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February 4th, 2011

Before the invention of the computer

church computer cartoon

Click here for a readable version: Parish life before the invention of the computer

I think computers have, in general, make our lives less happy, but I don’t have time to discuss this as I have to go and do things on the computer.

Don’t get me wrong, lots of very good things would not have not been possible without the advance of technology (my cartooning career included) but we’ve lost a lot and I think a lot of the time we forget or don’t even realise that this is the case. Or perhaps that’s just me.

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This is a single post on the Cartoon Blog by Dave posted on Friday, February 4th, 2011 at 10:49 am. Click here to read all of the latest posts. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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10 Responses to “Before the invention of the computer”


  1. Russ says:

    You are wise indeed, Dave, but the technology genie is out of the bottle and I haven’t had my three wishes yet.

    The problem as I see it is that we are even put off fasting from the computer/iPhone/mobile electronic device for a day or two because of the mountain of e-mails, tweets, Facebook dribble and general blah that will have piled up since we last looked at it.

    Maybe we should go back to carrier pigeons and telegrams. And rationing.

    I suspected we were actually more genuinely connected to our world when we were entirely disconnected from all the background noise. Ho hum.

    February 4th, 2011 at 11:11 am
  2. Dave says:

    Hi Dave

    I’d be interested to hear you say more about what has been lost with the advance of technology… when you get time.

    Dave

    February 4th, 2011 at 11:12 am
  3. Dave says:

    Thanks Russ – good thoughts. David – I will do. Not sure whether it will be today owing to packed computing schedule.

    February 4th, 2011 at 11:21 am
  4. Sara from the library says:

    Going *back* to carrier pigeon? Didn’t someone test one against a dodgy phone line once and find it was a faster data transfer? And I’m sure I read somewhere (it sounds like New Scientist Feedback type of thing) that people were taping data cards to slow animals and beating download speeds?
    I *may* have just dreamt all that, though, but it’s mildly pleasing nonsense even if I did.

    February 4th, 2011 at 11:58 am
  5. Steve Day says:

    Have a look at RFC 1149
    (RFC is “Request For Comment” and are the official way for potential new internet standards to be published and debated. For example RFC 1945 specifies HTTP)

    February 4th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
  6. chris clark says:

    Always use email for delicate pastoral situations, refer difficult theological issues to the appropriate web page (e.g. Ian Paisley) and above all remember “rudeness saves time”. This way we can avoid embarassing eye and physical contact.

    February 4th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
  7. drbexl says:

    Awww. It’s all about a bit of self-control eh? I’m *clearly* a master of such self-control… I can prove it… I’m not ‘completely addicted’, just ‘fairly addicted’: http://plixi.com/p/74523014 (see Psychologies magazine, think, shock horror, may only be in the paper version)… I tried the website, and see what it offered me: http://www.psychologies.co.uk/news/just-how-easy-is-it-to-do-nothing/ … I think I don’t need to sit at my computer to do nothing for 2 minutes!!

    February 4th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
  8. ramtopsrac says:

    In my family I’m sure we forget what free time looks like sometimes as it’s spent logged on and communicating with the world, or the husband upstairs if I think he might want a cuppa!

    The dog drags me away from the computer occasionally, and worship is thankfully still not done logged in (except for the poor s*d driving the data projector)!

    But the next few weeks will bring us away from the computer a little more… towards the TV – praise the Lord that the RBS 6 Nations is still on terrestrial!

    February 4th, 2011 at 1:28 pm
  9. — Digital Fingerprint says:

    [...] a world in which there seems to be no time to stop, and in which computers are often blamed for this, the following app has been created by Alex Tew (the man behind the Million Dollar homepage), which [...]

    February 4th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
  10. Sara from the library says:

    Steve Day, I note the date on that RFC. I didn’t dream it, well, not the pigeon-based stuff anyway, not quite sure why my search for “tortoise download speed” didn’t work…

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/17/bt_bird/

    February 4th, 2011 at 4:36 pm