I must be a Luddite...

I am BEHIND the times. I must be. All my writer pals have AlphaSmarts and Thumb Drives, and lots of little accessories for their computers. I have a basic laptop with DIAL-UP (I know, *gasp*! The horror!) and other than a printer and mouse, I don't have anything else.
(I did, however graduate to a digital camera a few years ago, but other than that, I must be resistant to technological change.)
My recent experience with dowloading Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2 set me back a few decades in thought as well. I now have formulated a theory, though unproven:

Microsoft DELIBERATELY (yes, deliberately) puts "bugs" in their programs, so that when all us average-joe lemmings download their programs without question (I mean, hell, it's Microsoft for pete's sake, you have to trust them!) our computers mysteriously "lock up". Then, as anticipated, we all run like the wind to the phone so we can call to "save our babies" (aka computers).
This is unfortunate, because the phone call always seems to end with Average-Joe Lemming speaking with a NON-Computer-Savvy Person reading from a troubleshooting manual in New Dehli, (that's INDIA for you geographically challenged) who is probably earning about $2 an hour, and charging us $19.95 to he can read verbatim from the manual we received with our computers, which by the way we already have, but in our panic have forgotten to read.

Am I bitter? No. I finally got everything back, but that little annoying "updates ready to download" icon at the bottom right of my screen keeps flashing at me, and when I check to see what the download is, my blood runs cold. Windows XP Service Pack 2.
I even went so far as to call my husband at work and tell him if he downloads any updates on my computer I will KILL him. (He said he already knows not to mess with my computer, so not to worry).
So, I'll just have to keep clicking "cancel" for now. If my theory is correct, I would be in a heap of trouble if I didn't.
As for the Luddite thing, at least there's hope for me. I am looking into buying a modest webcam, so my parents can see their grandkids more than once a year...