You are viewing a single thread.
View all comments
101 points

There’s definitely value in not constantly being tethered to a device reminding you how many steps you’ve taken, e-mails, etc. Also I’m reminded me of a quote:

“Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.” ― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

permalink
report
reply
33 points

ape-descended

It’s very popular to call humans some variant of this, and while it’s correct, it also implies that humans are no longer apes. They are.

permalink
report
parent
reply
6 points

Plot twist: Adam’s earthlings were probably mostly Golgafrinchans.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

well they were entirely made up of account executives, insurance salesmen, and management consultants so I think it’s still fair to call them “ape-descended”

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

This is true, there are two kinds of animal, monkey or ape. Because if it doesn’t have a tail it’s not a monkey, even if it’s a monkey kinda shape. If it doesn’t have a tail it’s not a monkey, if it doesn’t have a tail…it’s an ape!

Or at least that’s what I learned from my parents force feeding me nothing but VeggieTales for far too long.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Yup, that’s correct! Primates without tails are apes, and we’re a primate without a tail.

permalink
report
parent
reply
10 points

The dream used to be one device that does everything but I’ve backed away from that mentality hard. I even have two separate PCs now with nothing syncing between them.

permalink
report
parent
reply
8 points

Only because the dreams of digital security and privacy (and functionality) died first. If I could be confident doing work and personal stuff on the same devices, I would.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

Digital watches are sweet and have very specific advantages in certain contexts. Douglas Adams just doesn’t get the G Shock hype!

permalink
report
parent
reply