The Technological Nuisance

[quintessentone]

So, I would think that the video gaming is the culprit in taking young people from the outdoors to the indoors. After all, isn't gaming challenging, fun, and builds good hand/eye coordination and out-of-the-box thinking? I don't know, I don't video game. But from it's popularity, it must have something going for it.

[Chiefsmom]

Yep.  It is so sad.
I don't engage much.  Doesn't bother me a bit.

What does bother me?
The kids.
My grandson's are 11.  They don't know how to ride a bike.  When they come to my house, they are not allowed to bring tablets or phones.  So far, they are good with that.  Because they are allowed to drive lawn mowers and golf carts.  They want to ride the mopeds we have, but we explained to them about balance, so we bought a bike at a garage sale.  We had to put training wheels on it.
The really sad part?  Muscle development.  or lack of.  They were struggling to peddle their first time.  I was broken hearted.  And pretty mad at their mother.

[quintessentone]

Yep.  It is so sad.
I don't engage much.  Doesn't bother me a bit.

What does bother me?
The kids.
My grandson's are 11.  They don't know how to ride a bike.  When they come to my house, they are not allowed to bring tablets or phones.  So far, they are good with that.  Because they are allowed to drive lawn mowers and golf carts.  They want to ride the mopeds we have, but we explained to them about balance, so we bought a bike at a garage sale.  We had to put training wheels on it.
The really sad part?  Muscle development.  or lack of.  They were struggling to peddle their first time.  I was broken hearted.  And pretty mad at their mother.

My son's partner's son was first in a soccer team and is now in a basketball team at school, so he gets his exercise there and believe me my son and him are addicted to video gaming.

My son also put on a bar in a doorway for them to do pull ups and because it's right there as you pass through a doorway, why not do a couple pull ups, and they both do.

Why aren't they in some team sport at school? I too would be pretty mad at my son if he didn't ensure the kid was getting exercise some how.

Why not gift the boys those pull up bars for their rooms?

[Oldcarpy2]

I remember having that black and white TV tennis game and thinking "Wow"!

[Vulture]

Remember the good old days of the internet? Well. Maybe my idea of "good old days" is not the same as some people's.

I think you and I were probably online "back in the day" at the same time.  I used AOL dial up on an old 14.4kbps modem on a Pentium 90mhz (which ran at 100mhz! lol)  8mb of ram, and a 540mb (not gb, but actual megabytes!) hard drive.  I used AIM to chat with friends from school every so often coordinating school work etc.  Then I'd head over to IRC using "mIRC" to do some serious chatting inbetween phone calls that'd disconnect me. 

Some of my old friends Geocities sites (or whatever they transistioned to) are still up.  It's a blast from the past.  I loved the mall, the sights and sounds and even the smell.  My old local mall in Georgia (Warner Robins) is still going strong, and I attribute the size of it to that.

Now I'm in Texas, I've not been to the Waco mall yet but plan on going in the not too distant future.  I miss malls, it was an adventure.  Sure, I can find whatever I want online and buy it with a click but where's the satisfaction in that?  I loved trolling the mall and finding the thing I was looking for.  Made it more rewarding and even picked up a thing or two extra and met friends along the way.  
 

If I were young today, I would seek simplicity.   I would seek a job that I loved the work, and a simple life that made me happy.   I would look for someone who I was compatible with who felt the same and consider sharing my life with.  I wouldn't live in a city, but seek my simplicity in a rural  area or small town.  In small towns, people work together, because they live out of each other's pockets.  It's a good system.

I hear ya, I'm not quite your age yet.  In my early 40's (don't tell anyone!) and in my 20's I loved the city.  The hustle and bustle, a city that never sleeps.  

But now, I was "forced" into a rural town in Texas.  My fiance moved so I did as well.  At first I was against it.  But the more time spent here, the more I am liking it.  It's a little slower than what I'm used to.  But the people here know almost everyone and I will run into several people I know at the grocery store.  There are probably more cows than humans.

I drive past a lot of old buildings, and I can't get the song "fly like an eagle" out of my mind and feeling as though I'm passing through the 70's.  Granted, I never lived in that decade but partly growing up in the 80's I might as well have as many of the places we lived was "stuck" in that decade.  Then my uncle to boot introduced me to all the great artists of that era which I continue to listen to today.

My fiance too is a calm, cool person who enjoys the simpler things.  She is happy here, and that makes me happy and the place is growing on me, as well.  If you guys want to check out "Whitney, Texas" on Google maps / earth you'll see what I mean.

But glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.

[GENERAL EYES]

PROTIP : (It's called an "off" button. )

[argentus]

I think you and I were probably online "back in the day" at the same time.  I used AOL dial up on an old 14.4kbps modem on a Pentium 90mhz (which ran at 100mhz! lol)  8mb of ram, and a 540mb (not gb, but actual megabytes!) hard drive.  I used AIM to chat with friends from school every so often coordinating school work etc.  Then I'd head over to IRC using "mIRC" to do some serious chatting inbetween phone calls that'd disconnect me. 

Some of my old friends Geocities sites (or whatever they transistioned to) are still up.  It's a blast from the past.  I loved the mall, the sights and sounds and even the smell.  My old local mall in Georgia (Warner Robins) is still going strong, and I attribute the size of it to that.

Now I'm in Texas, I've not been to the Waco mall yet but plan on going in the not too distant future.  I miss malls, it was an adventure.  Sure, I can find whatever I want online and buy it with a click but where's the satisfaction in that?  I loved trolling the mall and finding the thing I was looking for.  Made it more rewarding and even picked up a thing or two extra and met friends along the way.  
 

I hear ya, I'm not quite your age yet.  In my early 40's (don't tell anyone!) and in my 20's I loved the city.  The hustle and bustle, a city that never sleeps.  

But now, I was "forced" into a rural town in Texas.  My fiance moved so I did as well.  At first I was against it.  But the more time spent here, the more I am liking it.  It's a little slower than what I'm used to.  But the people here know almost everyone and I will run into several people I know at the grocery store.  There are probably more cows than humans.

I drive past a lot of old buildings, and I can't get the song "fly like an eagle" out of my mind and feeling as though I'm passing through the 70's.  Granted, I never lived in that decade but partly growing up in the 80's I might as well have as many of the places we lived was "stuck" in that decade.  Then my uncle to boot introduced me to all the great artists of that era which I continue to listen to today.

My fiance too is a calm, cool person who enjoys the simpler things.  She is happy here, and that makes me happy and the place is growing on me, as well.  If you guys want to check out "Whitney, Texas" on Google maps / earth you'll see what I mean.

But glad I'm not the only one who feels this way

"There are probably more cows than humans."   I love that.   That's how you know you are in God's country.    I grew up rural/boonie wilderness.  I fled to L.A. loved it.  Later S.F.  loved it more.   The thing is, you can always "commute" to the city;  you have amazing rivers and lakes around you, and it appears that you can go semi-wilderness fairly easy if you choose.   You're what...   an hour from DFW, and all the delights available in the city.  George Thorogood and the Destroyers are coming to the Texas Trust Cu Theatre at Grand Prairie in a few days.  

I envy you.   I think you're in a perfect place.   Do you want to commute up to an hour to your job, two ways every day, or do you want to commute that amount of time to get to events in the city.   I live in a small place.   We all know each other.   We see someone new and say, "who dat is?"   Small town gossip and chatter is discomforting at times, but the overall  collaboration is good.   Small towns are all for each other, and what is wrong with that?

[ArMaP]

In Norway, the street I've lived on since the year 2000 I've seen kids go from being outside in the summers up until around 2005-2006.  Now it's a ghost town.  I know there are children in the area, but they are no longer building treehouses in the woods across the street from me.

They're not biking or using their scooters like they once did.  Now I hear, "bro lets go home to me and play the PS4!".

The same with my neighborhood in the U.S., there used to be kids biking up and down the street as the street itself was tucked away.

Where I live we used to have lots of kids (including my brother and sister) playing on the space behind the buildings on my block. At the time, only half of the area was occupied by buildings, and almost all families had kids. Some 10 years later, the whole area was surrounded by buildings and the original kids were already in their 20s, so they were not playing outside, but the new neighbours also had kids, so the cycle was still on.

Now, 30 years later, most of the people living in this area are retired people, with only a few younger people, and of those only some have kids. Many of the kids in the area are sons and daughters of immigrants that live in the area (we have many).

But, although we don't have kids playing in the space behind the buildings (now full of cars, where could the kids play?), we have a larger space just some 100 metres away, and that space always has kids (or even grown ups) doing some kind of activity, some using skateboards, some skates, some playing soccer, etc. A few days ago I even saw a couple of kids flying a kite.
Next to that (cemented) area we have a park with grass and trees, and some prefer to play there (but as it is all ups and downs is not that good to play in).

Kids still use their phones, but they also like to be with other kids and to play outside, so although things are different, kids are still kids.

PS: I don't think technology is the problem, the problem appeared when "they" saw that this new technology could be used to make lots of money, so they converted it in a money making machine, although it can still be used as in the "old days", but a little faster than with a 14.4k modem.

[Steamer]

Wow;

AMIGA 500, PLUS FLOPPY AND DISK USE ETC. GAMES, — PLENTY—, TYPED OUT PAGES OF FAMILY HISTORY. HARD DRIVES STACKED PLENTY , 

LIMITED, BUT GOOD OLD DAYS. 

[Vulture]

PROTIP : (It's called an "off" button. )

Then you're yelled at because you were unreachable. 
 

I envy you.   I think you're in a perfect place.

Yeah, the more time I spend here the more I like it.  And yeah, Waco is about half the distance and has about 100x more stuff than here.  And yeah, the big city isn't too far away.  So yeah, I agree with you.  I think I am in a perfect place.  Now to just get done with what I gotta do so I can stay full time. 
 

PS: I don't think technology is the problem, the problem appeared when "they" saw that this new technology could be used to make lots of money, so they converted it in a money making machine...

Hmm, good take honestly.  And I think you're right.  We're bombarded constantly, urged to spend more time plugged in.  It's all by design I surmise.  Thanks for an alternative view.