Re: Has anyone ever wondered
Life would SUCK without computers and the internet. I REMEMBER how much life sucked!
I can get parts for my motorbike without relying on the dealer's incompetent parts guy and paying a 30% markup for the privilege.
I can get tools I need. I remember trying to buy a 32mm socket in '94, and it was a nightmare.
I no longer have to depend on TV for entertainment, with 20% ads and canceling anything that's even slightly interesting.
I can buy stuff I need. People say "support your local merchant!!!111oneoneone" and I say "I would, if he stocked anything I needed! Or would bother ordering it!"
I can learn how to do something in a couple hour's research.
I can learn something's possible that I didn't know about, like the fact a 2022 slipper clutch drops right into a 2007 FJR with almost no work, or the 2009 master cylinder is 2mm larger and gives you a much easier clutch action, and again, it just bolts on.
The cashier at my local grocery store can just instantly scan items. I remember as a kid when she had to punch in EACH and EVERY price of every item that one bought. I also remember the dreaded "price check" when an item didn't have a price, so things ground to a complete halt while she had to send a stockboy to actually physically look.
There's a computer running the fuel injection in my bike so I don't have to clean carbs every summer and winter. There's another one monitoring my front wheel so my brakes don't lock up and throw me to the ground.
Digital cameras are so much better than faffing about with film and processing.
GPS saves my butt at least once a week. I have worse than no sense of direction, and I remember when I had to take 4 or 5 maps of various resolutions EVERY time I had to go somewhere. I also remember sitting in my car screaming "WHERE THE FUCK AM I!!?!" in frustration at the umpteenth time getting lost.
I can sit down and write a reasoned, coherent email instead of sitting on the phone going "um... er... ah... wot... I don't know..."
I can meet up with people by texting until we get together. Doing that before cellphones was a nightmare. You could try to coordinate beforehand, but something always came up to completely destroy everyone's plans.
Edit: and I almost forgot having the '60s science fiction item of being able to video-call my mother and have a face-to-face with her despite being 670 miles away. That one thing brightens both our lives immensely.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
