I recently changed offices at work and made the mistake of allowing my new neighbors to see my ancient cellphone (pictured, left). (I can’t even recall what year I got it. It’s only slighter smaller than Julia Roberts’ in My Best Friend’s Wedding, but it takes calls and lets me make them, and that’s all I need.) Then, I made an even bigger mistake: I admitted that I still use a CD Walkman (also pictured). It’s not that I don’t want an iPod, it’s just that I’ve survived without one — mainly by hiding my Walkman in my purse when I’m on public transportation and looking somewhat like a terrorist, I suppose, as I try to slide my hand into the bag to adjust the volume or skip a track while remaining undetected.
Now I know the only reason I wasn’t escorted from the building was a well-timed decision to inform my coworkers that I do, in fact, own a flatscreen TV and a DVR. How ashamed should I feel? You can judge me — but only if you admit your own techie deficiencies below…









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My husband insists that we do not need cable, and we actually still use those hideous rabbit ears. It’s so embarrassing when people come over, and of course we only get 6 channels (and never all of them at the same time). I’m so glad that we’ll be forced to get cable by next year!
I don’t have a plasma TV and I still have a stero with a three disc changer and double tape deck.
I don’t have a plasma TV and I still have a stereo with a three disc changer and double tape deck.
I don’t know how to text message and don’t want to learn how.
I have a 25 year old 19″ TV; rotary dial phone, no ATM card, no IPOD, and an ancient cell phone that stays in the car and doesn’t have any bells & whistles on it. I use a cassette tape player when I go walking, not a walkman. Life is good.
I have no cell phone and proud of it!
I don’t have a ipod. My cell phone is a pay as you go (60 minutes will last me three months). I just got a computer that runs on something other than windows ‘94, and I just got the internet at home today (I’ve been surfing at work).
Don’t worry, my cell phone is one step down from yours! Even when fully charged, the battery dies after about 6 minutes of talk time, it has no camera/internet/games/etc, and the 5 key doesn’t work. Yet thanks to the Nazi regime that is Sprint PCS, I am stuck with it until September under penalty of death!
No LCD or plasma tv. No DVR. My oldish tvs are still going along quite nicely, and despite forgetting what I have on which VHS tapes, I can’t bring myself to get rid of the VCRs just yet.
I confess that although I do have a fairly up to date cellphone I’m still only using its text and phoning functions. Watching tv or videos on its itty-bitty screen, playing games, or using it for taking grainy pictures(sorry PXTs!)just don’t appeal. Shoulda just kept the old one.
Easy…i have not one, but two VCRs in my place. I’ve tried DVR and its ok (though it’s incredibly annoying when some shows overrun and I miss the last few minutes of “Lost”), but, for some reason I can’t let go of my VCR…and my friends laugh and laugh.
Dont have a cell phone or i pod.
I also have a CD walkman, mainly to listen to NPR while woking out. I don’t download music, chat, use an Ipod, have a plama TV (who’s going to spend that money?), have a cell that doesn’t take pictures (they were VERY annoying at my brother’s wedding) and have only text messaged when my sister-in-law sends me a message.
Ready
I have NO cell phone, no home computer, no tv’s made in the last 10 years, no electric gadgets of any kind I hardly even know what an I pod is. Forget a digital camera or just about anything in the Best Buy ad. Really I am just about 1 step away from being amish
No DVR and no flatscreen. I don’t care about the DVR but a flatscreen would be nice. Simple cell phone with voice mail but no camera and I don’t do texting. I did get an MP3 player but haven’t loaded it yet.
No flat screen, no DVR, and I still have a mighty fine collection of movies on VHS. Only because I buy new movies that I don’t already own for my DVD collection. Then again. Soon we’ll all be saying “No HD or Blue-ray DVD player.” I’ll be keeping my DVD/VCR until it dies or we’re forced to buy something new.
mscisluv: you don’t have to get cable next year; do what I’m going to do – get the analog to digital converter box, and your ancient TV that operates by antenna will work just fine!
So obvs, no cable here, no HD TV, no Ipod, not even a Walkman (though I do have a portable radio I take with me if there’s a sporting event I can’t miss), my stereo has a single CD player, dual cassettes and a record player. I feel almost bad that I carry a BlackBerry everywhere I go. But it’s for work, honest!
No IPOD, no flat screen, no DVR. My VCR broke recently, but will probably get a new one because I still have a lot of VHS movies. I only bought a digital camera within the past year.
I, in fact, do not have a cell phone. HDTV, DVD recorder, top of the line iMac, three different iPods including an iPod touch–I got ‘em all. And no cell phone. I just can’t justify the monthly bill for something I’d almost never use unless it was an emergency.
No cable, no iPod, no home intarwebbers, no flat screen . . . but I gots me a Netflix subscription and a ginormous cd collection. So I got that going for me.
Badtoy – rotary dial? That is hardcore, man. Effin’ A.
why oh why do people buy into this? a select affluent subset of the population take up a techie cause, and make the rest of the feel like neanderthals. most of the american public either can’t afford or, more importantly, DON”T NEED these gadgets, but the media makes us feel inadequate for not keeping up. stop the lies, people! do not feel ashamed! fwiw, i have a prepaid cellphone that i hardly ever turn on, no home comp (tho i obv use one for work), no ipod, blah blah blah. guess what? i’m fine, and manage to keep up with pop culture better than those who are all tech-ed out.
No DVR. I have two VCRs. They’ll have to be pried away from my cold, dead hands. I also refuse to “text” anything to anyone.
I’ll do you one better – I not only still have a CD discman, but I have a turntable, receiver and speakers that are only a few years old. I’m proud of my records and wouldn’t trade them for anything. How can you compare the beautiful, colorful production of a record’s gatefold, liner notes (and sometimes a poster included) to music downloaded from a lousy computer??? You can’t!
No ipod, no home computer. I have a DVR but refuse to let go of my VCR. And I love my CD walkman.
I’ve got a massive beast of a Sony Trinitron (large & heavy even compared to a similar-sized CRT) with over-the-air broadcast television. It’s got a clear enough picture, plus several composite jacks and one set for component video (for the DVD player), so it’s not going anywhere soon. I’ll probably just get a set-top converter box for it when they finally come out–unless pricing gets really gouged, it still should work out to be a better deal than a year’s worth of cable for the number of channels I actually watch on a weekly basis (about 3 of the approx. 8-10 I get in clearly).
I don’t have a Blackberry. I have the very basic Palm Pilot – it doesn’t even have Internet access. I just wanted soemthing where I could store a shopping list without wasting paper.
I like my iPod, cheap cellphone (w/camera), flat screen TV, DVR and high-def DVD player. But I refuse to have a PDA. I like to operate from paper. I won’t get a Kindle or a different type of “reader”. I like books. There’s something about paper.
I don’t have a DVR, and my TV screen is, like 13 inches. It’s the same one I had in my college dorm. I also still have dial-up internet, although that will be changing soon.
I do have an iPod and digital cable, though, as well as a fairly new computer.
I don’t have a DVR or a flat screen, and have an iPod nano that I never update (except to add the latest Smodcast). One thing I would give up in a heartbeat is my cell phone. I hate, Hate, HATE carrying a cell phone around with me, and would give it up if my wife didn’t insist that I carry it at all times.
No HDTV or flat-screen. No DVR or Tivo. No wireless network at the house – I just upgraded to DSL from dial-up within the past few months. Yes, my stereo has a double cassette deck, a CD player, and a turntable on top. AND I HAVE A PORTABLE 8-TRACK PLAYER, the kind with the strap to hang on your shoulder . . . beat that!
But in all fairness, it was my mom’s. However, I must confess, I do have an Ipod. Public transportation is just no good without music.
Thanks to my husband… I have no tech deficiencies.