Peter_MacDougall@mindlink.UUCP (Peter MacDougall) (03/30/91)
Perhaps this is the place to mention it, Perhaps not. I like to use my computer, tinker with it, etc.... Ocassionally though I remind myself of a cartoon that a local editorial cartoonist (Olson from the Vancouver Courier) produced. In the cartoon there was a dialogue between a perpetual couch potato and his anthromorphic, demonic TV. In this scenario, the TV was asking the fellow what he wanted to watch and the fellow replied with a series of literary quotes about the mind-numbing qualities of the boob tube. The couch potato wins the verbal volley and gets up. However the TV sighs, "Thank goodness for my cousin or people would start to interact!" as couch potato sits down to his computer. OK. So that is not quite true if he was logging onto a BBS. But aside from personal E-Mail, a BBS can be a lonely anonymous place for most. You cast your arrow in the air and where it lands you know not where. Most of the "personal" is taken out of personal interaction (perhaps with the exceptions of flames and e-mail) How does this link to caller ID? Only that with computers and their wonderful ways of interfacing with each other, I feel sometimes that more and more people are using their computers/telephones/answering machines to communicate with others rather than themselves. "I'll get my machine to call your machine" does not seem so ridiculous anymore. But in many ways it is. Of course this comes out of one of my pet peeves: people using answering machines to screen calls. It goes completely against my grain. It says a lot to me about how much someone respects other people and their own feelings of self-importance. I use my answering machine so that it is EASIER to contact me, not harder. Now, obviously I do not get too many nuisance calls. If I do, like telephone sales people, I tell them I'm not interested and goodbye; they are people too nonetheless despite their unwelcome job duties. People will probably use caller-ID and answering machines to screen calls and that is their perogative. But I wonder if it does not just isolate people more than ever. Just something to consider. Peter MacDougall Peter_MacDougall@MINDLINK.uucp Remember, Crack Kills, Speed Bumps!
peter@taronga.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva) (04/01/91)
Peter_MacDougall@mindlink.UUCP (Peter MacDougall) writes: > OK. So that is not quite true if he was logging onto a BBS. But aside from > personal E-Mail, a BBS can be a lonely anonymous place for most. You cast > your arrow in the air and where it lands you know not where. Most of the > "personal" is taken out of personal interaction (perhaps with the exceptions > of flames and e-mail) To the contrary, for a lot of people a BBS is a warm, friendly place where they can interact with people on whatever terms they choose. Even seriously handicapped people are no longer handicapped when everyone is restricted to 2400 baud. They may type a little slower, but who's going to notice that? I'm sorry that you have never discovered a BBS like this. The modem, here in the closing decade of the 20th century, is the great equaliser. More and more people are becoming reluctant to answer the phone. My wife often does not answer the phone during the day simply because of all the nuisance calls. You're lucky in that they don't bother you. Caller-ID, far from closing people away, will help them open up again. -- (peter@taronga.uucp.ferranti.com) `-_-' 'U`