Surviving Two Weeks With No Internet

from the how-much-do-you-rely-on-it? dept

Just how much do you rely on the internet on a daily basis? There are some people who can easily leave the internet completely behind when on vacation. However, what about doing everyday things that you've come to rely on it for? An experiment sponsored by Yahoo had 28 people give up the internet for two weeks to see how they coped. Not everyone took it so well. They increased usage of other media like the telephone, television and movies to replace the missing internet. One couple claims their phone bill tripled. While the lack of email was definitely a nuisance, it was "the little things" that really seemed to get to some. Not being able to get directions online and (the most embarrassing situation, apparently) not knowing how to boil an egg, and having no idea where to go to figure it out seemed to be the biggest problem. Honestly, though, for all the talk about people being "addicted" to the internet, this suggests that's not the case at all for the (small) group of people involved in this experiment. It's just that they find the internet useful in getting random every day tasks done.
Hide this

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


  • identicon
    xman, 22 Sep 2004 @ 4:49am

    Holiday

    It's called going on holiday. I do it every year. It is very relaxing.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 22 Sep 2004 @ 4:08pm

      Re: Holiday

      yeah, but I still have my phone. And my phone can be reached via the internet (SMS or mail-to-SMS), which makes us not really disconnected.

      You're probably over 45, so, according to Douglas Adams the Internet's current incarnation is just against the natural order of things and you can easily live without it or prefer to do so. 8-)

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        xman, 23 Sep 2004 @ 5:56am

        Re: Holiday

        I am over 50. And I am connected to the Internet pretty well most of the time I am awake (apart from the times when I am having a life : I do have one)

        However, I don't miss it when I am away. My phone doesn't do Internet and even if it did I wouldn't use it on holiday - I don't even by newspapers when I am on holiday.

        link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.