How to Live in a Technologically Savvy New World When You Aren't Technologically Hip

Everywhere I turn, it seems like everyone is all up in arms about staying connected and in touch with technology. Every other commercial on the television is showing how this cell phone plays movies. Every other newsprint article is talking about how that Blackberry streams music. Every other blog I see on the Internet is raving about how the hippest and latest gadgets are well worth the insane prices that they cost. I could really, honestly care less.

Not that I'm not interested in technology. I am, and I like to keep current on what people are into nowadays. That does not mean, however, that I am willing to go out and spend half my monthly salary on a phone. It's asinine to me that people pay that much money for something, simply because it's new and different. Sure, it can play movies, music, make phone calls, take pictures, pick up your kids, cook dinner, and do your laundry. But I just don't buy the hype. Standing in line, in the heat, in the cold, in the rain, in the burning sunshine for hours on end just to get a new telephone? I can imagine most people have things in life they must do, but to put it all aside for something the size of a checkbook is beyond me.

I work on the internet, so I see most of the new trends, get a lot of the up-to-date information on what's new, hot and cool in society today. I regularly come across forums discussing the latest technological advances, and most of them I'm fairly well-acquainted with and understand. Most of them make sense to me, at least on a basic level. Maybe I'm not as technologically advanced as I like to think I am. I know what size hard drive is standard in most computers, I know what wi-fi is and how to use it, I know how to blog, but I'm baffled by the need to be plugged into everything at every second of my existence..

Perhaps I'm not the hip-tech guru friends and family assume me to be. I do not, nor have I ever, owned an MP3 player, of any kind. I do not text on my cell phone, nor do I have texting on my phone plan just in case the urge strikes me. I can dial a number and call someone, as that's what a phone is for. If I wanted to type to people, I'd use the computer. But, the loss of the actual human interaction in texting bothers me, so I'll stick to talking. I do not download those nifty ringtones, as I can use the ones that come on my cell phone for free. I use my cell phone for useful purposes, like calling home to see what we need from the store, or checking on my family, so high-tech features like cameras and the coolest songs aren't that big of an issue to me.

I'm sure that the newest tech gadgets are great products, albeit overly hyped ones in my opinion. I'll save myself the hundreds of dollars, buy my child new toys, treat my husband to dinner, and stick with my cheap phone instead of splurging on the latest new gadget just because everyone else feels the need to purchase one. I really don't think anyone's ever died from not knowing what the latest gossip around town is, and I can live happily ever after without the overpriced, over exaggerated tech gadgets.