Confessions of a Luddite

I went to the eye doctor's office today to order my contacts (yes, I'm bringing them -- and sticking with my good-for-a-month kind) and get my glasses fixed before I head out for the trail.  And as I was waiting, I saw a sign on the counter that read, "Please turn off your cell phone."  And I smiled (a little smugly) and thought, "Good for them, asking people turn off their phones."  And then it hit me, and my smug little smile was replaced with a brief look of terror.  They were talking to ME.  I quickly pulled out my new smartphone, turned it off as fast as possible, and tucked it away in shame.


You see, I've never owned a cell phone.  I've been staunchly against them from the beginning.  Just as I've been against Skype, mp3 players, iPads and eee Pads, GPS's, Netflix, and online bills.  I still go to the video store and rent movies.  I don't have television.  My car has a tape player.  I pay my bills with checks.  I have a landline and unlimited long distance!  I go to the bank to do my banking.  I don't need to go on.  You know my type.


But lately, and for the purposes of this trip, things have been changing.  I bought my first cell phone, a smartphone nonetheless, about one month ago.  I now know how to send and receive a text.  I can enter contacts and call people.  I even found and downloaded a PCT app (PCTHYOH)!  I also bought an mp3 player and downloaded music for the first time in my life -- I can now Jazzercise whenever I want on the PCT.  I bought a SPOT Locator -- I don't know how to use it yet, but my super-techy friend and mentor, Mike Niemeyer, is going to give me the 101.  After he gives me the 101 on blogging with Blogger.  (He already gave me the 101 on my smartphone.)  And I'm blogging!  Pretty soon here, I'll learn how shoot video with my new camera that does not use AA batteries to post videos on YouTube to post on to my blog.  I know it's possible.  I do not yet know how.  There is a lot I do not know, and honestly, I'm getting a little anxious about it.


But here's what I do know:  Reluctantly embracing technology has been humbling.  I am still not too happy about cell phones or mp3 players.  Or Skype, GPS's, YouTube, online bills, and cameras with funky batteries.  However, I do see their usefulness and realize how, at times, they might actually make life a little richer.  "Appropriate technology, Dor," as my professor, Tom Fitz, would say.  So, for all of you whom I've always given such a hard time about your gadgets, I concede to some of their usefulness and enrichment.


Now, admitting this is only the beginning of my humbling.  The real humility has come from learning how to use these gizmos.  I often want to throw my phone for misinterpreting my finger tap or not listening to me, my mp3 player for going to the wrong menu, and my camera for not having a touch screen like my phone.  And I'm of the digital age!  It makes me admire even more people like Grandpa Kwaiser, who would have been 97 today and who was playing solitaire on the computer, listening to CD's, and watching DVD's to the very end.  I can't even imagine.