This is, I think, a big reason why many will willingly choose the other path. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

People don't understand balance. Money is less important to me than happiness. Health outcomes come in different forms, some with which I agree, many that I do not because they affect happiness of an individual or a group of individuals. Higher productivity at this point is largely pointless, as survival needs have been met for the general populations of the world (not saying it's 100%). I'm willing to make tradeoffs along the way, but I'd also be willing to give up a lot of what we're looking at or already have. Call me (and other's like me) "left behind" if you want, but you shouldn't conflate not wanting something to the same thing as not understanding it, like you have in your other thread. - OCoG of FF, Jimminy

Higher productivity? Yeah... Facebook and LOLCats - Johnny

Better health? Like, not going outside? ;) - Johnny

There are a growing number of devices, Johnny, that monitor various data points about our health. One example is sleep behaviors. If people who use these devices are able to use them to get better sleep health, for example, it will definitely give them a gain to health. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

Jimminy, if you don't think you would use a smartphone if you had one, you can't really say that you grok why smartphones are so useful. If you grokked it, you'd have one. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

It's ok to say "I don't think that smartphones are all that useful" and be done with the conversation. And don't conflate "grokk" with "intellectual understanding of how something works". - Scoble, Alex Scoble

As usual, disappointment awaits you. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

Alex, if I had one yes I would, that's almost tautological. I choose not to have one, because I have no need. I don't say they aren't useful, they are, but they aren't necessary and I don't really need one to do anything I couldn't do through other means. Meanwhile, I have to make other trade-offs in privacy, monetarially, and through personal and social annoyances. - OCoG of FF, Jimminy

Saying you have to have a smartphone to get through life, is like saying well all those people in 1990 didn't know how to live. Poor people without smartphones, there life was so miserable. - OCoG of FF, Jimminy

Alex, I'm not conflating anything. I get it, I honestly do, but I don't need it or want it. There are absolutely occasions where I wish I had one, but it's only a matter of convenience. And the negatives outweigh the positives for me. - OCoG of FF, Jimminy

Except, I never said that having a smartphone is necessary to get through life. I think you are arguing here for the sake of arguing at this point. You don't want to be labeled as "left behind", except, as is often the case, none of this really has anything to do with you. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

I look forward to the day where my body is covered in sensors collecting data about how I'm sitting on my ass eating potato chips. People know how bad smoking is for them yet still do it. Access to better health information doesn't automatically lead to better health. People are the random element :) - Johnny

Alex, I responded directly to your questions. If that is arguing, okay. - OCoG of FF, Jimminy

Performance enhancing drugs aren't necessary for riding a bike, but they are necessary if you want to win the Tour de France. That's what getting "left behind" is like. If you are ok with riding a bike at your pace, that's great, more power to you, but if your goal is to win the Tour de France, you aren't going to do it without PEDs. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

Johnny, pointing to the possible negatives/misuses of technology is not somehow going to invalidate what I said. It's like you guys are purposefully skipping over the word "likely" in order to pretend that I'm saying some grand Scoble edict from on high such as "This is the way it will be!". - Scoble, Alex Scoble

Yes, that's how I consider being "left behind". It's a seemingly insurmountable hindrance. I do not see not having smartphones, Google Glass, Television, and numerous other things as an insurmountable hindrance. More novelties of convenience. Also what exactly are you trying to win. Life isn't a competition unless you want it to be, in which case just keep trying to keep up with Mr. & Mrs. Jones. - OCoG of FF, Jimminy

Isn't it obvious that I'm trying to win the 2013 friendfeed popularity contest? - Scoble, Alex Scoble

*chuckle* - Johnny

In the not too distant, you will measure friendship even power by peoples willingness to unplug and meet you face to face... #gibsonprobablydaiditbetter - WarLord