What modern invention/innovation do you wish had *never* been developed?

[this one guy]

Funny innit? The "smarter" the phone the dumber we get.

Let's hope it doesn't progress to atrophy!

 

[countryclubjoe]

How about the tinted windows on automobiles?

CCJ

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Originally Posted by Widebrim

I presume that you are referring to its "modern" use, rather than how it was employed at its inception. Held-held cameras were used very effectively in the late-'40s/early-'50s in films like Body and Soul and The Set-Up. Their usage today, however, often denigrates the art of cinematography...[QUOTE=LizzieMaine;1547153]Exactly. That jiggle-jiggle-swish-swish "Oooh, lookit this ruff-an'-raw found-footage effect I learned how to do in film school, ain't I the most artistic little thing?" effect. A picture from a few years back called "Rachel Getting Married" was the worst thing I'd ever seen along these lines -- I was physically unable to watch it without getting sick, and that's an dangerous thing when you're running the projector.[/QUOTE]

You have to admit though, in the hands of a master like Spielberg it works to great effect. I cite 'Saving Private Ryan' as the great example - hand held cameras gave the impression of newreel or combat cameraman footage. In the scenes where it was used, it worked perfectly to convey the terror and the intensity of the moment. I think with the advent of video recorders, handi-cams, and cell fone footage, the technique is used now to replicate what newer/younger audiences have grown up with viewing on their own TV and computer screens. The film 'Cloverfield' come to mind as that type of presentation.

-dixon cannon

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Again, couldn't agree with you more. I use mine mostly in the car. I can't pick up AM signals in the Caddy, and it's tough at night in all my vehicles. The iPod is a Godsend that way.

The only time I ever use the headphones is when I'm mowing the lawn.

Same with iPod. I LOVE my iPod!! ALL my music in a tiny device that fits in my pocket??!! A music-lover's dream.

But I NEVER listen to it in public. EVER. I don't even use the headphones!! I like being aware of my surroundings. I use it in my car while driving (through a device that allows it to play through the speakers!) and at home through my stereo. I make playlists so I don't have to fumble around for certain songs while driving. I put it on whichever playlist strikes my mood and GO! It's really not hard to be technologically safe and considerate

 

[Hunter_aka_Scotty]

For me personally, I don't think it's cell phones so much as smart phones. The idea of a phone on the go is a fantastic idea. Ideally, the cell phone excels in the hands of adults, but in today's society where parents are becoming more hands off, it is necessary for kids and teens to have them. I'm only 24 but I miss pay phones.

I do think smart phones have allowed kids and some adults to "slack off". They can pretty much do anything for you, so you can essentially tune out while using them.

Just my two cents.

I dislike being that accessible which leads to the "Why didn't you answer your cell phone?" as if I was required to keep it with me and on at all times.

As for parenting, I have had far too many adult guests who in the middle of a conversation would cease talking and start texting making every one else wait.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I use my headphones extensively on the bus, although I often have them in my ears but not on. It prevents conversations with odd people- I once had a guy follow me home and I was pretty sure I was going to end up on the news because he gave me the major creeps (luckily I scared him off). Headphones in my ears means I can pretend I don't hear them, and if my music is off, I still know what is going on.

A lot of people I know (particularly women) use their headphones in the same way- off but in. Really, I don't care if I look rude if it prevents some idiot from latching on to me.

I've never been in that kind of situation -- not even in creepy Philly. lol I don't usually carry my iPod with me when I go into the city, though. I try to take as little with me as possible because it's not unheard of that I might get mugged in broad daylight. You can take my credit cards -- they can get cancelled and replaced!! But it's taken me 5 years to build my iPod!!

 

[kiwilrdg]

Another aspect of the smart phones and cell phones is the expectation that everyone has one. I have had two people in the last week that left messages for my wife to call them back but they did not leave a number because they assumed that it would be on the phone. I use a 1990s style phone with caller ID and answering machine that are not part of the phone.

Some people do not even bother to leave a message because they assume I will call back based on a caller ID.

Today people feel it is more important to talk to machines than it is to talk to people.

 

[CharleneC]

Any sports team with "nation" appended.

 

[bulldog1935]

ex wives

 

[sheeplady]

I've never been in that kind of situation -- not even in creepy Philly. lol I don't usually carry my iPod with me when I go into the city, though. I try to take as little with me as possible because it's not unheard of that I might get mugged in broad daylight. You can take my credit cards -- they can get cancelled and replaced!! But it's taken me 5 years to build my iPod!!

Public transportation here can be... interesting. Although, most of the time it's just some person with a mental illness, some kids getting into a fight, or some parent abusing their kid, none of which I like to be involved in. The guy following me home happened a few months ago and I never would have thought that would happen 5 years ago... but it did. Up to that point the worst I had dealt with was a guy who was obviously mentally ill and kept telling me that all women should die (I apparently looked like his ex-wife), but he didn't follow me home or threaten me directly.

The guy who followed me home was actually following me- it sounds really paranoid but I kept changing streets and he changed with me and I was weaving all over the place. I finally lost him when I announced that the two large dogs at my employer didn't care for strangers and I had a hard time controlling them. Otherwise I was trying to make my way to the local grocery store. It really freaked me out.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I went coast-to-coast on a Greyhound bus twice in the early '80s, long before the days of personal electronics, and I found the best way to keep the freaks and nut cases away was to carry a supply of fringe religious publications, which I would very visibly read at every stop. Nobody wanted to sit next to me for fear of being proselytized, and I was able to ride all the way to California and back with the whole seat to myself.

 

[kiwilrdg]

I found the best way to keep the freaks and nut cases away was to carry a supply of fringe religious publications,

Bless you for sharing that idea.

 

[sheeplady]

I went coast-to-coast on a Greyhound bus twice in the early '80s, long before the days of personal electronics, and I found the best way to keep the freaks and nut cases away was to carry a supply of fringe religious publications, which I would very visibly read at every stop. Nobody wanted to sit next to me for fear of being proselytized, and I was able to ride all the way to California and back with the whole seat to myself.

This would work only if you could guarantee that the people who hand out chick tracts and tell you that the day of reckoning is coming aren't are the bus with you... we have a couple people who regularly get on the buses here and pester people about the status of their souls along with really hateful language about those who haven't accepted Christ. This is particularly true for the buses that come and go from the university, with the local religious nuts have decided is a "holdout of the devil's lair." They used to just be at the bus stop, but now they board the buses too and just ride back and forth and pester passengers.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

ex wives

The concept of "no fault" divorce. To me, the only real grounds for divorce is abuse or infidelity, not "irreconcilable differences" which can mean just about anything (usually having something to do with money) but could also mean that your spouse had simply "fallen out of love."

 

[LizzieMaine]

This would work only if you could guarantee that the people who hand out chick tracts and tell you that the day of reckoning is coming aren't are the bus with you... we have a couple people who regularly get on the buses here and pester people about the status of their souls along with really hateful language about those who haven't accepted Christ. This is particularly true for the buses that come and go from the university, with the local religious nuts have decided is a "holdout of the devil's lair." They used to just be at the bus stop, but now they board the buses too and just ride back and forth and pester passengers.

Ack. Clearly the '80s were a gentler time. I used to pick up a few copies of "The Plain Truth" at the laundromat and have them visibly on my person, and it was amazing how people would keep their distance. Once I lucked into a few Hare Krishna magazines, which worked even better, even though I didn't have the regulation haircut.

I collect "alternative" religious publications from the Era, and most of them are much better written than the ones that circulate today. Even the quality of our fanaticism is slipping.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

This would work only if you could guarantee that the people who hand out chick tracts and tell you that the day of reckoning is coming aren't are the bus with you... we have a couple people who regularly get on the buses here and pester people about the status of their souls along with really hateful language about those who haven't accepted Christ. This is particularly true for the buses that come and go from the university, with the local religious nuts have decided is a "holdout of the devil's lair." They used to just be at the bus stop, but now they board the buses too and just ride back and forth and pester passengers.

I had one call me The Devil once.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I agree with you completely. Marriage used to be forever and now it's just 'til you're bored with it.

The concept of "no fault" divorce. To me, the only real grounds for divorce is abuse or infidelity, not "irreconcilable differences" which can mean just about anything (usually having something to do with money) but could also mean that your spouse had simply "fallen out of love."

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I should add that I've always found it funny that "no fault" divorce almost always seems to find fault with the husband when it comes to the final settlement. :eusa_doh:

 

[Gin&Tonics]

This would work only if you could guarantee that the people who hand out chick tracts and tell you that the day of reckoning is coming aren't are the bus with you... we have a couple people who regularly get on the buses here and pester people about the status of their souls along with really hateful language about those who haven't accepted Christ. This is particularly true for the buses that come and go from the university, with the local religious nuts have decided is a "holdout of the devil's lair." They used to just be at the bus stop, but now they board the buses too and just ride back and forth and pester passengers.

As a Christian it saddens me to hear of people going around misrepresenting Christ and acting hatefully like this. The message of Christianity is not that Christians are better than everyone else and that we should go around hate mongering against anyone who isn't one of us. The message is that we're nothing more than sinners saved by the undeserved grace of God, and that as we are loved, so we should love others as Christ loved us. As Jesus said, "He who is forgiven much loves much."

We are told to "live such good lives among the pagans that though though they may accuse you of doing wrong they will see your good deeds and glorify Christ on the day he returns". You convert people by living like Christ, not by lambasting and harassing them about how they're going to Hell (though sometimes there are times when you must call a spade a spade).

Very sad.

 

[tridentine]

The "idiot box" a.k.a. television.

It has contributed greatly to warping and incinerating mens morals.