Linkbait headline is 10 Things That Didn’t Exist 10 Years Ago That We Now Can’t Live Without.
Here’s the list (in descending order in the article). I’ve put in italics things I’ve used and in bold things I cannot live without.
- Uber
- Bitcoin
- The Selfie Stick
- Spotify
- “Woke”
- Airbnb
- Snapchat
- Tesla
- The iPad
Number of things I can’t live without: 0.
Number of things I use regularly: 0.
I mean, I’ve used Airbnb once, and it’s still not my go-to accommodation. I’ve got Spotify installed, and I use it once in a while to try to discover new music (I found Anna Danes and Lauren Meccia on it), but the radio stations I create based on artists I like tend to play the same bands over and over, so once you’ve listened to it for a while, it’s like listening to a radio station with a small playlist). And I have an iPad, but it’s for testing purposes mostly, and it sits on the desk needing a charge until such time as I need it for testing.
I’m getting to a point in my life where I’m becoming a bit of a Luddite. Technology and its toys and trinkets are not the meaning of life, and as I get older I recognize that you get more satisfaction from real life endeavors rather than endless selfies and incomplete games of Civilization.
So I’m proud not to need the things in the list or I’ll die. I feel justified in trying to steer my children from devices and apps as often as possible, or else they might end up writers of twee listicles mistaking the Internet for life or meaning.
Also, I really hope people can live without Tesla, especially the people who have plunked down deposits for cars that might not ever be manufactured.
