[Squarel]

There was a time..so I hear, where nobody used email.

How come people simply cannot avoid using it?

If you have a non-internet way for my computer illiterate parents to see photos of their grandchildren on different continents, please let me know

[pmoriarty]

"If you have a non-internet way for my computer illiterate parents to see photos of their grandchildren on different continents, please let me know"

It's called "mail".

[briandear]

Have you ever sent a letter from Shanghai to Houston? By the time it arrives, the grandkids are already grown. You also neglect the cost: going to the photo lab, having film developed and printed. Buying a stamp, putting things in the envelope. Writing the address. Because since we're talking about not using digital tools, we might as well go back to using darkrooms.

Then you also have the scalability of physical mail: must you now send photos to all concerned participants? You have to make copies of everything and send letters to everyone? Technology improves social relationships; despite the whining about Facebook. In the old days, families living across the world actually communicated less. I live a continent away from my Dad, but each day we are still able to interact via digital means, including seeing each other via video. Facebook is just an implantation detail (that you may not like,) but the overall power of the Internet makes life better, regardless of Luddite complaints to the contrary. It's supremely ironic that some in the HN community have gone from being digital pioneers to being less technologically enthusiastic than our grandmothers.

I really think it comes down to snobbery -- the same attitude that leads people to proudly proclaim "I don't even own a TV,) despite working for a company that has an "-ly" at the end of the name. "Kill your Television" has been replaced with "Kill Facebook." Ned's Atomic Dustbin ought to update their lyrics.