# Who's the most technologically primitive doper? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596 "2005-05-12T20:04:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/21 "2005-05-13T12:29:47Z")
No cel-phone? I’m so primitive, I only have one cell. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/22 "2005-05-13T12:32:30Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > - I don’t have a cell phone. > - I don’t have a pager. > - I don’t have an iPod. > - I don’t have a PDA. > - I don’t have an MP3 player. > - I don’t have a laptop computer. > - Our home PC is on a 56K dialup modem. > - We don’t have cable or satellite TV. > > Top that! 😛 Close. No cell, pager, iPod, PDA, MP3 player, laptop, or cable/Sat TV, but we do have a cable modem. All but one of our phones are hardwired. We don’t have Caller ID, or voice mail. Our freezer still has the installation tag from 1954. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/23 "2005-05-13T14:22:11Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > You have _iron tools?_ I just daub on the walls of my cave with charcoal, and the occasional team of French anthropologists relay it to the outside world for me {I think Yvette wants to get into my loincloth: she keeps muttering about _tres gros sauvage_} Ha! I am currently speaking through an anthropologist who is converting my grunts and crotch scratches into words. Apparently if I learn five more words, he’ll teach me how to make a “fire.” ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/24 "2005-05-13T14:29:07Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > - I don’t have a cell phone. > - I don’t have a pager. > - I don’t have an iPod. > - I don’t have a PDA. > - I don’t have an MP3 player. > - I don’t have a laptop computer. > - Our home PC is on a 56K dialup modem. > - We don’t have cable or satellite TV. > > Top that! 😛 I carry a pager for work. Otherwise: - I don’t have a dishwasher. - My trucks have only a couple of transistors in the ignition and radios. I laugh at OBD. - No AC in either truck (in Texas.) Power steering in the 3/4 ton only. - There’s a microwave in the kitchen, but no electric can opener. - I used a stone axe to carve our house out of a single tree trunk, and roofed it with hand-tanned armadillo hides. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/25 "2005-05-13T14:36:56Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > My computer is coal fired. I still use an tube-based analog computer. I prefer the texture of its rich, warm, and fuller processing over the cold and sharp results from modern binary computers. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/26 "2005-05-13T14:49:24Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > My modem is homing pigeon (fleet of them, actually) that flies in all my posts. Ah, so you’re [RFC2549](http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2549.html)-compliant? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/27 "2005-05-13T15:09:52Z")
Well, I could have used no A/C but I live in Seattle… But, how could I ever outdo **Trunk** , the amoeba? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![max\_power](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/db5fbb/32.png) [@max\_power](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/max_power)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/28 "2005-05-13T15:33:50Z")
not only does my car not have a/c, electric or power anything or central locking… it doesn’t even have a light that tells you when you’re running out of petrol. > [@](#): > > No electric can or garage door opener I don’t even have a garage. And an electric can opener? how many cans are people opening that they need an electrified device… Even though I work as a computer programmer, I don’t own a computer! I only browse on work time 🙂 I cannot, however, live without a mobile phone. ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/29 "2005-05-13T17:28:59Z")
My computer is made out of twist ties and refrigerator magnets. The display is a cluster of honeybees on an electrified grid. The electricity comes from my pet electric eels. They are not in a hovercraft, as I don’t have one. I also have: No lights No phone No motor car Not a single luxury! ---
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/30 "2005-05-13T17:40:07Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > - I don’t have a cell phone. > - I don’t have a pager. > - I don’t have an iPod. > - I don’t have a PDA. > - I don’t have an MP3 player. > - I don’t have a laptop computer. > - Our home PC is on a 56K dialup modem. > - We don’t have cable or satellite TV. > > Top that! 😛 At school, I’m pretty technologically primitive. Resident Hall Rooms (p.c. for dorm rooms) include cable and a landline, but I opted not to plug my television into cable this past year and I loved it! My television and VCR (both hand-me-downs from my older sister’s college days…I probably wouldn’t have spent the money on them myself) were in my closet for most of the year. Around mid-March, my friend and I found “The Breakfast Club” and “Schoolhouse Rock: How a Bill Becomes a Law” in a pawnshop just off campus and with movies like that lying around, it was damn near impossible not to pull out the television then. As far as my computer, I did get a laptop for highschool graduation which is what I primarily use. In February, it had a little accident (okay, so I spilt water on it…) and didn’t end up getting it back until I came home for summer. I did use on-campus computer labs a fair amount though. Other than the laptop, your list could belong to me. I don’t have a car and use my bicycle a fair amount for local travel. Also, there’s a kitchen on my hall at school, but I’ve found that an iron works just as well as a stove. I will admit to using endless amounts of quarters in the washing machines and dryers provided. Most of the gadgetry that my peers have, I don’t. I kind of like it though. It was nice to realize that I could keep myself occupied without a computer or a television on hand. -Mosquito ---
**Author:** ![VenusProbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e495f1/32.png) [@VenusProbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VenusProbe)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/31 "2005-05-13T17:56:08Z")
OMG! I heat my house with computers and gadgets! I have: [ul] [li]1 DVD player[/li][li]1 Palm Pilot[/li][li]2 VCRs[/li][li]2 Cell phones[/li][li]2 MP3 players (they actually belong to the girls)[/li][li]2 Laptops (soon to be 3)[/li][li]3 TVs[/li][li]3 Video Cameras[/li][li]3 Digital cameras[/li][li]4 Dish receivers (1 with PVR, 1 hooked to a computer)[/li][li]4 game systems[/li][li]4 GPSs[/li][li]7 Computers (Networked and sharing DSL)[/li][/ul] no dishwasher and my car doesn’t have a working radio (67 Mustang (is that a girlie car?)) ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/32 "2005-05-13T17:58:27Z")
Pfft, amateurs. I post on the Straight Dope using UNIVAC! ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/33 "2005-05-13T18:00:01Z")
My family owns, currently: Three desktop computers, Four TVs, A Gamecube and a PS2, Five radios / alarm clocks, A microwave, A dishwasher, An iPod, 2 DVD players, One VCR, Full lighting and central air-conditioning system, And a vacuum. Wow, we’re pretty savvy. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/34 "2005-05-13T18:30:50Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > Ha! I am currently speaking through an anthropologist who is converting my grunts and crotch scratches into words. Apparently if I learn five more words, he’ll teach me how to make a “fire.” A crotch? Luxury! I’m a nest of ant’s running through glass pipes. I didn’t even have captial letters of punctuation until they added in the new Ram’s skull. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/35 "2005-05-14T23:14:14Z")
- I don’t have a cell phone, or cordless phone. - I don’t have a pager. - I don’t have an iPod. - I don’t have a PDA. - I don’t have an MP3 player. - I don’t have a laptop computer. - use a 56K dialup modem. - We don’t have cable or satellite TV. - I have 2 tv’s, but one has a shot picture tube so it has no picture, but the audio is fine. - i didn’t have a car until i was 29. I still have a turntable(for records). ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/36 "2005-05-14T23:22:51Z")
I don’t have a cell phone. Check I don’t have a pager. Check I don’t have an iPod. Check I don’t have a PDA. Check I don’t have an MP3 player. Check I don’t have a laptop computer. Check Our home PC is on a 56K dialup modem. Check We don’t have cable or satellite TV. I have cable so you’ve got me beat, but I uset it mostly just to watch american football in the fall. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/37 "2005-05-14T23:25:08Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Well, I still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea. 😃 Great reference. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/38 "2005-05-14T23:30:22Z")
The only things on your list I’ve never had are a pager and an i-pod. I’m not one of these Mac-geeks. I will probably never own a Macintosh computer of any kind. I had a pda but I broke it. I only have a mobile out of necesity… I refuse to behave like the majority of mobile phone users I experience… who lose all sense of awareness, direction, and consideration when they have their mobile in hand. I have a laptop because I thought I’d get into the habit of taking it everywhere. I was dead wrong. Since I broke my pda my mp3 player is my laptop. My internet connection is broadband 512k. Manxnet are considering free upgrade to 2mb for all broadband customers… get a bloody move on manxnet! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/39 "2005-05-15T22:32:06Z")
I have a dial-up connection. I do have Dish network - I just got it in January, but I don’t have: Cell phone Pager PDA/MP3/iPod Laptop Central heat or air (ice in my toiilet in the middle of winter is a killer! I do have a couple propane space heaters) Insulation in my house (hopefully soon to be remedied, along with the heat and air) Electric can opener/blender (I do own a couple of mixers - I like to bake my own bread) ---
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596/40 "2005-05-16T08:28:59Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > - I don’t have a cell phone. > - I don’t have a pager. > - I don’t have an iPod. > - I don’t have a PDA. > - I don’t have an MP3 player. > - I don’t have a laptop computer. > - Our home PC is on a 56K dialup modem. > - We don’t have cable or satellite TV. > > Top that! 😛 Same as you except my dialup modem is 33K. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-technologically-primitive-doper/303596.md?page=3)