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

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

#191

Post by luddite99 » Sat, Jun 06, 2020, 6:51 AM UTC

Just wanted to say a huge thanks to everyone for sharing their thoughts and stories here. Definitely a lot of food-for-thought in regards to how one can find a better balance in regards to their technology usage.

If I were to summarise, I'd say that the overarching theme (and there may be some selection bias here) is that while it is impossible to disconnect completely and indefinitely, there is clear value is doing it from time-to-time in order to step back and recontextualize one's relationship with technology - whether that is through travel, religious practice, external circumstances or a purposeful choice to limit tech usage.

Will definitely be trying a few of the suggested strategies in the short-term to cut back on distractions, but I'm keen to see if I can "engineer" a more long-term break from my phone and computer in the near future.

Thanks for the discussion HN!

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

#192

Post by cbanek » Sat, Jun 06, 2020, 6:52 AM UTC

The last time I've done this for an extended period of time was '99, but at that point, I would go stay by a lake in a trailer for the summers (about 3 months). No phone, no tv, no internet, not a single luxury (and I was an internet junkie back then too). Both being away from technology for a few months, as well as being in nature was a great combo.

For a for days, it feels like my mind was emptying out - thinking of songs that were stuck in my head, working out problems that were in the back of my head, etc. Then suddenly my mind kind of quieted down and I was able to really relax in a fundamentally different way.

Coming back, it felt like life had the volume turned down. Commercials seemed even more ridiculous, obnoxious, and loud. Going back to the interrupt driven life was a bit hard, but more because it seemed so silly how stressed out everyone else is.

I felt it was really positive! Moderation might be fine, but I think the important thing for me was being unreachable, and having other people know I was unreachable. Sometimes I'll still do this for a week or two for vacation which is great, going to a national park and doing some hiking, paired with a long road trip.

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

#193

Post by hkai » Sat, Jun 06, 2020, 10:26 AM UTC

At one point in 2003, my CRT monitor died and I didn't have money to buy a new one for two months. I was still using my computer to play music, by blindly typing commands in the console - I remembered the folder names.

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

#194

Post by CoryAlexMartin » Sat, Jun 06, 2020, 3:20 PM UTC

carapace wrote: post #131

luddite99 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the 80s are definitely outside of my frame of reference, growing up in the 90s alongside the growth of household computers and the internet, living with technology has been the baseline for me. It's interesting to hear the experience of those who grew up on the other side of that divide and have an insight into both of those worlds.

Maybe I'm an outlier but I'm old enough, and I think the phone/screen thing is a fad. The moment more natural peripherals become usable the screen will go the way of the landline. (I mean things like AR in your contact lenses, input through gesture and dance via "wearable" sensors, holographic sound, and so on.) I think you're also going to get colonies of non-tech people. (The Amish are among the best farmers in the…

I’ve had the same thoughts about societies like that forming. It seems inevitable once brain-machine interfaces become available to the general public.