h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Of course, the internet is useful, yes. All for antibiotics and clean water, energy saving lightbulbs and laptop computers. Labour saving devices like vacuum cleaners are wonderful, but it's this constant low grade background buzz of electricals - wifi and air-con and loads of other brainless abbreviations which people never turn off, or the fact that no-one seems to be able to walk somewhere if they aren't plugged into their ipod. What gets to me is the way that everything joyful and worthwhile seems to have to come from some lump of expensive machinery rather than all the other lovely things. So, the questions:

>>Do you miss the days when the whole family gathered around the TV for those weekly highlights?<<
Well, yes, of course I do. That suggested that there was something worth watching on and everyone enjoyed it. But what I really miss is the way that people then used to turn the television off on the other days and have a conversation...

>>Is modern noise pollution making you see red on your daily commute?<<
Yeah. It's not nice when people use their horn too often. Especially as a pedestrian as I'm not encased in metal and they are REALLY LOUD. What's worse though, is all the exhaust fumes, but I suppose that's inevitable, and the terminal amount of litter.

>>Do you bemoan the state of the written word and the rise of the text abbreviation? Could we ever return to the age of letters?<<
Text abbreviation has its place. I can get a little funny about grammar at times, but I know that's just me. Of course I desire a return to the age of letters. Letters are so much nicer than texts, especially love letters, but texts are more convenient. My real problem is with acronyms and buzz words - what function do they serve?

>>Has the mobile phone removed any trace of civilised behaviour from the planet?<<
No. Insincerity has removed all trace of civilised behviour from this planet. Mobiles are just a medium by which insincerity can flourish and manifest itself.

>>Ever wish you were following a shire horse across a field instead of a mouse across a desk top?<<
Of course. Although working a plough is a lot of hard work, and shire horses are a little bit scary in their enormity. I don't idealise the past, just despair of the present.

Turning the TV off is a fair point, aye. I scrapped my TV license this month, I've watched about 3 hours on my own set this year but I've found myself having more (and more meaningful) conversations than ever before. It's really quite refreshing.
The downside is visitng home, where we had a fairly large TV. And Frasier is almost always showing.
Not having a TV makes being in the presence of one ridiculously distracting.

Yeah, I've always found that (not having one myself...) - although am wondering how much it's the huge widescreen HD type TVs that cause the problem. It never used to be that distracting, but other people's sets seem to take up a whole wall.