Early adopters of tech help ‘Voluntary Luddites’

I see things a little differently to Rob Sedgwick (‘Why are my fellow readers scared of change?’, Letters, Issue 613). My computer is a tool, not a hobby or a passion. I suspect I’m not alone in this. I choose the programs that suit me and tend to cycle through a fairly small group over the years. For example, I rotated between the browsers Opera and Vivaldi for years, but have recently been giving Brave a thorough road test. I like it. And while I use Windows 10, I’ll probably upgrade to Windows 11 once it’s been thoroughly sorted.

A lot of changes are just mildly irritating, and I often turn off unwanted new features. Others are as jarring as finding your familiar old car suddenly has a non-standard gear-shift pattern, or the steering wheel has moved to the wrong side. We really shouldn’t have to play ‘where’s the settings?’ in order to personalise our computers.

I wear my 70 years lightly because I don’t chase after every shiny new object. But I’m glad there are early adopters like Rob to thrash out the inconsistencies in new systems and software, thus making them more accessible to the Voluntary Luddites like me. Each to his own, and long may it remain so. John Craggs

I fear that Mr Sedgwick shows little comprehension of the dangers posed by some aspects of modern society. I too started with a Sinclair ZX81. In those days, one might be as curious and exploratory as one desired. At best, if there was a mishap, one might fail in an enterprise. At worst, one might lose a great deal of valuable work.

These days, if there is a mishap, one might well lose one’s entire life savings or become embroiled in a network of hate, including death threats. I believe that Mr Sedgwick should acquire some sense of proportion in these matters. Martyn Hodgson