We had dinner last night with an old high school friend. We graduated together from University High School, now known as the University Laboratory School, a charter school. We stayed in touch through college, and then his whole family moved to Canada, and we’ve had only intermittent contacts since then. He retired after 35 years as a public school teacher. We last saw each other ten years ago.
Here’s the thing that amazed me. Is that the right word? I’m not totally sure. In any case, he surprised me by announcing that he has chosen not to participate in the digital world, at least not as part of his everyday life. He does not use email because he doesn’t have a computer. If I need to email something, it goes to his brother, who then prints it and shows it to my friend. He doesn’t have a iPad, any other tablet, or a smartphone. Actually, I don’t think uses a cell phone, either. He does have a land line phone at home. That’s it.
He did admit to resorting to email to keep in touch with his family while traveling in Europe. But that’s about it. Send something to his email address, and it’s likely to be a long time before he sees it.
“Want to reach me?” he asked. “Pick up the phone and dial.”
He commented on the way so many people are tied to their technology, staring at the small screens on their phones instead of interacting with the world around them. Fair criticism, I guess. And it leaves him lots of time to read. Not on a screen, though. He reads books. Remember them? And he was quite excited by the three history books purchased yesterday at the Punahou carnival, each well under $1.
I suppose that I’m almost a polar opposite. I’ve got the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro. I check regularly to moderate comments left on this blog. I do check email. And, yes, I check what’s happening with friends, and the broader world, via Twitter and Facebook.
His mode is definitely more relaxed and contemplative. He goes for long walks. Without a cell phone. He does regularly read newspapers, so manages to keep up with local and world events. But that’s different from our routine immersion in the digital world.
I’m afraid that walking away from all the means of communication except for a land line phone would leave me with symptoms of withdrawal. It doesn’t sound like a pretty sight.
In some ways, I feel like I should be aspiring to periods of digital detachment, at least to acknowledge that there’s another world out there and another way of relating to it. But then again, that’s a daunting idea.
Thoughts?
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Admirable, but not possible for me. Remember what it was like when you couldn’t look up a recipe, read the news from all over the world from other countries’ media? It would feel like being marooned on a digital island without Wilson.
I’ll try for balance and appreciate his perspective; mahalo for sharing it Ian.
Kind of like TV, eh? If you don’t want to watch, just turn it off or don’t buy one to begin with. On the other hand, look how many otherwise lovely, personal interactions are missed by not taking advantage of what technology offers. Facetime with the grandchildren, contact with old and new friends, safety when loved ones are away from home, the list of pluses far outstrips the negatives, at least to me. Often, disdain for all communications technology strikes me as largely affectation.
A compromise: sit down with your iPad in the TV chair and read some ebooks.
There’s one key word that makes your fireind’s digital free existence possible. He’s “retired.” If he wnted to embark on a career in being a public school teacher today, good luck doing so with no internet access. Most colleges today carry out the registration process online. More and more school systems will only accept job applications online.
In today’s world, I don’t think anyone should feel guilty over the fact that digitsl devices are a part of their everyday life. Obsession is not a healthy thing, of course. But that’s true with everything else in life, right?
I am very active on the internet, using my desktop computer to read, write, manage a huge website, etc. And I have a landline phone. That’s all. I’ve never owned a cell phone, and used one only once when my landline went dead for no apparent reason and I asked a neighbor to let me use her cell phone to call the phone company — and then the neighbor had to “dial” the number for me because I didn’t know how to enter a phone number or push “send” or whatever. No laptop or ipad or anything else. I used a government laptop only while working for the Census Bureau one week per month doing fieldwork canvassing or collecting information through interviews. So when I’m away from my apartment I’m incommunicado, and I like it that way. When I drive to the beach, or take the bus downtown, or do jury duty (coming up soon), I read a book the old-fashioned way, or pay attention to my companions, neighbors, or the environment. Furthermore, when I’m face-to-face with someone either in public or in a private place I expect to have their full attention and do not conceal my affront if they allow a phone or other device to interrupt us. Even at home I sometimes turn off the phone and/or computer when I want to be undisturbed while thinking, meditating, or writing. It’s not that I’m anti-tech; but rather I’m pro-immersion into people, ideas, and experiences. When I watch a sunrise, sunset, or walk on the beach or in the woods, I am entirely “in the moment” (everyday Zen) and would never consider interrupting to take a photograph even if I did have a cell phone.
I think there’s a middle ground. I don’t have a smart phone, just an ancient Nokia that costs $100 a year for some phone minutes. I don’t text or get mobile email and the Nokia’s very seldom “on.” An iPad used only when I travel. A home computer. Having “nothing” is not practical for people today, excepting hermits and latter-day Luddites.
I’m retired, too, and somewhere in the middle of the new tech age. But I think e-mail is literally the greatest thing since sliced bread. It enables me to have contact with my loved ones that I would not be able to have without it. Plus, if I got my news from our daily newspaper here only, I would be missing out on way too much news.
My grandmother assured me hard work never hurt anyone and I believe that. David Shapiro once reminded me that as we age we want to do more not less. I spend lots of time on iPhone, iPad, email, programming and gadgets as they amuse me and I have a passion for the results. Car or horse and buggy, let those chose their own path. I like mine. And what would we do without Ian and his blog. I think the world would be a lessor place.
How about “All things in moderation”? Even that seems too much for many in younger generations. Three years ago, I attended the 100th anniversary game at Fenway Park in Boston. It was sold out months in advance, of course, and tickets were being scalped for as much as $1000 a seat. A young man sitting next to me, spent most of the game texting with his smart phone. Every so often, when the crowd roared, he’d look up and say, “What happened?”
I’m always on my computer, but my cell is a flip phone. I’ve never texted. I’m happy that there’s one area of my life that is still happening in the 1980s. Makes for those long walks and meditations.
No e-mail? Auwe. He is missing out on so many contacts with friends and family. Yesterday I Googled an old acquaintance, found a gallery where she still shows work, asked them to give her my phone and e-mail, and she responded. Renewed a great relationship that would have otherwise been impossible. Sorry, but it is his loss.
Actually, I’m starting to use email less & less, my ipad is siting idle, and I feel best when I’m not home to be tempted by whatever is on the computer – be it news de jour, or facebook/twitter/blogs (sorry!).
I don’t watch TV or listen to the radio with any regularity because of incessant advertising, brainless programming, and I can’t afford cable so I guess the computer is my replacement. I could definitely see walking away from all social media and – aside from music/picture projects, etc. – only using a computer to keep abreast of local weather/news & world events. I’m allergic to newsprint – and ‘paper news’ is too slow, if you know what I mean.
If you make a living using the tools, it would be hard to walk away from it all – but at least take a week or two off once in awhile.