What's your 'old person' trait?

I absolutely hate AI.

I refuse to use TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc. I only have Facebook because 90% of my friends and family are there and it's the primary way I stay in touch with them, but I'd like to get rid of that too.

Regarding TikTok, I was serving in the US military as an IT sysadmin when it became popular. But we discovered that the app embedded itself deep in your phone's hardware, granted itself full administrative access to your phone, then started trickling all your data to servers in China. And you couldn't fully uninstall it once you'd installed it once. Your phone was completely compromised if you ever installed that app.

It became a huge security risk and we were told to never use it. It was a horrifyingly effective spy tool China could use to easily collect data on us. That's why President Biden pushed to ban TikTok in the US.

But of course, TikTok became super popular among our civilian population and they refused to give it up, which led to a lot of pushback against the ban. It never held, and now people are still using it and sharing all their private information with China.

Meta does something similar with Facebook/Instagram/Whatsapp, but we at least can keep tabs on what they're doing with your private data, since they're an American company. They mostly use your information to build advertising profiles on you, to better catch your attention with ads. But that information could easily be used against you if federal organizations wanted to. ICE could use it to identify non-white Americans and their daily habits and easily intercept them.

Still, if you don't want your private information being potentially stolen by these companies, it's best to dump these programs. I don't install them on my phone or tablet and I keep Facebook's website isolated on my computer, since it likes to read other open windows and use those sites to fine-tune advertising data for you.

Google has turned into one of these companies that collects data on everything you do, so I'm in the middle of de-Googling my life right now. But it's really hard because they're embedded everywhere.

We're living in a dark time where the only way to prevent corporations and governments from collecting information on you is to stay offline. Which is nearly impossible nowadays. We don't get privacy in this modern Information Age. Not while Capitalism is still a thing.

The streak of white in my beard?

The fact that 75% of my media consumption is things I've already seen before?

I can maintain eye contact in a conversation and at no point do I want to fuck/fight the other person nor do I believe they want to fuck/fight me?

I can maintain friendships.with people who do not share all of my views on things, with a select view even having opposing views?

Comfort wins over style every time, with zero exceptions?

I've started noticing birds, and worse, I've started recognizing them.

I always get printed boarding passes for domestic flights.

I don't download every new random chat app that's in vogue. I'll give you my phone number and we can text or talk without having to go through more 3rd parties besides the telephone companies we get service from. I hated needing a bajillion different text apps to talk to everyone I knew in the 2000s, I sure as hell ain't gonna start that shit up again 25 years down the road. Unless someone makes something like Trillian, fuck off with your WeChats and WhatsApp and Velcro or whatever the fuck.

Napping

I prefer an analog kitchen. Spring based scales, wooden utensils, gas stove, glass storage.

No, I do not have whatever stupidly named money transfer app you're using this week, and no, I will not install it.

I’m old

You mean, like, other than twice my age being statistically dead?

Many.

Let's start with neo-Luddite tendencies, e.g. deep suspicion of, and wanting very little to do with: devices with planned obsolescence; devices that basically spy on the user; this push for LLMs and similar generative artificial "intelligence".

Or rather, the people who are pulling the strings, so to speak, behind those technologies. The technologies themselves have great potential, but that cannot be reached under those who presently control them.

Also a strong dislike of people, usually kids, making noise or worse, actually being on my property because they have no respect for certain boundaries, or they don't even know those boundaries exist. Classic "damn kids, get off my lawn" old man attitude.

And finally: I still have a flip-phone and have no other computing devices beyond the one desktop PC I'm writing this comment from.

Literally everything i do. Im not even old but I could keep a conversation going with a 60 year old easily.

Old cars, reel to reels, vhs, win 95, atari 2600, pentium 3s, 50s music, records and vintage amplifiers and speakers..dos commands..the list goes on

That and I hate social media (i realize lemmy is social media) and my smartphone stays off on weekends. I prefer books.

I stopped caring about a lot of pop culture stuff coming out. I don't hate it. But like it used to capture my interest. Literally never heard of Lebooboo's until SP27E4.

Basic Fuckenomics I guess.

I get up earlier on weekends than weekdays. I try to get up at 6am but I often get up to pee at 4am and just stay up. I do a bunch of things and it feels like I've had a good day then I realize it's only like 10am and I still have a whole day ahead of me.

Physical media.

I cannot correctly say my kids' names when I'm stressed out in a hurry. I just end up saying both of their names. Eventually I will be right.

never self checkout.. unless 18+ items are involved.
other than that or stealing literally no cashier will care or even remember you.

source: am cashier at grocery store

I've never installed a banking app.

Does joint pain count? I've had the back of a 90 year old since I was a teen and the rest of my joints weren't far behind

Complaining most music sucks and sounds the same nowadays. The 90s had the best music.

My biggest decision of the day is usually whether I get to have alcohol or pain meds that day. Pain meds usually win.

I look out the window to see what's going on down the street and who the hell is on my lawn

Suspenders for my pants. They are really life-changing. The usual rotund American male over-60 physique leaves no purchase to hold up pants without constant attention.

The noises I make when I sit down and stand up lol

I’m wearing clothes longer and longer instead of replacing them to look good. I don’t care about looks much anymore, if it’s serviceable I’ll keep wearing it to not waste.

I scowl and scoff at randos that park on my street or longer in front of my house.

Tools and furniture are exciting!

I most likely haven't seen over 1 hour of TikTok IN MY LIFETIME. And believe me, this is certainly not common in my age range. I would have everything backed up in USB pens if I could, and I despise anything that markets as “AI” — I am aware it reduces critical thinking, something which I somewhat lack. I do not listen to music from nowadays (2020s on), only 1960s to mid-2010s music.

Furthermore, I do watch some old shows, e.g., Perry Mason.

I enjoy carbonated water, my friends say it's a weird old person thing

My neck hurts like hell if I tilt my head to the right, no idea why

Dinner at 4pm

I don't own a smart phone and never have. Miss me with that Fisher-Price technology.

Some part of my body always hurts. Mostly back, intestines, and joints, but these feet of mine have been finding their footing in this game lately too. Life is pain ;(

I don't care if what I say makes someone upset