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It's funny.  Laugh. Handhelds Technology Hardware

How Long Could You Live Without Your Gadgets? 211

DruCipher writes "CNet.co.uk is running a very funny article about Andrew Lim, the resident mobile phone reviewer, trying to live without all his favorite gadgets. The article sees Andrew try to survive without a mobile phone, a computer, an MP3 player and a TV. At the end of his technology detox he feels more relaxed without all his gadgets but cracks after a few days, 'Like all proper detoxes, though, my zen-like calm didn't last for long. Once I'd finished my gadget starvation, I was straight back to the tech binging. A remote control gun you say? Yes please!'"
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How Long Could You Live Without Your Gadgets?

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  • ...For all of these gadgets we carry around with us. I have several belt-clips already, might as well wear a "pistol-belt" with military-style pouches for all of these things.
  • What this shows... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by perlhacker14 ( 1056902 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:25PM (#19513957)
    Once an nerd, always a nerd. The return to high tech shows that once you get a taste of high tech and live it, you cannot stop. While the relaxation and peace were good for Andy, as it is for us all, high tech is our way of life, period. Though, just to gain some inner peace, I would recommend this plan to anyone who is stressed out. My college professor is reading this, and seems to like the idea as well.
    • by timster ( 32400 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:35PM (#19514027)
      Exactly. Without a whole bunch of super-modern technology, I'd be dead by now anyway, and I bet a lot of us can say the same. The ship has sailed -- may as well enjoy the trip!
      • by grcumb ( 781340 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @10:24PM (#19515075) Homepage Journal

        Exactly. Without a whole bunch of super-modern technology, I'd be dead by now anyway, and I bet a lot of us can say the same. The ship has sailed -- may as well enjoy the trip!

        What you say is quite true. I've been living in a developing country where there's little or no technology in the rural areas, and I too would be dead already if not for modern medicine. It's amazing what a little infection can do when it goes untreated.

        That said, a tech-free lifestyle is extremely healthy, if you can survive it. As evidence, here is a photo of a man [flickr.com] in his late fifties or early sixties, who has lived his entire life without any automation whatsoever. While I'm sure most of us want a physique like that, I don't know how many would be willing to pay the price....

        • by misleb ( 129952 ) on Friday June 15, 2007 @12:35AM (#19515739)
          Well, i think we can safely draw a distinction between high technology like medicine and superfluous personal gadgets like camera phones, iPods, etc. I believe we're talking more about the latter in this thread

          -matthew
          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by grcumb ( 781340 )

            Well, i think we can safely draw a distinction between high technology like medicine and superfluous personal gadgets like camera phones, iPods, etc. I believe we're talking more about the latter in this thread

            -matthew

            That distinction is actually a little less clear than you think. The biggest issues affecting the quality of life on this island are poor (i.e. no) health care and very low educational standards. We've been working with members of two villages to try to improve conditions, and in the course of this work identified communications as one of the key criteria in enabling improvements in basic services. Those very devices that seem so superfluous in North America and Europe can actually save lives here.

            Let m

    • Gadgets? OHHH. Whew. I thought you said 'testicles'. I can survive without gadgets.
  • How long? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:27PM (#19513975)
    Three days, at most.

    Then I get fired for not doing my job.
    • by tomhudson ( 43916 ) <barbara.hudson@b ... m ['on.' in gap]> on Thursday June 14, 2007 @08:16PM (#19514325) Journal
      Hey, you're still WAY ahead of the guy with the pacemaker ... though you're a bit behind the one on dialysis.
      • by tsa ( 15680 )
        Tell me about it. I have a pacemaker. Although it doesn't make me a sporting god, it keeps me walking and being able to work. Other gadgets I find hard to live without, in order of importance (more or less):

        Central heater
        Lamps
        Refridgerator
        Combi magnetron
        Water cooker
        Stove
        Mobile phone
        Home-built PC
        MacBook Pro
  • by Hawthorne01 ( 575586 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:28PM (#19513979)
    MP3 player and laptop only when they take them from [Charlton Heston Voice] MY COLD, DEAD, HANDS! [/Charlton Heston Voice] :-)
  • Maybe us poor geeks are lucky in that we can't afford all these fancy gadgets. Sure, we have computers and perhaps a cellphone... but can only dream about laptops, pdas, etc...

    Actually, we are not lucky... NEED GADGETS!

    • by TaoPhoenix ( 980487 ) <TaoPhoenix@yahoo.com> on Thursday June 14, 2007 @09:49PM (#19514851) Journal
      ... So get some gadgets!

      You can get a humble little MP3 player for $25 or less. You can get a cut rate laptop for $200 that can at least look at a couple web pages and post a blog, and swap tunes from your $25 MP3 player.

      If you want a PDA, get one. I have zero use for them, but Your Gadget Enjoyment May Vary. (YGEMV).

      The personal cost to being poor is being humble. Take an hour to realize you won't win a SINGLE "your gadget vs. mine" discussion. Then you can just relax and still share the *activities* related to gadget. You can bemoan your latest baseball team's woes ... and it doesn't matter what your laptop speed is. Want to collect a little music? Gather 100 tunes off the web, make a couple of playlists, and alternate two batches on your player.

      American society includes some social cues that can make it tricky to observe others with money decking themselves out in the best. Just enjoy watching them as "someone showing what can be done". I specialized in books because I was poor for many years. Total cost of an O. Henry/Maupassant/Saki discussion: $25 or less. Total entertainment hours: 25. (If you read each volume twice to compare some details. O. Henry is the most upbeat of the three. The other two might bite.)

      Regards,

      TaoPhoenix

    • Well, do you have a job? If so, I would think they would GIVE you a laptop. My last four jobs have. If my job didn't give me one, I wouldn't have one, because I don't need one. I have a computer already. As for PDAs, I don't have one, don't want one. I don't have or want an MP3 player, either. If my company didn't pay for my cell phone, I'd have gotten rid of it, too.
  • by siddesu ( 698447 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:30PM (#19513999)
    ... considering all pain and suffering.
  • Hmm (Score:5, Interesting)

    by wizeman ( 170426 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:31PM (#19514005)
    Somehow this article reminds me of this story. [itsawonder...ternet.com]
  • by hellfire ( 86129 ) <deviladv@gmTOKYOail.com minus city> on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:36PM (#19514037) Homepage
    I have a great long term memory for facts, figures and technical specifications, but I can't remember phone numbers, names, or appointments to save my life. You'd think an appointment book would work, but I don't remember to actually look at the damn thing, so I need it to beep at me to remind m of what shit is going on in my life. If I was living alone, I'd literally collapse without my Treo. I got a Handspring Visor soon after my first job out of college to remember all this stuff.

    My G4 Mac hasn't been good enough to play any new games that have come out for over a year, I don't have cable, and my treo has email capability and reasonable web searching capability.

    As a bonus, I have all my important music on my Treo SD card.

    Everything revolves around my Treo. Soon, it will revolve around my iPhone.
    • by Kawahee ( 901497 )

      My G4 Mac hasn't been good enough to play any new games that have come out for over a year
      That's a lie - G4's meet the minimum system requirements for Photoshop CS3.
  • Sadness (Score:5, Funny)

    by digitalhermit ( 113459 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:39PM (#19514065) Homepage
    A couple months ago I disconnected my cable modem service with Comcast. They were fast, but down as much as they were up. I missed it the first few days.. No longer could pull down Linux ISOs in an hour. No longer could stream last weeks BSG episodes. But I got by.

    Then my DSL went south. I lost pretty much all connectivity to the Internet. They finally fixed it, but at half the previous speed. It was barely enough for me to serve up my web pages.

    My mail server had some problems recently. I had to rebuild the hard drive and drop it back to a backup machine. Had some backups, but was too busy (ok, lazy) to restore. Didn't feel like reconfiguring the webmail frontend in any case. So I started pushing some of the domain up to a hosting facility.

    I started using dialup internet because the DSL was just horrid. That wasn't as bad as it sounds, but the hosting site didn't support IMAP, only POP3 because they didn't want to store mail. It was easier to use a command line client in any case.

    That worked for a while, but it was still slow. So I had my buddy set up a box with direct modem dial up access. I set up a SLIP connection and could then pull my mail faster. I ditched Pine for the mail utility since it was faster.

    But why have SLIP when I could just drop a modem directly to a console? It eliminated about 8% overhead in packet traffic in any case.

    Heck, why stop there. I could set up a UUCP connection to another machine and really move mail quickly via serial modem. If I strip HTML attachments and just go with standard mail it'll fly.

    Heck, the mail envelope is WAY too much overhead. I should strip that too...

    We'll see how it goes...

    I wonder if the BIX account is still active?

  • Question: (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:44PM (#19514093)
    Is a dialysis machine considered a gadget?
  • Okay, I guess I'm not the best person to reply, as I still have a PDA, cell phone and digital camera as separate devices (I always have all three with me, though). However, the only thing that may resemble a gadget, and which I take with me when I'm on vacation, is a bottle opener.
  • by rolfwind ( 528248 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:44PM (#19514105)
    in terms of productivity. Yes, a cell phone as a cell phone can be nice, but the millions of hard-to-use features on them don't cut it. Same with me goes for PDAs and other such electronic organizers.

    This is not to say other people won't find them useful nor that there are a lack of gadgets that are truly useful (GPS navigation is indeed nice) but rather the lack of integration, seamless transparency and/or AI in these gadgets that currently only let the already organized and motivated stay organized. It's not as bad as some truly useless products of the 80s/early 90s I remember my dad having, using for a week, and then letting it sit around for me to discover.

    I think google with gmail or Apple with the iPhone are headed finally in the right direction, after all these years. But I have greater hope that a color, high-res E-reader will reduce my bookshelf down to one tablet (next big gadget) than having a truly useful, automated PDA which really fits the bill of being a Personal Digital ASSISTANT rather than me being a slave to it.
    • by Nephilium ( 684559 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @08:43PM (#19514475) Homepage

      If you ever want to watch a cell phone store salesperson's head blow up... walk in, looking for a cell phone that has two functions, it can make calls, and it can receive calls...

      They didn't understand why I thought a crackberry was a threat from my office...

      And then I caused true chaos... I tried to pay cash for the phone...

      Nephilium

      • I know you were joking but if that is what you really want have a look for one of these phones [motorola.com].

        They are dirt cheap too.
  • by rossz ( 67331 ) <ogre@NosPAm.geekbiker.net> on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:50PM (#19514145) Journal
    I have an artificial heart, you insensitive clod!
  • by mcrbids ( 148650 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:52PM (#19514163) Journal
    I gave up drinkin', smokin', bloggin', and sex... .. and it was the WORST 20 minutes OF MY LIFE!!!!

    Guess which one I do most?
    • Guess which one I do most?
      Sex, of course. But doesn't your hand cramp up?
  • by Diordna ( 815458 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:54PM (#19514177) Homepage
    I only use one gadget, an old black-and-white-screen iPod, and only had a desktop computer until a couple of days ago. I only really use the MP3 player in the car. However, that doesn't preclude me from gadgetism. I'm a software gadget freak. If I don't have my iTunes hotkey control, my app launcher (Quicksilver), my Gmail checker, and my virtual desktops (VirtueDesktops), I'm much less happy, as I learned after getting this shiny new Macbook Pro. It also goes for audio plugins. If I don't have 8 extra synthesizers that I never use, I feel limited.
    • I'm curious, what do you use the iTunes hotkey control for?
  • Computer? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by The Good Reverend ( 84440 ) <michael AT michris DOT com> on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:57PM (#19514199) Journal
    Is the computer really a "gadget" anymore? Laptops, perhaps, and handhelds most certainly, but the desktop computer is a pretty integral part of my household - "gadget", to me, is something that's fun but more interesting than necessary. It's possible it's all in the eye of the beholder, but my desktop (and more importantly, internet access) is just about as important as any other utility in my house.
    • by really? ( 199452 )
      As far as I am concerned, the computer ceased to be a gadget when my mother, 65 at the time, got one.
  • by Antony-Kyre ( 807195 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @08:02PM (#19514233)
    I don't know, perhaps there is a gadget that can tell me how long I would live without my gadgets.
    • I don't know, perhaps there is a gadget that can tell me how long I would live without my gadgets.

      There is. [wikipedia.org]
  • by necro81 ( 917438 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @08:02PM (#19514235) Journal
    For myself, I have gone months at a time without a cellphone, TV, computer, or portable music player. I didn't miss them much. This wasn't in the distant past, either, this is several times over the last decade. The key to this was the simple fact that I was well away from the hustle and bustle of my usual life. I was not at my everyday tech job, nor at my heavily tech-invested college, nor even in a major city. For portions of this time I was at a large ranch in the southwest U.S., where the main means of communication was CB radio; in a foreign country that was not heavily modernized; and on a boat skirting oceanic coastline. I didn't miss the tech because there was no real need for it - it would have seemed quite out of place, actually.

    I have in recent times, and in my usual techie world, tried to do without a lot of modern gadgetry. By and large, though, it is hard to simply set aside. I am a practicing engineer doing a lot of mechanical design work - I simply could not do my work without a computer. I call up datasheets and other reference information hourly from the Internet. I do not have a landline, and so rely on my cellphone. I type much faster than I write longhand, so I usually email my long-distance friends and relatives instead of sending letters.

    I have made some concessions to toning down my digital life. I don't find cable television to be worth the exhorbitant rates they charge, and broadcast TV is filled with a lot of vacuous crap, so I watch about 2 hours of TV a week. My iPod just died; I am waiting to see how the iPhone pans out, or whether Apple will release a 6th-gen iPod this year. Very few people have my cell #, so I receive about 20 calls per week on it; rarely is anything urgent enough that a landline and answering machine couldn't have handled it.

    So, I guess one could say that the context matters in how successfully you can ween yourself from technology. Some lifestyles and work-styles have been enabled by modern gadgetry, and simply couldn't exist without it. In other contexts, the gadgetry is superfluous, a sort of reverse anachronism, if you will.
    • by hab136 ( 30884 )

      I have made some concessions to toning down my digital life.

      Why? What was your motivation for abandoning these tools?
  • by bheer ( 633842 ) <.moc.liamg. .ta. .reehbr.> on Thursday June 14, 2007 @08:05PM (#19514253)
    I once spent a summer (ok, a month) in Yorkshire with the SO, a pile of books and a German Shepherd for company. We did a lots of long walks, and I never felt the need for any gadgets whatsoever (we did have a portable CD player, though, and I checked my email twice that month when I was in town).

    You really don't need digg, Slashdot, or the usually IT industry inanity fed intravenously to you 24x7. Like Taleb said his book, Fooled by Randomness [amazon.com], most up-to-the-minute information is just noise.

  • forever (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Lehk228 ( 705449 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @08:06PM (#19514265) Journal
    indefinitely.

    when i go on vacation the first 12 hours i have to adjust to not having news/info instantly available--but after that i'm fine and a good book (or stack of good books) can easilly take the place of internets for leisure.
  • by Somnus ( 46089 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @08:09PM (#19514285)
    ... if properly motivated.

    I have decommissioned my Palm Pilot and MP3 player. I don't answer half the calls I get on my cell phone. I watch less than 1 hour of TV a day, and am thinking of getting rid of it. I run Gentoo on my laptop, but I spend less than five minutes a week administering it, saving any work for major upgrades.

    I got to this place by realizing that screwing with this crap is boring. I have better things to do, involving some worthwhile project that will give greater returns in the future. For example, I have continued to improve my motorcycling skills, and have made some long scenic trips, with more planned. And, my work has improved and become less stressful with greater focus.

    So find something better to do, perhaps with more depth than a zoetrope or pigeon training :)
  • by BlakeReid ( 1033116 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @08:12PM (#19514301)
    Boy, nothing says technology detox like a 10-page ad-laden web article complete with digital pictures. It's like an alcohol rehab center with an open wet bar.
    • It's like an alcohol rehab center with an open wet bar.

      What a great idea for a business!

      Let's call it The Thirteenth Step

  • but I can do it rather easily. I've been grounded a number of times for multiple reasons... it's not as hard as it sounds.
  • or at least that was they said in Fight Club.

    This is a dear subject to me; we have no TV, no car, no microwave, no dishwasher, only one cell phone (my wife needs it for her job), etc. The minimal amount of "gadgets". Since things we own require attention. Requiring attention is not necessarily a bad thing, but you don't chose the time when your hard disk will fail and you'll need to take care of another hardware-related issue.

    The main thing left is computers. We have three. I really want to spend less time in front of computers (especially since my day job requires me to be in front of one most of my work time), but the problem (challenge?) is that a lot of my hobbies / dreams / projects are tied to computers. (change computers in the last sentence for your favorite gadget so that I'm not too off-topic ;-) I have fun with computers for playing music, for documenting / advancing personal projects, communicating with friends and relatives, etc. I hear you say (or is this myself?) that we all need balance. I already play outside on a mostly daily basis... but what happens when gadgets are the hub of your life? What's the point of starting new hobbies (woodworking?) if my most dear personal projects require gadgets and computers? Have I become a pseudo-slave of gadgets.

    Having no TV (for the last 8 years and we don't miss it at all) makes sure I'm not hypnotized by it, however, computers and Internet (/. anyone?) succeeds in swallowing me way too often...

    Ah.... challenges of a life surrounded by gadgetry... :-)
    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      The problem is that sometimes, depending on personality, the things you don't own also own you. There's a whole lot of celibate Christians more obsessed with sex than anyone I've ever known who was actually getting some on a regular basis. Extremes in either indulgence or asceticism are usually a detriment to the person doing it. Better to just work on learning to enjoy the things in life without obsessing or over identifying with them in either direction.
    • Myself:
      No TV, never owned one. I've been pretty much TV free for almost 20 years. (I'm occasionally tempted by a flatmate's TV.)
      No cell phone. I had one for a couple of years (an old hand-me-down) which was only used or carried occasionally, but a few months ago they shut down the network it ran on.
      No digital music player.
      I've had a car for ~5 years now, but I've had many years car-free. Going back would be hard. When ca
    • by Vellmont ( 569020 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @10:19PM (#19515039) Homepage

        but what happens when gadgets are the hub of your life? What's the point of starting new hobbies (woodworking?) if my most dear personal projects require gadgets and computers? Have I become a pseudo-slave of gadgets.


      It sounds like you've become a slave of NOT having gadgets. Sheesh, the point is to own stuff and not become attached to it, not to just avoid having it in the first place. You can equally become attached to an obsession over not having anything to become attached to.
  • Flash back more than a couple of days ago when there was a story about PR hacks and reviews. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06 / 05/0128249 [slashdot.org]

    Now my gadget loving friends, this is the _why_ of PR.

    1. Give products to some guy who writes about gadgets.
    2. Writer can't live without them. Of course he can't! They have to sell adverts for the gadgets.
    3. Profit!

    The key here is the content this guy produces is kind of like ringing a bell for one of Pavlov's dogs. And good PR makes that bell ring a li
  • Were I told to get rid of all my gadgets tomorrow and I would still be able to support my family, I would in a heartbeat. Which is probably why I am as good in my field as I am; I understand the average user's aversion to anything technical.
  • by codemachine ( 245871 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @08:36PM (#19514431)
    But now, my mind no longer remembers phone numbers, even ones that I call on a regular basis. I can always just look up numbers, so there is no reason to remember them.

    It used to be no problem to memorize stuff. In fact, I was extremely good at it. But now that my computer remembers everything for me, I find that my own memory has gotten very poor. It would probably take quite a while to adapt to not having it.

    The only times I've really gone without technology recently were on vacations. It is definitely relaxing, but part of that could be the vacation and place itself, not just freedom from technology. There isn't really much that stressful going on, or a need to memorize much of anything.
    • by Dzimas ( 547818 )
      You sound like an ideal candidate for an address book. A decent pocket-sized one costs less than $10 and has an interface quite similar to a tablet PC. It's non-volatile, doesn't require batteries, and has infinite graphic resolution. Heck, mine is even encrypted, because I'm the only person capable of reading my illegible scrawl.
  • No big deal (Score:5, Insightful)

    by starfishsystems ( 834319 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @08:39PM (#19514449) Homepage
    I don't get the fuss. Over the past thirty years I've had on and off professional access to some of the most exotic computing environments on the planet. Sure, it seems like a big deal at first, but over a lengthy span of time, it becomes actively irritating merely to keep up with it all. Eventually you find that it works best to just ignore most of it. My household furnace is important too, but it runs just fine with routine maintenance. There's no need to get obsessive about it.

    I no longer have a TV. I had one for awhile, but found that there are more interesting ways to spend time, like dating women for example. I have ADSL, which is not quite as fast as that 10 gig network I got used to at one point, but it still lets me work effectively from home, and keep up with party invitations. But when I'm up at the island I do completely without, for weeks at a time, until the boat comes to take me back to the mainland.

    I have a cell phone, which is handy when I want it, for example when I'm alone on the island running a chainsaw or something, but it usually stays in its charging cradle where it won't intrude on my life. Before cell phones came along I did without that as well. We have a community radiophone down by the dock and in the old days it was either that, when it worked, or wait a day or two for a boat to come along.

    I found that degree of isolation scary for the first few years, but also inexpressibly delicious, far more deeply rewarding than playing with some new techno toy. I already get plenty of technology at work, and I approach its use, I suppose, with a certain amount of professional reserve, knowing that nine out of every ten hot new technologies are going to be forgotten within five years anyway.

    Want to invest attention in something worthwhile? How about spending time with your friends? Yes, there's more to friendship than showing off your toys.

    • I rarely carry my cell, I don't watch TV, and I'm discovering that I can live without home internet. But I miss the enthusiasm I had when I was younger--I remember drooling over the idea of broadband, 500GB HDs, video cellphones, etc. The realization is so much more prosaic than the aspiration.

      But when I think of giving it up and going back, what panics me is not having the shopping available. I look at the books and DVDs I've bought via Amazon et al, and I know I never would've found them in my local

  • Discovering life (Score:2, Interesting)

    by RealGrouchy ( 943109 )
    A couple summers back, I moved into an apartment with no internet and no tv. I had no job, and my laptop's screen was broken.

    It was the best summer of my life: I learned how to cook, read, play piano, build stuff, and take leisurely walks and bike rides.

    (Incidentally, one of the books I read was Carl Honoré's book "In Praise of Slow", which is very appropriate to this topic!)

    - RG>
  • by Anrego ( 830717 )
    I was forced to live without my gadgets for a while back in 2003 when hurricane Juan knocked out the power for 2 weeks... and it really.. really sucked.

    I have always accepted that I'm obsessed with technology (a programmer by trade, it kind of comes with the business).. but it didn't occur to me that I'm literally addicted. Reflecting, I realized that I rely on some form of technology for almost all sources of entertainment. The first few days were not all that bad, in fact, they were kind of interesting. T
  • It's not a gadget, it's an insulin pump, you insensitive clod! (though it does play mp3's)
  • I like gadgets, but some of it seems ridiculous. I don't need a phone that is a computer. I have a computer that is a computer. Sometimes the latest gadgetry is just marketing to people that need to be the "first kid on the block" to have it. Kind of like the genuine simulated all-steel, dual thumbed ass-scratcher (with posi-traction) of 1923. Pretty high tech in it's day, yes, but most people polled after the purchase a month later weren't so sure why they bought it in the first place. Many of them
  • Since when is a computer a gadget?

    The personal computer, whilst having substantial recreational value by means of being the predominant portal to the internet, is also an invaluable office tool.

    Can you think of any businesses that work without personal computers? There may still be some, but very very few.

    It's not a gadget. Heck, it's not even technology anymore. I remember reading a quote from Douglas Adams once, where he mentioned that "Technology is something that doesn't work yet." Because once it w
  • Seriously. I never get the point of these kinds of articles. "Could you go without air conditioning?" Yes, I'd be hot. "Can you live without pens." Oh no, time for a pencil. The point they're trying to make always seems to be somewhat muddied by a rather obvious glorification of tool A as something other than a way to produce effect B. As if there was ever any obsession with the tool other than as a means of getting to that end. I don't care one bit about my heart, for example. What I do care about, is get
  • by macslut ( 724441 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @09:52PM (#19514867)
    Until June 29, 2007 at 6pm! Shortly after that, I'd start to die.
  • I would burst into flames just like a vampire... or a gremlin. Yeah, more like a gremlin.
  • by pilbender ( 925017 ) on Thursday June 14, 2007 @10:05PM (#19514943) Homepage Journal
    I've enjoyed reading everyones' comments.

    I was homeless for a while. I learned a lot about what was important during those few weeks. I also had piles of bills to pay. I found a job, got a cheap apartment, paid off my bills, got married, went back to school, lived happily ever after, etc. When you've gone through building your life from *nothing*, you simply don't care what comes your way because you already know you can get through *anything* let alone the stupid gadgets.

    As a result I tend to focus on things that improve myself, things that can never be taken away no matter what circumstances come my way. I don't play computer games because I see no self improvement there. I *feel* guilty because I'm not getting the most I can out of life. I see computer games as checking out and not facing reality. I've never seen someone become a better person because they played computer games or coveted gadgets. But I've seen things like computer games ruin marriages.

    I don't invest in gadgets because they don't tend to produce a better person. Indulging in simple pleasures improves the soul. I'm a developer so I work on computers all day. I administer Linux servers at home and I write code for pleasure. I like these things because they improve my mind and help others.

    If I wasn't married, I would throw my cell phone in the nearest gutter. If I didn't need to answer to a family I would stop cable TV because I hardly ever watch it. I would be a teacher in Mathematics and Physics or something if I didn't need to support a house. But I've made compromises because my family and my wife have brought so *much* joy to me. And that's a fair trade.

    I think the discussion would have been more meaningful if it was more along the lines of "What compromises have you made in life because of putting resources towards worthless gadgets?" Or how about "Do gadgets take away from enjoying life and getting the most you can out of everyday?"

    I love technology for what it can enhance, but I try not to let it *ever* be the focus of my life. It's a tool to accomplish other things like engaging in thoughtful musings on Slashdot. I've learned a lot about other people's thoughts and opinions by reading Slashdot and other such sites. It *enhances* my life because it allows me to hold up my thoughts to the scrutiny of others and allows me to learn more about myself when objective criticism comes my way.

    Gadgets should never be a focus. People, family and friends should be the focus. Only gadgets that help those objectives like my cell phone for talking to my wife are worth the hassle.
    • by geekoid ( 135745 )
      "If I didn't need to answer to a family I would stop cable TV because I hardly ever watch it."
      Get rid of cable and get yourself an aerial.

      It will drive them crazy, but only for a little while. I got rid of mine and it seem better. The irony being I love TV. I love cable. SO many options for good stuff. And a bunch of crap.
      So even after 4 years I still miss it, but I know it's better then having my kids exposed to advertising, and surprise excerpt from a news show showing dead bodies.

      Funny enough, I was home
  • My computer is currently broken. (Video card was bad, so I shipped it back, I'm still waiting for the replacement.)

    How am I posting to Slashdot? Using the Wii's browser, of course!

    So, to answer the article's question, a little under a day, before resorting to the somewhat crazy...
  • When I'm home or traveling in populated areas I have a phone that goes everywhere with me, and a laptop that goes with me anywhere I might have some down time. But a couple of times a year I like to go on lengthy camping trips in places where the phone has no reception and the laptop has no where to charge. I enjoy being removed from society to the point where there is no use for my gadgets. Gadgets make keeping up with society easier, but I don't find them to be crucial for survival or happiness.
  • Are we talking life-support, here? Because then not long.
  • I have done without TV for 29 years.

    I have done without a car for 29 years.

    My cell phone has been off for about 3 months now; I have had less than 100 minutes use per month for the last 3 years.

    I have had no stereo for about 10 years.

    I have never had a laptop except for the one at the office.

    I have never had a blackberry or other fancy 'smart' phone.

    I have a touch tone land line phone with a single line, voice mail, and that's all.

    My most interesting gadgets are two industrial sewing machines.

    And oh, yes. A
  • I'm quite confident I could live the rest of my life...
  • I could get by without all of those except for one thing- for school and work I need my laptop. I don't have a MP3 player, I could get along fine without a TV (I'd miss my sports though), cell phone is just a convenience, but life would be pretty tough without the laptop.

    And no, I could not just handwrite or draw projects because, oddly enough, school and work kinda require an electronic format. Heathens!
  • I've always been a tech head - since I was about 8 or so (and we're talking late 60's/early seventies here) I was obssessed with science & technology and long before I could afford such stuff, I used to flip thru magazines looking at early VCRs, HiFi etc. As soon as I started work I bought an Atari VCS then an Atari 400. I was there day one with laserdisc, big TVs, Dolby Pro Logic, DVD etc.
    Now my day is filled up with reading about the latest on digital cameras, PCs, HiDef TV etc. It's like an addicti

"A mind is a terrible thing to have leaking out your ears." -- The League of Sadistic Telepaths

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