Technology

[dancerjodi]

Wil Wheaton posted something interesting here http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2007/07/geek-in-revie-1.html . I'm at work, so I can't read his Suicide Girls Blog . . . anyone want to copy the text and post it in my comments here? :)

It does raise an interesting issue. I think we're becoming crippled by our technology. What would happen to you if your e-mail and cell phone and GPS went away? Would you be able to function? I'm not talking about getting your work done at work (some of that does require specific technological tools) - I'm talking about the everyday mundane kind of stuff. Could you call your friends? Find a place you're going? Get money from a bank?

Some things to think about! :)

Comments

Text of the article (first bit)

[greylady.livejournal.com]

This ultra-connected world we live in is really cool, isn’t it? Any information we could possibly want is literally at our fingertips: we get directions from Google Maps sent straight to our cell phones, our GPS devices ensure that we’re never lost (despite our best efforts) and the days of wondering what that actor’s name is, or what the lyric to that song actually was (Alex the Seal? What the hell does that mean?) are gone forever, replaced by just a few keystrokes at Google or Wikipedia.

Do you know the actual phone numbers of the people you call regularly? Or is that just saved in your cell phone? When you’re online, do you actually know your passwords, or are they auto-saved as well? Do you have a roadmap in your car, or a Thomas Guide? What would you do if you got lost without a cell phone or a GPS device? Have you ever stopped to think about how dependent we actually are on technology, and what we’d do if we suddenly lost it one day?

I think about it all the time, and I have considered trying my hand at writing a short SF story about what happens when all the technology we rely upon goes kaput one day. Because whenever anything bad happens to technology, the most correct way to describe it is “kaput.” I’m serious. Go look it up at Google, or go to the library and use the card catalog if you really want to see what I’m talking about.

If you don't have time to go to the library at the moment, keep reading: I unintentionally got to experience how it felt to be entirely “off the grid” and live a technology-free life for five days beginning last Thursday.

It was a hectic morning. I went out to Beverly Hills to shoot some video for FanLib, as part of this Star Trek fanfic contest I’m hosting (note that this contest wouldn’t exist without the Internet. That’s important). Traffic was miserable, so I didn’t get home until four hours after we’d planned to leave, and I still needed to ftp my book’s files to the printer. (Please note that, just ten years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to ftp a bunch of pdf files to a printer, who would use digital printing for my book. I would have to print everything out and ship it overnight. What took fifteen minutes last week would have taken at least 24 hours a decade ago). Shortly after I sent all the files to the printer, I hopped into the car with my wife, kids, and dogs, and headed up to Lake Tahoe one last family vacation together before Ryan goes to college in August.

I haven’t taken a real vacation in years, mostly because it’s hard for me to justify the cost (especially now that I have a kid going to college in about five weeks). It’s also hard for me to get away from the work I do online every single day, because I really do spend about half of my waking life connected to the Internets in some way. (Please note that I’m not complaining about this. About two months ago, I got together with some other full-time bloggers for drinks, and we all marveled at how we all had jobs that didn’t even exist when we were in high school, because the Internet wasn’t the massive series of tubes that it is today).

Text of the article (second bit)

[greylady.livejournal.com]

I didn’t know about the vacation until two days earlier, when my wife sprung it on me as a surprise (Pleae note: Wil hates surprises). I didn’t even want to take the vacation, citing the above reasons, but Anne pointed out that we haven’t had a family vacation in years, the kids will be out of the house before we know it, and, oh yeah, she worked her ass off for the last two months so we could afford the trip.

“Really?” I said.

“Yeah,” she smiled, “I didn’t think you’d notice because you were in Gotta Finish The Book Land.”

She was right, and I’m a sucker for my wife’s smile, so I scrambled like crazy to get five days of work done in two days, and just after 2:30 on Thursday, we were all in the family truckster, heading up the freeway.

Wednesday Night:

“I have to bring my laptop,” I told her while we were packing, “because I still have lots of work to do. I have a column to write, I need to work on my Geek in Review, I have my Netscape submissions to post, and I’m --”

“There will be wireless Internet near the cabin,” she said, “and you can get all your work done while we’re there. Don’t worry.”

I was skeptical, but she used the goddamn smile on me again.

“Okay,” I said.

When we got to the cabin, it quickly became clear that there wasn’t convenient wireless Internet; we were staying near Tahoma, on the West shore of the lake, and the closest WiFi was in Tahoe City, about ten minutes down the road.

I freaked out a little bit, and began to think of ways I could get online: walking around the neighborhood and hoping for an open access point seemed like a possibility. Driving into Tahoe City and buying a cellular wireless card was another.

Or . . . I could just let it go. None of my deadlines were until Wednesday, and we’d get home Monday night. I’d have a hellish day on Tuesday, to put it mildly, but I could still get everything done on time.

And I’d get to have the first real vacation I’ve had with my family in years, at a time when I needed a real vacation more than just about anything else in the world.

It wasn’t as easy a decision as you’d think, and I spent much of the first day we were up there going back and forth on it. It was during a game of over the line wiffle ball in the street that evening, breathing in clean mountain air, listening to the wind blow through the pines, when my son told me how much fun it was to play like this together that I made my choice. After about twelve hours of agonizing, I couldn’t believe I’d even spent one minute worrying about going off the grid.

By the end of the next day, I was happier and more relaxed than I’ve been in ages, and I think going entirely off the grid is why. Without the cell phone constantly ringing, without a pile of Bloglines subscriptions to read, without the constant drone of news and rapid fire influx of information I’ve come to take for granted as a constantly-connected guy, I could just relax and enjoy life. I could walk my dogs, take all the time I wanted to make meals, and play Othello with Ryan, without feeling like I should really be working.

I also got to enjoy the geeky things I did long before I fell down that damn series of Tubes (please note that it’s not like a truck) like finishing The Forever War, which I can’t believe I hadn’t read until now, and has assumed a place in my top ten science fiction books of all time. (Seriously. If you haven’t read it before now, or if you’ve only read anything other than The Author’s Preferred Edition, and you enjoy military or hard SF at all, you absolutely must pick it up. I am not ashamed to admit that parts of this book brought tears to my eyes.)

I also brought some geeky games along, including Ticket to Ride: Europe, which is just like Ticket To Ride, but fun, and with a skill element involved. Nolan and I convinced Anne to give it a try, and we had one of the most enjoyable game-playing evenings we’ve had since I introduced my family to Settlers of Catan.

Text of the article (third - and last- bit)

[greylady.livejournal.com]

There was a television, but I didn’t watch the news. My cell phone got such terrible reception, I just turned it off and left it off until we were driving back down toward Sacramento Monday morning. I lived a 1995 lifestyle for five days, and I loved every minute of it. (Please note that the only bit of modern technology I really missed was satellite or Internet radio, because even though we got a cool classic rock station from Reno, I got really tired of hearing Aerosmith’s Dream On after the eleventy billionth time on Saturday.)

When I got home, I talked to my dad on the phone. He’s a perfusionist, and spent just about every childhood vacation that I can recall chained to his beeper (it pre-dates the pager, kids. Ask your parents).

I told him how great the vacation was, because I left the Internet -- and all the other distractions that so frequently get between me and the people I love -- at home.

“You know how you’d sometimes get to leave the beeper at home, and we’d have a totally uninterrupted family vacation?” I said.

“Yes,” he said, “those were my favorite times when you guys were kids.”

“It was like that, only this time it was me without the beeper,” I said.

“It's great, isn't it?” He said.

“Yeah,” I said, "It really is.”

If you get a chance to go entirely offline, even if it’s only for a three-day weekend, do it. You may have to endure a hellish Tuesday, but I promise you, it’s entirely worth it.

Wil Wheaton had a hellish Tuesday. It was entirely worth it.

[rubicat.livejournal.com]

I have never quite given up my love for a paper calendar and to-do list notebook. In these, I scribble all sorts of things, and I try to NOT be such a slave to .Mac. I love the portability of what I do; I can literally be anywhere in the world as long as I have a wifi connection, and still work. However, there are those times where I'm glad I'm not one of those people with cell phones in holsters!

I often wonder the same thing - technology was supposed to give us more leisure and the ability to work more efficiently so we could engage in that whole "pursuit of happiness" thing. But I think it's just seduced us into doing more with less, and now we've gotten ourselves backed into a corner with it.

[cris.livejournal.com]

I actually got in a conversation with a co-worker last week about why I'd never install GPS on my car or bike, and basically explaining that I never wanted to give up my ability to navigate on my own. I can see the benefit of geography based lookup service (and would love a service that would not only tell me which Chinese restaurants are within a 5 mile radius of my car, but also which ones have available street parking ) but I wouldn't use it to give me directions.

Not having e-mail and a cell phone might make things tough, mostly because all of our interactions are based on the presumption of near universal access to e-mail and cells. People don't make plans in advance anymore and always play things by ear. It's never "let's meet at such and such place at such and such time" but the creeping vagueness of "let's plan to be in this neighborhood at this rough time window and I'll call you when I get there and we'll figure it out."

What's the deal with getting money from a bank? are we talking about not having ATM cards and having to get to a bank during normal business hours? or are we talking about not having access to online banking? or are we talking about forgetting where your bank is because you've become over-reliant on GPS? ;)

there are some folks who blog about going a week without Internet, but it would be interesting to try a week at a certain technology level. Like, a week of living in the 1970s (pre-cell phone, post-ATM, you can only go online if you have access to a 2400 baud modem) or a week of living in the 50s (pre-ATM, pre Visa card, no online access at all) etc.

[cris.livejournal.com]

was supposed to give us more leisure and the ability to work more efficiently so we could engage in that whole "pursuit of happiness" thing.

yeah, this is based on a presumption that we all have a finite amount of work, and once we complete the work, we can relax and pursue our bliss. in reality ... "finite" amounts of work? hah!

[danaecormac.livejournal.com]

Thanks to greylady for posting this!

When I was at The Omega Institute (it's like an adult summer camp!) this past weekend for a workshop, I watched as just about everyone walked around during the breaks looking for a signal for their cell phones. I wanted to walk up to them, gently take their phone out of their hand and say, "Dear, you need to unplug. That's why you are HERE." My parents knew where I was, if it was a super emergency, they could have called and a message would have reached me.

After reading that blog, I realized I am not plugged in as much as the next person. Yes, I have a cell phone (which I only got in Dec 04) for my business, but I am not on it at all except to make business calls or the occassional text. I have a land line as well as a *gasp* non-electronic address book.

Yes, I have a computer at home with the internet(which I only got in May 06), but I very rarely go on it during week nights or weekends - I'm on a computer all day at work, why in the world would I want to be on it all night or weekend?

Yes, I have an iPod, but I only use it when I go to the gym or go for a walk - hence it is sitting collecting dust on my coffee table since I have done neither activity in about a month.

Yes, I have a Rand McNally map in my car (or will soon be in my car - I forgot to put it in the new car back in February) and use it when I need it. While I do get a Yahoo Map when I am going to an Athena's party, I always get the directions from the Hostess as well.

I think I could survive pretty well without the fluff technology: cell phones, email, GPS, iPod.

Thanks for sharing that blog, Dancer!!

[zerodivide1101.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm not sure what you mean by "crippled by our technology" here. Certainly it would be inconvenient to do the things you mentioned, but I could definitely get by. I think making the mundane more convenient is the point of all these newfangled gadgets, isn't it?

There are some interesting somewhat related comments on the subject here: http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/14/0651241

Re: Text of the article (first bit)

[dancer.livejournal.com]

thanks for posting all of that! I know its a pain, splitting between posts

[dancer.livejournal.com]

"I guess I'm not sure what you mean by "crippled by our technology" here"

Folks that can't find their way anywhere without a GPS. Wouldn't know how to get cash from a bank without an ATM card. People that would lose their shit if their cell phone went away, or their electronic calendar was unavailable . . .

[zerodivide1101.livejournal.com]

I guess what I'm getting at is that if I didn't have a GPS, or Mapquest, or whatever, I'd be able to get where I'm going (probably), but it would be much more difficult and inconvenient. Same with the bank, and the rest of it.

I'm not sure there are people who, if they didn't have an ATM card, would just walk around with no money because they didn't know any better. Maybe I'm naive though.

[darthwk.livejournal.com]

What would happen to you if your e-mail and cell phone and GPS went away?

I certainly would have more quiet time since all the 501sters would have to find a way to solve their own problems...... :)

Re: Text of the article (first bit)

[greylady.livejournal.com]

You're welcome :)

I do have to admit that since a lot of the way I work/learn/communicate are computer (or wireless) based, this definition of "off the grid" would involve a lot of personal changes. For example; I go to school on-line and don't even have a land-line phone... only a cellular.

On the other hand, I know how to use a map (and own one), I know how to use information (op assisted) or a telephone book, I know where my local library is located, and I know how to milk a cow. I think I'd be okay if "the grid" went away.

[dementia.livejournal.com]

Totally off-topic, but remember me? I'm still lusting heavily after that Catherine Coatney outfit you have. The cherry one? I happened to lose my pix in the hard drive crash, so I'm wondering if you happen to have any you could possibly post or email to me? *bats eyelashes*

Catherine Coatney

[dancer.livejournal.com]

Hi!

Here's a pic of us together with the dress:
http://www.stormtrooperguy.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=10&pos=71

What it comes down to

[knome.livejournal.com]

..is if you are a slave to technology, or technology is a slave to you? I think there are two factors here:

1) Attitude. Adopting an "I own tech.. it doesn't own me" attitude and intentionally switching off devices like cell phones and etc when you are having some fun. People you know will figure out that they need to leave you a voice mail! However...

2) Shifting Norms. Once this stuff gets ubiquitous, then being able to do amazing amounts of things all at once becomes the Standard, and so soon after everyone is measured by that standard. If you DON'T live like this, you begin to suffer a competitive disadvantage.. unless you can find a balance somehow.

All of our modern conveniences haven't shortened our work week from 40 to 20, have they? Even though productivity has soared through the proliferation of tech, very little of that has trickled down to the worker. In fact, My father had more time off work than I do, and he didn't have to work from home. Ever. Nor would he have. But nowadays in order to be perceived as a Good Worker, he would HAVE to engage in that sort of behavior.

And that's the root of it, I think. Tech is agnostic.. it is how we use it, and society's expectations that are the trouble.

Re: Catherine Coatney

[dementia.livejournal.com]

Thank you SO much (now I hafta crop myself out of the pic :P)