And it had to come to this; yes it is rather lame, but nevertheless.....it means something to me and perhaps it may strike a chord with other technology-philes out there.
Do you have an emotional attachment (or sentimental attachment) to your pc? Or any other tech-item you may possess.
My dear "old" Dell Inspiron 1525 and myself have been through some personal issues together since I purchased it back in 2007 upon commencing a new life as a student in the cyber era.
I fell in love upon first sighting from the computer screen in the pharmacy I was working in at the time. My boss, who was also a pc nerd, directed my attention to these wonderful little gems, all presented in their glorious colours.
I saw my Dell, and I had to have it. There was a primal desire, stirring right from the beginning.
I never forget how my hands shook as I gently tore off the clothing packaging, only to reveal the shiny, purple surface of my new object of desire.
Jesus....is this getting a bit much for everyone...?
Er....
So yes, my Dell and I have been through years, days, hours, minutes, seconds together of joy, laughter, tears, agony and rage.
Two nervous breakdowns, a new harddrive, and many hours spent on the phone to techs in the Phillipines....my Dell and I are still an item. I will not give up on it. Some twatin the local technology store told me it was time to give up my love during the last breakdown, but I refused.
Now, two years later (and some serious tweaking and interference from various tech-savvy friends) later, our relationship is better than ever. And I have to say, I have never been more impressed with my Dell's performance.
Any others have this level of attachment to their...gadgets?
I did mention in a different thread that I used to have a thing for inanimate objects....I know this is f...ing weird, but......I used to have a thing for....aircraft.
I won't force an old computer to run once it has outrun it's usefulness, that seem cruel, better to remember it in it's glory days than to prolong a slow agonising death, sometimes love means letting go.
I still miss my Nintendo 64, so much *cries* I still remember when I first saw it in the back of the car as my mother was picking me up from school, I was so surprised, oh the fun we had playing Goldeneye and Ocarina of Time... I want my Nintendo baaaaack! *completely hysterical*
*calms down*
In a more general sense there is something comforting about technology when you feel lonely, even when the world is against you the automatic doors still open, y'know we can never really know if the people we are interacting with are really people or not, we see them move, hear them talk, but that's just motion and noise. As I've explained elsewhere the notion of god is essentially like the wind in the trees, we see movement and on some level we assume there's a reason for it, a purpose, because we are accustomed to interacting with people who move independently of us, under their own will and towards their own purposes. Now all though I don't go as far as anthropomorphising it I do feel (irrationally) that technology cares about me, in it's own way, as I've said before a machine will never betray you, it will serve you as best it can for as long as it can, unquestionably loyal, and when it does fail you it is because you have failed it, because to perform it's function a machine needs to be cared for in return, it needs maintenance.
This spirituality is not the religious kind, it's more like shinto, a sort of spirituality in the very literal sense that it concerns the spirits of things as opposed to the western notions of deities, of course I don't believe machines have actual spirits (though sometimes I'm given cause to wonder) I just find it to be a nice way of representing common sense notions, like repair that tyre now so it doesn't need replacing later, e.g. It's cruel to ride a bike when one of it's wheels are flat.
If one is to interact with technology successfully one must understand technology, understand the needs of the machine spirits, and care for these needs so the machine spirits can care for you.
I don't know if i ever had really emotional attachment. But let's say yes i used to when i was younger. You know i used to isolate myself but it was hard to enjoy minutes of silence in the house, quiet nature and so on...
Yes i used to and people used to say i live in my own world at all nevertheless psychiatrist never thought i need help i doubt he ever even understood me.
But back to computer E.A. so yes but i didn't enjoy it for a long time but it is true i used to be
Attachment to gadgets, no, but, my book collection, my library I should say... it is getting out of hand.
NO!
No such thing as getting out of hand.
Five full book shelves isn't too much at all. It is only the beginning. We are working, my library and I, towards her completion. Towards her having a piece of everything, a book on everything or anything any one can think of...
My son said to me recently, that it is very strange that no matter what him or anyone brings up my response always includes "I have a book on that" even stranger that I can go directly to the place on the shelf, with seemingly no order to the madness of how all my loves are housed on the shelves, and find exactly said book, or become instantly fraught with concern over said book being missing from its place.
I see nothing strange in this at all.
Our relationship is complex and beautiful, and within my loves are all pain and joy and knowledge. I look forward to this relationship growing immensely over the years.
Polaris, me too, completely. I've had a succession of PCs since my first one back in 1994, and each has meant just so much (sobs) to me. Recently, moving onto laptops, my current love (a Dell Latitude E4200) accompanies me everywhere and feels like my best friend. I know its every blemish, lavish care on it semi-regularly, and am never nasty to it (unlike my work PC, which regularly enrages me and gets its keyboard slammed and missiles thrown at its monitor). I see more of my laptop than my husband, and it gives me back far more than he does, too*. My worst-by-far nightmares feature my laptop being stolen / broken / getting lost. I thought everyone else felt the same. Then there's my favourite mug...
With desktop computers its a bit different because I see them as a collection of parts and I tend to change out the parts rather often. I have a slight attachment to my desktop case because its a sturdy all metal one made back from like...1998? I'll buy a new motherboard and cpu this month and 4 months later I'll get a new video card...w/e.
But with my first laptop it was a whole other story. I still have it sitting back in my closet somewhere. Every time I go to throw it away I just can't and get all sentimental. Its also a rather usual design because it allows for quick multi swapping of drives and has some of the older ports and a wider variety of ports. From there its the usual of, "I might need this one day" but I won't lie, its purely an emotional indulgence at this point.
I actually have four old desktops tucked away in closets, that have crashed at different times, that I refuse to get rid of until I get around to seeing if there is any more retrievable information on them that I don't have off them already. That is mostly an attachment to any pictures and writing that may be on them that I may think lost but may be able to recover eventually after all.
only one of them am I actually attached to the whole computer itself, including the monitor, for more than just the sake of the information I'd like to retrieve off of it, and the only reason I am attached to it is because it belonged to my deceased brother back when he was a kid. It is an old clunker of a machine, I say I only want the info off of it, his old school reports and stuff, but then I can't bring myself to toss the monitor so, you know...
Well, I almost always take my iPod with me wherever I go. After four years, I still consider it the best gift I ever got and probably the most valued thing I own. Lost it a few times...
No. My computer thinks it doesn’t relate to anything. It rarely speaks, senses little, thinks a lot, takes its time…and is the happiest machine around.
I've never felt any attachment towards technological related items. Sure I may talk to them, purely for relieving tension I assure you, but that same talk extends to other inanimate objects. If anything I feel more attached to my books.
I still miss my Nintendo 64, so much *cries* I still remember when I first saw it in the back of the car as my mother was picking me up from school, I was so surprised, oh the fun we had playing Goldeneye and Ocarina of Time... I want my Nintendo baaaaack! *completely hysterical*
This was my first Nintendo, it came out in 1982 and I never forget purchasing it from Narita Airport in Tokyo....I had saved the money for ages, helping my mother with housework and babysitting for months. I didn't stop playing it for the next 12 months..
In a more general sense there is something comforting about technology when you feel lonely, even when the world is against you the automatic doors still open.....Now all though I don't go as far as anthropomorphising it I do feel (irrationally) that technology cares about me, in it's own way, as I've said before a machine will never betray you, it will serve you as best it can for as long as it can, unquestionably loyal, and when it does fail you it is because you have failed it, because to perform it's function a machine needs to be cared for in return, it needs maintenance.
This I have often thought about lately. Having spent so much time of my childhood alone could explain the irrational attachment to these objects. In lack of people, machines, being vaguely similar in the way that they do move, calculate, "think" and respond to different stimuli; mimic a living thing to some degree. It would be too easy for a child to bond with something inanimate for lack of "the real thing".
Although I wouldn't say that I ever went as far as anthropomorphising (ah, what a great word) these objects, I surely felt attached, like you say, in a vaguely spiritual sense.
For the information of those who may have taken this OP a little too seriously....it was written with a certain and deliberate degree of cheek...just for dramatic effect..
This spirituality is not the religious kind, it's more like shinto, a sort of spirituality in the very literal sense that it concerns the spirits of things as opposed to the western notions of deities, of course I don't believe machines have actual spirits (though sometimes I'm given cause to wonder) I just find it to be a nice way of representing common sense notions, like repair that tyre now so it doesn't need replacing later, e.g. It's cruel to ride a bike when one of it's wheels are flat.
If one is to interact with technology successfully one must understand technology, understand the needs of the machine spirits, and care for these needs so the machine spirits can care for you.
This is something I also think about; how we take objects for granted. Considering the efforts on behalf of human labour, technological invention, cost of production and the impacts of industry on the planet in general....I think we have lost touch with what these processes involve, and how our use-and-throw away mentality has rendered us somewhat disrespectful to what we hold in our hands once capital has changed hands. This is why I tend to repair things to death....why throw away something when it can be fixed? I would say we would benefit in the long term from showing more respect for the things that we acquire...both spiritually and ecologically...I think the Japanese are onto something.
-It's okay, that's just the way of the world...there are users and those who are being used....but I'm different! I keep you dusted, ventilated, clear cookies, empty bin and keep your desktop nice and free of clutter, don't I?
I don't know if i ever had really emotional attachment. But let's say yes i used to when i was younger. You know i used to isolate myself but it was hard to enjoy minutes of silence in the house, quiet nature and so on...
Yes i used to and people used to say i live in my own world at all nevertheless psychiatrist never thought i need help i doubt he ever even understood me.
But back to computer E.A. so yes but i didn't enjoy it for a long time but it is true i used to be
I think we go through periods of loneliness...and that is when this wonderful thing called technology can be a great relief. However, I can see how it could easily become addictive. When I'm feeling down I spend more time than usual in front of the screen. But perhaps it also has to do with all the information available, just at your fingertips...for an NT it is just all too tempting. Before computers were common, I used to spend equal amounts of time perusing my parent's enormous bookshelves when I was bored and alone. If I was in town, I would go straight from school to the library and hunker down for hours between the shelves.
Polaris, me too, completely. I've had a succession of PCs since my first one back in 1994, and each has meant just so much (sobs) to me. Recently, moving onto laptops, my current love (a Dell Latitude E4200) accompanies me everywhere and feels like my best friend. I know its every blemish, lavish care on it semi-regularly, and am never nasty to it (unlike my work PC, which regularly enrages me and gets its keyboard slammed and missiles thrown at its monitor). I see more of my laptop than my husband, and it gives me back far more than he does, too*. My worst-by-far nightmares feature my laptop being stolen / broken / getting lost. I thought everyone else felt the same. Then there's my favourite mug...
Oh...the Dell Latitude, I have used this laptop for fieldwork. I have to admit I felt inclined to being unfaithful...it's just so.....sexy.
It's funny....I behave quite badly towards computers that are not my own....it is a bit like someone else's children....nasty little critters you permit yourself to send those deathly stares at when their unsuspecting parents aren't looking...
Yes...and I have to admit....I did spend a lot of time with my pc during the last relationship. May I ask if your husband minds you spending so much time with the pc? Is he ok with that? My ex was not. But then he thought I was absent generally, computer or not.
With desktop computers its a bit different because I see them as a collection of parts and I tend to change out the parts rather often. I have a slight attachment to my desktop case because its a sturdy all metal one made back from like...1998? I'll buy a new motherboard and cpu this month and 4 months later I'll get a new video card...w/e.
1998? Wow...that is admirable. I think old computers are cool. I have a friend who does what you do, he has about 7 old desktops disassembled all over his flat, and he continually collects new parts for these and builds new "super-computers" according to himself. And I have to admit he's right. Although his house is a bloody mess.....he complains about not having a girlfriend, and I'm like....."Mate....you need some room for her to start with...."
But with my first laptop it was a whole other story. I still have it sitting back in my closet somewhere. Every time I go to throw it away I just can't and get all sentimental. Its also a rather usual design because it allows for quick multi swapping of drives and has some of the older ports and a wider variety of ports. From there its the usual of, "I might need this one day" but I won't lie, its purely an emotional indulgence at this point.
I actually have four old desktops tucked away in closets, that have crashed at different times, that I refuse to get rid of until I get around to seeing if there is any more retrievable information on them that I don't have off them already. That is mostly an attachment to any pictures and writing that may be on them that I may think lost but may be able to recover eventually after all.
only one of them am I actually attached to the whole computer itself, including the monitor, for more than just the sake of the information I'd like to retrieve off of it, and the only reason I am attached to it is because it belonged to my deceased brother back when he was a kid. It is an old clunker of a machine, I say I only want the info off of it, his old school reports and stuff, but then I can't bring myself to toss the monitor so, you know...
Well, I almost always take my iPod with me wherever I go. After four years, I still consider it the best gift I ever got and probably the most valued thing I own. Lost it a few times...
I have yet to own an iPod, believe it or not. What a great gift, though. (I have an iPod Shuffle.......I was rather attached to that until my telcom company upgraded my phone....now I have my favourite music on the smartphone. I feel like I have cheated....)
No. My computer thinks it doesn’t relate to anything. It rarely speaks, senses little, thinks a lot, takes its time…and is the happiest machine around.
I've never felt any attachment towards technological related items. Sure I may talk to them, purely for relieving tension I assure you, but that same talk extends to other inanimate objects. If anything I feel more attached to my books.
I never throw away books. I don't know if that is emotional attachment so much, funnily enough. It's more the case of me thinking that one day, I may want to revisit this book for whatever reason and it would be silly to throw away so much precious information. Also, when I sit down in front of my bookshelf, I get this sense of excitement.....knowing that I could pick up any of those books and get lost for a few hours in a different world.
My computer? Not so much. I seem to get a new one or build one every couple years. I do love my iPhone though, mainly cause it's got all my music on there and that I can pretty much do the majority of things I would otherwise require from a computer. But yea, technology seems to move so fast that I wouldn't even have time to get attached to it if I wanted to.
And thanks for the huggles. Don't worry, most people don't know what to say, I have learned that and it is fine. I just tend to state the facts of there being people who are missing from my life forever when ever something makes me think of them, it helps keep me sane about it whether anyone knows what to say or not. It has been three years, but what would have been his 22 birthday is coming up next week so I am just more prone to think of him and mention him right now. I am not expecting people to need to provide me with sympathy because of that. (though I appreciate the kind sentiments when someone is moved to acknowledge the things I can't stop myself from talking about)
I love my iPad even though everyone says I'm supposed to hate it. It's not useless, it's just...Flash Player-challenged! And even then, I've got an app for that...don't I, snookums? Oh, I'd kiss you but I can't risk dirtying your screen.
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