Logging Off … For Good
from the say-bye-to-the-internet dept
A CNN writer says she originally was surprised to discover that more people were deciding the internet just wasn’t for them and had stopped using it. However, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that (of course) you don’t need to have every modern technology to make it through life (in fact, you don’t really need any). She points out that she doesn’t have a microwave, which seems to shock people – and considers a decision not to use the internet the same as one not to own a microwave. Of course, it is a little different – since so many services are starting to move to be “online only”, such that it will eventually become difficult to accomplish everything you need to do without any sort of internet access. However, for those of us who are constantly connected, we sometimes forget that not everyone sees the need for the internet.
Comments on “Logging Off … For Good”
Exactly
This has been my viewpoint for some time now… and people do think you’re wacko for doing it. While I do use the internet and enjoy it for what I use it for, I “use” it… it doesn’t use me. I know that most of the hype is just that and ignore it.
Having said that, I think it won’t be long before I will no longer want to use it. Everything useful will come with a price tag and and the noise ratio will continue to deteriorate untill it just won’t be worth it.
The world needs fewer sheep.
No Subject Given
Sure the net is a tool just like anything else (like a microwave can be) and like the previous poster, You use IT, don’t let IT use you…
However, the writer is way off comparing it to not using a microwave and shows a simplistic understanding (or total misunderstanding) or what the net can be.
While the noise is increasing, for those of us who make the effort the net is invaluable in many aspects of life…I use it for my work (allowing me to work from home if for some reason I can’t be in my office to get something done), it allows me access to all the reference and info I need when I’m developping software, or looking for a quick way to drive up to my folks out of town, its great for shopping (for some things), keeping in touch with my sister in the states and even for ordering groceries…hardly a microwave.
Its definitely possible for people who don’t find a use for it to stop using it, as in all things…but most people who DO use it to its fullest (ie: beyond chat, email and misc surfing) eventually find it way too convenient to drop
No Subject Given
I’m sure all of us know someone who proudly proclaims “We don’t even own a TV”.
Apparently the Internet is the next bourgeouis thing for all of the truly cool people to avoid.
What terribly boring people...
To say that the Internet is not for you is to say that knowledge isn’t for you. Not a single day passes without me wondering about some obscure historical fact, the best ingredient for a dish I’m cooking, other angles on a big news story, and so on. There is no more effective way to satisfy that hunger for information than Google and a selection of topic-specific databases.
True, I could certainly opt for ignorance. But the charm of ignorance is vastly overrated.
Re: What terribly boring people...
There are many, many sources of this same information besides the internet.
While you may feel that the internet is the most effective way to obtain this information, and I don’t necessarily disagree, it is not the only way and once the garbage to quality ratio gets way out of hand it might not be the preferred way.