Are You A Luddite?

[thagbert]

Are You A Luddite?

I consider myself an unrequited Luddite. I enjoy and am very proficient with tech. But I would not miss it if it were gone. I believe our lives would be better in many ways were technology not so pervasive and in our face 24/7.

The irony is that we enjoy all things tactile and immerse ourselves in fountain pens and such. Yet it is technology that allows us to do this in the most efficient way possible. Were it not for this forum, my interest and knowledge of fountain pens would be near zero.

So here's to technology and to fountain pens!

[KrazyIvan]

Both technologies can coexist. I remember when the iPod started taking over the portable music arena, it was a constant battle at a minidisc forum I used to frequent. Most people clinging to the old MD technology (myself included) with a few embracing the new. Each technology has its strong and weak points.

Eventually, I learned if you can master the strong points of each technology and minimize the negative effects to your advantage, it does not matter what you choose as long as it works for you. I use my iPad for taking notes sometimes, it makes cataloging and sifting through information faster but only when I need it. I am just as content to slow down, pull out some paper and a favorite fountain pen to do the same thing when I can. Then I photograph my notes and catalog them. Negative effect now cancelled out.

[jbb]

Even though I write with a dip pen I am extraordinarily vexed when our power goes out. (Every time a bird sits on a wire in a rain storm.) I wouldn't even want to be around me Sunday nights if I had to miss Game of Thrones. I am, however, a strong proponent of home cooking from scratch.

[recluse]

I don't see how fountain pens are opposite to technology. What should I use to depict any form I want in a matter of seconds? What super-advanced software I could use to write a couple lines of mathematical and chemical formulas in 10 seconds?

[jor412]

Although I always tend to initially resist new technology, I end up adapting it for work purposes -- like my iPad. But for notes and my appointment book, I prefer pen and paper. I remember things better when I write them down.

[writingrav]

Fountain pens are technology. It all relative.

[jor412]

I was thinking the same thing. They're just not electronic :)

[Sailor Kenshin]

I am a situational Luddite: if it annoys me, I shake my fist at it.

[jor412]

I am a situational Luddite: if it annoys me, I shake my fist at it.

:roll:

[fountainpenkid]

Of all people, I guess I am a luddite. I don't have a phone, and don't plan on getting one either.

[jor412]

Of all people, I guess I am a luddite. I don't have a phone, and don't plan on getting one either.

That's amazing. I wish I could do that but I'm too dependent on my phone.

[thagbert]

Fountain pens are technology. It is all relative.

You're right, it is all relative!

Why would I want to use this new fangled fountain pen when my dip pen is 100% reliable. This new technology is confusing!

[Robert]

Yeah, I guess I am a Luddite. In addition to preferring fountain pens, I like cameras that use actual film, and for music I play mostly vinyl LPs - - got about 7,500 of those.

[ThriveToScribe]

I am a situational Luddite: if it annoys me, I shake my fist at it.

Heh heh I like that one!http://fpgeeks.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.png

[thagbert]

Yeah, I guess I am a Luddite. In addition to preferring fountain pens, I like cameras that use actual film, and for music I play mostly vinyl LPs - - got about 7,500 of those.

I too have film cameras and LPs! Not as many though!

[audadvnc]

7,500 LP records? Oh, your poor house. The floors are surely sagging into the basement.

I run an LP mastering house, we cut the original lacquer disks to send to the pressing plants. But I don't currently have an LP record player running at home.

[ThriveToScribe]

Can one be a "selective Luddite"? I prefer the old-fashioned way to do most things, especially writing and drawing. Yet modern technology cuts a wide swathe through our lives, the best we can do is "pick and choose" and hope we're not left irreparably behind by our choices.
(Hmm....didn't mean that to sound so gloomy.)


Thagbert said it well:



Are You A Luddite?

I consider myself an unrequited Luddite. I enjoy and am very proficient with tech. But I would not miss it if it were gone. I believe our lives would be better in many ways were technology not so pervasive and in our face 24/7.

The irony is that we enjoy all things tactile and immerse ourselves in fountain pens and such. Yet it is technology that allows us to do this in the most efficient way possible. Were it not for this forum, my interest and knowledge of fountain pens would be near zero.

So here's to technology and to fountain pens!

[whych]

I am a situational Luddite: if it annoys me, I shake my fist at it.
My computer used to beat me at chess so I changed the game to kick boxing.

[Robert]

7,500 LP records? Oh, your poor house. The floors are surely sagging into the basement.

I run an LP mastering house, we cut the original lacquer disks to send to the pressing plants. But I don't currently have an LP record player running at home.

audadvnc - We ain't got basements in Houston: my house is built on a concrete slab. I subscribe to a few of the LP reissue series by the likes of APO in Salina, KS and ORG. Perchance have you cut any lacquers for either of those concerns?

[Waski_the_Squirrel]

My students think I'm a Luddite. I shocked a class the other day when I mentioned that I don't own a cell phone. Nevertheless, I love technology, if I have a use for it. So far, I've had no use for a cell phone. I like my fountain pens, but I also like my laptop, iPad, and digital camera.

[Pendragon]

No Luddite here. Technology is fine as long as it makes my life better. The same goes for old school things and ways. Best of all are pens like the hyper-modern Pilot Murex that are a harmonious fusion of the old and the new.

[fountainpenkid]

No Luddite here. Technology is fine as long as it makes my life better. The same goes for old school things and ways. Best of all are pens like the hyper-modern Pilot Murex that are a harmonious fusion of the old and the new.

"Better" is a complex thing.

[Pendragon]

No Luddite here. Technology is fine as long as it makes my life better. The same goes for old school things and ways. Best of all are pens like the hyper-modern Pilot Murex that are a harmonious fusion of the old and the new.

"Better" is a complex thing.

For me it is a very simple, direct and straightforward thing. Narrowing the focus down to the individual (myself) allows me that luxury. Attempting to define "better" for a group of many individuals would be, as you stated, a complex thing indeed. Even for some individuals, that might be the case.

I wonder what the Luddites of the latter 19th century thought of the fountain pen. Was it enough like existing reservoir and dip pens to keep them happy?

[Judybug]

I want to say I'm a Luddite, but I think I love technology too much to qualify. My love of technology intensified a few years ago when an "essential tremor" developed in my right thumb which means I can't write with my right hand. After years of practice, I can write a pretty good hand with my left hand. But it's very slow! If I couldn't write letters on the computer, I'd have to give up my pen pals. I do address envelopes and write post cards with my favorite fountain pens.

I like other old fashioned things, too - like horses, even though I refuse to part with my car; and old wash boards, but I'm not giving up my washing machine; tangible books, although I enjoy e-reading; acoustical pianos, although I enjoy my Roland mini-grand.

[Deb]

Not in the least. I think we can enjoy a broad spectrum of things, including those things that are no longer in current use, without rejecting the times we live in. I made my living for a large part of my working life from database development, a fairly modern occupation. I didn't use ballpoints, not because I feared or disliked the new, but because they didn't work as well as fountain pens for me.

[CS388]

I am a situational Luddite: if it annoys me, I shake my fist at it.

I think there's a new 'app' which can do that for you, now.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Awesome.

[thagbert]

I think a modern Luddite could be loosely defined as a person who has nostalgia for a simpler time.

Possibly the period dating back prior to the invention of the transistor. The rapid development, speed, small size and pervasiveness of all modern technology owes its existence to the transistor.

This is my opinion and rumination. Feel free to weigh in.

FYI, the transistor came of age in the mid 1950s.

[CS388]

...snip...
modern Luddite

Modern luddite! That's brilliant! Even Luddites move with the times.

Nice one.

Oxymoron?

[thagbert]

...snip...
modern Luddite

Modern luddite! That's brilliant! Even Luddites move with the times.

Nice one.

Oxymoron?

Oxymoron indeed!

Also to contrast with the original Luddites of the early 1800s.

[GardenWeasel]

Does admitting that one is a Luddite put you on a watch list...Big Brother has ears! :faint:

[ThriveToScribe]

I think a modern Luddite could be loosely defined as a person who has nostalgia for a simpler time.

Possibly the period dating back prior to the invention of the transistor. The rapid development, speed, small size and pervasiveness of all modern technology owes its existence to the transistor.


This is my opinion and rumination. Feel free to weigh in.

FYI, the transistor came of age in the mid 1950s.

Is that what was in my little crystal radio that seemed so awesome when clipped to a piece of metal? We have come a long way since then.
(Hmm...when I trie to send this, I got a message saying the message is too short, and to add 3 more characters. I hope this is enough. )

[79spitfire]

Luddite? Me? Not really, but after a day of beating my head out trying to find an obscure-interment problem in a computer controlled car, I start longing for the days of the Model T, or better yet horses and buggies...

(oh wait, I don't want to clean up after the horses...)

[whych]

(oh wait, I don't want to clean up after the horses...)

You don't have to - all the rose gardeners will fight each other to do it.

[Magpie]

There is an element of the selective Luddite in us all, we all make choices based on personal preference. Fountain pens are seen by many as an outdated method of communication, yet some of us choose to use them over other, more modern electronic forms of communicating. The hand written note conveys more than a text ever could.

[85AKbN]

use a push mower.
don't own a smart phone (i charge my cell every 3 months, whether it needs it or not). :)
know all the worthwhile am and fm stations.
listen to sw radio.

[pengeezer]

...snip...
modern Luddite

Modern luddite! That's brilliant! Even Luddites move with the times.

Nice one.

Oxymoron?


Qualifies in my book.


John

[spotted and speckled]

I love air conditioning.

So I guess my answer would have to be a No.

[Lady Onogaro]

I'm not a Luddite, but I do find it interesting to note the changes in behavior that our addictions to our gizmos inspire. I have a bunch of students who have assured me that if they were without their cell phones for a day, they would have a melt down, and that there are places they would not visit or go to if they could not bring their phones. (On the other hand, there are a lot of places I won't go to any more because of the phones--like the movies. I haven't quite given up on concert halls or theaters, but I'm awfully close.)

I am also quite concerned about the ownership question. Everything is "licensed" these days (music and books); you don't own it. (While I know you can strip DRM from ebooks, I don't know how to do it; I expect publishers will figure out a way to make this impossible or too difficult for the average user/reader/listener). But I expect this is the way of the future, and we will just accept it as we have accepted so many other weird things as normal. (Just this afternoon I was crossing a parking lot and almost ran a woman talking to herself on the parking lot. She was yelling and gesturing wildly. I wondered whether to call campus police, thinking she was having a mental health issue. But it turned out she was having an argument with her boyfriend and was using a bluetooth earpiece with her cell phone.)

[pengeezer]

I'm not a Luddite, but I do find it interesting to note the changes in behavior that our addictions to our gizmos inspire. I have a bunch of students who have assured me that if they were without their cell phones for a day, they would have a melt down, and that there are places they would not visit or go to if they could not bring their phones. (On the other hand, there are a lot of places I won't go to any more because of the phones--like the movies. I haven't quite given up on concert halls or theaters, but I'm awfully close.)

I am also quite concerned about the ownership question. Everything is "licensed" these days (music and books); you don't own it. (While I know you can strip DRM from ebooks, I don't know how to do it; I expect publishers will figure out a way to make this impossible or too difficult for the average user/reader/listener). But I expect this is the way of the future, and we will just accept it as we have accepted so many other weird things as normal. (Just this afternoon I was crossing a parking lot and almost ran a woman talking to herself on the parking lot. She was yelling and gesturing wildly. I wondered whether to call campus police, thinking she was having a mental health issue. But it turned out she was having an argument with her boyfriend and was using a bluetooth earpiece with her cell phone.)

When those earpieces 1st came out,I saw a man doing exactly the very same thing you describe. I
thought the same thing `til I saw him up close and saw the alien protuberance sticking out of
his right ear. :)


John

[VertOlive]

Not a Luddite, not even close. I like:

The "bun warmers" in my car.
My Kindle.
Progressive lenses.

But I don't think this cancels out my love for home made meatballs...

[Cookies]

Certainly not a true luddite as I don't know how I survived before online shopping and wouldn't give up AC for the world. However, I dislike the over abundance of electronics and think we would be much better off without a great deal of them. As a photographer the majority of my cameras are older than I am. And many of my and exposing processes (cyanotypes, VDBs, ambrotypes etc.) are centuries old. I find that while technology is capable of incredible things, more often than not it makes us lazy rather than inspiring us to action. I believe there's a balance to be had between new technology and tried-and-true methods.

[Deb]

A Luddite? Not in the least. There are three computers in this house, two running Windows and one Linux, two tablets, a couple of e-readers and various cell-phones. New technology has been central to how I make my living since 1976. I use fountain pens not because they're a valued old technology but because they're a better technology.

[AndyT]

A Luddite? Not in the least. ... I use fountain pens not because they're a valued old technology but because they're a better technology.

Hear hear. Same goes for straight razors, vinyl records and mechanical watches in my book.

[Scrawler]

I am sufficiently non-Ludditish to accept and use all those technologies that make my life warmish and reasonably comfortable, while living in splendid isolation from the rush and hurry induced by all the worthless tech toys, that others use to establish their identity, and self worth.

[Silverbreeze]

I am the opposite of a Luddite I guess. And yet like many here, I first draft many things on paper with a fountain pen. Just like I did in the years of typewriters. And I am only in my 30s so no it isn't age related