Techno Dysfunction
“The advance of technology is based on making it fit in so that you don’t really even notice it, so it’s part of everyday life” ~Bill Gates
I have been without phone, internet and wi-fi for eight days, having only the ability to text and make calls on my cell. (Thankfully!) There is a problem where I live with old delivery lines, and the situation has been going on for over a year. It has been tough. It has been frustrating. It has been very stressful!
With the gracious help of my webmaster, I have been able to keep a semblance of my business going. Without her efforts on my behalf, I’m not sure how big a ‘hit’ I would take.
I regularly subscribe to Gretchen Rubin’s quote: “Turn off your email; turn off your phone; disconnect from the internet; figure out a way to set limits so you can concentrate when you need to; and disengage when you need to. Technology is a good servant but a bad master.”
When I do all those things at the same time, it is a peaceful, renewing and rewarding experience. It helps slow me down and strengthens my connection with the natural world.
“Technology has forever changed the world we live in. We’re online, in one way or another, all day long. Our phones and computers have become reflections of our personalities, our interests, our identities. They hold much that is important to us.” ~James Comey
Gates and Comey are right. Technology fits easily into everyday life, and it does hold a great deal that is very important to us. I am discovering that it is quite a different experience to choose to disconnect versus being disconnected when I don’t want to be.
Sadly, the fix for my problem is most likely temporary, like the fixes of the past year or more, and I will be disconnected again not by choice.
“It is only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful they are.” ~Clive James
