24 Hours Without the Internet

I have to admit, I knew from the beginning that avoiding the internet for a full 24 hours was not going to be an easy task for me. No Myspace? No Email? No checking multiple times a day for electronics deals on Slickdeals.net? I started to realize just how much I am online and how much it has become an indispensable part of my daily life. Then I got really worried.

So, at 9 am, I had to stop myself from turning on my computer to jump on and check out news sites and logging onto myspace. I couldn't check the message boards for my online classes, which was a little disconcerting. I was sure that some major change would come down or that one of the assignments I'd already turned in would turn out to be horribly wrong and my lack of response would lead the instructor to conclude that I didn't care and fail me instantly. This, of course, got me thinking about other things I would be unable to do without the internet. I realized that I had yet to look up the proper technique for clearing a choking infant's airway, and had no way to do so without going online. I had been meaning to do it for awhile, but never got around to it. When the internet is always there, I just assume I'll be able to get information while I'm doing something else. It's not like I thought I'd have enough time to look it up in the event she actually started choking, it's just something I never thought about until I couldn't get to it. Ultimately, I found it in a book.

I'm old enough to remember the time before I had access to practically any kind of information I could possibly imagine on the internet. Before wikipedia, I had to look things up in Encyclopedia Britannica and find books using a card catalog. Taking a day off from the internet really helped me appreciate how far we've come and just how lucky we are to have this technology we take for granted.

After my daughter went down for her nap, I found myself bored. Normally, I'd jump online and browse or check email or post on a class messageboard, but I couldn't. I just got a new Xbox game, so I decided to spend some time playing it. Even this simple task changed without the internet. First, I had to unplug my router to keep my console from automatically connecting to Xbox live. Second, I realized that I'd have to be content with the offline component of a game I had purchased mainly to play online. Then, after playing for awhile, I was unsure about one of the game's features. I put my controller down and headed for my computer to look up more info on it, then stopped myself. It's amazing that my first reaction when I need information is to head for the internet.

As far as my ability to communicate, just let me say thank God for text messaging. If I'd had to give both texting and the internet up on the same day, I know I would have felt like some kind of mountain man, completely isolated from the outside world. I was totally cut off from my classes and the friends I communicate with through Myspace, but at least I could still talk to my immediate social group. Ultimately, I realized just how much time I spend every day doing something internet-related. I also checked out the single-player component of my new game, something I probably would have overlooked otherwise. I learned what to do with a choking infant and got halfway through a novel I started during the term break and thought I'd never have time to finish now that classes have started again. I also gained a new-found appreciation of just how much of my life is wrapped up in the internet, and how much it has changed in the last ten years because of it.