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Turns out that there is an appliance website run by the Amish for the Amish, though other people can use their services too.
Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I could be wrong, but I was told when I visited Amish country years ago, that it's not so much that they can't use technology, it's that they can't own it. Or perhaps they can't strictly "use it", but they can take advantage of it. The example I remember was, an Amish person can't own a television, but they can go over someone else's house and watch their television and it won't be against the Amish way of life.
Again, I don't know this for sure, this is just what I remember being told, so it could be wrong.
quote:The Amish are averse to any technology which they feel weakens the family structure. The conveniences that the rest of us take for granted such as electricity, television, automobiles, telephones and tractors are considered to be a temptation that could cause vanity, create inequality, or lead the Amish away from their close-knit community and, as such, are not encouraged or accepted in most orders. Most Amish cultivate their fields with horse-drawn machinery, live in houses without electricity, and get around in horse-drawn buggies. It is common for Amish communities to allow the use of telephones, but they do not allow them in the home. Instead, several Amish families will share a telephone housed in a wooden shanty in a nearby location. Electricity is sometimes used in certain situations, such as electric fences for cattle, flashing electric lights on buggies, and heating homes. Windmills are often used as a source of naturally generated electric power in such instances. It is also not unusual to see Amish using such 20th-century technologies as inline skates, disposable diapers, cell phones and gas barbecue grills, because they are not specifically prohibited by the Ordnung.
Technology is one of the areas where you will see the greatest differences between Amish orders. The Swartzentruber and Andy Weaver Amish are ultraconservative in their use of technology - the Swartzentruber, for example, do not even allow the use of battery lights. Old Order Amish have little use for modern technology, but are allowed to ride in motorized vehicles including planes and automobiles, though they are not allowed to own them. The New Order Amish permit the use of electricity, ownership of automobiles, modern farming machines, and telephones in the home.
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I drove through Amish country the other day. I was quite amused to see horse-drawn buggies that nevertheless were equipped with electric headlights. Posts: 1996 | Registered: Feb 2004
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I work for an engineering firm that serves the residential construction market in NE Indiana.
Without exception (that I'm aware of) new houses in this area are framed by Amish construction crews, and I speak with them by phone (me on my office phone, they on their cell phone) several times a week.
It's odd to actually see them, wearing their zipper- & button-less clothing, in straw hats and long beards, arguing with their building contractor on a cell phone! Posts: 692 | Registered: Feb 2000
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