Byline: Rob Zaleski
Hardly a week passes, it seems, when my one of my high-tech colleagues isn't reminding me what a pathetic, out-of-touch dinosaur I've become.
And in a sense, I suppose, they're right.
As I've mentioned here before, I'm one of those odd creatures commonly referred as a technophobe. Not only do I not subscribe to cable TV, I've never even been tempted to. I do not own a cell phone and, frankly, think they're idiotic -- except for emergencies, the primary reason they were invented.
And while I'll admit that e-mail is a truly ingenious invention -- particularly if you have a kid living in a faraway place like Sierra Leone, as I do -- I have absolutely no regrets about dismantling my home computer four years ago and depositing it at the dump. Because, among other things, it frees me to partake in one of the most underrated pleasures of life -- sitting back with a daily newspaper, which for a mere 50 cents (or $1 for the generally superb New York Times) provides about an hour's worth of nourishment for one's brain.
"But do you have any idea what you're missing?" one of my high-tech colleagues asked again last week.
Actually I do. In fact, there have been numerous stories in the last year that make it rather clear what I and other dinosaurs like myself are missing. And since it's unlikely my high-tech colleagues have seen these stories -- I'm guessing they were too busy illegally downloading music or text-messaging old girlfriends to notice -- I've decided to repeat a few of them here. Just for perspective's sake.
Let's see, where to start?
There was the story in The Capital Times' business section on March 3 about how cellular phone service and supplies was the No. 1 most complained about business in Wisconsin and North America in 2005.
The story said that the Wisconsin Better Business Bureau received an astounding 895 complaints against the industry last year -- almost twice as many as were lodged against the No. 2 industry on the list, mail order and catalogue shopping. (No. 5 on the list, incidentally, was Internet shopping services.)
Why are many cell-phone users so upset?
"It's the quality of cell phones, it's the range of service, it's warranty issues -- you name it," BBB Wisconsin President and CEO Randall Hoth said when contacted last Friday.
And those 895 complaints are just the tip of the iceberg, he says, noting that most people have to be incensed before they'll actually lodge a complaint.
There was the story four days later in which Wisconsin consumer protection officials warned that U.S. Cellular "may be misleading" some of its customers by requiring them to upgrade their phones or pay a fee.
The very next day, U.S. Cellular backed away from the plan and said in a statement, "Customer satisfaction is U.S. Cellular's No. 1 priority and we regret any inconvenience to our customers over this issue."
Right, uh-huh.
Let's see, what else?
There was another story last week about how satellite TV provider DirecTV will pay $115,000 in fines and litigation costs and pay restitution to customers in a consumer protection case it settled with the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
A suit filed against the company alleged that DirecTV violated state law by failing to disclose to consumers all of the material terms of its customer agreements at the time a customer subscribed, including fees for disconnecting before a subscription period ended.
And there were several stories in recent months about how an increasing number of cable and satellite TV customers are fed up with all the "junk" channels in their packages and want to be able to select and pay only for the channels they watch.
Charter Communications, the cable provider for the Madison area -- and which recently boosted the monthly price of expanded basic cable to $47.99 -- said it was studying a la carte pricing, but that it wasn't going to happen any time soon.
But my favorite story was the interview with Canadian author Heather Menzies in the Ottawa Citizen. Menzies has written a book, "No Time: Stress and the Crisis of Modern Life" that says many average citizens who regularly use cell phones, computers and other high-tech gadgets are suffering from high-tech overload and that it's causing depression, overwhelming stress and emotional burnout.
"It crept in so benignly" and "has been so beautifully camouflaged as stuff that we want," Menzies said. "But it's come at such a pace, it is so relentless, that is has taken over our lives."
So if any of my high-tech colleague happen to be reading this, yes, I really do understand what I'm missing. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to venture over to the Arboretum and experience something that people actually used to cherish many years ago. (And if you think I'm kidding, ask your grandparents.)
It's called solitude.
E-mail: rzaleski@madison.com
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