Unfettered Letters

Living the low-tech life

Please tell me how:
I was able to graduate without a computer?
I able to learn math without a calculator?
I was able to get a good job without a computer?
I was able to work out without a cell phone?
I was able to walk my dog without a cell phone?
I was able to buy groceries without a cell phone?
I was able to travel without a computer and cell phone?
I was able to raise a son without a computer?
I am able to watch a movie without a cell phone?
I am able to pay bills and do my taxes without a cell phone?
I am able to contact Social Security or Medicare without a computer?
I am able to drive a car without a cell phone attached to my ear?

Please tell me how.

Judy Dunlap
Kansas City

Broadband Internet access in KCK

So the stimulus will provide broadband Internet service for rural areas? How about broadband service for Kansas City, Kan., especially east of I-635?

You know all of the ads for special deals on DSL and broadband service? Don’t count on them in all parts of KCK. When I call my own phone company, AT&T, and other companies to take advantage of the offers, I am told the service is not available in my area. I am stuck with one of two cable providers who, not surprisingly, offer similarly priced packages. The rates from the cable companies are higher here than in other parts of KCK.

I sent an e-mail to my commissioner, Nathan Barnes, along with a copy to Mayor Joe Reardon to ask them why our choices are so limited. I have not received a response.

Max Cerda
Kansas City, Kan.

Computers vs. Nature

Regarding many children’s preference for computers vs. nature, (9/24, As I See It, “For many kids, computers are preferred to nature”), this summer I made the decision to eliminate TV/computers from our house. Ultimately, the decision has been beneficial to me and my daughter, as well as other children on our block and entire families within our neighborhood.

Without TV and computers, I no longer depended on technology to babysit my daughter. She and I began taking long walks, marveling at nature along the way. We began talking and our bond grew. We met our neighbors, and soon their children began to join us. We discovered new sights and new friends, introducing neighbors to neighbors, people who lived right next door to each other for years but had not met.

I am not sure we will live the rest of our lives “unplugged,” but for now, the pros outweigh the cons. It was raining this morning as I walked my daughter to school. You can imagine my joy when I heard her exclaim, “I just love the smell of rain,” and watched as she turned and twirled under her bright, yellow umbrella. That is a memory technology could never provide.

Karen Shoemaker
Lee’s Summit

A virtual Hyatt memorial?

There is an alternative to building a physical memorial for the Hyatt skywalk victims that wouldn’t require great expense to create or maintain. It’s a virtual memorial.

Kansas City, Mo., could host the memorial on its Web site. The site would be interactive so that visitors could click to see news clips and photos of the tragedy and interviews with witnesses and responders. Family and friends could upload their personal memories, photos and videos of the victims.

The site could be projected on the walls of museums, homes, churches, schools, libraries, universities and even the sides of buildings for more public occasions.

This virtual memorial would honor the victims individually as well as collectively. It would be more of a living memorial than one of brick and mortar could be.

Stone monuments can last, but the Internet is “forever.”

Holly Franking
Leawood

Digital technology concerns

The recent storms have me frightened about the requirement for all TV signals to go digital (instead of analog) in February, making current TVs obsolete. Due to a slick salesman’s pitch and lack of interruption of cable service for a while, we took a chance on combining the phone with cable. Big mistake. The cable went out, so the phone went out. The power was out, and the cell phone needed recharging. Therefore, we were cut off from all communication.

We couldn’t report the cable outage (no phone). We had no weather reports (no cable). At least we had a battery-run TV. It will soon be useless.

What will happen when all hard-wired analog phone lines and TV signals are forced to go digital? It takes sophisticated cables, computers and satellites to keep digital going, and we’ve all experienced how good that can be.

I’m afraid communications are stepping backward as safeguards are slowly being eliminated. To rely solely on this technology is scary, to say the least.

I, for one, will pay a little more to have my phone and TV separated again as soon as my contract has expired.

Kathy Crook
Gladstone

What about HD owners?

Shame on Toshiba. I feel it is rotten service and poor decision making that this organization just halts the HD line (2/20, Business, "Toshiba’s loss is rivals’ gain; With HD DVDs out of the picture, competition will grow in the Blu-ray format").

What do all the customers do who just purchased HD DVD equipment for loved ones and themselves for Christmas? Are they left out in the cold long after winter has come and gone? Will the manufacturer accept returns for all items still under warranty since they obviously won’t perform the way they were designed?

I think Toshiba should be held accountable for this bail-out. They didn’t just give up and let the competition win. All their supporters have lost, too.

Ben Moyer
Bonner Springs

Connected?

Did you read the “Dennis the Menace” in the Sunday comics section?

Dennis was talking with his father, who was sitting at the computer. His dad was telling him all the wonderful things you can do with a computer: pay bills, shop, e-mail people all over the world, reconnect with people.

“It’s a wonderful communication tool!” he says, “It brings people together!”

Then Dennis asks, “Then how come you’re sitting here all by yourself?”

Something for us to ponder.

Rita Einspahr
Overland Park

Access to data

Why do we allow our government officials to participate in press briefings and question-and-answer sessions with only a bottle of water? Where are the computers or other data storage devices that contain organized information to aid the response if specifics are warranted?

Governments and their activities contain an extraordinary amount of data and information. Yet our officials come to communicate to the public with only their naked minds and the unreliable facts tumbling (or not) within them.

Instead of grumbling when our tough questions aren’t directly answered because “the data isn’t right here in front of me,” let’s encourage our representatives and officials to modernize the way they answer our questions.

We live in a world of instant messaging and data streams. Our federal government takes advantage of those technologies in the Defense and Justice and State Departments. Why haven’t we demanded that public information evolve in the same technological manner? Don’t tell me you can’t fully answer a question because the information isn’t laid out before me. We all know the information could be only a click away.

Patrick Seago
Kansas City

Online news vs. paper

Sure, I have a computer, and I use it all the time. I even access KansasCity.com on occasion. However, my preference is reading the print version of The Star, pretty much front to back. My preference was validated Wednesday (11/28) when I compared Noah Musser’s brilliant photo illustration on the Sports page with the image on the Web site, where it definitely did not have the same wow impact. Sometimes old habits die hard but still produce rewards.

Janice Newton
Overland Park

Children’s exposure online

This is in regard to the commentary by Leonard Pitts about the girl who killed herself after a cruel joke played on her through MySpace (11/27, Opinion, “This practical joke takes sickness to a new level”).

I am a teacher and a parent of a 6- and a 9–year-old. My 9-year-old already has friends who have pages in MySpace or Facebook.

Why do parents think that it is OK to let a total stranger into their house through the computer? Would you just open your front door and let anyone who wants to come in to feel welcome to give opinions about you and your family?

What happened to good old flesh-and-blood friends? Why can’t kids connect any more in a much more meaningful way with other kids in real life?

As parents, it is our obligation to know what our kids do and where they are, in real space and in cyber space. And we must put limits on their emotional exposure to total strangers.

Maria LaMartina
Shawnee