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I'm leaving the Internet for a year

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Re: I'm leaving the Internet for a year

#31

Post by adestefan »

augmentech wrote: post #11

The following services are best done via internet and will be full of friction to substitute an alternative: 1. Remote desktop sharing and web conference calls 2. Remote learning / webinars 3. Bank transactions (web banking) for bill pay, instant wires and archived bank statements, etc. Yes, a phone call to the 1-800 could work, except for payments and immediately available bank statements. 4. Music video of the late…

3. Bank transactions (web banking) for bill pay, instant wires and archived bank statements, etc.

We used to put these things called checks into little paper envelops. We then put an inexpensive stamp onto them an deposited them in mailboxes. About 3 days later our bills were magically paid.

In all honesty does anyone actually have hard numbers on the number of people that actually use online bill pay? I'll willing to bet that a larger number of people still pay via a mailed check.

Re: I'm leaving the Internet for a year

#32

Post by icebraining »

MattGrommes wrote: post #9

Sheesh, what a pain in the ass this will be. Not paying bills online, not making plans over email, etc., etc. The idea of not letting "the Internet" into unknown corners of your life is fine but I do the same thing by _paying attention_. This reminds of the regular Information Overload articles that get written about how the writer has too much stuff to pay attention to. When I read those I always think "you're doing…

Control your technology, don't let your technology control you.

Or the lack of it.

Re: I'm leaving the Internet for a year

#33

Post by polyfractal »

Cushman wrote: post #14
crusso wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't call it serious or mocking, rather I'd call it whimsical speculation designed to generate conversation. I find your attempt to suppress my whimsical speculation designed to generate conversation to be pretty uncalled for.

I didn't read it as whimsical; I was originally going to write something like "You're quitting smoking? Are you going to quit coffee, too?" It struck me as pretty harsh. I do think there's legitimate value to the idea-- I'd bet most people would be a lot happier without electricity or indoor plumbing than we'd imagine. But I think if somebody decided to try it for a year, a guy saying "No electricity, huh? Are you go…

> I do think there's legitimate value to the idea-- I'd bet most people would be a lot happier without electricity or indoor plumbing than we'd imagine.

I think only someone who has grown up with both of those advances would be able to make this comment with a straight face.

Ask anyone who has nearly frozen to death in the winter because they couldn't afford their electricity bill what they think of that statement.

Or anyone who nearly died from cholera because of drinking from the nearest river due to no water utilities what they think of that statement.

I'm not writing this to be hostile. It is simply a statement that the "good ol' days" were not really so good afterall.

Re: I'm leaving the Internet for a year

#34

Post by tomjen3 »

mortenjorck wrote: post #19

Having followed Paul's writing for awhile, I feel like I get where he's coming from and what he hopes to do with this endeavor. I really respect that. But I still have to question the viability, and ultimately the value, of this honestly rather extreme abstentionism. If he were moving to a village in Thailand, things would be different – he'd be surrounded by people who don't need the internet, and the society he'd b…

Oh absolutely.

My parents moved to city that they had never been to at about that time. My mom had to call the directory to ask for realtor so they could find some place to live.

It was back when people actually used the phonebook to look up phone-numbers. It is that long ago.

Today almost none of the tech in available. Payphones still exist, but you have to know where they are -- and they are not exactly cheap.

Heck he can't even buy stuff at a supermarket, since those computers are almost certainly wired to send the purchase information back to be mined for data. And that wasn't unheard of back then. Today? Do they even have a directory anymore?

Re: I'm leaving the Internet for a year

#36

Post by ctdonath »

Cushman wrote: post #14
crusso wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't call it serious or mocking, rather I'd call it whimsical speculation designed to generate conversation. I find your attempt to suppress my whimsical speculation designed to generate conversation to be pretty uncalled for.

I didn't read it as whimsical; I was originally going to write something like "You're quitting smoking? Are you going to quit coffee, too?" It struck me as pretty harsh. I do think there's legitimate value to the idea-- I'd bet most people would be a lot happier without electricity or indoor plumbing than we'd imagine. But I think if somebody decided to try it for a year, a guy saying "No electricity, huh? Are you go…

Taking the absurd seriously...

I dabble in a blog featuring $1 meals. I get snide quips from people criticizing "oh, but are you taking costs of running a gas/electric stove into account? betcha haven't taken THAT into account!" So...several meals posted (or coming soon) are indeed cooked over an open fire of random deadwood.

So lighten up. The query is a half-serious challenge to go a step further. Those of us who HAVE lived without Internet for significant periods know it's not that big a deal (though not trying to trivialize it either) and think a good comparable exercise IS to shut off the main breaker, shred the credit cards, and shift into a lower gear for a while. Sounds harsh to some, sounds like a delightful challenge to others.

Re: I'm leaving the Internet for a year

#37

Post by guywithabike »

nerdfiles wrote: post #27

For the past couple of months I've lived without iPhone (with Prompt and Textastic) or phone for that matter (except for the occasional Skype call). I've tried to restrict my development and general Web usage to ~2 hours a day. I recall bumping into a colleague at around 3-4a.m. We had a smoke and then he got called away to do tech support on some web app he had been contractually obligated to support. Given experien…

What's your job / how do you pay your bills?

Re: I'm leaving the Internet for a year

#39

Post by tomjen3 »

K2h wrote: post #23
crusso wrote: post #3

Maybe he should ditch electricity and plumbing too? I mean, if you're going to figure out how this one technology has infested your soul, why not go all the way? I'm sure there are some Amish* communities that would take you in and let you hammer some nails while you get back to your non-technological inner being. * That's always what they seem to do in movies to the point of being a cliche.

What was the quote I heard recently on NPR.. something like: "Without internet it is back to 1970, without electricity, its back to 1890" something like that anyway.

Any idea what show that was?

Re: I'm leaving the Internet for a year

#40

Post by pavel_lishin »

MattGrommes wrote: post #9

Sheesh, what a pain in the ass this will be. Not paying bills online, not making plans over email, etc., etc. The idea of not letting "the Internet" into unknown corners of your life is fine but I do the same thing by _paying attention_. This reminds of the regular Information Overload articles that get written about how the writer has too much stuff to pay attention to. When I read those I always think "you're doing…

> Not paying bills online, not making plans over email, etc., etc.

If he's married, I'd wager 90% of those things will still get done over the internet; but instead of clicking a mouse, he'll ask his wife.

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