Digital Detox

[VK3DRB]

I read an article written by a journalist in the US who did not own a mobile phone. People thought there was something mentally wrong with him. Is there something wrong with people who do not "share the dream" of technology?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-19/australians-seek-out-nature-retreats-for-digital-detox/7041902

I once took on a 2 year assignment in IBM that was about re-engineering a corporate business process. It was a gravy train with plenty of business class flights to the US and Japan where I was part of a group of eight who saved the company $100 million in one year. Despite people saying a career change is as good as a holiday, I missed my friend the oscilloscope, suffered depression and ended up reverting back to my old career involving hands-on electronics. The change was not as good as a holiday.

My brother-in-law owns no mobile phone, no computer, no iPad, no plastic cards (no ATM cards either). He banks using an old paper-based bank book and pays his bills at the local Australia Post outlet. THe only technology in his home that is obvious is an old NEC picture tube TV bought in 1988. He works full time, and potters around or goes hunting as a hobby. He is happy.

Has anyone else ever done digital detox to the point of leaving electronics? Or even throwing away their mobile phone? What were the symptoms and how did you handle it? 

[Ian.M]

If they have, you aint gonna get an answer unless they've lapsed.

Until fairly recently I didn't have a mobile. Now it only gets switched on if I *MUST* be contactable when I'm away.

[Brumby]

Asking that question here might not return a lot of first-hand responses.

But on the question of:

I read an article written by a journalist in the US who did not own a mobile phone. People thought there was something mentally wrong with him. Is there something wrong with people who do not "share the dream" of technology?

- I have my own perspective.

The short answer is "No".  There is nothing wrong with people who do not wish to "share the dream" as you put it - but there are many who would argue black and blue that there was.

The simple fact is - that the technology one wishes to include in their own lives is a choice they make, based on their needs.  IF they don't need it, then why take it up?

In more than a few situations, I am sure, peer pressure has been a major factor - and for those who are strongly influenced by it, there is little avenue to escape.  It is compounded by the establishment of social interaction through technology and the subsequent (all too frequently, unhealthy) dependence on it.  IMHO Smartphones and Facebook are a deadly mix, but of those who have been immersed in this world, few have the ability to see life being possible without it.  These are the people who will criticise because they honestly can't imagine anybody being able to function otherwise.

I once worked for a boss who was the manager and half owner of a retail electronics store.  His contact list was held in a little black book (literally - it was one of those 2" x 3" vinyl covered notebooks) and despite selling mobile phones, never had one of his own for many years - and when he finally DID get one (because of pressure from the spouse) only turned it on when he wanted to make a call.  He was, and still is, a successful businessman.

Then we have the techno-snobs.  Those that just want to feel better about themselves by the technology they can flaunt.  To them, the choice is Android or iOS not Android, iOS or a writing pad.  These are people who will criticise just because they can.


Me?  Well, I had my first encounter with a transistor when I was 8 (an AC126) and have been a hobbyist ever since - so my interest in technology has been a life-long one, but I haven't lost my soul to it.  Out of curiosity, I picked up a cheap "smart watch" to have a play and see if the basic technology would demonstrate any potential for tangible benefit to me ... that it could provide me with something I otherwise could not have.  End result - yeah, it does a couple of things but, in the end, its not for me.


And if that's not enough, the simple fact that this journalist has a job and allows him to publicly declare his lack of personal technological entanglement shows that technology isn't essential.

[Artlav]

If the world speaks "Facebook", and you speak "talk", then you won't get heard until you learn "Facebook".
But it's not the same as living with it.

A hammer is a tool. Using it is fine. Sleeping with it would be weird.

Same thing with a mobile phone - just turn off the sound, and it can't annoy the happiness out of you by distracting calls or messages, and yet would be here when needed. If it's weird for a hammer to talk back to you, then how a mobile phone is any different?

[German_EE]

My mobile phone is a 20 Euro model that does phone calls and texts and that's it. I also don't do Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Linkedin or any of the other social networking sites so I suppose that makes me a technology luddite. At least once a month I head off to a river somewhere and look at boats for a few hours, no phone, just some water and the odd passing vessel, that's my detox.

Perhaps because I grew up in a time before personal computers I find it easy to avoid their use, the younger generation who turn suicidal whenever Facebook goes offline have problems.

One more thing. Spending a few hours with someone special is a much nicer way to spend your time than sitting in front of a computer, try it sometime.

[DimitriP]

I also don't do Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Linkedin or any of the other social networking sites so I suppose that makes me a technology luddite.

Technincally, from my point of view all of the above ("social media") use the same "technology" just different algorithms.
Anyone drinking coffe is using "technology" Even if it's rubbing two sticks together to start a fire.

Not using facebook is bad. Bad for Facebook.

[joeqsmith]

I don't have a mobile phone, rare I will watch any TV, don't have a Linkedin account and fail to see the problem.   

[Mechanical Menace]

While I have a TV I have no way to pick up broadcasts and I can live without the internet or a phone and only suffer some inconvenience and slightly higher bills due to the lack of "paper free billing" discounts. But I can't live without a computer, they aren't just my preferred way of consuming entertainment but my most useful and versatile tool.

And I must go without a landline phone. I have to have a landline to get an internet connection but do not have a phone plugged in anymore and haven't for years. Every time they ring I start having minor panic attacks just at the thought of trying to talk over one and understand people when I can't see there mouth move. My mobile blocks all incoming calls, I'm much happier with textual telecommunication.

I'm probably much weirder than the people who do without at all, but I don't think there's anything seriously wrong with me or them.

[NiHaoMike]

I have a smartphone but only a prepaid plan.

One more thing. Spending a few hours with someone special is a much nicer way to spend your time than sitting in front of a computer, try it sometime.

How about spending a few hours with someone special in front of a computer *and* an old fashioned paper notebook? It's certainly much easier to teach others in real life as opposed to on a forum.

[VK3DRB]

Fear is big business, especially in the USA. But here in Australia, I have heard parents say their kids have a mobile phone for safety. It seems like rubbish to me. Convenience maybe, safety no.  I took public transport recently and it was full of commuters looking down at their phone. Noticeably, occasionally people seem to talk loudly on the phone which I thought was a little rude, but not too bad compared to Clive...