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I have no cell phone. I have no cable. I need internet since that is how I make a living (I only go online while I am working/making money). I don't do facebook or any other social media (this is the only online forum I belong to). I try to pay in cash as much as possible and I still write out checks. I have a camera and take photos once in a blue moon, unlike others I know who feel they need to take photos/videos of every event instead of living it. I often let my answering machine answer the phone instead of picking up (I don't even have caller id or call waiting).
I'm not all that plugged in. But I find using the internet keeps my life simple. I know what I like to purchase and instead of driving around hither and yon, I order online. Doing that also means I don't "find" other things that might find way their way into my cart. Then it comes to my house, usually with free shipping.
It keeps me in touch with family far away.
No smart phone... but the quality of that last flip phone I bought is pretty poor. Husband has the same phone and we can't figure out how he butt dials me. I call someone and I have to stay put -- I move three feet and lose bars and drop the call.
And I'll have no bars, swivel and have 5. makes no flipping sense.... so I feel I am being forced into a smart phone. Hopefully the next time I need a phone the prices will be lower. There are good things about a smart phone... and I'll get used to it . Having a touch screen laptop will make the transition to a smart phone easier.
I have a camera and take photos once in a blue moon, unlike others I know who feel they need to take photos/videos of every event instead of living it.
Ashley, that reminds me of an outdoor concert I went to, where I saw three teens girls taking at least half of the concert's time taking obviously staged and fake "look at us acting crazy" fake poses/selfies....just essentially staged, not really taking a pic of something already organically happening......this went on the entire concert, of which they seemed to be there just to document the same on Facebook/Instagram...
Last edited by scottkuzminski; 11-27-2014 at 02:42 AM..
I'm not all that plugged in. But I find using the internet keeps my life simple. I know what I like to purchase and instead of driving around hither and yon, I order online. Doing that also means I don't "find" other things that might find way their way into my cart. Then it comes to my house, usually with free shipping.
It keeps me in touch with family far away.
No smart phone... but the quality of that last flip phone I bought is pretty poor. Husband has the same phone and we can't figure out how he butt dials me. I call someone and I have to stay put -- I move three feet and lose bars and drop the call.
And I'll have no bars, swivel and have 5. makes no flipping sense.... so I feel I am being forced into a smart phone. Hopefully the next time I need a phone the prices will be lower. There are good things about a smart phone... and I'll get used to it . Having a touch screen laptop will make the transition to a smart phone easier.
I think it is all about how you use/not abuse what you have, per tech...I would never say tech is a bad thing per se, just that it is nice to occasionally take a break maybe one day a week, hopefully entirely from all tech if possible, on a Sunday or something......just a day to get some space back, inner AND outer....take a nice long outdoor hike/walk
It is just a tool(tech)....the only problem is when we become the tool, and lose perspective....
Per simple living, you can totally keep it simple shopping on-line for many/most things....
For one, it is a pain in the @ss to make senseless daily runs to the same stores, when you can plan and consolidate a few deliveries....shopping is inane and boring anyway, though some love to zombie/zone out with "shoppingbuzz", sort of like being on valiums.....never saw the entertainment value in that myself, then again I am a guy and loath shopping..
For two, look at Black Friday tomorrow(I know many will read this post after)......now that is sad.....more obnoxious people in one place you will ever see, elbowing each other for a few sales items....like animals..
It's very scary actually..they can have Black Friday...
I can do without a TV or cell phone. The internet is another story. In my opinion it is one of the greatest modern inventions. I use the internet as a tool. The majority of my professional success can be attributed to having access to the internet. This is in spite of the fact that my career or other investments have very little direct correlation to the internet.
Instead of using it as another form of mindless entertainment; I use it for self-education. I constantly find ways to become more efficient, improve current skills, save money and learn new skills using the internet. So no I could not live without a year without the internet.
I will never own a so called smart phone. I think they are what is causing so much disruption in our society. You need a break from the fear/shock value media for your own health. Sadly, most people aren't getting a break from it. We sure live in a hyped up society these days. It was much better times back in the late 70's and 80's. Now everyone is afraid of everything. Strange transformation.
Could I live without the Internet for a year. Easily.
Since I'm an analyst, my work is done online. Without the internet my paycheck would disappear. If it was not for that...
Well, I'd still want to see sports which I watch online rather than on TV. I love the idea of living simpler, but I need access to some modern tools. For instance, I would have to give up going to Panera if I didn't use the internet because ordering the food in person is completely unacceptable. It's a pain in the ass to make modifcations in person and the wait times are absurd.
Of course I COULD. People can live without a lot of things. The internet and smartphone are luxuries, after all. But I wouldn't want to. What I WANT and what I CAN live without are two very different things.
Think you could do it? Literally CHUCK both all internet connections and your smart phone for a year?...
As a "discipline" for a year. I suppose so. Unless you are twelve a year is not eternity, and I'd get through it. But I have no interest at present in joining any simplicity movement, nor retiring even for a year to live in the countryside...most of what matters in my life comes from reading and talking with people about ideas, music, etc. so the sacrifice would be less for me, I would guess.
I do not have a FB account, nor Twitter...C-D is the only forum I drop in on because it provides (I think) quicker multiple "snapshots" of the U.S. If we know each other we do not need social media to connect, there is email which allows for multiple contacts in one shot, photos, etc.
I do not have a smart phone, I have an old Nokia dumb phone. It is turned off except for when I am using it, or when I am especially waiting a particular call....otherwise I check it once a week or so and erase the rubbish that has come in. I do not have a land line, one phone is enough.
In the past when I had the usual land line that everyone had, I had an answering machine. The machine volume was turn off, and I checked the machine for messages a few times a day. I almost never checked the machine while I had company in my home.
I have a somewhat pricey digital camera that I very rarely use.
I have a computer and internet service. I began working in a new, well-financed academic computer center in about 1974; thus, I was using Bitnet and Usenet before the current internet existed and before most people were thinking about such things. I used my equipment at work, had nothing at home until 1992 when I left the computer center after twenty years.
A lot of my use of my computer now is only as a word processor. Aside from my look-in visits to C-D, my internet time is spent on a few personal research projects that I am involved in with others, and email. Giving up the internet would be giving up almost all non-paper communication, i.e. email....I would have a problem with this unless I reverted to using a landline probably. I have a personal library of 1000 books and my friends are intelligent, communicative people who like to get together, and I also spend much pleasant silent alone time in my apartment or on the beach or in the hills.
I do not believe that I or anyone I know is the center of "where it's at," and so I am not crazy-glued to the culture of peek-n-poke devices, and have no interest in FB, etc. Except for the somewhat limited computer/internet use described above, there is not much to be given up.
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