Living Low Tech

[kybearfuzz]

After a rather stressful day, I went home after work for a nap and had planned on going for a run. It was probably one of the last nice warm days we'll have this year, but I skipped it in favor of hitting the "Woof Wednesday" happy hour at a local bar. A beer can be just as cathartic as a run somedays.

I ran into the globe-trotting and freshly shorn chrisglass who is always a pleasure as well as a few other familiar faces. Sitting alone next to our group was this beefy-looking cub type. So rather than have him sit alone, I scooted a couple of chairs down and introduced myself and then integrated him with some of rest of the group.

While he looked cubbish in appearance, I found out that he is actually 10 years older than me. What surprised me is that he admits that he'd only been in a gay bar four times in the last few years and drove roughly 30 miles to get to this one. Even stranger, he says he has no computer at home and his cell phone is of the non-iPhone/Droid variety. He says he uses a computer at work, but doesn't do Facebook or Twitter or have an email account other than his office.

Such technology has become so ingrained in our society that it is odd to run into someone who is freely and intentionally avoiding it. While I'm no FB fanatic, I do use it to keep up with people and events. I asked him how he had even heard of the bar or any of the events. He simply uses the local City Beat. The old fashioned way I suppose.

While I applaud the kind of resolve it must take to stay away from the internet and all its yummy goodness, I have to wonder how long a person can maintain such a distance from the online world. In talking to chrisglass, I know he's preparing for another trip where he will not have access to cell or WiFi access for weeks, but that is a different situation. Do you think you could give up the web for any excessive length of time if it were freely around you?

Comments

[madknits.livejournal.com]

Well, you know, I didn't really have a cell phone until May. I still use it mostly as a watch, since I can't find my wrist watch. And it's a pay-as-you-go, not a smart phone.

I didn't have internet at home until 2007, when I moved into the apartment I have now. Didn't really own a computer that could do anything til 2007, when I went back to grad school and bought a lap-top.

Now I find it almost impossible to live without internet access. Even brought my computer with me on vacation. But I think I could go without it from time to time. For me, it's mostly a means of staying in touch with friends, via e-mail and LJ. I'm not much of a facebook person.

It would be hard but not impossible to give it up.
Besides, there are so many free knitting patterns on the internet. ;-)

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I jumped on the internet myself as soon as I could back in the dial-up days of the mid-1990's. However, I held off on the cell phone until 2003. I never wanted to have my boss be able to contact me when I was away from home and off-hours. Eventually I gave in.

Realistically, though I have an iPhone, I use it more for internet functions than a phone.

And I've always been fascinated at how much information is available at a few keystrokes that I would really miss the internet if away from it for too long.