Technology Versus Common Sense
It’s funny how time changes how we think and look at things.
In Texas I had a fancy refrigerator. It had a water dispenser and ice in the door, cubed and crushed.
I look at my plain Whirlpool I just bought and wonder: Why did I think that was so great? I mean, sure it’s handy I guess. But I’ve learned that the fancier something is, the more things there are to go wrong.
The refrigerator I bought when I moved to Tulsa was a fancy one as well. I lived there for three years. My daughter then rented it out and it wasn’t long before the darned thing went out.
She had someone out to fix it and they told her that parts were too expensive. Better just to buy another one. So much for warranties.
There’s really a lot to be said for simplicity.
I guess all innovation is initially exciting. But I really think the tech world has gone overboard. I DO NOT want a device in my home that talks to me or takes orders from me.
I’ve never wanted one of those things that run across your floor and clean it for you. Can you imagine how that would terrify Ivy if the little ball that rolls across the floor on its own frightens her? I had to hide that thing.
And young people, oh my.
Yesterday my 16 year old grandson called my daughter and said: “Mom, can you come put gas in my car? I don’t have my card on me and I don’t know how to put it in with cash.”
There’s a lot to be said for innovation and new technology, but common sense goes a long way.
There’s an old saying, usually attributed to Confucius, that goes something like this: “Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you’ve fed him for a lifetime.”
I can’t believe your grandson doesn’t know how to walk in the store and communicate with the clerk what pump number his car is at and how much fuel he put in the tank. My husband and I taught our daughter’s how to read the gauges in every car and truck we ever owned. Also, how to check the oil dipstick and what kind of oil the vehicle would need. Changing a flat tire and how to correctly remove and reattach lug nuts; yes there is a proper and wrong way to do this! That you can tell how much air pressure that every tire on any vehicle uses by reading the raised print on the sides of said tire.(When you get older carry a small flashlight and magnifying glass cuz it’s hard to read in a dark and driving rain/snow storm.) I hope also he was taught how to correctly jump a dead battery; and how to use a battery charger at home.
I love technology, my fridge has an automatic ice maker which I use everyday in the summer. It makes my Brittany’s favorite non-caloric crunchy snacks!
I’m waiting for the roomba to get perfected. I would love to go out for a dog run and have it do some of my daily floor cleaning. A white and rust colored Brittany and a dark bamboo floor means constant maintenance.
I’m glad you’re happy with your fridge.
You have a great blog!
Susan
Simple is best…and your grandson is way ahead of my kids. They don’t even know how to pump their own gas. You’re not allowed to pump it yourself in our county! Gonna have to take a road trip and show those girls how. 😉
I’m disabled, in a wheelchair, and technology makes my life much easier. Shopping online and having things I need, including groceries delivered to my home is so helpful. My roomba vacuuming for me and my frig dispensing Ice cubes and cold filtered water where I can reach it is a godsend.
And I’m so thankful for my iPad that I love reading news, blogs, etc. on daily. I’m housebound and don’t want to watch TV 24/7. Brenda, you’ve made a living with your blog thanks to technology! 🙂
Oh yes, I know. I love the internet. It’s where I blog, order things and get my news. I have nothing against technology. I just think sometimes it spoils those of us who aren’t disabled and in a wheelchair. And kids who can’t figure out how to buy gas with cash!
I never had an ice maker in a frig but two years ago I had my ice maker connected in the frig. And i love it. It’s not a fancy frig pretty simple but I find it a treat.
When I visited my sister recently there was a new appliance on the counter — a portable ice maker. She got it because her refrigerator ice maker was so unreliable, even though it was only three years old. She never knew when it was going to act finicky or stubborn. Apparently getting it fixed was going to be ridiculously expensive. Someone once laughed in my kitchen when they saw my ice cube trays, but if one of them cracks I can get a new one at the dollar store! Another family member has a very costly fridge that is so badly designed that no one can figure out where to hold the glass when getting water. So the water runs all over your hand and onto the floor. So I just get water at the sink at her house just as I do at my house.
My daughter said she just had to get a new fridge for her rent house. I see nothing whatsoever wrong with good old fashioned ice trays. Easy and cheap. I can’t imagine needing a portable ice maker and where on earth would I put it? People get awfully spoiled, don’t they?
I personally think Ben Franklin would be amazed at how much his key and kite inspired man to invent all of the wonderful and helpful technology we have today.
Oh yes, all the newfangled thingys that people can waste money on – and if they break down discover it costs more to repair (assuming you can even find a repair person these days – a dying art, just like shoemakers and tailors/seamstresses). I wouldn’t trust one of those robot vacuums to do a decent job of cleaning no matter what! I don’t need an icemaker, there’s nothing wrong with making my own ice in ice cube trays and if I am hosting people I have somebody bring a bag of ice that gets stashed in a white styrofoam cooler. Ice survives in that baby for days even in 90 plus degrees heat in the height of summer. It’s just amazing! Anyway, I prefer sweeping and washing the floors on my hands and knees, although it’s getting harder and harder to get myself up, LOL. My vacuum is not one of the expensive models, I refuse to pay more than $100 for one. It does a great job – if you vacuum weekly and not every 2 months 🙂 HEPA filters on the furnace have cut down a lot on dust, too. Every little bit helps. As a person who, like many of your readers, grew up watching their moms wash laundry on a wringer washer hung up to dry (and I remember my mom scrubbing diapers on a washboard in a metal wash tub on the kitchen table when I was REALLY young), hey – those actually got the whites much whiter and clothes much cleaner than the new-fangled machines these days. I inherited my paternal grandma’s potato masher – works like a charm and gives my arm a work-out every time. With whipping potatoes in machines or with electric mixers, etc. these days it’s far too easy to end up with a gluey mess. “Old-fashioned” and simple are not dirty words in my world 🙂
I have an electric mixer (handheld) that I’ve never used. I have a washer but mostly hang my laundry all over the apartment because it just doesn’t dry well because it’s a 110. I don’t even make ice because I usually don’t use it. If I had an occasion where I needed it, like you I’d pick up some ice or stick my one ice tray in the freezer for awhile. Life just doesn’t have to be so complicated!
great quote from Benjamin Franklin! He would probably be shaking his head today at how often humans screw things up.
I don’t like all that high tech stuff either, as a matter of fact,I have trouble figuring out my I pad and computer, my daughter has to help me ! And as we have seen and heard on the news all that stuff like the echo and those cameras has people invading others privacy!
I know. I don’t think that everyone realizes that. I had an iPad and didn’t like it and gave it away. I guess I’m just not an “Apple” kind of girl. I prefer cheaper computers, etc. My cell phone just sits in my purse and occasionally I think to charge it. But I’ve only used it for coupons a few times!
I have a cell phone too, but I only use it when I travel to RI. I don’t have cell phone service at my home in WV. I have one of the old flip phones, all I can do is make calls and receive calls !
I read somewhere about a young couple who came home after work and found that their Roomba had spread dog dookie all over their home after their dog had an accident.
Now that’s something I hadn’t thought of!
My kids gave me a Roomba for
Christmas, and even though I never wanted one, I’ve enjoyed it. I thought it couldn’t possibly pick up much or hold much, and I was wrong. But I don’t have a beautiful cat like Ivy, and that’s because of my kids, too. Allergies! I agree about simple appliances, we just bought a basic electric range. And my refrigerator isn’t connected to the internet, and it doesn’t have see-thru doors.
You can connect your refrigerator to the internet?
It’s like teenagers being handed a dial telephone and then asked to use it. They can’t figure it out. I love my new simple refrigerator. xo Laura
And of course she went and showed him how.
Always been one to go for the least complicated option,for the exact reason you state…to many things to go wrong.
Pretty sure my kitties would freak out over those Roomba things as well,they don’t like the regular vac!
I’m laughing at the thought!
I have two cats and a Eufy self vac. The female (part Maine Coon) just looks at it and walks away unless it’s heading right toward her; then she immediately gets out of the way. The male (an Asian Bombay) stalks it like he would prey in the jungle, but jumps up and runs the other way if it turns his direction. Gives me a good laugh!