Thread: How Much we have come to rely on Tech!

Originally Posted by jonesfam

I like technology but sometimes just think have we gone to far.Jonesfam

Probably not far enough, in the sense that there is no backup or redundancy planning. We are not on NBN at the moment, so if the mains power fails the phone and internet still works 24/7. We are a little concerned about being on NBN when it arrives, given backup power is optional throughout the system, if I understand correctly you need battery backup at home as well as the substation.

I think your wife might need a Plan B, such as a shared account you can both access independently. Or a bag of cash. Just a thought.

BUT what is different to the old landlines in the outback where a tree falls and no phone?

When we had a 5day power outage 3 years ago, all mobile towers in the area were down, and nobody could charge their phones, except that Erina Fair had a different power circuit and the shops allowed people to charge their phones.
The landline worked for a while until the batteries died.

It is just great being able to access the internet with mobile via satellite downlink/uplink. I can recall staying at 80 Mile Beach caravan park in WA and their having a WiFI network in the middle of Nowhere and sitting outside the police station in Kulumburu to get internet, and the copper coming out to see what I was doing.

This was unheard of even 10 years ago and I love it.
Buy her a new phone .

Regards PhilipA

When I was servicing the back country in the era before widespread mobile phones, it was a simpler time but we still managed. You extracted sufficient cash from the bank to cover your expenses, if the boss wanted to get hold of you he would start ringing your customers and track you down that way but mostly he just trusted you to do the job (not that he had any choice)
If you had a breakdown or an issue, you either fixed it yourself or waited for someone to come along who could. One memorable time I was sitting in the table drain about 30KM out of Wanarring with a tie rod bent like a banana on the Falcon van. A carload of shearers gave me a ride into town where we straightened the tie rod with a hammer and anvil, drove back out and fitted it and I drove Ito Wanarring, did my work and drove to Cobar for the night.
The tyres were stuffed by the time I made it back to Orange but aside from that all was well without any need to consult with people.

Another example that comes to mind is when I did a trip to the US in 1992. I had an arrangement with my oldies that I would do my best to call once a week on a six week trip, which I mostly did. These days when I'm overseas I usually communicate with the family at least once every 24 hours.

I think we would cope without the modern tech, mostly what it has delivered is rapid communication, sometimes that is a luxury we might not need, especially if we consider Clancy who's mates wrote letters with a thumbnail dipped in tar.....

Regards,
Tote

Originally Posted by jonesfam

I was going to put this in "Grumpy Old Buggers" but I'm not really grumpy about it.
SWMBO is currently living in Cloncurry & I am in Doomadgee.
It's been 9 weeks since I have seen her & the dogs are getting nervous!
For various reasons we have set it up so that if she needs money she phones me & I transfer money into her account.
Last week her mobile phone screen decided to go blank, so it is extremely difficult for her to use the phone.
So for 4 days she could not phone me. When I phoned her it was very hit or miss if she could answer the phone. She can not even tell how much charge the thing has.
To solve the problem she bought a Landline phone which she plugged into the NBN modem so at least we are back in contact from yesterday.

This got me thinking about how much we have come to rely on stuff like mobile phones, internet & computing.
At the Roadhouse I manage if the internet goes out we have no EFTPOS, no ATM & I can not bring any information back from the tills. All orders are done online & all our invoices/bills come via email. People can't book accommodation or hire cars & I can not pay any bills or invoices.
If the mobile network goes out we loose all phones, not just mobile & usually the internet goes as well, I can't get do much work at all.
I can't transfer money to SWMBO.
I like technology but sometimes just think have we gone to far.
Things like the mobile network or internet go belly up & virtually all work stops.
Probably be worse than what we are going through now.
Jonesfam

I agree.
I'm not "computer etc" savvy, but Wifey is, the last month or so have made me aware of just how hopelessly illiterate I am in this respect.
Thank goodness for Wifey.
Pickles.

When i was an apprentice,45 yrs ago,we all had a pager that beeped.
That meant use the customers phone to call the office,or stop at a pay phone,grab i think 5 cents and ring the office.
It then went up to 20 cents.

That was probably the beginning of all this tech we have to have these days to all stay in touch.

SWMBO has her own fantastic plastic,so i don't have to give her any money,all though sometimes i wish she didn't have one

Spare a thought for some of the bushfire affected areas earlier this year. Some towns had nothing - no power, no internet, no mobiles, no landlines. With major access roads closed preventing repairs it was a real problem. A few places were like this for six weeks.

The RFS tried to evacuate all the tourists back up to Sydney - but a lot of the communications were already out, which meant - no EFTPOS, no ATMs, no banks, no fuel (a standby generator can run the pumps, but that doesn't help the tourist with no money). How do you evacuate people by road when half of them don't have enough fuel?

I think that it showed that everyone needs to think about this sort of issue, and as a minimum, have a bit of cash. And plan ahead so that your loved ones don't immediately fear the worst if you can't communicate; discuss it with them ahead of time.

No-one wants cash any more, since the pandemic made shopkeepers afraid to touch anything handled by customers.
Plus businesses prefer to have the money go straight into their accounts so they don't have to do the daily bank run or risk leaving cash on the premises.
Even market stalls have EFTPOS now.
I haven't had any cash in my wallet for months.