M Ted: These things are NOT necessary for survival. See - this is what's worrying me, as I've tried to point out; the human race has been around for - according to various estimates - anything from 40,000 to maybe 200,000+ years. In the context of that sort of time scale, the mobile phone, satnav etc barely even exist. So how can it be that suddenly we can't survive without them? I am surviving, and I'm not alone. And the world is not passing me by, I can assure you.
If you want to pass me by, then be my guest; I'm not contesting the road with you. The road is heading straight for a precipice, and, unlike the rest of the human race, I'm in no hurry to get there. The way forward is to go back to where we last had any inkling of where we were going, and try again. That's probably about 50 years ago. We were, in many ways, better off then - and that's not just my opinion. As things stand, we'll be lucky if we're still here to look back in another 50 years.
And I'm not taking potshots at anybody, and apologise to anybody who thinks I am. The Villain asked for advice about satnav, and I offered mine. Villain doesn't have to take it. OK, I did it in my Grumpy Old Man way, but that's what I do. If you knew me, then you'd know how to take it. I think. however, that I've as much right to take potshots as anybody else - and as I've said, I've had a lifetime of being on the receiving end. Why does everybody feel so threatened by the voice of dissent? I shall say no more, as I'm not trying to hi-jack the thread.
Now, where did I put me coat?
John Kelly.