Haven't really read through all the replies here but let me add my own and most likely I'll stand out for a reason. And yes, wall of text warning.
Ever since I was a kid of 3 years old I have short memories of playing with toys or things my older brothers had, namely any sort of electronics that were around the house. Of course back then, the only thing that could be qualifies as electronics would be a calculator. There was literally nothing else; the phone was still rotary, tv with no cable and we were able to get 3 channels (4 if you counted pbs), we had 1 radio, though 2 if you counted the one in the garage for my dad.
Our first real electronic device was probably when the first Ataris were released. My brothers and I f*cking loved that thing and I devoured it because of the ability to now play different games. Then later I managed to get a Nintendo, plus we actually had a VCR too! Fast forward some more and I was one of the first people in my small town with a cell phone back when they still used analog. One of the first people to get on the internet. Technology became my life so to speak because I was constantly fascinated with what could be done or devising new ways to accomplish things, so much in fact that I turned it into a career. I still work in tech today but you really do need that sort of passion and drive to survive in this industry.
Now with that said, and it's likely because I work around it all the time, I do take active steps to now remove technology from my life. Tech can be great however today the amount of information available can easily lead to an overload on your mind, eat into your time unnecessarily thereby preventing you from doing productive things, and perhaps the worst part if that a great deal of information is presented as "valuable" somehow when it fact it's completely worthless. A person or entity tries to trick people into thinking this information is absolutely some kind of 'must need to know right now' which continuously consumes them and people by and large still haven't even figured this out yet let alone devise some method of combating it by disregarding frivolous information.
I have not used a cell phone (or if you want to call it a smart phone these days) in nearly 10 years. I tell people this and they look at me in shock and disbelief wondering how I can survive without one. The most used reply from people appeals to me for safety reasons when they ask "What if you're in a car wreck or your car breaks down or something?" Well I live in a large city so it isn't like I'll be stranded on the side of the road for a long time; people will come by and when they stop I'll ask for help. But the more important point is that I know how to handle myself if I were stranded. I grew up in a time before cell phones and I have been stranded along roads that don't see maybe a few cars every day. You have to know how to take personal responsibility for yourself at the very least. Some of these people who can't comprehend this have kids of their own. If you can't take care of yourself in these situations or know what to do, you expect to be able to take care of others?
Does anyone remember an older movie called Dutch, starring Ed O'Neill? I rather liked that movie and I consider it a classic that I enjoy watching every so often. One particular quote Ed's character said in the movie to the bratty kid Doyle was "Someday you're going to get in a situation where you can't call for help. You'll have to depend on yourself, and you'll let yourself down."
I couldn't have said it any better myself.
I tried out Facebook in the first few years it was available and got rid of my account after about a year. Quite simply, reading the musings of crap people think is somehow important got old quick. These days you can filter that stuff out but I have no desire to be the product for a company that will make money off of me not to mention harvest every bit of information about my personal life for their own use. I think this was a good call because now we have entire strategies as men devoted to how to combat the attention wh0ring women do online in order to feed their egos.
When I think about it, my god, the people I grew up with were probably one of the last generations in the USA who had to game young women the old fashioned way and didn't have exposure to social media. What really almost scares me now is that there will never be another generation again in this country who will go back to the way it was before all this.
So to try and not write a f*cking novel...though it looks like I already have... I don't keep much of an online presence at all that identifies with who I actually am in real life as a person. I sure as hell don't need the electronic leash that so many people today gladly accept because they just can't live without some new post from Facebook or texting with some buddies or anything else. Tech is great but when it removes that interpersonal interaction you can have with someone else, I have noticed it has degraded our society a bit because people don't know how to properly interact in social situations, filter what they say, or have suddenly forgotten or never learn proper manners.
