Love/Hate Relationship with Technology

I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I love the convenience of e-mail and other modern communications. I also hate the convenience of it. I don't like to feel I'm on an electronic leash 24/7. Sometimes I just want to unplug.

As much as I'm a fan of e-mail, I can't stand receiving "e-vites" to parties or other mass, impersonalized announcements. I've just stopped responding to them. I don't mind a personal e-mail invitation from a good friend wanting to get together, but the mass circulation of "e-vite" invitations with no personalization or effort at all rubs me the wrong way. If my presence at the event really means something, call me or send me a note in the mail -- something, ANYTHING, that requires more effort than pressing the 'send to all' button. To add insult to injury, the "e-vite" has a tech nagger that prods you with more annoying e-mails to respond to the "e-vite" when ignored.

Here are things that should be banned from mass technical distribution to reduce the posting of useless blather nobody but the sender cares about:

invitations (If you really want me there, call me or send an invite snail-mail)
wedding websites (I mean, who really cares about how your arrangements are coming along and your color theme selections)
baby websites (send me a picture once in a while, but don't clog my inbox)
videos of Johnny's championship game (this really pisses me off -- takes forever to download)

See, sometimes getting things the old fashioned way via snail mail, phone call, and the like can create joy rather than dread on the part of the recipient.