Our Digital Lives Disappear When The Power Goes Out
from the got-batteries? dept
Still more "consequences of the blackout" stories showing up everywhere. The NY Times is running a good one talking about how the blackout has made more people aware how much of our lives are now stored digitally. While previous blackouts have been annoying, this was the first major one that really cut off people from large parts of their lives - as many people discovered that they didn't really have any analog backups for a lot of the information they kept digitally. Of course, the good thing was that it made a lot of people take a breather from all their digital technology for a day, without any harmful side effects.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
lives dependent on technology
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: lives dependent on technology
Ah, the last cry of the Luddite. Yes, let us all abandon our technology and return to chiseling information into stone tablets because a minute percentage of people (taking the entire globe into account) had to go without power for 24+ hours.
I hear that in Toronto they are having exteme gasoline shortages, so perhaps we should all return to the day of the horse drawn carriage, or perhaps the foot-powered stone car from the Flintstones?
I hear that in some countries they can't get enough medicines to cure the sick, perhaps we should give up using prescription medications and let everyone die out, only the strong will survive after all!
I'm telling ya, this was a sign from God that He wants us to return to the simpler life and live free of the evil electron! There is a reason that electrons have a negative charge and the we try avoid things that are negative...
It's all a communist conspiracy, I tell ya!
End Amish Rant
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: lives dependent on technology
I, for one, am awaiting the anticipated return of the almighty positron. I want to be the first to meet it and introduce myself, saying "Oh positron, please rid us of our evil electron ways, and be merciful on us for our chemical and physical reactions."
Then maybe, just maybe, I can follow the white rabbit through the looking glass.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]