Currently I don't have an internet connection at home, not even a cellular plan with data. Which is pretty much an intentional cold turkey strategy.
One summer my computer died and I thought I would be bored and miserable but it was excellent from the first day. Since then, I've understood that constant internet access just doesn't really function for me at this point in my life. It could, perhaps, but I'm very prone to using the internet as a kind of soothing, stupefying, time-wasting refuge. The internet is my comfort zone, I guess.
At home I read a lot, Kindle books and stuff I've loaded on Instapaper while at work. And I listen to podcasts and watch movies. This stuff all comes from the internet, but I have to gather stuff consciously for future offline use, which I find peaceful and constructive.
"Okay, I guess these are the things I have available right now, so I'll engage with them, instead of looking for something else."
What a lot of us are having trouble with isn't computers or the internet, per se, but the constant presence of "infinite jest."
I also do meditation, play guitar, go for walks and runs, cook, and so on. On weekends sometimes I'll go out to a coffee shop and do some internetting. And I'm posting this on Sunday, because I'm actually at the office, playing around with a hobby programming project and surfing the web, so...
The effect on internet disruption on my mind are pretty staggering. For the first hour I feel anxious from the void, then time dilates and then I feel a deep sense of focus into doing anything... 'back against the wall' time perception.
ps: Rich Hickey (of clojure) did a very nice (as usual) talk called "Hammock Driven Development" mentionning getting away from the machine : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84n5oFoZBc
To extend to this, when I was in college, my grades suffered because of my unnecessary internet usage (reddit, hn, facebook, all that stuff). So after failing to keep up my promise, I decided to actually leave my laptop at home which is 4+ hours away. I didn't have a computer nor smartphone at the time, so all I had left in the house was material necessary for studying. Needless to say, I jumped from being about 80th percentile to 2nd percentile in the class and this allowed me to gain more theoretical knowledge than my I did in my 19 previous years.
Sad thing is, now that I'm working, I have internet and computer back at home, and I waste a lot of time on it...
This is a great comment. I love that you aren't regarding the internet like a junky with remorse, that you are solution focused and have found a pleasing balance in your own life. I'm not sure I could give up internet at home but it does inspire me to experiment with alternate configurations or disciplines.
Cool. I cancelled my home internet service a after I got an office a couple years ago and it's been good. Recommended.
In my case I kept tethering on my phone but it does raise the threshold for doing anything online. It's actually a bit like having dialup, you could call it "intentional internet access."
Yeah, it's essentially the same for me: if I really need/want something from the net, I can just put my shoes on and pop into some café.
One thing I've noticed is that I'm really looking forward to springtime, so I can be outdoors more. I love weekend days when you're just ambling around all day, but it's not so pleasant when it's cold and wet...
One thing I've noticed is that I'm really looking forward to springtime, so I can be outdoors more. I love weekend days when you're just ambling around all day, but it's not so pleasant when it's cold and wet...
A few years back, I'd have thought that an idle comment. I know I would have. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here (which, if grant the rest of this poor sentence a charitable interpretation, you might find to be the point), but... it's almost like, in "returning to human form," (I suspect many fellow techies use similar phrases in their heads but not in public for fear of being labelled a Luddite) the withdrawal experience "is" re-learning how to do that human thing, only this time, fuck you, you have to do it "algebraically," like you gave yourself Aspergers but for everything. E.g., slightly younger me was too cool for smalltalk about nice weather; current me appreciates a quick, light conversation, appreciates the smiles, appreciates the sun in his face.
It's revealing that my not having internet at home would be considered "extreme," when I'm online for at least 8 hours every weekday. :)
But to answer your question, I'm actually coding on an IRC client with decent offline support. I run it on a VPS and sync the state so I can read backlogs at home if I want to. Well, it's not so much a need as a fun hobby project...
I can relate to that. I code for fun and relaxation, although weirdness in the ARM architecture is getting under my skin lately. There was a time when I could do that 100% offline although these days it seems everyone just assumes you can go to their site to get a manual or whatever, so while I used to be able to go somewhere quiet and write code, these days it seems like I keep needing to be online.
Edit: it used to be at my house I was the only one who cared if the "Internet" was there or not, now its like oxygen :-)
don't have an internet connection at home, not even a cellular plan with data
What has worked great for me is apartment buildings with free wifi in the lobby. No internet in the apartment, but if you need to check email or look something up or whatever it's not a big deal to put on some shoes and go downstairs with a laptop. At the same time it's not comfortable enough to lounge around wasting time.
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Currently I don't have an internet connection at home, not even a cellular plan with data. Which is pretty much an intentional cold turkey strategy.
One summer my computer died and I thought I would be bored and miserable but it was excellent from the first day. Since then, I've understood that constant internet access just doesn't really function for me at this point in my life. It could, perhaps, but I'm very prone to using the internet as a kind of soothing, stupefying, time-wasting refuge. The internet is my comfort zone, I guess.
At home I read a lot, Kindle books and stuff I've loaded on Instapaper while at work. And I listen to podcasts and watch movies. This stuff all comes from the internet, but I have to gather stuff consciously for future offline use, which I find peaceful and constructive.
"Okay, I guess these are the things I have available right now, so I'll engage with them, instead of looking for something else."
What a lot of us are having trouble with isn't computers or the internet, per se, but the constant presence of "infinite jest."
I also do meditation, play guitar, go for walks and runs, cook, and so on. On weekends sometimes I'll go out to a coffee shop and do some internetting. And I'm posting this on Sunday, because I'm actually at the office, playing around with a hobby programming project and surfing the web, so...
The effect on internet disruption on my mind are pretty staggering. For the first hour I feel anxious from the void, then time dilates and then I feel a deep sense of focus into doing anything... 'back against the wall' time perception.
ps: Rich Hickey (of clojure) did a very nice (as usual) talk called "Hammock Driven Development" mentionning getting away from the machine : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84n5oFoZBc
To extend to this, when I was in college, my grades suffered because of my unnecessary internet usage (reddit, hn, facebook, all that stuff). So after failing to keep up my promise, I decided to actually leave my laptop at home which is 4+ hours away. I didn't have a computer nor smartphone at the time, so all I had left in the house was material necessary for studying. Needless to say, I jumped from being about 80th percentile to 2nd percentile in the class and this allowed me to gain more theoretical knowledge than my I did in my 19 previous years.
Sad thing is, now that I'm working, I have internet and computer back at home, and I waste a lot of time on it...
This is a great comment. I love that you aren't regarding the internet like a junky with remorse, that you are solution focused and have found a pleasing balance in your own life. I'm not sure I could give up internet at home but it does inspire me to experiment with alternate configurations or disciplines.
Cool. I cancelled my home internet service a after I got an office a couple years ago and it's been good. Recommended.
In my case I kept tethering on my phone but it does raise the threshold for doing anything online. It's actually a bit like having dialup, you could call it "intentional internet access."
Yeah, it's essentially the same for me: if I really need/want something from the net, I can just put my shoes on and pop into some café.
One thing I've noticed is that I'm really looking forward to springtime, so I can be outdoors more. I love weekend days when you're just ambling around all day, but it's not so pleasant when it's cold and wet...
A few years back, I'd have thought that an idle comment. I know I would have. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here (which, if grant the rest of this poor sentence a charitable interpretation, you might find to be the point), but... it's almost like, in "returning to human form," (I suspect many fellow techies use similar phrases in their heads but not in public for fear of being labelled a Luddite) the withdrawal experience "is" re-learning how to do that human thing, only this time, fuck you, you have to do it "algebraically," like you gave yourself Aspergers but for everything. E.g., slightly younger me was too cool for smalltalk about nice weather; current me appreciates a quick, light conversation, appreciates the smiles, appreciates the sun in his face.
Haha, yeah, I kinda maybe know what you mean. Smalltalk and smiles are wonderful but I had to learn that stuff.
Seems like a somewhat extreme disconnect but I've got to ask, what are you doing at the office on a Sunday?
It's revealing that my not having internet at home would be considered "extreme," when I'm online for at least 8 hours every weekday. :)
But to answer your question, I'm actually coding on an IRC client with decent offline support. I run it on a VPS and sync the state so I can read backlogs at home if I want to. Well, it's not so much a need as a fun hobby project...
I can relate to that. I code for fun and relaxation, although weirdness in the ARM architecture is getting under my skin lately. There was a time when I could do that 100% offline although these days it seems everyone just assumes you can go to their site to get a manual or whatever, so while I used to be able to go somewhere quiet and write code, these days it seems like I keep needing to be online.
Edit: it used to be at my house I was the only one who cared if the "Internet" was there or not, now its like oxygen :-)
What has worked great for me is apartment buildings with free wifi in the lobby. No internet in the apartment, but if you need to check email or look something up or whatever it's not a big deal to put on some shoes and go downstairs with a laptop. At the same time it's not comfortable enough to lounge around wasting time.
interesting. this is exactly what i do when i'm on vacation.