Cutting off electronic tethers, etc.

[shootingstar]

Could you really cut yourself off from outside contact via any computer, tv, cell phone, ipod, radio and simply live with sounds of the environment around you (man-made or natural sounds) and be by yourself or with just your family/housemate(s)? Cut yourself off from all these devices..

And how long?

If you give me a pile of books and a bike that fits me, I would be happy for a few weeks. But then someone might phone us...on the land line.

I have a collection of CDs which I haven't listened to anything since Christmas (I forget), don't have ipod nor do we turn on radio. So the audio thing is not big for me. Don't have a cell phone, Blackberry, not yet on facebook nor twitter. We have tv but then I've lived without tv prior for many years.

It's the computer and no access to the Internet that might bug me after a few wks.

[smilingcat]

I have nothing against technology. My only beef with it is when people abuse it, get addicted to it or when we turn away from socializing face to face and socialize only through the computer.

I just do not have time for TV. There just isn't enough time in the day for it. Could I live without it? Honestly don't know because I haven't tried... Oh I have gone to Anderson Ranch for decompressing from work and have fun at pottery workshops. Two weeks of absolute bliss. No radio, no TV, no cell phone, not even a car. Just two weeks of bliss immersing myself in pottery work. Being challanged to bring my "inner voice" out through my pieces.

For the artists here, if you can find a way to afford it, It will be an experience of lifetime. I have always loved the place. And I am always so awed by the people who actually make a living from their art.

[Crankin]

I am much less tethered than most, but I don't know if I could give up what I have. My cell phone gets used maybe twice a month. I don't even turn it on anymore. I think it would be really hard for me to give up my computer, mostly because I wouldn't be able to "talk" to you guys! I also have to use it for research at grad school, since everything is available electronically. I have to say, it is a little uncomfortable to me when I have to register for classes on line, have electronic conversations on Blackboard (thankfully, none have been required in the classes I've taken so far), because I can never remember what steps I have to take to do each thing. I do like email, generally, because I don't like talking on the phone. I will call friends to make plans or if we haven't communicated for a week or so, but generally, I don't talk on the phone to just "gab." So email allows me to take care of a lot of business type transactions without having to use the phone. When I see all of these people texting, I really wonder, why do you have to talk so much? Like, how many friends do you have? I have a pretty active social life, but I just don't feel the need to be connected so much. I will never get a Blackberry or I Phone, especially since I don't even know how most of the functions on my regular cell phone work. I use a $3.00 day planner to write stuff down, but mostly I remember it all in my head.
I rarely listen to music and when I do, it's on the radio in the car or a CD. My IPod is programmed by my DH, since although I have been shown at least 3 times, I can't figure out how to download songs.
As far as cycling/running gizmos, I ditched the HR monitor about 4 years ago. As others have stated, I was focusing on it too much. I know when I am working hard or not! I do have a computer, with cadence on my road bike, but I mostly use it for keeping track of miles. My average sucks, so I don't look anymore! I got a Forerunner 101 for running, mostly because I needed to know how far I was running and I wanted to know my pace. Hey, I was pleasantly surprised when I first got it, but it's the cheapest Garmin around and it doesn't work if the g-ds aren't smiling the right way. I barely can use it.
With electronics, as with mechanics, every time is the first time for me.

[redrhodie]

I just went 10 days without TV, stereo, computer or phone. I did use a pay phone a few times to check in with family. It was great, very relaxing.

If I had no obligations, job, or bills to pay, I could easily adapt to this long term.

[lph]

I could, and have gone for weeks without "devices". But that was typically either as a hut warden in the mountains, where I'd meet new people every day, or on long hikes, ditto plus see new landscapes all the time. I'd get bored and lonely after a week or so in one place with just my closest family around. I love them dearly, but I'm accustomed to and prefer daily contact with more people than that. It has little to do with devices really, more to do with where I live and where my friends are.

If all phones and all computers disappeared off the face of the earth in one fell swoop I'd adapt quite happily. But if I lose my cellphone I panic a little, because I know lots of people rely on getting hold of me that way.

[tulip]

Technology is how I am able to work from home. Without my computer and smartphone, I'd have to be in a cubicle all day. No way!

Since TV went digital, I no longer have a functioning TV. So far I have not missed it. I like listening to the radio.

[OakLeaf]

I'd get bored and lonely after a week or so in one place with just my closest family around. I love them dearly, but I'm accustomed to and prefer daily contact with more people than that. It has little to do with devices really, more to do with where I live and where my friends are.

If all phones and all computers disappeared off the face of the earth in one fell swoop I'd adapt quite happily. But if I lose my cellphone I panic a little, because I know lots of people rely on getting hold of me that way.

+1 to all of that.

The phone in particular, since both my parents and DH's are getting elderly and infirm.

And, I don't think I'd adapt quite as quickly as you, because apart from gardening, I don't have a lot of practical knowledge or printed reference manuals at my fingertips. I rely on the internet to learn precisely the things I would need to do (or find the people I'd need to hire to do them, if those systems were still intact) if the internet suddenly disappeared.

Also the weather. That's mostly a function of never watching TV I suppose, but it seems that whenever I do put on the weather channel these days, it isn't like it was 15 years ago, and you have to wait for-freakin'-ever for a radar loop. And they don't give you the hourly weather graph or the option to zoom in or out on the radar loop. Now that I think about it, it seems that what I need the internets most for, is preparing for things that are going to happen outdoors, without it.

[ny biker]

I live alone. My nearest family is 300 miles away. Without electronics I would not have sufficient contact with my family.

I would also not have a job, since I'm a software developer who works on internet applications.

[OakLeaf]

Another thought:

without the internet (you wonderful wise women in particular) I'd still be riding an ill-fitting saddle and using a less than ideal chamois lube.

It hasn't been so long ago that I don't remember it. OUCH.

[indysteel]

Like Crankin', I hate talking on the phone as a general rule. I used to like it, but the only person I talk to these days is my BF and, then, only because he lives an hour away and we don't see one another most weekdays. So, for that reason, I'm "addicted" to email and my Blackberry. I rarely talk on my Blackberry; most people know better than to call me on it.

I don't have a home computer and lived without an Internet connection at home for many years, but again, the Blackberry is helpful in that regard. I like the fact that I don't sit at home in front of the computer, as I do that most days at work. I love the Internet though; I would have a hard time living without it for any length of time. I love doing research on just about everything, so I get a lot out of it.

I could take or leave television I suppose. I've lived without it and could again if I had to. I certainly don't miss it when I'm on vacation. And I love the radio, mostly because I'm an NPR junkie. If I had to choose between giving up my tv and giving up my radio, it would definitely be the former.

Speaking of NPR, I heard a story the other day about Google's attempt to create a digital library. That's where I'd probably draw the line. Reading is as much about curling up in my bed or in a cozy chair, preferably with my cats or my BF by my side, as it is the book itself. I don't think I'd enjoy reading a book online.

[GLC1968]

I live alone. My nearest family is 300 miles away. Without electronics I would not have sufficient contact with my family.

I would also not have a job, since I'm a software developer who works on internet applications.

Ditto this except that my family is 3000 miles away. Plus, if it hadn't been for the internet, my goat would have died during child birth, I never would have met my husband, I'd have no job (I'm an EE), my husband would have no job (computer security), we wouldn't have found the last three houses we owned and all of my real life local friends and I would not have met.

That said, if it all went away, I'd be totally fine with it. I don't need TV, I only listen to the radio or music when I drive, I am never on the phone unless it's for work or with family, I don't play video games, I don't have a 'smart phone' (but everyone should keep buying them, please!) and we are carefully building up our real life home library with the information we need so that we can be less reliant on the internet in the future.

[ny biker]

Another thought:

without the internet (you wonderful wise women in particular) I'd still be riding an ill-fitting saddle and using a less than ideal chamois lube.

It hasn't been so long ago that I don't remember it. OUCH.

Word.

BTW, I admit it, I like watching TV. Lots of what's on is dumb or uninteresting, but I still manage to find things I like. And sometimes you can actually learn from it.

[shootingstar]

I don't even like wearing audio headsets or ear buds for a long time. So I have sat on plane flights for several hrs., without a headset and simply watching the movie images..or my mind thinking of other things if there isn't anything interesting to read.

I don't mind doing it for an hr. long skype session but anything else, I just don't. I seem to get headache and don't like sound coming directly into my ears even if turning down volume.

Other than family members and some very close friends who are 4,400+ kms. away, I rarely spend a long time blabbing on the phone with acquaintances locally. Things have just worked out that it's more enjoyable to see each other face to face to chat up at length.

But even with close friends living in same city, the friendships are deep but not the sort of style where there's alot of weekly chatter by phone.

To me, the deepest friendships (for myself) are experienced in person, not just frequently phoning up someone on small matters. Even if the friend walks with me and we don't say alot..there's still alot of valued time shared together.

Good points made, that we still need tools to reach out beyond our families.
I only asked the question 'cause I see people so engrossed in their cell phone or texting on their PDA as they cross the traffic intersection on foot. 1 woman in Toronto was recently killed by a car because she was so engrossed in her cell phone conversation as she walked across a road. Or going to a restaurant and seeing a bunch of people with children, where over 1/2 of the people are on their PDAs or cell phone.

[Crankin]

Geez, Shootingstar, I thought I was the only one who refuses to "listen" to a movie on a plane. I would rather sit and stare into space, if I have nothing to read. But, I usually bring a big thick book, or last time, I brought my lap top and wrote a 12 page paper.
And I was just thinking the same thing as I was out doing errands today. Almost everyone in the grocery store had a phone glued to their ear. I splurged and went and got a manicure; two women were in there, who seemed to know each other slightly. They were blabbing very loudly across the nail salon about their kids... in a very vapid way that annoyed the heck out of me. If I go do something like that (get a manicure), I want to relax and have peace and quiet. Yes, ladies, you are not the only ones whose children have gone off to kindergarten...
I know. I am getting old and crotchety.

[Owlie]

My cell phone is my only phone, so I need that to talk to family and order pizza when I get lazy.

TV...I could live without it. I enjoy watching it, but I don't need it. This past school year, it wasn't hooked up to cable, but we had 4 video game systems hooked up to it, not that I played much. I need the internet--my university is trying to become a paperless campus, so everything is done online. It's also how I keep in touch with my friends from high school and how my research papers get done.