Luddite with an iPhone

via Wikipedia

I’ve never been much of a cheerleader for technology: a Luddite with an iPhone, a friend once called me; a technologically proficient skeptic with a Facebook account. I’m not sure what that says about me, about my convictions or whatnot. A few years ago, during a class discussion about existentialism, I happened to mention that I was agnostic, to which the professor replied, “No, you’re just wishy-washy.” I didn’t argue the point: a moral relativist, a questioning empathetic observer. An ethical ghost, as Fernando Pessoa may have called me. But my agnosticism doesn’t end in spiritual or religious matters. That “wishy-washyness” seeps into my views on all things e- (or i if it’s an Apple product).

So, back to the start: I have an iPhone, a MacBook, a Facebook account, a Twitter account (which I never use), a couple Gmail accounts, and a Netflix’s subscription. I haven’t bought a (paper & ink) newspaper in over a year, though I nonetheless bemoan the slow erosion of our fourth estate. I got angry—or silently frustrated—when I found that my new landlord didn’t have an online payment system, but requires that I mail him a check (the barbarian), yet I sometimes put an extra stamp on letters, feeling as though I’m doing my tiny part to ensure the financial security of the Postal Service. The contradictions, or my cognizant dissonance in matter of new vs. old technology abound.

So the question remains: Why should I care that a service I find cumbersome and inefficient sticks around?