It’s moby unfair
In his column on Wednesday November 9, Chris Kane suggested that those who still use public telephones have either forgotten their mobiles or cannot afford to have one.
On the assumption that his opinion extends to computers and the internet, may I point out that, contrary to popular belief, this is a mistaken and somewhat offensive point of view?
We are constantly pressured to go online, to buy and pay online, and to do just about everything online. And those of us who refuse, or are unable to, are increasingly excluded and discriminated against. Likewise, we are frequently asked to provide a mobile contact number, and are looked at disbelievingly if we reply that we do not have one.
We are, quite rightly, not allowed to victimise or discriminate against others on grounds of race, colour, regligion etc, but it is perfectly legal and acceptable to treat those without a mobile phone and/or home internet access as alien beings or social outcasts who deserve no consideration or respect.
We are denied discounts available to online purchasers, and many businesses simply refuse to deal with us if we cannot provide an email address and/or mobile number.
My wife and I have no need for mobile phones, and we have chosen not to subscribe to the online revolution, as we will not trust our personal information to unreliable security and exploitation of unscrupulous internet providers.
We do not want our data to be harvested, sold or hacked and we do not want to be targeted by spammers. We prefer to stay ‘under the radar’ of the many scammers, identity thieves, and varied other criminals who stalk the internet.
It’s not the technology as such that we object to. I have been using computers extensively at home since the early 1980s and also for quite a few years as a major part of my work. Now retired, I recently replaced my PC with a new laptop which I mostly use as a word processor and for e-books, articles and other research material, which I download at the public library and bring home on a micro disk.
I am perfectly comfortable with the technology; it’s the misuse and abuse of it by others that we refuse to be subjected to.
We may be in a minority in forsaking the dubious advantages of modern technology, but we are by no means alone.
In fact, I believe many people share our view and our determination to stay outside the mobile-addicted, internet-connected mass of society. We are convinced that this position is both reasonable and sensible, and that it should be accepted and respected by others, like Chris Kane.
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