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I don't own a...

Nobert

Practically Family
Messages
832
Location
In the Maine Woods
...television (well, I do own one, but didn't upgrade to digital, so it's just sitting in storage. It was a blessing, really)
...pair of shorts/jeans...nothing against them, just not for me.
...i whatever.
...car. Half the reason I live in a city is not to have to deal with that.
...college degree.
I do have a cell phone, but I don't carry it around with me. I'm hoping to get a real phone line soon and ditch it.
...pair of sneakers (actually, I may have an old pair of Chucks kicking around somewhere, but can't remember the last time I saw, let alone wore them).
...credit/debit card (and, by extention, Paypal account).
...sports-related item.
 

george

New in Town
Messages
34
Location
Massachusetts
No iPod, or iPhone, or anything related--though I did buy music on iTunes once.
No tattoos/piercings
No hair gel or whatever else
No pants or jeans that purposely came with holes in them

I have t-shirts but it seems I hardly wear them anymore--my friends told me they only ever see me wearing button down shirts (never short sleeves with those, either, though I roll the sleeves up if it's hot). I do sometimes wear a certain team's soccer jersey the day before or of a big match, though.

On the other hand I do have old oversized sweatshirts that I wear if I know I'm just hanging around the house for the day, which sadly describes most days this summer, thanks to all the studying I have to do.

I have a couple hooded sweatshirts, and they're quality items, but I don't tend to wear them very often...

I have also really considered deleting my facebook account lately.

I do have a couple baseball caps and I like them a lot, though I don't wear them with everything. Never with a suit or a sportscoat, that'd just be silly. Are they really that removed from the Golden Era? I mean, we still had baseball back then, and the players did wear caps. According to wiki, the modern baseball cap was born in the 1940s--though, yes, I'd imagine people didn't wear them casually, and that only the players had them.
 

YLR2312

New in Town
Messages
2
Location
Tucson
Interesting thread, I just finished reading it so I'll contribute.

I don't have:

a cell phone (never needed one)
a social networking account
a dishwasher (don't really trust them)
an mp3 player (I listen to the hi-fi at home, I also prefer FLAC which isn't supported by many portables.)
tattoos (nothing against them, I may get one someday)
cable or any other broadcast television (I watch plenty of old movies and I usually watch Jeopardy at my best friends house)
sweats
a vehicle (or license to drive one for that matter)

I'm sure there's more obvious ones but it's late so I can't think of them all. I find it strange that several people have listed wristwatch, I certainly hope you at least have a pocket watch. It's so convenient and natural for me to have a wristwatch on and it seems that most people DON'T wear them these days.
 

C-dot

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,908
Location
Toronto, Canada
I find it strange that several people have listed wristwatch, I certainly hope you at least have a pocket watch. It's so convenient and natural for me to have a wristwatch on and it seems that most people DON'T wear them these days.

Why would they, when your cellphone will tell you the time? I heard that daily when I worked in a watch store. I've fallen prey to this myself, even when I'm wearing a wristwatch.

That gives it away that I own a cellphone. I resisted for a long time, but eventually gave in. I did not, however, and will not give in to a phone with any capability that enables my work colleagues to pester me day and night.

That said, I don't own a...

...Blu-ray player.
...Social networking account.
...Big enough bookshelf.
...Fake body part.
...Digital TV box. (I rigged a Shuttle computer to my TV.)
...Pair of running shoes.
...Stop-Staring dress. (But I will one day, mark my words.)

I do own two of the most listed things here... an iPod (though I do have an antique gramophone, and a record player for 33 1/2's), and a car (that costs me more than it gives). I view many modern conveniences as a means to an end, not essentials for living my life.
 
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george

New in Town
Messages
34
Location
Massachusetts
Very true about the watch. I never used to wear one (a wristwatch) before high school but now it's gotten to the point where if I'm not wearing one on a typical day at school (college), I feel lost or naked or both.
 
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Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,082
Location
London, UK
Why would they, when your cellphone will tell you the time? I heard that daily when I worked in a watch store. I've fallen prey to this myself, even when I'm wearing a wristwatch.

It's a logical evolution, really. I wear a watch and feel naked without one myself, but the reality is that more often than not when I want to know the time, especially in the office, I glance at the radio-clock on my windowsill, or the clock on my desk phone, or on my computer screen..... Sure, 90% of the time the wristwatch is largely superfluous, but then so are the rings I wear, or my cross, or a fair portion of the three dozen plus pairs of shoes I own..... ;) It'll be interesting to see how this trend plays out over the next couple of decades. I don't see the watch disappearing, though, unless the mobile phone somehow replaces its status as 'jewellery'. That and for anyone who regularly spends time in situations where the mobile isn't allowed to be switched on (hospitals, planes, etc)...

Watches are one thing I have become really quite luddite about: it has got to be mechanical (either hand-wound or auto) - no quartz. Illogical, I know, as quartz will keep better time than any mechanical, but then that's where the clock on the mobile can be a helpful back-up.... ;)

That gives it away that I own a cellphone. I resisted for a long time, but eventually gave in. I did not, however, and will not give in to a phone with any capability that enables my work colleagues to pester me day and night.

It's all about how you choose to use it, really. Seems to me that people who think it will rule your life are those who wouldn't have the gumption / will power to use such advanced facilities as the "decline call"function, or the off-switch. ;) It's funny how things changed around 1998-2000 here in the UK (I gather it was a little later in the US). Where once it marked you out as a bit of a poseur to have a personal (as opposed to work-issued) mobile phone, it's now far more of a pose to make a big deal out of not having or wanting one than ever it was to have one. I went two years without a landline when I moved into my flat, and had it not been for wanting home internet, I'd never have missed it. It would be infinitely more of an inconvenience to not have a mobile.

I do own two of the most listed things here... an iPod (though I do have an antique gramophone, and a record player for 33 1/2's), and a car (that costs me more than it gives). I view many modern conveniences as a means to an end, not essentials for living my life.

Which is the only sensible way to look at it, really. I'm certainly not a one for adopting the 'modern' for its own sake, and equally, I'm not going to seriously inconvenience myself by declining something simply because it isn't 'vintage' enough. I did hear of one real Sixties buff who will only have dial-up internet at home because he considers broadband "too modern".... :eusa_doh:
 

C-dot

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,908
Location
Toronto, Canada
It's all about how you choose to use it, really. Seems to me that people who think it will rule your life are those who wouldn't have the gumption / will power to use such advanced facilities as the "decline call"function, or the off-switch. ;)

Yep, that would be me. I'm one of those people that looks at my phone, sees someone calling who I don't want to talk to, exhales sharply before picking it up, and lets them waste my time. It isn't that I don't have the willpower to turn off my phone, it's that I don't want to deal with barrages of voicemail or text messages the next day asking why I haven't picked up. I don't make any bones about not being assertive enough - That's just, unfortunately, me.

Which is the only sensible way to look at it, really. I'm certainly not a one for adopting the 'modern' for its own sake, and equally, I'm not going to seriously inconvenience myself by declining something simply because it isn't 'vintage' enough. I did hear of one real Sixties buff who will only have dial-up internet at home because he considers broadband "too modern".... :eusa_doh:

Keeping dial-up? That might be a little crazy. There are some things worth holding out on (like a love of mechanical watches, or resistance to social networking) and there are some things you have to give in to in order to function (like a tertiary equivalent of modern technology.)
Besides, one could argue that a Sixties buff having internet at all is "too modern." ;)
 
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Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,082
Location
London, UK
I always wear a watch, except at work where it isn't allowed. They tease me there, because I have a big tan line from my watch.

Another good reason to stay the hell out of the sun! It isn't good for you, you know.... ;-)

Yep, that would be me. I'm one of those people that looks at my phone, sees someone calling who I don't want to talk to, exhales sharply before picking it up, and lets them waste my time. It isn't that I don't have the willpower to turn off my phone, it's that I don't want to deal with barrages of voicemail or text messages the next day asking why I haven't picked up. I don't make any bones about not being assertive enough - That's just, unfortunately, me.

Heh. It's not that hard to do, you just have to break the habit.... Took me a while to get the hang of it, now I hate getting calls on the landline as I can't pre-screen them. Actually, I only really answer it at all when I'm expecting a call from my folks: I don't give out the number (in truth, I don't even know it), and I only have it at all for internet connection. With the mobile, it did take me a while but eventually I got the hang of conciously saying "it's 11.30pm at night, I need to go to bed, not get caught on the phone for two hours, I'll ring back tomorrow." Course, if the phone rings persistently from the same person over the next hour and I get texts saying "call me!", I know it must be urgent. If it isn't, I'll only get caught out by that once.

Voicemail, there's an easy solution to: I cancelled mine. If folks don't get me, they either try again later or text. I've never missed voicemail. ;)



Keeping dial-up? That might be a little crazy.

Just a bit!!

There are some things worth holding out on (like a love of mechanical watches, or resistance to social networking) and there are some things you have to give in to in order to function (like a tertiary equivalent of modern technology.)
Besides, one could argue that a Sixties buff having internet at all is "too modern." ;)

Well, exactly. Did make me wonder, though..... in fifty years' time will there be kids who want to live in the early nineties, listening to Nirvana, insisting on dial-up internet (even having a landline at all!), mobile phones the size of housebricks.... all the rest. It'll be funny to see. Those of you who live that long (I certainly won't, and don't especially want to either) will have a ball giggling at them. lol
 

Red Tractors

New in Town
Messages
18
Location
Ohio, USA
Only in this forum could I be considered "Modern":confused:

I have a freeby I-pod that I never use,
I don't own a flat TV, I really don't watch TV.
I hate having a cell phone, but I'm self employed and have to be accessible.
I like film, but DSLR's are a necessity as a Photog.
I have to use facebook.....same reason.
I'll probably end up with a tablet PC, for business.

I'm partially trapped in the modern world, but I don't have to like it.

I don't have any tattoos or piercings.
I don't have any designer jeans.
I hate I-anything.
My cell phone is only a phone.
I don't buy modern sneakers.
 
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Deco_Green

New in Town
Messages
16
Location
Somewhere between 1910 and 1953.
It's nice to know there are other people out there without Facebook, Myspace, or Twitter.
I've never sent a text message.
I only have a cell phone because it was given to me and it rarely gets used.
No game system (unless a cabinet with boardgames, puzzles, and cards counts).
No Kindle/Nook. I hate the idea of replacing actual books.
None of those funny-looking squiggly lightbulbs.
No tattoos or piercings (except for ears).
No blu-ray.
Do have a TV, but only use it for DVDs & VHS.
Also don't have a closet---although that's more by circumstance than choice. And it's a good excuse for wardrobes/armoires. :)
 

Flipped Lid

One of the Regulars
Messages
257
Location
The Heart of The Heartland
This is a very interesting thread. I don't live a vintage lifestye although I have no quarrel with anyone who does. I subscribe to a "live and let live" philosophy. I tend to like modern conveniences that allow me to devote more time to the things I enjoy and make life more comfortable, but I'm no slave to technology. That said, I've always thought I was born fifty years too late (in 1955). What I really crave from years past is not the material things, but the mindset. In my estimation, modern culture is way short on style, taste, manners, good conversation, and, most of all, personal responsibility. Obviously, I do keep a vintage soapbox around. It comes in quite handy at times. :)
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,082
Location
London, UK
I've been reading this a lot from contributors to this thread. I guess that's decidedly modern of me, having quite a few of each lol

I will always support vintage-oriented men in their dislike of ladies with ink - lessens the competition in my favour. ;) None yet myself, but hopefully will be breaking that soon. ;)
 

Formeruser012523

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,466
Location
null
You too, eh? I've thought about getting "inked" for a few years now. I know what I want & where, just not sure when to go about it. Need to research a good tattoo artist. :cool:
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,082
Location
London, UK
You too, eh? I've thought about getting "inked" for a few years now. I know what I want & where, just not sure when to go about it. Need to research a good tattoo artist. :cool:

Yes, it's one thing that you have to think carefully about rather than just looking for the cheapest option. I have a clear idea of what I want, but I want it to have a very specific Forties flash art style. Once I manage to clear my credit card bill, I have a very specific place in mind here in London.
 

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