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Life without a computer... (pg. 4)
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| LionsLair |
booked for future reading/reference |
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| Cloudburst |
| I've been without internet for a week, didn't really think about it. |
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| Beat Blog |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Between last Saturday and the Saturday before that, I stopped using the Internet except for my school e-mail.
[You can check; I have no posts then.] :p
During that time, I used my computer basically for nothing but making music. It became just a musical instrument for me rather than a gateway to a "lifestyle" of interconnectedness and constant distraction.
It was a very interesting experience. Since the hours each day that I normally spend on the net were entirely freed up, it seemed like each day went so much more slowly. Time seemed to crawl..
When I use the Internet, I go all out: I have multiple tabs open, constantly scanning pages and clicking on links, uploading files of various kinds, more or less in a constant state of multi-tasking, a.k.a. distraction and getting not much of anything done. Because I'm so distracted, time seems to fly by. Taking away the Internet takes away a lot of the potential for that distracted state, and the day seems to last a lot longer. It seems like there's so much more time to do things, and I get more interested in what's going on outside the world of computers and the web.
Since Saturday I've been back to spending hours each day on the net. And here I sit with my headphones on, soaking in the neverending flow of information, back in the perpetual search for pages that will interest or amuse me for all of ten minutes each if I'm lucky. I could be doing much more interesting things, things with some kind of consequences, and yet I keep at this out of inertia. |
Try going a week without even using a computer at all. No games, no music making, no word processing, no emailing.
It's very relaxing.
Your arms and wrists will feel very loose all of a sudden. |
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| Beat Blog |
Great read.
Very logical, funny and concise.
I agree with most of it. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
Bump...
Found a little Today Show segment on Youtube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vmEErhy7AIc
It shows the managing editor of Forbes magazine attempting to go without his Blackberry, e-mail, and cell phone. On the fourth day without them he really breaks down and says, "Give me my ing phone back!", and the Today Show people oblige.
Could you manage a whole week without any Internet or cell phone -- without becoming a nervous wreck? |
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| gehzumteufel |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Bump...
Found a little Today Show segment on Youtube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vmEErhy7AIc
It shows the managing editor of Forbes magazine attempting to go without his Blackberry, e-mail, and cell phone. On the fourth day without them he really breaks down and says, "Give me my ing phone back!", and the Today Show people oblige.
Could you manage a whole week without any Internet or cell phone -- without becoming a nervous wreck? |
Honestly, I couldn't. Not because I can't live without them, but because I don't watch much tv, and I love to read things online. :D |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
Another comment on that segment...
Sometimes I've thought of leaving my cell phone at home and driving straight out to west Texas to do a bit of sight-seeing for a few days, just being completely alone and unreachable.
Then the "what ifs" pile up, many of them having to do with my car, which runs just fine, breaking down in the middle of nowhere, or someone I know getting into some crisis or other, even though my friends and family live safe and mostly crisis-free lives. And I find that my original idea of driving out there without any means of communication strikes me as "reckless" and somehow dangerous.
How retarded is that?
Then again, maybe I could take my cell phone but leave it off unless an emergency happened.
It's funny, when cell phones first started becoming popular, that's the justification I often heard people use for getting them: "I'll only use it in case of some kind of emergency." It's what my parents said, and for a long time my dad resisted the creeping trend by leaving his cell phone off most of the time.
Rudeness no longer consists of suddenly interrupting a conversation to go to talk to someone else. Now it's considered rude to not interrupt whatever you're doing to talk to whoever wants to reach you at that moment. Whatever happened to the phrase, "If it's important, they'll leave a message"? That's what my parents used to say whenever the phone would ring during dinner. Then again, it could be an emergency, so you really should answer that phone, shouldn't you?
It's funny to me how the proliferation of technology can make something seem risky or irresponsible when only fifteen years ago people did it without a second thought.
Sometimes I feel like I'm already a crotchety old fart. :disbelief |
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| verndogs |
| I need the net because at the minimum, I'd like to keep up with what's going on in the world. |
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| diggerz |
| i was raised by brits, i'm a cold hearted mother****** |
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| gehzumteufel |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Another comment on that segment...
Sometimes I've thought of leaving my cell phone at home and driving straight out to west Texas to do a bit of sight-seeing for a few days, just being completely alone and unreachable.
Then the "what ifs" pile up, many of them having to do with my car, which runs just fine, breaking down in the middle of nowhere, or someone I know getting into some crisis or other, even though my friends and family live safe and mostly crisis-free lives. And I find that my original idea of driving out there without any means of communication strikes me as "reckless" and somehow dangerous.
How retarded is that?
Then again, maybe I could take my cell phone but leave it off unless an emergency happened.
It's funny, when cell phones first started becoming popular, that's the justification I often heard people use for getting them: "I'll only use it in case of some kind of emergency." It's what my parents said, and for a long time my dad resisted the creeping trend by leaving his cell phone off most of the time.
Rudeness no longer consists of suddenly interrupting a conversation to go to talk to someone else. Now it's considered rude to not interrupt whatever you're doing to talk to whoever wants to reach you at that moment. Whatever happened to the phrase, "If it's important, they'll leave a message"? That's what my parents used to say whenever the phone would ring during dinner. Then again, it could be an emergency, so you really should answer that phone, shouldn't you?
It's funny to me how the proliferation of technology can make something seem risky or irresponsible when only fifteen years ago people did it without a second thought.
Sometimes I feel like I'm already a crotchety old fart. :disbelief |
Well the reason this changed was due to the plans going from $.25/minute to selling blocks of minutes. Something of which has become quite cheap. Unfortunately this has resulted in a culture that doesn't know how to leave a message, or just wait for the person to call back. I personally never leave messages, but I also never call 10 times in a row. If I do, it is for a damn good reason.
Oh and I ignore phone calls all the time. Just depends on the situation.
Also, I say you just bring it with you but turn it off. It is worth it. |
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| diggerz |
yes, latin america is alot more laid back than the u.s for the obvious reasons.
if you go to mexico or any country in south america, chivalry and comradeship is almost expected.
on the other hand, people work less. people are poorer, they lack education so certain conversations will lack depth and insight. i can't live like that, i need to be stimulated by the constant to-and-fro of the good ol' american dream.
:wtf: :wtf: :wtf: |
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| The17sss |
I used Myspace for about 4 months back in 2006. Next thing I know, I'm getting lost on that site for 3 or 4 hours a day. Then one day I was like, "what the am I doing? All the people I'm really friends with, I talk to on the phone and/or see on a daily basis in real life... why make a redundant cyber version of what exists in reality already?" ALl those other random people I've never met sending friends requests, getting all involved in trying to figure out what people were up to by reading their comments pages, and choosing the order of who's in the "top 8" mean nothing to me. Too many evil temptations lurking on there also if you're in a relationship. Once I cancelled that , I felt a whole lot better. Check out this BBC article from today about how Facebook is kind of taking the joy out of reality for those kids who spend a ton of time on there.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7487723.stm |
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