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Ask HN: Have you ever gone without a computer or phone for an extended period?

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Re: Ask HN: Have you ever gone without a computer or phone for an extended period?

#101

Post by bovermyer »

I didn't have a smartphone until 2009. I didn't have a cellphone until 2001. I didn't have a computer until 1989.

You might say this means my comments are irrelevant, since I'm talking about growing up without these things instead of giving up these things. However, it does lend perspective to my next statement.

Going without a phone or computer for days or weeks at a time doesn't faze me. I haven't tried going months without either one since the early 2000s, though.

In my day-to-day life, I stop using digital devices entirely around 8:00 PM, which is about two hours before I sleep. I also don't start using them until 7:00 AM, which is an hour or two after I wake up.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever gone without a computer or phone for an extended period?

#102

Post by 7532yahoogmail »

There's a line from the BBC series 'Absolutely Fabulous' paraphrasing here: "You get your dry cleaning back and it's a revolution" ... the jab here was banal things have become blown way out of proportion ... which they later associate with 'New labour' whether (-) overstuff the action with empowerment overtones (-) business' attempts to conflate routine service to be on par with love, family, and a sort Grandma as a dry cleaner who was always there for you to give love, a smile, iron your clothes all these many years.

In fact both avenues are so overplayed it betrays and reveals for what it is: a desperate need to be seen and taken seriously, which is why we're blowing more time talking about it here. What's going over there such that this became a real conversation?

If you wanna blow off computers for a while, for God sakes just do it and stop soliciting attention. You want to go cold-turkey on drugs, alcohol, girl-friends, job, computer, ... join the club: it's going on all the time. A revolution? Try MLK for but one relevant example. When did routine become such a big ask?

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever gone without a computer or phone for an extended period?

#103

Post by michaelt »

zozbot234 wrote: post #56
tuxxy wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But don't take Anarcho-primitivism seriously. A lot of the "thought leaders" on that side of the Anarchist spectrum just use it as a means to espouse what would normally just be considered Fascism except with an Anarchist twist. It's the same stupid arguments that people use to justify population control due to "overpopulation". There's a school of thought called anti-civilization that's a tad similar with some diver…

> But don't take Anarcho-primitivism seriously. Why shouldn't it be taken seriously when it's the only variety of anarchism that's actually self-consistent? You can't run a large, mass society on anarchist principles, because social organization on a large scale will always require some way of formally resolving disputes, and that pretty much implies that conventional politics and "rule" by some over others will be a…

A self-consistent philosophy based on a world with a 99.5% lower population seems like a step backwards for that 99.5%, regardless of how good it is for the freedom and equality of the remaining 0.5% of the population?

I mean, in my mind that's right up there with negative utilitarianism's benevolent world-exploder in terms of clever ideas that aren't good ideas.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever gone without a computer or phone for an extended period?

#104

Post by pharke »

m463 wrote: post #74
analog31 wrote: post #29

I'm 56, so yes. ;-) But in terms of ditching those things after getting used to them, it's only happened when my family went on overseas trips. A problem for me is that the computer is not just a connection with the outside world, but has become a medium for thinking. Take away my Jupyter, and you've removed half of my brain. But I've never used social media, so I have less to give up when I walk away from a screen.…

People forget that even pre-smartphone, people would go on trips and put themselves behind a camera instead of entering the scenery.

Some people did. You can still see their caricatures in movies as obnoxious tourists doing silly things because they can't see much through their viewfinder. The reality though was that real cameras were big heavy objects that you had to lug around on a strap or in a case. The other option were cheap disposables or other types of cheap camera that were almost as bulky. It's not quite the same as always having something in your pocket that you can use to intermediate your experience. Most people did without cameras or kept them packed away in their luggage for those reasons. It's funny to think about the difference between how casually people take pictures now since they are cheap, quick, and easy compared to how the mood of a situation used to change when someone got their camera out.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever gone without a computer or phone for an extended period?

#105

Post by Vivtek »

When Hurricane Maria hit us in 2017, we lost power for two weeks (we were extremely lucky in that - we were among the first 4% of the island to regain power due to our proximity to a hospital).

During those two weeks, my entire lifestyle changed, obviously, so it's difficult to know what changed because of that, and what was just the fact that e.g. I went from sedentary tech work to nailing salvaged roof scrap on top of the house on our farm.

But - my blood pressure dropped. I lost weight. I did a lot of reading of books. My notes are more interesting for those two weeks because they were ink on paper and I could insert drawings and diagrams wherever I wanted. They were more thoughtful and less reactive.

I fixed a mosquito zapper by sheer force of will (the capacitor was shorting across a resistor - poor design, but once I figured it out I could fix it. I'm still using that zapper today, and only shorted the capacitor out across my finger three times. Ow.) That day, I was become death, destroyer of mosquitoes.

I guess I quasi-fixed the roof on the farm house by sheer force of will, too. Had to dig the nails out of the scrap - no hardware stores open. My son considers it a formative experience.

So I didn't choose to go cold turkey, and it was only a short time, and its lifechanging nature is impossible to tease away from concurrent events, but still - anecdotally, it's probably worthwhile to try it voluntarily.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever gone without a computer or phone for an extended period?

#106

Post by TheTaytay »

I have read and enjoyed the book Digital Minimalism, by Cal Newport: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Minimalism-Choosing-Focused-N...

He doesn't advocate (necessarily) for absolutely zero screens, but it offers a very practical framework for deciding what is serving you and what is harming you, and it will result in less distractions and more thoughtful interactions overall. If you are already thinking along these lines, I think you would get quite a bit out of it. (It's also not "trite" as you might expect this sort of thing to be.)

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever gone without a computer or phone for an extended period?

#107

Post by smackay »

elliekelly wrote: post #100
smackay wrote: post #36

Did several months on one of the more remote islands in the Falklands - population: 6 humans, several thousand penguins and several million petrels. Apart from a rotary phone and generators the only other tech experience was the International Space Station flying overhead one night. The first couple of weeks were a little interesting but after a while you realise that if it was important then you'd hear about it even…

Did a copy of Penguin News[1] make it all the way out to you? I subscribed after my visit and I always enjoy reading their hyper-local news. [1] https://penguin-news.com/index.php/headlines/all-headlines

I grew up in a place with hyper-local news. Let's say, I'm not a fan.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever gone without a computer or phone for an extended period?

#108

Post by hrishios »

bdefore wrote: post #62
crucialfelix wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was up there for a month or two and did Vipassana there in 2003. It was wonderful. I met many very interesting people. The town was already overpopulated for its size, but these days I hear it's really extreme. I talked to somebody who was born and grew up there. He said that now there are so many hotels and concrete developments all over the hills. It's just a mess.

I can only imagine. As if _where we are_ is a living thing as well. I remember at the time there was a bend in the road where you'd face the beautiful Himalaya across the valley, but if you looked down the near embankment you'd see where all the bajillions of plastic water bottles were disposed of for a town that didn't (yet?) have a plan for them. Only tourists such as myself drank them.

Was there and in nearby places a year ago, and it's the same story that happened to Manali and now Kasol. The interesting culture and crowd move somewhere, it becomes a hub, it becomes overly crowded, and people move again.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever gone without a computer or phone for an extended period?

#110

Post by hrishios »

I've done it for a week or two once a year on a trip to Kasol. I'd recommend it because it forces your brain to relearn behaviors and in doing so discover new things. Honestly though it's the same as anything else - I find myself locked in a battle between comfort and growth, and technology is the same.

Another interesting thing to do is instead of giving up your phone, remove all the apps you usually use and commit for a week to only using apps and websites you've never used before. Similar effect.

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