# Fed up with digital everything!



## GeorgiaXplant (Dec 27, 2021)

As was famously said in the movie (Network): I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore.

Well, except that I will because there's no choice. I liked it better when we used two tin cans and a string. Or carrier pigeons. Or (gasp!) snail mail. Instant everything is a giant PITA.


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## Paco Dennis (Dec 27, 2021)

The new world of digital everything has created a NIGHTMARE with us this week. Misa has spent 80% of her time online filling out the necessary "papers" for a part time job at "Dollar General". They want to know EVERYTHING about her and her past.
   I had a virtual Doctors appointment this morning at 10am. They called me 20 minutes before the meeting and asked if I got the message on how to "hook" up. So I rush to my computer and click on the link and that gets me nowhere. Call her back at 10 and now a different person answers, and wait 10 minutes on hold. Then tells me to forward the message to Misa's smartphone. OK, do that and click on the link and NOTHING HAPPENS. I have had about 6 real phone TALKS ( just regular phone not Zoom ) in the past that worked fine, but they switched software a few months ago and didn't NOTIFY us. At 10:15 I quit. They call us back at 10:30 to try again. Nope, I didn't go there...will call the office in the morning.
  Called tech support for the new flip phone because I can only get a connection in the SW corner of our house. If I move 40 ft away I can't get a connection. So they tell us to switch the wi-fi to on, but first I have to go back to my computer, log on to their home page and add my exact location so the "whatever" can find our wireless. OK, that works and then I try it and it connects but Misa can't hear me, plus there is a 3 second delay! YIKES!!!  So I quit that and am stuck with a cheap flip phone that I can only use in a small corner of our whole house. Just think win 5G starts moving in. I will be in no mans land!


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## JustBonee (Dec 27, 2021)

.... a little good news,   you can still buy one of these


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## Mizmo (Dec 27, 2021)

GeorgiaXplant said:


> As was famously said in the movie (Network): I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore.
> 
> Well, except that I will because there's no choice. I liked it better when we used two tin cans and a string. Or carrier pigeons. Or (gasp!) snail mail. Instant everything is a giant PITA.


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## horseless carriage (Dec 27, 2021)

My problem with digital, with most of life's new gizmos is that I don't understand them. It's even more frustrating when I'm told: "Oh it's easy." The science subjects of chemistry and biology I didn't excel at but physics and mathematics I had a talent for. Digital technology is based on the two science subjects that learned easily, yet I struggle with even the simplest of tasks (according to others,) so I just give up.

But sometimes the old way can produce unexpected results. For example, I need an annual medical examination for insurance purposes, it's not within the remit of being free on our NHS, but with Covid, even paying privately can, at present, be difficult.

Rather than E-Mail my doctor I wrote to her, I wrote in the same italic script that I learned at school:

My letter, which had an enclosed stamped addressed envelope, was returned within a couple of days with an invitation to phone my doctor to arrange an appointment. So impressed (at least I like to think so) was my doctor that she admitted that she had never had a handwritten letter. That was some surprise to me, my doctor is a lady of about forty-ish. So, rather than a digital letter, commonly known as e-mail, a hand written letter got the result.

Another example was at a vintage festival just before the lockdown. One of the stall holders told me that he could only take card or phone payment, or if I had my details, PayPal. However when an adjacent stall holder said that he would take cash, the vendor at the current store suddenly had a change of heart.

My advice would be, embrace digital if you love it, but you really should be wary of all your personal details being harvested and sold on. My bank hasn't a clue about what I buy or when I buy it or how much I spend, nor will they ever. Digital will change our lives but just don't be blase or that very nice Alexa will collect and collate all your personal details and then sell it on and you won't have a clue why you are being targeted by those who know of your interests, or even your political persuasion.


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## Nathan (Dec 27, 2021)

Paco Dennis said:


> The new world of digital everything has created a NIGHTMARE with us this week. Misa has spent 80% of her time online filling out the necessary "papers" for a part time job at "Dollar General". They want to know EVERYTHING about her and her past.
> I had a virtual Doctors appointment this morning at 10am. They called me 20 minutes before the meeting and asked if I got the message on how to "hook" up. So I rush to my computer and click on the link and that gets me nowhere. Call her back at 10 and now a different person answers, and wait 10 minutes on hold. Then tells me to forward the message to Misa's smartphone. OK, do that and click on the link and NOTHING HAPPENS. I have had about 6 real phone TALKS ( just regular phone not Zoom ) in the past that worked fine, but they switched software a few months ago and didn't NOTIFY us. At 10:15 I quit. They call us back at 10:30 to try again. Nope, I didn't go there...will call the office in the morning.
> Called tech support for the new flip phone because I can only get a connection in the SW corner of our house. If I move 40 ft away I can't get a connection. So they tell us to switch the wi-fi to on, but first I have to go back to my computer, log on to their home page and add my exact location so the "whatever" can find our wireless. OK, that works and then I try it and it connects but Misa can't hear me, plus there is a 3 second delay! YIKES!!!  So I quit that and am stuck with a cheap flip phone that I can only use in a small corner of our whole house. Just think win 5G starts moving in. I will be in no mans land!


I'm OK with technology in general, but I'm getting irritated with both dental and health care providers insisting on "virtual appointments", using their crummy apps and nobody notifying of changes, and nobody knowing what the F is going on.

If I really wanted to get my stomach growing, I'd get on a rant about the two-factor authentication BS that every website and service is pushing.  

Here's an exception:  had an appointment outside of my HMO, an ears-nose-throat specialist.  An old guy(my age), I got an_ paper_ letter mailed to me for the appointment, a _paper _questionnaire to fill out, and the receptionist gave me a _paper_ hand written receipt for my co-payment. What a hoot, I thought I was back in the '70s!


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## Tabby Ann (Dec 27, 2021)

I was involved with work-related digital electronics early on and found it very useful for math and scientific projects. However, when it was unleashed upon the general public I became amazed at how many people became addicted to the commercial applications of it and the misperception that knowing the right buttons to push on the exterior housing indicates some knowledge of the underlying design principles, which it does not. Digital electronics has caused many to throw away common sense, common courtesy and important human interaction to the detriment of themselves and their children.

Children’s brains haven’t grown the brain cells necessary to discriminate the validity of information on the Internet and for that reason, households with children should have only one Internet connection available to children, and it should be in the living room on a desktop computer with a screen large enough to be seen by anyone walking through. For safety, emergency, and social phone calls, the child can have a cell phone that isn’t connected to the Internet.


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## Kaila (Dec 27, 2021)

Gosh!  @Paco Dennis 
That post of yours above, demonstrates how *un*_helpful, and *how stressful, *_the digital life has become!
That sounds like an awful series of activities for you! We are willing to work at continuing to learn, in order to interface with the modern tools, but it really is _too much!_


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## Bretrick (Dec 27, 2021)

I think we are heading for major problems because of our reliance on technology.
We are being forced to use technology or be left behind
Well I do not have a smart phone and have no plans to get a smart phone.
What happens when certain countries want to flex their muscles and decide to throw the world into chaos by taking out satellites?
What happens when that massive solar flare knocks out a vast number of satellites?
We see now outages shut down businesses.
People lose access to their money and are left floundering. Hackers are going to cause mayhem forever into the future.
I suggest people keep plenty of cash under their beds.


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## Chet (Dec 27, 2021)

The manual for my car's entertainment system is as thick as the owner's manual.


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## Irwin (Dec 27, 2021)

Bonnie said:


> .... a little good news,   you can still buy one of these


"Made in China." Fricking Chinese carp!


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## Irwin (Dec 27, 2021)

Bretrick said:


> I think we are heading for major problems because of our reliance on technology.
> We are being forced to use technology or be left behind
> Well I do not have a smart phone and have no plans to get a smart phone.
> *What happens when certain countries want to flex their muscles and decide to throw the world into chaos by taking out satellites?
> ...


We'll still have the Internet. I'm in a very weak cellphone signal area and often it's too weak to make or receive calls. But my new phone can make and receive calls over the Internet when it needs to by connecting to my WiFi. Voila! Problem solved!


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## dseag2 (Dec 27, 2021)

I will have to say that my '17 model car accesses Carplay, so I frequently use Google maps, but the other day my iPod wouldn't play (yes, I still use an iPod) and I got a message saying it was because there was no internet connection?  Every time I tried to establish an internet connection I got led into the Black Hole.  So, I turned the car off and back on and it worked.  I guess it was like "rebooting".  The technology in cars these days is ridiculous.

I am glad any new doctor can send me forms online because I can't write worth a crap anymore due to using a laptop or phone to type everything. 

My most frustrating experience is that Unemployment suddenly decided I had committed fraud and decided I had to pay back all my earnings from June 2020 to September 2021.  I had to go on a Zoom call with a verification agency that asked me hold up my passport, driver's license and Social Security card to prove it was me.  It was a joke.  I won't even go into the website I had to access to enter all these things on line.  Things have gotten out of hand.


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## Jules (Dec 27, 2021)

A rarely used tv wouldn’t work today.  Pressed this, that and reset everything many times.  Finally turned off the power and those resets worked.  Still took over 1/2 hour to figure out this should have been step 1.


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## JustBonee (Dec 28, 2021)

Irwin said:


> "Made in China." Fricking Chinese carp!




So is all the digital stuff  ....


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## rgp (Dec 28, 2021)

GeorgiaXplant said:


> As was famously said in the movie (Network): I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore.
> 
> Well, except that I will because there's no choice. I liked it better when we used two tin cans and a string. Or carrier pigeons. Or (gasp!) snail mail. Instant everything is a giant PITA.



 As Mizmo said .......... Here,Here !


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