Analogue World vs. Digital World

Have you ever thought of your life without IT? How would it be? And, how could you live? If you think that you probably can't live without IT, then do you wonder how did your parents live without it?


Looking at your parents' perspectives, don't you think they also find it difficult to live in this digital world (at least at the beginning)? The following is an example of the old man who finds modern technology difficult and prefers to retreat into his analogue world.

http://www.johannawagner.com/peter.html

In my opinion, lives without IT are not that threathening but could be less convenient and comfortable than the opposite. While some people may find this unbearable and miserable, I think it's just another unfamiliar thing which needs some time to learn and adjust to.

Let's imagine in a fun way. How romantic would it be to communicate with your boy/girlfriend via letters when there's no MSN, internet, facetime or even mobile phones? Instead of viewing your friend's facebook in your free time, what else you would do to enjoy yourself? You could probably try some traditional and recreational activities, like rub jumping, Ree-Ree-Khao-San, E-Morn-Sorn-Pha, Ball-Loon-Poang, watching out-door cinema, and so on. These activities and games are very enjoyable and are good alternatives to exercise.

Although it may sound too day-dreaming, I wish to try living in the old days when IT has not yet become part of our lives. I think the world must be less complex but more interesting to explore.

The 'Turtle' in the Globalized World

Many times, I feel that my attitudes towards IT are quite at odd with other people, esp. my friends. No, I am not saying that IT is bad or unnecessary, but I just don't like it much because it often makes me frustrated. To make it clearer, let's talk about some of the hottest current IT issues, Facebook.

A year ago, the word 'social network' had not yet come across my mind, not until I heard it from my pears in the Microcomputer class. I was thinking that they must be crazy spending hours a day looking at other people's photos, video clips, non-sense comments and notes, or playing those stupid games in Facebook, etc.  Can't they find other more constructive activities to enjoy themselves?
Later on, I had to swallow all my words about these because I became addicted to the Facebook myself !?!

It's not because my opinions had suddenly been changed but it is simply that I didn't want to be left out when my friends were talking about something they post in their webboards. Yes, and that's the starting point!

Initially, I love answering the psychological quizzes most because I think they're funny and sometimes provide meaningful results. Then, I learnt to explore other features in the site and found that they are all interesting and fun.

Despite my pleasurable experience on IT (or FB in particular), I still can't get rid of my prejudice about it. This maybe due to my low-tech family. You know, MS-DOS, Windows 95 & 98 computers are still being used for the office works (-*-). They aren't updated or changed because they contain important data and are still working well (although very slowly). The other two computers (luckily) use Windows XP and are for my brother and me to surf on the internet.

Until now, I dare not download or install any unfamiliar programs or files by myself as I'm afraid that the computer will hang (as it usually does). Then, I will be blamed for my fault (not because the computers are too old and never updated for yearsss, no effective anti-virus programs being installed, or the RAM has too low capacity....) When the situations like this happen more and more frequently, I 'automatically' turn my back to most of IT issues as they make me feel bad and annoying. For me, IT products are something complicated that should not be touched except when it's necessary!