Fear of being left behind by technology

[Corzhens]

I have been with the IT department of our company for more than 20 years already but I cannot say I am up to date when it comes to technology. Even with the smart phone, I still play the candy crush game while Pokemon Go is now the fashion. And when I hear people talking of technology like a new laptop that is alien to me, I kind of feel some fear that I am being left behind by technology. There are times that I don't want to hear tech talk particularly the advancement in phones. The other night my husband was telling me about Google Duo, an app that works like skype where you can see the person on the other end of the phone line. He wanted me to install so we can test. I just said I was busy but in truth, why is there a need for that app? Isn't texting enough? Isn't skype enough? That's the problem with technology, it doesn't stop moving forward.

 

[hades_leae]

Haha, I feel the same and with apps like, they are really relevant to people who can make use of them. You don't have to feel like you're being left behind because you don't have use for something. You know how to use a phone, download apps, etc, I don't see that as being left behind.


I'm a programmer, and there are many programming languages out there that I don't know. I don't know how to develop console games, I don't know system programming, and lots of other stuff, but I know web development and can build killer dynamic websites. I stay up to date with technology that I want and need, but other things I don't need to know. I don't see that as being left behind.

 

[Panic57]

I wouldn't be to stressed, I'm in my twenties and I can't seem to keep up with the new technology and apps. Even the phones seem to be out of date before they even hit the shelves. I think the important thing to remember is that you don't have to know all of it. Just pick the things you need to understand to work or be up to date to really understand how they work so you can use them. The other technology, you should have a vague idea of what it is but if you don't need it, you shouldn't feel compelled to master it. I the whole Adobe Creative Suite but I really only used Photoshop and Illustrator the majority of the time, the others I use rarely and I know how to use them for those times. So just because it's all out there, it's important to keep up with what's relevant to your life.

 

[justsayyes]

That's so true. Technology is constantly evolving. Everyday there's new breakthrough it's hard to keep up. The thing is, i don't really mind if i get left behind or something. I'm not a crowd follower, in fact, i stay away from things if it's too mainstream. lol. I use apps and things if i really need them, not because it's the newest trend. As long as i know the basics, i think I'm good to go.

 

[cafwen]

I second this fear! It's impossible to keep up with technology, and it places a lot of stress on people who feel that they may become somehow disposable if their skills can't keep up. I find it helps to know that this is actually a very widespread fear, and there are certain skills that technology really never will replace, things like empathy, communication... 'the human touch'. If we can look at technology as something that can enhance our talents rather than replace it, it seems just a little less daunting.

 

[misszerable]

The fear is real but we really can't catch up with every advances in technology because as soon as you learn them, another one is bound to replace it soon enough. I prefer to learn skills that are necessary to advance my career, though, so I've motivated myself to learn useful stuff such as SQL and some programming languages. I really wouldn't care about Pokemon Go or even Candy Crush and I'd rather talk to my son or my family than play those silly games. And yeah, if Skype or Line is working fine, I'd be happy with that. 

 

[Alex]

We can't escape technology, but my parents just don't want to know. They do ask me to look things up online, but neither want to learn how to do it themselves. I am a bit behind, but I'm okay with it as I don't need to use it. I don't want to use Snapchat as I find it so invasive, and I loathe using apps because I just don't trust them.


My brother is very techy and I get most information from him (he writes about new tech stuff), but sometimes they don't catch on either. I don't even like smartphones and held onto my Blackberry as long as I could.

 

[kelden]

There is a moment in our life that we are reaching to an age we are unwilling to keep up the pace of the growth of e-commerce and entertainment tech Market. And it keeps growing as much as the decrease of  production costs allows it. I only follow up the stuff I'm interested in, like GPUs and videogame consoles, I don't give much care to the newest smartphone or the latest trend among social media.

 

[joshposh]

Technology is changing everyday.  So in essence everyone is being left behind.  If you are a professional then I can see how this may affect you as you need to be on top of things.  Even with car mechanics.  That too is changing.  Cars were easy to fix and take apart, but now a days, cars are more like computers and that has forced everyone to go back to school and learn how to fix computerized cars.

 

[Aree Wongwanlee]

I don't have this fear of technology. Perhaps it's because I have been involved with technology for a long time. It's something of a hobby with me. Plus it's a way for me to make a living, too. I keep track of the latest developments in technology. That's to enable me to understand what's going on around me. There's no way to avoid technology. One way or another, it's going to affect us. Even if we ourselves don't use it much, others are using it and their use affects our lives as well.


As for Google Duo, I am waiting to see how it develops. Is it necessary? No idea really until I have used it and I haven't. So, for the time being, it's just another bunch of code in my smartphone.

 

[fcuco]

I would venture a guess that even young people don't fully understand all the new features that their phone has, they simply jump from app to app depending on what their friends are using , most new apps are not technological breakthroughs, but most likely a remix of the same idea with a small twist, take something like snapchat, it is simply an app for sharing videos, something that always existed but they simply gave it the twist that the videos delete themselves after a short while.

I think anybody that has access to the internet and can handle doing some basic social media stuff, searching using something like google and can send an receive emails is not being left behind by technology, there is not much to it really, the rest are just shinny apps that don't do anything useful.  

 

[oportosanto]

The hard reality is that technology changed our world so quick that many people didn't have time or simply didn't want to adjust. I have the example of my dad, that is just 69, but never bothered to learn to deal with computers. So we need to do what's in our power to learn because technology is a part of our life and we need to be comfortable using it.

 

[Choochoo]

I feel the same way sometimes. I wouldn't call it fear but I do get worried about being left out of the loop and one day turn into my parents. Though I guess I am already somewhat there since my parents never really paid much attention to trends anyway so that behavior is in me as well and even when we didn't have all these gadgets I was always comfortable with not being part of what was popular in school so even nowadays when I get a bit worried I'd say at least I have something in me that provides me with a bit of comfort when I'm not able to. 

 

[Laneorexorcist]

I haven't thought about this a lot before, but I'm relatively young and I don't really keep up with technology advances and I know that for one reason or other there will be a time where I am going to left behind by it, and it's scary but I think that I am going to be okay, but at the same time maybe not really because every time we are being more dependent on technology and the world would not work the same, and adaptation is really scary for some people... Including me. 

 

[sidney]

I actually don't mind not being up to date with the latest technology, especially if it's something that I will not use or if it's not needed. I own an Android phone that has Gingerbread as it's OS, and I still don't feel the need to upgrade since my phone is still working. I don't like installing apps anyway, so what's the point, right? We do not need to keep up with the latest technology all the time.

 

[fuzyon]

Unfortunately you can't do anything about it, but I feel like old people that have been left behing by technology nowadays simply don't care about it, why would you worry about something you don't care? When you'll be older you're probably be fine with the technology from your age, you won't feel the need to get all the latest devices that kids have. There's no point in worrying about things like this, if you will be interested in the future you will not be left behind by technology.

 

[cluckeyo]

I tend to believe that technology is getting easier as time goes by. Think about the old mainframe computers that took up half a room and required you use DOS to make it work. Now everything is much easier and better. I was out of the loop on the smartphones for awhile but I finally got one and it is super easy to operate. People who have no interest in technology will surely fall behind, but they also won't care. People who are interested in technology will continue to enjoy the way it just gets easier and easier.