend. Before that, I was streaming Netflix movies through my computer which was connected to my TV with an HDMI cable and a switchbox. This is still how I watch Hulu, since I won’t pay for the premium service.
So I’ve got a flat screen TV hooked up to a DVD player, a digital converter, an antennae, and a Roku as well as my computer. The computer and the sound from the TV are hooked up to my stereo, as are my cassette decks. Rube Goldberg would have been proud.
I don’t know my cellphone number, either - I taped the number on the back of the phone for when I do need to use it (like when I drop off a car for service).
What I DO have:
One computer (wife and I share) hooked up to a cable modem.
42" HDTV with nice Klipsch surround system
DVR that comes with the cable box
DVD Player and about 800 DVDs
What I DON’T have:
My own cell phone that I carry regularly
An i-anything. no i-pad , i-pod, i-phone, etc.
Blackberry, Palm, etc.
Any sort of gaming system (I did have Atari 2600 and Colecovision when I was a kid)
Kindle (I like books, dammit!)
MP3 (Honestly, I don’t even have a good conceptualization of what an MP3 is. I have CDs, I can buy a CD, but I don’t even know what an MP3 looks like to even shop for one)
No Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc. (I don’t see the point at all)
I pay my mortgage on-line but all other bills via paper check and stamped envelope.
My PC is over 4 years old (state-of-the-art at the time), with two very nice 20" monitors. I’ve considered updating the computer (mainly because the video card is slow) but I’m not keen on spending the time to re-install all of the specialized software that I have on it. Also, I might get a single larger monitor. I have two backup drives (500Gb and 1 TB) mainly for storing and backing up my photos and videos, and I use Flickr and an online backup service.
I’ve had cable internet access ever since it became available in my area about 14 years ago. Having “always on” access dramatically changed the way that I used the internet. I told my friends and family about it but they balked at the $40/month charge. Dial-up was okay for them. For about five more years. :dubious:
Some electronic gear that I own:
[ul]
[li]3 DVRs, the first one (standard-def) about 5 years ago, shortly after my cable provider made it available, and the two HD ones when I bought two new TVs. Using a DVR has dramatically improved the way that I watch TV. [/li]
[li]32", 40", and 55" LCD TV, two Blu-Ray players, a home audio system, and a 24" CRT TV, two DVD players and a VCR. Over the last three years, I’ve given away a 36" TV, a 20" TV, two DVD players, and a VCR. [/li]
[li]iPhone 4, which is the single most useful portable device that I have ever owned. I still have a locked iPhone 3G and I’m not sure what I’ll do with it.[/li]
[li]iPad 3G. Amazing for portable access of online info, and for downloading and reading books and magazines, but I’ll get the next generation (higher resolution) model when it becomes available.[/li]
[li]iPod Nano that I sometimes use at the gym. I recently gave away my iPod Touch, and I still own two small MP3 players which I never use. [/li]
[li]4 digital cameras (1 small, 2 mid-size, and a dSLR) and an HD camcorder. Looking at giving away (or selling) all of them and upgrading to newer models. [/li]
[li]Portable GPS that I rarely use. [/li][/ul]My car has several features that I consider to be “standard equipment” for a sedan: AWD (with traction and stability control), advanced diagnostics and warnings (tire pressure, oil level, coolant level, brake pads, windshield washer fluid level, etc.), Xenon lights, rain-sensing wipers, parking sensors, heated seats (with memory positions) and heated steering wheel, hard-drive-based GPS, Bluetooth phone and audio, USB connection with hard drive, and satellite radio. I will not consider buying a car that doesn’t have those features. Also, head-up display, autonomous cruise control, and ventilated seats would be nice.
I set up a Facebook account a few years ago and a Twitter account about a year ago but I haven’t used either of them. I text occasionally with my iPhone.
Have used Quicken for about 15 years to track my bank and investment accounts, and I’ve paid bills online and filed income tax returns online from the first time that those options became available.
It seems that some people would use newer technology if it was less expensive, or free, or, if they had more money, and some people would not use it even if you paid them. Seems unlikely, though, that anyone would prefer watching a 13" tube TV rather than a larger HD TV.
Also, some people don’t have the time nor the inclination to keep up with the latest developments in technology, so it makes sense that they might not know about all the potential benefits. But, it seems that some people don’t want to know. I’m not sure whether the OP is trying to be funny by saying this:
When it comes to new technology, is ignorance bliss?
The great thing about a smart phone with unlimited Web access is that you can email for free rather than text for a price. Of course, not everyone else has an Internet capable phone, but it’s nice to be able to tell people they can just email me at my usual address and I’ll see it immediately on the phone. It’s also nice that I don’t necessarily need to fire up the computer when I want to check my email or look something up on Wikipedia.
Having 24/7 access to worldwide (specifically German) audio and AV media is priceless. I can maintain my listening and reading skills in a way that wasn’t possible for someone living in America in the 1970s, when I learned the language.
A luxury, perhaps. But I have to say my smart phone is probably the most useful thing I own. One always hears of people in straitened financial circumstances giving up connectivity in one form or another. That’s a shame, because it’s poor people who can’t afford actual travel who can benefit from Internet access the most.
For me having stored music is another great thing about the phone I have, and the 4-gig storage card it contains. I’m listening to more music now that I had been in a decade. It’s nice to be reminded why I picked up a guitar in the first place.
What if I have the same policy? How many messages will we leave for each other before we both happen to have our phones on at the same time? If you don’t want to talk to people in real time, why have a phone at all?
This pretty much sums up my attitude. When I pull out my old cell phone that does nothing but make calls, my iPhone/Blackberry-loving friends say, “Oh, you’re one of those Luddites.” No, I’m not. I’m not a Luddite; I’m a cheapskate. There’s a huge difference. If iPhones were free, I’d be happy to use one.
I’m not necessarily proud of this. It’s caused me to go without some things that would have made life easier, simpler, or more comfortable. I put off getting broadband internet for years and years, and when I finally broke down and got it, I immediately loved it and wondered how I had done without it. I got a GPS as a Christmas gift last year and now I would never venture outside my town without it. In retrospect I’m amazed that I managed for most of my life with confusing, hard-to-read road maps. Got a Kindle for Father’s Day last year; almost returned it, but now I look at my shelves of beloved books and all I see is dead weight that has to be dusted, will have to be packed and moved someday, and will likely go to a landfill once I’m dead.
But … I see some of my friends going into debt or scrimping on food, shelter, and transportation, but they have the latest and greatest gadgets. And they’re weirdly proud of this, as if having an iPhone makes them better or smarter than other people. I don’t see how this can possibly be a good thing.
Hmmmmm…methinks a favorite coworker (and me) didn’t really know that that word meant! Heeeee… He used it in context with my beginner status while he was bringing me along in MS Access. I guess both of us had thought it meant someone who was in the beginning, new, ignorant, or untrained phase of a particular skill or field.
That said, I’m probably as far from a Luddite (the real definition) as a person can get. I always like to joke that I was born 20 or 30 years too early. I would have LOVED to have been young and fresh at the beginning of the true technological age of 'puters, cell phones and so on and so forth. I think…no strike that…I KNOW that my career path would have been much much different than it is. (not that I don’t enjoy the one I have :D)
I don’t have as much time or energy to be as truly adept at technological stuff as I’d like to be, so it would have been nice to have started this back when I did. (only computers took up an entire room back then, and mostly only huge corporations and the gov’t could use them). Bring 'em on! I think I’d even be brave enough to step into a transporter (ala Star Trek).