Well the answer is simple - we all do whether we like it or not.
But have we gone too far, too fast? That is the question I want to pose today. And of course, there isn't a simple answer.
Those of us born in the 1950s or 1960s are probably more confused than anyone else. Anyone born later probably grew up with technology of one kind or another whereas we had to learn a whole new set of skills.
We had to learn that there were no longer 240 pence in a pound, no longer 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound, no longer half crowns, and no such things as farthings which went out with the ark. Pre decimalisation there were no ps just ds and older readers will know exactly what I'm referring to there.
Then strange things began to happen. Vinyl LPs were replaced with those silver things called Compact Discs, super eight film was consigned to the trash can and reel to reel tape recorders disappeared from the scene. I used to have a reel-to-reel player (actually still do) and a spool of tape which I recorded over time and time again. I remember having a battle with myself as to whether I should buy Beethoven's First Symphony or The Supremes Greatest Hits on reel to reel (seriously). I can't remember buying either as it happens. I used to have the same problem deciding whether to buy a music cassette or a CD. One day I had a bit of cash to spare and couldn't decide. So I bought Freedom by Neil Young on cassette tape and Storm Front by Billy Joel on CD. This was from Woolworth's - a store we all remember with affection.
I remember my first car just had a radio. I had loads of cassette tapes (something else that has gone) and played them in the car in a portable tape machine which I placed on the floor of the passenger seat. It used up batteries at a ridiculous rate. Then cars developed cassette players where, if you were lucky, they played and where, if you were unlucky, the tape unravelled inside the player. Then these were replaced by car CD players which we thought would last forever. My last two cars haven't had a CD player. Sacre bleu. How could we survive? Well welcome to the world of USB sticks, downloads and playing Spotify through your phone.
Now logically none of this makes sense.
1970s boy: "I've just bought a new tape player. It's ever so good. Reproduces great sound and has only mangled two tapes this month."
2020s boy: "I've got a new pair of ear buds. The bass is amazing and they fit so well."
1970s boy: "What the hell are earbuds?"
2020s boy: "What the hell is a tape player?"
I still can't get past the stage of wonderment. I used to walk round the village with a Sony Walkman. This played cassette tapes, was heavy and batteries seemed to last about one walk. Now I pop in a pair of very small buds which aren't attached to anything and I listen to strange things called podcasts or strange things called playlists which I have set up myself. These come into my ear thingees via a mobile phone which is a couple of feet away.
I used to make up my own cassette tapes by recording on them from Vinyl (I bet most of us did this). I put together favourite tracks from my favourite artists. Now I just press a button and add tracks to my playlists and then shuffle them so I don't know what's coming next. Mind you the other day I had Les Miserables on shuffle which was stupid because the hero died before he was born!
The problem with all this technology explosion is things become obsolete within months. What use is my reel to reel, what use is my cine camera, what use is my camera that takes film, what use is my portable tape player and very soon what use will my CD player be? This technological rush does have its drawbacks.
Some time ago I found a box full of old computer floppy discs. I bought a little gizmo which allowed me to turn the files into word documents and feed them into my laptop. These discs, which were state of the art, could hold just one photograph or just a small number of documents. I had around 30 of them but the files scarcely registered on my laptop. The problem is that important documents on one form of media become obsolete. Then a new shiny form like recordable CDs becomes obsolete. Soon portable disc drives and USBs will become obsolete.
So what happens with records (as in documents and not vinyl)? Well we can't rely on today's technology being usable next week or next month. So we print everything out and put it in folders and that's something 1970s boy would understand.
So has technology gone too far? Well I fear that it has as everyone is now expected to understand and embrace it. I now get train tickets on my phone. I get cinema tickets on my phone, I get holiday visas on goodness knows where. You see it all gets terribly confusing. We are expected to do everything online and sometimes it's very confusing with all the passwords needed. Sadly, i don't trust it all and whenever possible print stuff out which rather destroys the reason for having the technology, but I need something physical in my hands and I don't just mean a mobile phone.