Slashdot Mirror
How Long Could You Live Without Your Gadgets?
DruCipher writes "CNet.co.uk is running a very funny article about Andrew Lim, the resident mobile phone reviewer, trying to live without all his favorite gadgets. The article sees Andrew try to survive without a mobile phone, a computer, an MP3 player and a TV. At the end of his technology detox he feels more relaxed without all his gadgets but cracks after a few days, 'Like all proper detoxes, though, my zen-like calm didn't last for long. Once I'd finished my gadget starvation, I was straight back to the tech binging. A remote control gun you say? Yes please!'"
...For all of these gadgets we carry around with us. I have several belt-clips already, might as well wear a "pistol-belt" with military-style pouches for all of these things.
Ten pages of all your favorite commercials!
Once an nerd, always a nerd. The return to high tech shows that once you get a taste of high tech and live it, you cannot stop. While the relaxation and peace were good for Andy, as it is for us all, high tech is our way of life, period. Though, just to gain some inner peace, I would recommend this plan to anyone who is stressed out. My college professor is reading this, and seems to like the idea as well.
Three days, at most.
Then I get fired for not doing my job.
MP3 player and laptop only when they take them from [Charlton Heston Voice] MY COLD, DEAD, HANDS! [/Charlton Heston Voice] :-)
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
Actually, we are not lucky... NEED GADGETS!
Meh.
... considering all pain and suffering.
Somehow this article reminds me of this story.
I don't answer my phone anyway, only use my IPOD when I'm walking around school, and grow bored with my computer pretty quickly. You might wonder why I'm even viewing this site. Giving up TV would be difficult tho. Sitting around, channel surfing, is the highlight of my day.
... as I would stop making money to live :)
Invexi - a Phoenix, AZ based web design and web development company.
I have a great long term memory for facts, figures and technical specifications, but I can't remember phone numbers, names, or appointments to save my life. You'd think an appointment book would work, but I don't remember to actually look at the damn thing, so I need it to beep at me to remind m of what shit is going on in my life. If I was living alone, I'd literally collapse without my Treo. I got a Handspring Visor soon after my first job out of college to remember all this stuff.
My G4 Mac hasn't been good enough to play any new games that have come out for over a year, I don't have cable, and my treo has email capability and reasonable web searching capability.
As a bonus, I have all my important music on my Treo SD card.
Everything revolves around my Treo. Soon, it will revolve around my iPhone.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
A couple months ago I disconnected my cable modem service with Comcast. They were fast, but down as much as they were up. I missed it the first few days.. No longer could pull down Linux ISOs in an hour. No longer could stream last weeks BSG episodes. But I got by.
Then my DSL went south. I lost pretty much all connectivity to the Internet. They finally fixed it, but at half the previous speed. It was barely enough for me to serve up my web pages.
My mail server had some problems recently. I had to rebuild the hard drive and drop it back to a backup machine. Had some backups, but was too busy (ok, lazy) to restore. Didn't feel like reconfiguring the webmail frontend in any case. So I started pushing some of the domain up to a hosting facility.
I started using dialup internet because the DSL was just horrid. That wasn't as bad as it sounds, but the hosting site didn't support IMAP, only POP3 because they didn't want to store mail. It was easier to use a command line client in any case.
That worked for a while, but it was still slow. So I had my buddy set up a box with direct modem dial up access. I set up a SLIP connection and could then pull my mail faster. I ditched Pine for the mail utility since it was faster.
But why have SLIP when I could just drop a modem directly to a console? It eliminated about 8% overhead in packet traffic in any case.
Heck, why stop there. I could set up a UUCP connection to another machine and really move mail quickly via serial modem. If I strip HTML attachments and just go with standard mail it'll fly.
Heck, the mail envelope is WAY too much overhead. I should strip that too...
We'll see how it goes...
I wonder if the BIX account is still active?
I wonder what the statistics are for people who don't actually have any "gadgets" when dealing with things they can't be away from.
I'm guessing that everyone has about 3 or more things they wouldn't be able to go without doing, regardless of their genre. I'm sure some people couldn't go without cleaning religiously or without sewing or buying clothes.
I'd also like to see the correlation of the abscence of gadgets vs. OCD.
"Please, shut up. Just when I think you can't say anything more stupid, you speak again." -Archie Bunker.
Is a dialysis machine considered a gadget?
Okay, I guess I'm not the best person to reply, as I still have a PDA, cell phone and digital camera as separate devices (I always have all three with me, though). However, the only thing that may resemble a gadget, and which I take with me when I'm on vacation, is a bottle opener.
in terms of productivity. Yes, a cell phone as a cell phone can be nice, but the millions of hard-to-use features on them don't cut it. Same with me goes for PDAs and other such electronic organizers.
This is not to say other people won't find them useful nor that there are a lack of gadgets that are truly useful (GPS navigation is indeed nice) but rather the lack of integration, seamless transparency and/or AI in these gadgets that currently only let the already organized and motivated stay organized. It's not as bad as some truly useless products of the 80s/early 90s I remember my dad having, using for a week, and then letting it sit around for me to discover.
I think google with gmail or Apple with the iPhone are headed finally in the right direction, after all these years. But I have greater hope that a color, high-res E-reader will reduce my bookshelf down to one tablet (next big gadget) than having a truly useful, automated PDA which really fits the bill of being a Personal Digital ASSISTANT rather than me being a slave to it.
I have an artificial heart, you insensitive clod!
-- Will program for bandwidth
Random?
I know, it's a horrid thought for all of the weak, middle class, yuppies. Most of them would curl up into a ball and die if the electric ever went out. I lead a fairly self efficient life however. I actually have no "gadgets", save for my computer, a television set /stereo, DVD player and camcorder. The television and DVD player are purely for films, while the computer is mainly for information and my own creative endeavors (a trait my camcorder shares). The fact that I can relax and play Quake now and then on my PC is a bonus, but not its purpose and though I may enjoy what I get out of the more mundane gadgets, I could just as easily live without. I certainly do okay with stupid shit like mobile telephones and MP3 players.
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
I gave up drinkin', smokin', bloggin', and sex... .. and it was the WORST 20 minutes OF MY LIFE!!!!
Guess which one I do most?
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
I only use one gadget, an old black-and-white-screen iPod, and only had a desktop computer until a couple of days ago. I only really use the MP3 player in the car. However, that doesn't preclude me from gadgetism. I'm a software gadget freak. If I don't have my iTunes hotkey control, my app launcher (Quicksilver), my Gmail checker, and my virtual desktops (VirtueDesktops), I'm much less happy, as I learned after getting this shiny new Macbook Pro. It also goes for audio plugins. If I don't have 8 extra synthesizers that I never use, I feel limited.
but then you slipped your hand back into your pants, and life was beautiful again, right?
Is the computer really a "gadget" anymore? Laptops, perhaps, and handhelds most certainly, but the desktop computer is a pretty integral part of my household - "gadget", to me, is something that's fun but more interesting than necessary. It's possible it's all in the eye of the beholder, but my desktop (and more importantly, internet access) is just about as important as any other utility in my house.
I don't know, perhaps there is a gadget that can tell me how long I would live without my gadgets.
For myself, I have gone months at a time without a cellphone, TV, computer, or portable music player. I didn't miss them much. This wasn't in the distant past, either, this is several times over the last decade. The key to this was the simple fact that I was well away from the hustle and bustle of my usual life. I was not at my everyday tech job, nor at my heavily tech-invested college, nor even in a major city. For portions of this time I was at a large ranch in the southwest U.S., where the main means of communication was CB radio; in a foreign country that was not heavily modernized; and on a boat skirting oceanic coastline. I didn't miss the tech because there was no real need for it - it would have seemed quite out of place, actually.
I have in recent times, and in my usual techie world, tried to do without a lot of modern gadgetry. By and large, though, it is hard to simply set aside. I am a practicing engineer doing a lot of mechanical design work - I simply could not do my work without a computer. I call up datasheets and other reference information hourly from the Internet. I do not have a landline, and so rely on my cellphone. I type much faster than I write longhand, so I usually email my long-distance friends and relatives instead of sending letters.
I have made some concessions to toning down my digital life. I don't find cable television to be worth the exhorbitant rates they charge, and broadcast TV is filled with a lot of vacuous crap, so I watch about 2 hours of TV a week. My iPod just died; I am waiting to see how the iPhone pans out, or whether Apple will release a 6th-gen iPod this year. Very few people have my cell #, so I receive about 20 calls per week on it; rarely is anything urgent enough that a landline and answering machine couldn't have handled it.
So, I guess one could say that the context matters in how successfully you can ween yourself from technology. Some lifestyles and work-styles have been enabled by modern gadgetry, and simply couldn't exist without it. In other contexts, the gadgetry is superfluous, a sort of reverse anachronism, if you will.
I've taken Mountain, Arctic and Desert survival training when I was a pilot for the Air Force and I have been through much pain of these elements with the bare minimums. However after leaving the service I notice that I cannot live without my iPod or other form music. I had an iPod since the beginning of 2002 and never was without one. My first iPod since the beginning of 2002 and never without one (not over a week). I now have both a iPod 5th gen and iPod shuffle.
I my music is very important to me and the iPod is one of those devices I cannot live without.
A close second is my MacBookPro.
I once spent a summer (ok, a month) in Yorkshire with the SO, a pile of books and a German Shepherd for company. We did a lots of long walks, and I never felt the need for any gadgets whatsoever (we did have a portable CD player, though, and I checked my email twice that month when I was in town).
You really don't need digg, Slashdot, or the usually IT industry inanity fed intravenously to you 24x7. Like Taleb said his book, Fooled by Randomness, most up-to-the-minute information is just noise.
Go somewhere random
indefinitely.
when i go on vacation the first 12 hours i have to adjust to not having news/info instantly available--but after that i'm fine and a good book (or stack of good books) can easilly take the place of internets for leisure.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
... if properly motivated.
:)
I have decommissioned my Palm Pilot and MP3 player. I don't answer half the calls I get on my cell phone. I watch less than 1 hour of TV a day, and am thinking of getting rid of it. I run Gentoo on my laptop, but I spend less than five minutes a week administering it, saving any work for major upgrades.
I got to this place by realizing that screwing with this crap is boring. I have better things to do, involving some worthwhile project that will give greater returns in the future. For example, I have continued to improve my motorcycling skills, and have made some long scenic trips, with more planned. And, my work has improved and become less stressful with greater focus.
So find something better to do, perhaps with more depth than a zoetrope or pigeon training
Boy, nothing says technology detox like a 10-page ad-laden web article complete with digital pictures. It's like an alcohol rehab center with an open wet bar.
but I can do it rather easily. I've been grounded a number of times for multiple reasons... it's not as hard as it sounds.
or at least that was they said in Fight Club.
;-) I have fun with computers for playing music, for documenting / advancing personal projects, communicating with friends and relatives, etc. I hear you say (or is this myself?) that we all need balance. I already play outside on a mostly daily basis... but what happens when gadgets are the hub of your life? What's the point of starting new hobbies (woodworking?) if my most dear personal projects require gadgets and computers? Have I become a pseudo-slave of gadgets.
:-)
This is a dear subject to me; we have no TV, no car, no microwave, no dishwasher, only one cell phone (my wife needs it for her job), etc. The minimal amount of "gadgets". Since things we own require attention. Requiring attention is not necessarily a bad thing, but you don't chose the time when your hard disk will fail and you'll need to take care of another hardware-related issue.
The main thing left is computers. We have three. I really want to spend less time in front of computers (especially since my day job requires me to be in front of one most of my work time), but the problem (challenge?) is that a lot of my hobbies / dreams / projects are tied to computers. (change computers in the last sentence for your favorite gadget so that I'm not too off-topic
Having no TV (for the last 8 years and we don't miss it at all) makes sure I'm not hypnotized by it, however, computers and Internet (/. anyone?) succeeds in swallowing me way too often...
Ah.... challenges of a life surrounded by gadgetry...
Animoog.org
Flash back more than a couple of days ago when there was a story about PR hacks and reviews. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/ 05/0128249
Now my gadget loving friends, this is the _why_ of PR.
1. Give products to some guy who writes about gadgets.
2. Writer can't live without them. Of course he can't! They have to sell adverts for the gadgets.
3. Profit!
The key here is the content this guy produces is kind of like ringing a bell for one of Pavlov's dogs. And good PR makes that bell ring a little louder.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
I've gone for about 6 weeks without more than an hour of electronic-device time per day. It's really not that hard.
Once upon a time, I gave up gadgets. My refrigerator was actually a silo full of freon and a windy mule named jake. We got our news by talking to the birds. Pidgeons mind you, the others are LIARS! Anyway, we were too poor to run a farm and too ugly to hold a real job, so we usually got our food by raiding the local cemetary, or scoping out the 6-lane highway next to the crick. Then one day I got a computer. Now I work in a cube, have 8 different bosses and WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS "LOAD LETTER" SHIT?!?!?!?!?
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
Were I told to get rid of all my gadgets tomorrow and I would still be able to support my family, I would in a heartbeat. Which is probably why I am as good in my field as I am; I understand the average user's aversion to anything technical.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
But now, my mind no longer remembers phone numbers, even ones that I call on a regular basis. I can always just look up numbers, so there is no reason to remember them.
It used to be no problem to memorize stuff. In fact, I was extremely good at it. But now that my computer remembers everything for me, I find that my own memory has gotten very poor. It would probably take quite a while to adapt to not having it.
The only times I've really gone without technology recently were on vacations. It is definitely relaxing, but part of that could be the vacation and place itself, not just freedom from technology. There isn't really much that stressful going on, or a need to memorize much of anything.
I no longer have a TV. I had one for awhile, but found that there are more interesting ways to spend time, like dating women for example. I have ADSL, which is not quite as fast as that 10 gig network I got used to at one point, but it still lets me work effectively from home, and keep up with party invitations. But when I'm up at the island I do completely without, for weeks at a time, until the boat comes to take me back to the mainland.
I have a cell phone, which is handy when I want it, for example when I'm alone on the island running a chainsaw or something, but it usually stays in its charging cradle where it won't intrude on my life. Before cell phones came along I did without that as well. We have a community radiophone down by the dock and in the old days it was either that, when it worked, or wait a day or two for a boat to come along.
I found that degree of isolation scary for the first few years, but also inexpressibly delicious, far more deeply rewarding than playing with some new techno toy. I already get plenty of technology at work, and I approach its use, I suppose, with a certain amount of professional reserve, knowing that nine out of every ten hot new technologies are going to be forgotten within five years anyway.
Want to invest attention in something worthwhile? How about spending time with your friends? Yes, there's more to friendship than showing off your toys.
Parity: What to do when the weekend comes.
I just moved from Philadelphia to San Fran with two suitcases. I had to sell my TV 55" Plasma and stereo. My DVD collection (200+), computer, Wii, Xbox, all went to my uncle's house for storage.
Having done all that, I lasted 36hrs days before I went to costco and bought a 42" LCD and DVD player and went to Frys and bought a new computer 12hrs after that.
A couple summers back, I moved into an apartment with no internet and no tv. I had no job, and my laptop's screen was broken.
It was the best summer of my life: I learned how to cook, read, play piano, build stuff, and take leisurely walks and bike rides.
(Incidentally, one of the books I read was Carl Honoré's book "In Praise of Slow", which is very appropriate to this topic!)
- RG>
Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
I was forced to live without my gadgets for a while back in 2003 when hurricane Juan knocked out the power for 2 weeks... and it really.. really sucked.
I have always accepted that I'm obsessed with technology (a programmer by trade, it kind of comes with the business).. but it didn't occur to me that I'm literally addicted. Reflecting, I realized that I rely on some form of technology for almost all sources of entertainment. The first few days were not all that bad, in fact, they were kind of interesting. The storm had not done any damage to our house, we had plenty of food, it was just like an extended blackout. But then boredom set in, and within a week I was going out of my mind.
It didn't help that the electric company played games with our minds. They came by about a week and a half in and fixed the power on ONE HALF (not the half we live on) of our street. Turns out we are actually fed by a different set of lines. I'm out there talking with my neighbors, and we're like... "there coming back right... RIGHT??!!??!!".
But do I think theres a problem with any of this? No, not really. I'll admit, if someone dropped me off on some deserted island, I probably wouldn't last long. But I don`t really think dependence on technology is a problem... as long as one insures he always has an adequate supply *pats generator*.
It's not a gadget, it's an insulin pump, you insensitive clod! (though it does play mp3's)
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
I like gadgets, but some of it seems ridiculous. I don't need a phone that is a computer. I have a computer that is a computer. Sometimes the latest gadgetry is just marketing to people that need to be the "first kid on the block" to have it. Kind of like the genuine simulated all-steel, dual thumbed ass-scratcher (with posi-traction) of 1923. Pretty high tech in it's day, yes, but most people polled after the purchase a month later weren't so sure why they bought it in the first place. Many of them ended up just taking up space in landfills a year later. Hard to believe.
boycott slashdot February 10th - 17th check out: altSlashdot.org
Since when is a computer a gadget?
The personal computer, whilst having substantial recreational value by means of being the predominant portal to the internet, is also an invaluable office tool.
Can you think of any businesses that work without personal computers? There may still be some, but very very few.
It's not a gadget. Heck, it's not even technology anymore. I remember reading a quote from Douglas Adams once, where he mentioned that "Technology is something that doesn't work yet." Because once it works so seamlessly that you don't even think about it, it stops being a technology, and starts being a phone, a car, a bicycle, a television. So do people really think the PC is just a gadget?
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
3 years ago, when I was at university, i took a summer out to leave england and go to work at a summer camp in pensylvania, obviously couldn't really take my computer as i didn't get a laptop til last year, took my phone but couldn't get a signal anywhere in the area, my only internet access was once a week to check my email on the computer for all the camp staff with the convenience of a 28k modem. i agree that it is very relaxing, but the first thing i did after getting home was turn the computer on, even though i'd not slept for going on 48 hours.
Blazing Spiders
I don't need any technology. And my stress levels stay low.
You can get a humble little MP3 player for $25 or less. You can get a cut rate laptop for $200 that can at least look at a couple web pages and post a blog, and swap tunes from your $25 MP3 player.
If you want a PDA, get one. I have zero use for them, but Your Gadget Enjoyment May Vary. (YGEMV).
The personal cost to being poor is being humble. Take an hour to realize you won't win a SINGLE "your gadget vs. mine" discussion. Then you can just relax and still share the *activities* related to gadget. You can bemoan your latest baseball team's woes
American society includes some social cues that can make it tricky to observe others with money decking themselves out in the best. Just enjoy watching them as "someone showing what can be done". I specialized in books because I was poor for many years. Total cost of an O. Henry/Maupassant/Saki discussion: $25 or less. Total entertainment hours: 25. (If you read each volume twice to compare some details. O. Henry is the most upbeat of the three. The other two might bite.)
Regards,
TaoPhoenix
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Seriously. I never get the point of these kinds of articles. "Could you go without air conditioning?" Yes, I'd be hot. "Can you live without pens." Oh no, time for a pencil. The point they're trying to make always seems to be somewhat muddied by a rather obvious glorification of tool A as something other than a way to produce effect B. As if there was ever any obsession with the tool other than as a means of getting to that end. I don't care one bit about my heart, for example. What I do care about, is getting the blood moved, handled, and distributed correctly around my body. I don't care about the pen or pencil, I care about getting information laid out on an easily distributable and reproducible medium. Could I shut the internet off, isolating me from the news and opinions of the rest of the planet, aside from a handful of friends and family who probably agree with me on most things and share the same biases and preconceptions which arise from being a part of any particular social and geographical location? Sure, but a better question would be to ask why that might or might not be a good thing.
Considering that humans managed to live and evolve without gadgets, I'd say I would live out my normal, expected lifetime.
Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
Until June 29, 2007 at 6pm! Shortly after that, I'd start to die.
I would burst into flames just like a vampire... or a gremlin. Yeah, more like a gremlin.
[signature]
I have a pacemaker. rly.
I've enjoyed reading everyones' comments.
I was homeless for a while. I learned a lot about what was important during those few weeks. I also had piles of bills to pay. I found a job, got a cheap apartment, paid off my bills, got married, went back to school, lived happily ever after, etc. When you've gone through building your life from *nothing*, you simply don't care what comes your way because you already know you can get through *anything* let alone the stupid gadgets.
As a result I tend to focus on things that improve myself, things that can never be taken away no matter what circumstances come my way. I don't play computer games because I see no self improvement there. I *feel* guilty because I'm not getting the most I can out of life. I see computer games as checking out and not facing reality. I've never seen someone become a better person because they played computer games or coveted gadgets. But I've seen things like computer games ruin marriages.
I don't invest in gadgets because they don't tend to produce a better person. Indulging in simple pleasures improves the soul. I'm a developer so I work on computers all day. I administer Linux servers at home and I write code for pleasure. I like these things because they improve my mind and help others.
If I wasn't married, I would throw my cell phone in the nearest gutter. If I didn't need to answer to a family I would stop cable TV because I hardly ever watch it. I would be a teacher in Mathematics and Physics or something if I didn't need to support a house. But I've made compromises because my family and my wife have brought so *much* joy to me. And that's a fair trade.
I think the discussion would have been more meaningful if it was more along the lines of "What compromises have you made in life because of putting resources towards worthless gadgets?" Or how about "Do gadgets take away from enjoying life and getting the most you can out of everyday?"
I love technology for what it can enhance, but I try not to let it *ever* be the focus of my life. It's a tool to accomplish other things like engaging in thoughtful musings on Slashdot. I've learned a lot about other people's thoughts and opinions by reading Slashdot and other such sites. It *enhances* my life because it allows me to hold up my thoughts to the scrutiny of others and allows me to learn more about myself when objective criticism comes my way.
Gadgets should never be a focus. People, family and friends should be the focus. Only gadgets that help those objectives like my cell phone for talking to my wife are worth the hassle.
Fresh horses and more whiskey for my men.
.....because in the next 4-10 years we won't have the electricity to power these superfluous gizmos when we run out of oil nor will we need them when we are fighting for our lives in the streets (Dawn of the dead/Road Warrior style). /alarmist?
My computer is currently broken. (Video card was bad, so I shipped it back, I'm still waiting for the replacement.)
How am I posting to Slashdot? Using the Wii's browser, of course!
So, to answer the article's question, a little under a day, before resorting to the somewhat crazy...
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
.. is how long I was without my iPod and Dopod. I had gone over to my nan's house for the weekend and had conveniently locked my car with the keys inside (no fancy remote thingy which makes you so paranoid that you go back and make sure the car is locked anyway). Everything was in plain sight but I could not get them. I spent a day figuring out how to open the door, contemplated wire coat hanger(never used one, didn't want to ruin beading and paint), breaking a window(insurance would cover that with the correct excuse but too risky, never done that either). In the end I just bid my time till Monday when I could get someone from home to send the spare key (nan's house about 120 miles away). I felt like I was being punished for something, I 3 my gadgets and I'm proud to be a slave to them.
How else would I extend my meat pole? Penis cream? Pshaw!
How long can man live without air?
In the end, you don't even "own" your body; you merely live in it for a while, then move on. Why do people spend so much energy (expressed in time, money, etc.) obsessing over owning "real" estate, when it's just as unreal as everything else? I guess it's a powerful way to overcome their ultimate fear of the Unavoidable.
Ahh - My eye!
The doctor said I'm not supposed to get Slashdot in it!
Once every year, I spend a month (or more, if I'm on contract) in the hills and valleys of the Texas panhandle. There's a phone -- in town. There's electricity, so I could bring gadgets if I wanted to. But i relish these vacations. Just me, my mortality, and my thoughts. Most people would think it would kill them, but it does me a world of good, and I think it would do the same for them.
Since the first of these experiences, I've de-gadgetized. I have a computer, a stereo, and a phone. No TV, no video games, no iPod. My mind is clearer. My budget is saner. And now that I've faced my mortality, I have less of the gaping hole within my soul that is filled with garbage and entertainment. I feel whole again.
Now the only thing left to do is overthrow civilization, and return us to a primal past... albeit one with Ubuntu for those tasks a typewriter or shotgun can't handle!
Anti-Globalism
Living without gadgets would be horribly detrimental to my budget. I'd start binging on books, comic books, manga, magazines, you name it. I assume gadgets means No TV, No DVD Player, No Tivo, No computer, and No slashdot.
The worst part would come when I will have exhausted the supply at the local book stores, and start hitting the used book stores. Researching ISBN numbers and harder to find titles is so much easier with Amazon and Ebay.
Book addiction eventually leads to finding yourself curled up in the corner of the childrens section of the local library reading a Little Golden Book, looking for an ulterior motive to the actions of the roly poly puppy, because it is the only thing you have not read for about 20 miles. This stage is far past the point of depravity where you read The Simarillion.
When I'm home or traveling in populated areas I have a phone that goes everywhere with me, and a laptop that goes with me anywhere I might have some down time. But a couple of times a year I like to go on lengthy camping trips in places where the phone has no reception and the laptop has no where to charge. I enjoy being removed from society to the point where there is no use for my gadgets. Gadgets make keeping up with society easier, but I don't find them to be crucial for survival or happiness.
five seconds. That's what I last.
brian botkiller "Condensing fact from the vapor of nuance" - Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
Are we talking life-support, here? Because then not long.
I have done without TV for 29 years.
I have done without a car for 29 years.
My cell phone has been off for about 3 months now; I have had less than 100 minutes use per month for the last 3 years.
I have had no stereo for about 10 years.
I have never had a laptop except for the one at the office.
I have never had a blackberry or other fancy 'smart' phone.
I have a touch tone land line phone with a single line, voice mail, and that's all.
My most interesting gadgets are two industrial sewing machines.
And oh, yes. A 15 year old bicycle on which I ride 46 miles per day commuting to and from work. It' not fancy. It's scratched up and dirty. A thief would ignore it as there are allways nicer looking bikes on the rack. But it gets me to and from work.
I also ride that bike to my evening's entertainment, which, by the way, has not been at a major megaplex chain such as Ciniplex Odius or Rigal, or AMC for about 2 years. We have many good independents here in Portland. I bicycle date to the movies for me will still net me change from my $5.00 bill.
Oh, and I forgot. I don't smoke. I don't drink alcohol. I don't drink coffee (yeah, I know that Starbucks hates me). I can still go out to eat at a non McDonalds type place and still leave with change from my $20.00.
Cleara
dude, it's easy to be philosophical when you OWN A FUCKING PORSCHE
I can answer which one you do least...
Who are you speaking for? I'm sorry to spoil your self absorbed personal geek fest, but I should remind you that *nerds* don't necessarily deck themselves out in high tech gadgets. That is something the *geeks* do to hide the fact that they aren't as intelligent as the nerds.
No offense, and maybe you are an exception to this rule, but in my experience, the guys who geek out on gadgets are usually the least skilled at their actual jobs. Put down the fucking phone/GPS/iPod and code or something else useful, damn it. I dont' care if you can send a video from your phone to your "girlfriend" in the Phillipines of yourself wanking.
Gadget geeks are so annoying and useless.
-matthew
"THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE IS ONLY ME." -Death
I'm quite confident I could live the rest of my life...
On act. 9th you wrote:
I am solving this problem the cheap way.
I ditched my car and now get around on a bicycle.
My commute is 20 miles each way to and from work. That includes goeing up and down an 800 foot hill (Council Crest, in Portland, Oregon).
I am losing my weight fast.
I am saving about $400 per month in car related costs now that I got rid of the car.
People tell me it can't be done, but it' no problem for me so far.
And I don't need some new fangled cycle/workstation or treadmill/workstation. And I don't need to spend $$$ for waiting to use unwashed health club equipment.
Peace
29 years without a car? I think not. or that's true and this post is a lie?
Also, you give out way too much information online.
You have been out of the closet since 1973, clearly you got balls. You don't need to lie to prove anything.
Don't fret, I've started calling out all the liars on slashdot.
"You are not your fucking khakis."
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
New emo phone model: it switches off randomly for some long time in order for the owner to feel pain and suffering.
May Peace Prevail On Earth
"drinkin', smokin', bloggin', and sex."
which one of these doesnt belong on slashdot
I once did a stretch living as a wild woods hippie for four and a half years, only electronic gadgets I had were a flashlight and a transistor radio. Eventually I almost completely stopped using the flashlight and went to home made candles.
I tell you what civilization has that is way more important and you'll miss the most if modern technology is just absent-clean running water coming out the tap. I think once we achieved that we actually hit "modern" life, some kind of big dividing line. It is something that is still pretty cheap for most of us, and what we take for granted a lot, but lose it, and you'll miss it quickly. In fact, you can see what the top items are when big natural disasters hit and people line up for some care packages stuff. They want water/ice first every time usually.
I could get by without all of those except for one thing- for school and work I need my laptop. I don't have a MP3 player, I could get along fine without a TV (I'd miss my sports though), cell phone is just a convenience, but life would be pretty tough without the laptop.
And no, I could not just handwrite or draw projects because, oddly enough, school and work kinda require an electronic format. Heathens!
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
I can answer which one you do least...
I'd hope you picked smokin', 'cause I'm sitting here in my bedroom, 12.45 AM, on a lounge chair, with my half-naked and thoroughly satisfied wife falling asleep on the bed to my left side, with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon on my right.
But I don't smoke.
ptash!
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
But when I think of giving it up and going back, what panics me is not having the shopping available. I look at the books and DVDs I've bought via Amazon et al, and I know I never would've found them in my local stores. Many of them I've found via Listmania lists or "People who bought this also bought..." links, and I never even would've known about them if I had to rely on the pre-internet shopping world. So I guess I am addicted to a few things. I just take them for granted, so they aren't as exciting anymore.
We bought my mom a Jitterbug phone, which is similarly simple and designed for old people,
with very big easy-to-read print, backlighting (looks like the Motofone F3 skips that), fat well-separated buttons, and a simple menu interface - most of the time you're just typing a name or number and hitting Yes, but you can also voice-dial or call the operator to connect you. It's not that old people are dumb, but if they've got vision problems then all the gadgety cutesy icons and menus with 400 different options in 4-point font just don't cut it. We cheated and entered Mom's phone list for her, but she could have done it herself or had the operator do it. She still needs a magnifying glass to read it, but couldn't do that reliably with her previous phone.
In spite of being dumbed-down, it's really slick. It's not trying to do a lot of fancy stuff, just let you tell it who to call and get on with it.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
I've always been a tech head - since I was about 8 or so (and we're talking late 60's/early seventies here) I was obssessed with science & technology and long before I could afford such stuff, I used to flip thru magazines looking at early VCRs, HiFi etc. As soon as I started work I bought an Atari VCS then an Atari 400. I was there day one with laserdisc, big TVs, Dolby Pro Logic, DVD etc. /. for any new news stories, must keep up to date! My life is one constant rush as I try to pack in all the stuff that interests me along with a job and family.
Now my day is filled up with reading about the latest on digital cameras, PCs, HiDef TV etc. It's like an addiction. Equally, gotta check my email, any text messages on my phone? Quick! Check
Then I go away on holiday. No web, no email, no phones, no techy toys, just the family and some good books and I can feel my stress levels just melt away. The simple life is Good! Talking at meal times rather than rushing it so I can check my email, taking things at a gentle pace. Wonderful. I promise myself when I get back, things will be different, I'll make sure I only check my email daily. I'll stop obsessing about various news websites, the latest toys.
Then I get home and the first thing I do is check my email and it's back to normal.
Frankly, if the Internet shut down tomorrow, my life would be so much better. That or I need to grow some self-control but seeing as I've been tech obsessed for 35+ years, I can't see it changing now.
I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
If your life absolutely depends on your electrical supply (and it shouldn't), you pay the effing bill, as if your life depended on that
Seems a lot of responders are quite "Hell no! I have no use for TVs or radios or fried chicken". And then there a lot of replies to "Hell yes! I need my (insert) because of (reason)". There seems to be a few moderates out there.
/., so....
What I found interesting was how, not quite vehement but I can't think of a suitable work right now, the extremes justified their choices. Like they needed a justification for feeling guilty about something. I don't care what you do (as long as you're not killing things), but some of the reasons that I read about either using nothing or using everything started getting a little... off. Of course, this is
Me, I posted earlier about what I could do without.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
I can't possibly live without a dildo for more than a few days. How about you guys?
For god's sake, why on earth is a tv set a gadget ? Or a mobile phone ? And you're a nerd if you say so ? Geez, guys, you just have a hell lot more free time to spend carelessly than we other poor humans do.
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
I could walk off into the woods today and live there for months and be perfectly happy. They are just tools, and are not needed to live. Don't let them become addictions.
I remember a history about dutch chess player Jan Timman. He liked a lot going out, have a drink, meet girls --who doesn't!-- but once he had to face a very important tournament. So he decided to retire to train in a place without any distraction, far away from the nearest bar, just to study chess. Then the tournament started and Timman lost his first three games. So he went back to a more bustling place. Started going out again, drinking each night and meeting girls. He recovered his strenght and won the rest of his games.
So, each one has her own zen. If you can live without gadgets, go for it. If you need them, have them always at hand. In my case I think I couldn't live without portable music players or without a laptop, but sure I could live without a mobile phone. Call me strange guy!
linuxav
Man, that's a bit harsh. Sure, a new loaded 911 Turbo rates pretty high on the gadget scale but there are a lot of Porsches out there that aren't excessive and are simply cars that people love. For all we know, Mr. AC, he could be driving a 35 year old 914, worth maybe $5000 in decent condition. (Now, more in tune with this subject) I love my early 911 (1971) in part because it is so free of gadgets. It doesn't have a CD player, GPS, park assist, a fucking thermometer in the instrument cluster, power seats or any of that stuff that distracts from driving. If I wanted to sell the car today I could probably get about $8000 for it, but I wouldn't sell it because it isn't some disposable gadget like an iPod or last year's cell phone. It is a hobby, a piece of automotive history, and it reminds me of a simpler time when I'm around it. Just because a guy owns a Porsche doesn't mean he's some rich asshole that needs some perspective. Some of my best customers came to this country and started with nothing. Now they're buying Porsches because they like the cars and to reward themselves for their hard work and a job well done.
Peter
Downsize DC Today!
I guess what you really mean is to use technology, gadgets, luxuries, etc, to enhance your life and NOT to define it.
A few months ago, I had problems with the electricity in my 100 year old house. The furnice, refrigerator, and some of my overhead lights worked, but the power to the wall outlets kept going out at unpredictable times. Which meant no TV, no Internet, no desktop PC, and barely enough juice in my laptop for 1 or 2 DVDs. It took nearly a month to get the problem fixed. The biggest thing I missed was the Internet.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
I own an older Porsche and I'm sure as hell not rich. Am I allowed to be philosophical? When people ask me how much I paid for it I say. it was either this or half of a stripped a Toyota Camry.
Self awareness - try it!
So jealousy's insightful now?
Beany: What's a hee-lot?
The Colonel: You've ever been broke, sonny?
Beany: Sure, mostly often.
The Colonel: All right. You're walking along, not a nickel in your jeans, your free as the wind, nobody bothers ya. Hundreds of people pass you by in every line of business: shoes, hats, automobiles, radios, everything, and there all nice lovable people and they lets you alone, is that right? Then you get a hold of some dough and what happens, all those nice sweet lovable people become hee-lots, a lotta heels. They begin to creep up on ya, trying to sell ya something: they get long claws and they get a stranglehold on ya, and you squirm and you duck and you holler and you try to push them away but you haven't got the chance. They gots ya. First thing ya know you own things, a car for instance, now your whole life is messed up with alot more stuff: you get license fees and number plates and gas and oil and taxes and insurance and identification cards and letters and bills and flat tires and dents and traffic tickets and motorcycle cops and tickets and courtrooms and lawers and fines and... a million and one other things. What happens? You're not the free and happy guy you used to be. You need to have money to pay for all those things, so you go after what the other fellas got. There you are, you're a hee-lot yourself.
Reduce, reuse, cycle
About 1-2 weeks. I do it every year when I rough it in the Boundary Waters. My father, brother and I go around August.
After than it starts to wear on me.
Sure, he's giving up TV in one of those steps, and TV is electronic. But what does he do instead? Watches the xkcd movie on zoetrope.
I more or less can't remember numbers and don't have any written down. I depend on my mobile (it's SIM card rather) for that. The camera, games, calender, alarms, mp3s, videos, flashlight, timer, bluetooth, internet, SMS, etc. functions are all things i can do without, but why would i want to? My phone isn't a burden. It's a major convenience.
I also pay all my bills online or over the phone (my mobile). I don't have a checkbook or get many bills in the mail. So i either need to get money orders every time or just make a few clicks on a PC. I can go without having my own PC so long as i have access to one when i need it.
I can live without my MP3 player, but it would SUCK driving without music. I don't carry any CD's and hardly any of hte Radio stations play real music anymore.
If I went camping or something i guarantee you i wouldn't use a single piece of gadgetry other than a butane torch.
You constantly struggle for self improvement - and it shows.
Hooray for bad Engrish on fortune cookies
For starters, the only real gadgets I have is my cell phone and a few computers. I got a couple other things the are work related, but don't do anything really (not a crackberry, pda, etc.). However, while a true nerd/geek - I could just as easily drop all the gadgets and computers and go do something else with my life - write books, play music, etc. There's not a thing technology has that I really need. (And by technology, I am referring to computer related stuff.) Advances in medicine, etc. are great and useful, and my wife certainly needs them (asthma).
If my bank weren't 600 miles away (no local branches, and I don't want to change banks either), then I could do without a credit/debit card too. Of course, I could do that and just use a checkbook too, not a problem; though I'd much prefer going to cash. (I also have a book on managing money; and the author found that by going to only using cash one would spend roughly 34% less money than by other means - namely credit/debit cards.)
Now, of course you could get picky about what you want to call a gadget. And if you really wanted to do so, then you'd pretty much have to consider most vehicles gadgets these days too, and with that respect - while I'd prefer to keep my car due to family being spread out across a few states, I could otherwise go without it without much problem. It'd take me a little longer (at present) to get to work - 20 minutes instead of 10 - but would be well worth it.
So I guess the real question is - what does this "first world" lifestyle really have to offer that is needed? Well, not much really. Most of what is really needed is provided simply by the sanitization and quality levels (e.g. food, drugs, etc.). Most anything else we could do without quite easily. Sure, it won't be the same, but we'd probably all enjoy life a lot more.
And, fyi, I am not joking by the above. I quite often go without touching a computer for a few days; I have gone months without a TV; I can even easily go a few days without using my cell phone. My current line of work is what keeps me on a computer and the Internet most of the time, but if I changed that I could easily fall off-grid and not even realize it.
Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away. - Elvis Presley (source: imdb.com)
My favorite tech gadget is an insulin pump... so maybe a few hours?
I still brought my Cell Phone (w/ MP3 player built in) and digital camera with me. I'd mail SD cards home and receive blank ones and fresh batteries in the mail. So much for disconnecting and becoming one with nature. Haha.
Coming to you live from another dimension.
I live without a watch or a cellphone.
Can't say I miss them.
Don't have a PDA either.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Also, I find it interesting that he uses his mobile phone seemingly primarily for "texting". Silly me, I just use mine for phone calls. I think that is a generational thing as well - I don't even know anyone who uses text messages on their cell phones that I would sent text messages to and have confidence that they would see them.
I'd miss having my cameras the most. I'd have to find another artistic outlet. If I gave up the digital cameras and kept the film cameras, I'd have a harder time sharing my work with people. Maybe that would give me more incentive to have shows. That wouldn't be bad. The cameras aren't as much gadgets for me as they are tools.
I'd probably miss the convenience of the mobile phone but it wouldn't be the end of the world.
I'd start listening to CDs again instead of MP3s. Maybe I'd read more books.
I don't have many other gadgets. I gave away my Sharp Zaurus PDA at the end of 2006 and replace it with a pocket calendar and some index cards for my TODO list. That works better for me. I get more done and I spend less time fiddling with the system.
I'm a complete gadget whore. I have a DS, an iPod, my desktop, a laptop, and 2 linux servers. I'm in front of a computer 10-20 hours per day (wide variation). When I'm not at my computer, I'm often playing with my DS, my Wii, or listening to my iPod.
But I really don't miss them when they're gone. When I went to visit my father for a couple weeks, I only took books. He's a luddite; the computer I bought him was in a box for 2 years before he finally gave it away. He has a VCR with a few movies... half of them porn.
And I don't mind. I bring books. I draw. I have fun. And when I come back, I don't the 'addict rush' of sitting back on my computer. I really don't miss it when I'm gone. The only time I miss gadgets is when I'm bored... the book I'm reading is lame, everyone is busy, and my hand is tired from writing/drawing. Then I miss the gadgets. But not nearly as much as any other nerd I know.
I take comfort in that. I'll still be sane when the zombie war destroys civilization. As long as I loot the library first.
"I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.