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146

Majority of Americans Would Like to Return to Time Before Cell Phones, Internet, According to New Poll (www.thewrap.com)

submitted 2 years ago by Los@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org

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Seventy-seven percent of middle-age Americans (35-54 years old) say they want to return to a time before society was “plugged in,” meaning a time before there was widespread internet and cell phone usage. As told by a new Harris Poll (via Fast Company), 63% of younger folks (18-34 years old) were also keen on returning to a pre-plugged-in world, despite that being a world they largely never had a chance to occupy.

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[–] patchymoose@rammy.site 19 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I don't think people actually would, if push came to shove. They're just expressing nostalgia for a simpler time, which is pretty easy to understand, given all the dystopian effects of social media and smartphones.

I think smartphones have done a lot of harm, but they've still done far more good, which is why we use them. Especially in poorer countries where smartphones are often people's only access to the internet.

That said, there's nothing stopping any of these people in the article from being the change they want to see in the world. Not to send anybody to Reddit, but r/dumbphones is a fast growing subreddit for people that want to try that. A lot of the users are Gen Z who never got to try them and want to give it a whirl.

[–] shanghaibebop@beehaw.org 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yeah, I think people forgot how terrible it was before email, gps, and etc.

Remember having to find the yellow book to call a plumber only to not get anything after trying 5 numbers? Oh wait, you don’t know how bad they’ll be because there are no online reviews. Memos from your boss via sticky notes? Faxing shit over and over again?

I mean, this study says it all, people need to be paid almost 20k to not use any online search for a year, almost 9k to not use email in a year. These services provide huge value for us in our daily lives. https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/how-much-are-search-engines-worth-to-you

[–] cykablyatbot@lemmy.fmhy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

It wasn't that terrible but it was definitely slower. Some things for sure sucked. Now totally different things suck.

[–] Repulsa@lemmy.fmhy.ml 3 points 2 years ago

This seems like a sensible take on the subject.

[–] vacuumflower@vlemmy.net 3 points 2 years ago

This is a chicken and egg problem, today's Web is so horrible exactly because most of the boors in it treat it with disgust from the very first moment and try to avoid choices, thus make the worst choices possible.

I mean, it's a golden rule - if you don't know what to do, do something. They don't out of fear, just consume what they are being given, which is the very thing they should fear.