Shutdown Day: Can You Go Without Your Computer for 24 Hours?

On March 24^th, over 44,000 people will shut off their computers-will you be one of them? The idea behind Shutdown Day is to gage how addicted we are to our computers, and to measure the effect this shutdown will have on the Internet. As a side effect, Shutdown Day will also demonstrate how ubiquitous computers have become in modern daily life.

What would you do without access to your computer on Shutdown Day Saturday? That means no checking email, no checking the weather online to see what to wear, no looking up recipes or movie times or even local store hours. You would not be able to look up driving directions or phone numbers on your computer. There would be no printing anything, nor any blogging or personal journaling. No IM-ing, no downloading music, no... You get the gist here. The people at ShutdownDay.org suggest that computers and laptops be shut off, and if you use your PDA to access the Internet to turn that off also.

If you wanted to really get "technical," you would not use anything with a computer in it during Shutdown Day: your phone, stereo, oven, stereo, television, or car included. But all that you would really have to do would be to be in compliance with this experiment would be to not touch a keyboard or mouse, or look at a computer screen. Pull the plug and cut the cord, as it were. Think of the environmental impact of everyone shutting off his or her computers for Shutdown Day. Think of all the electricity that would be saved!

Of course, the main goal for Shutdown Day, according to the people the official website, is to get people off the Internet and interacting with people in real life. To that end, they also suggest turning off your game consoles. This is a "global experiment." Any environmental gains are just a happy side effect. And though some might read into this experiment a social commentary (a Ludite backlash against technology?), the founders of this idea claim no such aims.

If you want more information on this, or if you want to commit to turning off your computer for 24 hours, check out the official Shutdown Day website. The Shutdown Day website also has an amusing video showing "Alternative Uses For Your Laptop."These are, of course, tongue in cheek, since most of us want to be able to use our laptop the next day. And do not forget to check their website on March 25! The official Shutdown Day website will post the final count of everyone who signed up, as well as a chart displaying Internet traffic for March 24.