Andy note: "Best of Eddie" - while Eddie is on vacation we're throwing up some of his classic posts from the past. This one is originally from March 2010 . If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.
A friend of mine tipped me off to this curious "movement", and it made me wonder if I could make it 24 hours without technology. I'm speaking of the Sabbath Manifesto, encouraging people to unplug their computers, shut off their cell phones and blackberries, no Facebook, Twitter, or any Internet sites, for 24 hours. It's an intriguing thought, but I wonder if it is even possible in IB. The assigned time frame is sunset on Friday March 19 until sunset on Saturday March 20.
When I first entered the work force, computers were something you used to play video games and hire prostitutes (yes, in the early days of dial-up and Compuserve, h****rs were web pioneers). Cell phones came later, and you had to carry a battery pack in a satchel that made you look like an extra from Saving Private Ryan. They put out about 10 megawatts of power, and you kept conversations short both because it cost about $5 a minute and you could actually feel a brain tumor forming after 15 seconds.
Fast forward 20 years, and technology is everywhere. We rely on it for everything. It has extended our work days from 8 hours to 24. We are always available now. Is it even possible to go 24 hours without plugging in? And if it isn't, doesn't that make you a little sad? I'm tempted to try it, but I doubt I'd be able to pull it off. And I'm basically retired. Could any of you go 24 hours off the grid?
Not if my life depended on it. I sleep with my bb under my pillow. Not kidding.
Haha, cause you can't hear it if you put it on the night stand? Same..
can't even go 2hrs without some form of internet.
I sleep with my phone under my pillow as well.
Easier said than done...
Not a chance in hell.
Really guys? Never been on vacation somewhere with either no, or very expensive, Internet/cell service? 24 hours is nothing, if we're just talking about our own neuroses here. Once you include the outside world's demands on our lives the picture becomes a bit hazier...
sounds like a jewish conspiracy...
In all seriousness, I don't think I can dump without my BB. Plus I enjoy being employed, this sounds like a great way to get fired, though I would love to have the opportunity to do it.
My blackberry got stolen a few months ago, and I had to go without one for 3 days-- I nearly had to check myself in somewhere. Was out of town with a friend, and had no internet. Showed me just how (scarily) dependent I am on tech.
I sleep with both my blackberries under my pillow.
Work blackberry is my alarm and I have to read emails. Personal blackberry gives me portfolio alerts
^^ The above doesn't show we're dependent on tech though. Because my boss never checks his blackberry
It just shows how the blackberry / technology just puts us on a leash in this industry
Anyway, when i quit and go teach snowboarding in colorado - i will not be using a goddamn blackberry
agree with all of the above
DaCarez, you are a rare exception.
Like most people here, I simply panic without technology..and really, it's sad.
I lost my blackberry and dropped my laptop in the same week--I couldn't stop begging friends to use their internet. It wasn't just for social sites or e-mails, it was for necessary things, like Googling Orianthi, or how to spell words like pneumoencephalographically. I even went out and bought separate alarm clocks so I could set two separate times on both, like I can on my berry.
The less technology I have, the more my day blows. So much for future, isolated vacations.
I've been sleeping with my phones under my pillow for almost 6~7 years and I can feel brain tumor forming too!
Haha that's funny. I actually put my bb in under my pillow too... sad..
"In all seriousness, I don't think I can dump without my BB. Plus I enjoy being employed, this sounds like a great way to get fired, though I would love to have the opportunity to do it."
I know a fair number of religious jews who are unplugged every shabbat.
Not a chance, sir.
I can't go a day without Russian porn.
Obviously none of you live in fairfield county or westchester. We lost power for 3+ days over the weekend. Absolutely horrible!
seems the 24 hour unplug can be extremely relaxing. Broasted: if you are the only one doing it, it seems like it would suck.
At home or work, I wouldnt know what to do with myself.. On vacation, it is a different story. I could easily do it on vacation.
However, this depends on how much you are needed at work and if a vacation actually means NO WORK...
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I will actually be going without technology nearly the entire weekend...because I will be camping with a bunch of buddies. Going to be some river tubing, beer drinking and some bags...no technology.
In the nature of full disclosure...I am unemployed and the only people that ever call me will be my friends I am with and my mom. She knows I will be gone so she won't be calling and my friends can contact me by speaking over the campfire.
On a more serious note, I could not do this if I was at my house all day. I am so ADD and technology dependent I MUST have my TV on while I am surfing the internet. In all honesty, I could probably recite, nearly verbatim, the dialogue of the shows I DVR, but I would not be able to tell you what the show looks like (because all of my attention is focused on my laptop). I have had some "ah-ha" moments while at friends houses when I actually saw a commercial that I have heard dozens of times and been like, "wow, that's what that commercial looks like?"
Also, ever time I sent my laptop down I kind of freak out and fun a mental check to make sure I there isn't anything that I haven't looked up that I needed too and then I just brainstorm to try to think of things that I could look up to learn something about. I'm a bit OCD.
I'll be back Sunday night.
Regards
i'll be the token orthodox jew to post - i've done this once a week my entire life. on some holidays, you end up doing it for 3 consecutive days - that's 72 hours with no electricity, no automotive transportation, nothing.
kind of fun actually - you just have to make sure the people around you are aware of it, or else ya, employment could be at risk...
now try only eating food that's certified kosher...
I lived in Hawaii for a while and there were a few times when the power went out. After the tsunami last year Oahu lost power in some areas for as long as a week. We lost it at our house for three days I think.
It was not so bad in my opinion, kind of nice. I keep my BB away except to check emails, make a rare call, or play Final Fantasy I , so it wasn't that much of a change. I rarely watch tv, and only check a few things online, so I thought it was fine.
I can see how some people need to stay "plugged in" though--for instance my brother, during that same power outage, used his Android to power his laptop so he could check his WRX's ECU boost gauges or some shit. He was buggin.
If I'm in a mode where I feel I'm going to be needed or have some sort of obligation, then probably not.
Give me a case of beer and a couple grams of mj to go along with a lake or beach, then easy-smeezy.
The better question is: Why would you want to? Just because the world is different than it was 10 years ago doesn't mean that it's worse. I've heard this question a thousand times, and I always say that same thing to every person I hear it from. No one is forcing you to work in the industry you work in. If you care that much, don't do it. Technology makes our lives better. Everyone knows that, but there are still people that want it to be a bad thing.
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