I can't do anything that has to do with my job today because I'm having computer problems. How dependent are you on machines? Do you find that you need a computer to get your day-to-day life complete? When you hear someone say, "I really don't get on the internet," do you give them this open-eyed look like, "Are you Amish?"

-- Anonymous, October 04, 1999

Answers

If my computer goes down, you may as well gag me, blindfold me and tie my hands behind my back. It's like I completely forget how to do anything by hand all of a sudden. We all walk around looking like deer caught in headlights, and every time a customer calls and asks me to check on something I have to tell them I can't because the system is down.

The worst part of all that is, up until 1996 my entire job, with the exception of typing letters, was done manually. I had elaborate filing systems for my mountains of paper that grew daily. All business with our Corporate office was conducted via fax. I had hard copies of everything. You would think that at times of emergency I would automatically revert to Manual Lisa, but no. Instead I act as if someone has pulled the power plug to my brain, and I sit helplessly, checking every few seconds to see if I'm "back up". Pathetic.

-- Anonymous, October 04, 1999

I'm no Luddite, but I do believe that you are in charge of the machines or they are in charge of you. I know too many people that are slaves to their e-mail, beepers, cell phones, computers, etc. I pity them. I am very lucky that I can take or leave such things, and that I don't have to depend on them for my employment. Machines are very valuable tools; I'm certainly glad to have a internet connection for news headlines and being able to friends and loved ones, but I wouldn't be much more or less happy without it. I think that we have been so conditioned to think that we can't live without it that it makes us lose track of what's really important in life. For shame!

-- Anonymous, October 04, 1999

How dependent am I on machines? Let's see: three computers at home, one computer at work, one work-related cellular phone, one personal cellular phone, voicemail at work, voicemail at home, voicemail on all cellular phones, one PalmPilot (replaced after leaving first one in a cab), two internet accounts, and one home fax machine. I vaguely remember life without this much technology. Yes, I seem to recall typing my college termpapers on a TYPEWRITER! And computer cards! I remember running my computer programming assignments with cards! And televisions without remote controls, let alone cable!

None of this really answers the question but I am managing to work myself up into a good frenzy first thing in the morning.

I am TOO dependent on technology. If they took away my computer I think I'd need to be put away. I could never be Amish.

-- Anonymous, October 04, 1999

Oxnard should take a closer look at the world in which we live. We are all "slaves" to technology.

Most mornings I awake to the sound of an alarm clock. The clock has a computer chip inside of it that keeps track of time and remembers when to make noises. I make my way to the bathroom and turn on the light. The lights are powered by electricity, the flow of which is carefully regulated by a vast series of computers so that my part of the world gets just the right amount of power... too much and it overloads, too little and we get a brownout or blackout.

I use the toilet, part of a vast municipal sewage system that is one of the greatest inventions in the world and has virtually eliminated disease wherever it has been installed. The movement of water to my apartment and the treatment of the sewage is all rigorously controlled by computers.

I get dressed in my clothes which were assembled in computer controlled factories and I bought them cheap because of computer controlled just-in-time inventory systems.

I call my bank on the telephone to see if I have any money left so I can eat today. The telephone network I use is ALL ABOUT computers. It is a global communications system that has made our world much, much smaller and has begun to erase the diversity of our cultures. The European Union exists because the telephone exists. The money I have is stored as a digital number in a bank computer; it doesn't really exist as something of tangible value like gold or even fiat paper money printed by the government. It is just a number in a computer. The interest in my savings account is calculated over a period of time, the time being defined by the computerized cesium clocks that orbit in space as part of the Global Positioning System.

I could go on and on. The food you eat, the gas you buy, the air conditioning in your home; EVERYTHING is the product of a computerized process. Even if it is a pineapple, it traveled on a massively computerized transportation system.

If you can read my message then your life is DEFINED by computers. Your existence is only POSSIBLE because of computers. The efficiencies gained by computers allows for the existence of BILLIONS of people.

But using computers and being dependent upon computers for our existence does not make us slaves to computers. One's slavery to machines exists in direct proportion to one's ignorance of that machine and its processes. You are only a slave if you do not understand that PEOPLE can MAKE machines, PEOPLE can understand machines, and people can CONTROL mach

-- Anonymous, October 04, 1999

I can't live without a Tyme machine, I am not a people person dammit! I had a temp job last week and they wanted me to type a memo on a typewriter. I just stod there going "Umm...ummm....you don't have Word?" My sister and 3 brothers all have email so we don't even call eachother much anymore. How did I find a recipe, a map. a hotel, or anything else before the internet? It gives me shivers....

-- Anonymous, October 04, 1999

I hear you Caroline, I used type on the IBM Magnetic Card system and I remember TV without cable. Now I have Power Mac G3 at work (I work with a lot of graphics) and two computers at home a Dell and an Imac. I love to shop online!

-- Anonymous, October 05, 1999

This discussion just reminds me of how pathetic I am when the electricity goes out. I spend the entire time flipping light switches on and then feeling like an idiot when of course the light doesn't come on. Then I'm constantly coming up with things I can do instead of work or play on the computer, and they're always things that require electricity. "Oh, well, I guess I can get some vacuuming done. D'oh!"

Five minutes later, after just pacing in the middle of the living room, "Well, I might as well do the ironing." D'oh!

I try to just sit quietly on the couch for a couple of minutes. "I can't play computer games. Hey! What about PlayStation games? D'oh!" It's just ridiculous. Last time the electricity went out, my puppy brought in a plant from outside and left a pile of dirt on the carpet. I had no idea how to clean it up without the Dustbuster.

-- Anonymous, October 06, 1999

Without my trusty computer, my grades in school would probably be a little different. Of course, without the internet, I couldn't have found pictures of Anne Hutchinson so I could make a last minute (crappy-ass) poster for the presentation that I didn't even do today but spent 6 FREAKING hours working on last night!! Okay...I'm fine now. Actually, I'm pretty dependent on only a few things. Without the internet I would actually have to call my friends instead of talk through instant messanger. Also, without it, I probably wouldn't have become such a huge fan of the Monkees a couple years back. Another thing: my remote control for my radio. See, if I didn't have it, I would have to get up and *manually* change the station when Britney Spears comes on. God, life is great:)

-- Anonymous, October 06, 1999

anytime i go on a trip, i get online and find everything i need - from organic food stores to directions. the other day i was out somewhere, and realized i needed to find a phone number. i was like oh damn, i'm not near my computer. it didn't even OCCUR to me to use the phone book! i get movie times, news stories, and even food (i'm going to try ordering from homegrocer.com) all online.

my handwriting is terrible 'cause i hardly ever use a pen and i can't remember the last time i flipped through a real newsprint. i don't have cable so i watch movie previews and music videos online.

it's so funny too, because all of my oldest friends back in toronto don't go near computers. they're all musicians and artists and such - very old school - and it's such a culture shock talking to them sometimes. on the other hand, they keep me grounded so i don't get tooooo carried away with it all. :)

-- Anonymous, October 08, 1999