Article: "Surviving a Month Without Internet"

Someone...bring me...the...smelling...salts...

You know, it's actually a good idea. I'm going to try it.

Erm... Scarlet?? Scarlet?? OMG she passed out!!! Someone!! The smelling salts!!! We're losing her!!

The internet has brought me great people.

The internet kept me from becoming dead.

My brain may have become stupider, but I don't care.

You could say the web is an unnecessary distraction -- unless you're me who pays all her bills by working on the web. Then it's kind of a god send. I can't imagine going back to the days of all mailed queries and no paid blogging assignments. I'm sure I couldn't afford to stay home with my son if that was the case.

Still it always interests me when people survive without the web.

~ Jennifer

It interests me the way stories of near-death experiences or being struck by lightning or of electrocution while blowdrying hair while in the shower using the floor-of-shower electrical outlet interest me.

I don't really want to try them Much easier to read about someone else's experience.

I would have to agree the Internet can be an unnecessary distraction; however, after my bout with PublishAmerica, I was quite happy to find a place on the 'Net (Namely AW) where I could vent my frustrations, learn from other writers, and eventually heal up of the damage caused by having been taken for the proverbial ride.

Were it not for the Internet, I'd probably still be wallowing in despair because I got taken.

Also, I find a decent amount of publishing houses and magazines accept email submissions. For me that's definitely a winner. Being low-income, I don't have a lot of money to spend on postage, printing, cartridges, etc., with which to send out a snail mail submission. This is not to say I don't submit my novels via snail mail, but rather it is to say I prefer email submissions for my shorts. That just would not be possible for me without the Internet.

So really, for me anyway, the 'Net can be a distraction. But at the same time, it has been a blessing to me over the last couple years.

I went without net access at home for nine months last year but I was still able to check emails and sign in to AW occasionally from my dad's house. So I know I can do it. I just don't want to.

My name is Jenan, and I am an internet addict.

Withdrawal would probably kill me, or at least imperil my family. Due to a provider screwup I was without service for a weekend and it was pretty darned ugly.

Internet

I went almost a month without the internet during a recent move. Can't say it bothered me, and I got ten times as much done. Also found out I had a wife, kids, and friends. Who knew?

The Internet is evil.

ETA: I did go away for a while with very limited net access (just email, etc.) and it was rather nice. I realized I didn't miss the Internet much...

Our laptop isn't working. My 12 year old and I are having fits waiting for the battery to come in the mail. I actually suggested yesterday we sit on the front step so we'll be right there when it arrives. Maybe today... ::shakes::

Crack has nothing on the addictive qualities of the Internet.

I would actually love to do this. I think I'd be more productive and perhaps send my ADD into remission.

Stray thought for the day. I'm pretty sure ADD was around and cataloged as a disorder before the internet, but I'd like to know when the big public awareness surge happened. I'd be willing to bet it was after the internet became popular...sometime around the mid-90's

Too bad my damn job is mangled in the tentacles of this behemoth.

Even if "only a few" of the 370 email messages were important, that doesn't mean you want to disregard a few important emails. And he concedes that advertising an event and soliciting manuscripts are activities best performed via Internet.

But I really like his idea of no Internet before noon. Means I oughta be logging off now and getting ready for my 10am meeting!

ETA: A quick google search confirms my recollection that ADD was a popular buzzword as early as 1980. Now, really, I'm logging off.

Well, let's see...I don't have a blog, nor intend to create one; I rarely send and receive e-mail; my website is 'down' and is scheduled to be updated later in the year. Morning is - news, and AW, along with regular checking of e-mail throughout beginning of article to receipt/deposit of monies, when I am writing articles.

Actually, the three major sources of my internet usage are online news, AW and Google for research. I could actually do without the first one-but would have to replace this with a regular read of a select newspaper or two.As for the second, I suppose I would actually force myself to go out and socialise much more. And as for the third, Google is an essential tool. Library research is more specialised/specific. I find that it is hard to 'start' /begin research at the library. In fact, the research I have been undertaking over the past 4 weeks has involved material tied into the internet. Print magazines might cover the topic, but mostly not.If it wasn't for the necessity (and convenience) of online research as relates to business development and production, then yes, I could do without the Internet.

Jamesaritchie said:

I went almost a month without the internet during a recent move. Can't say it bothered me, and I got ten times as much done. Also found out I had a wife, kids, and friends. Who knew?

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Oh, trust me, I know I have all those. The youngest daughter is sprouting hormones. That's what makes the internet so appealing sometimes.

Internet

Jenan Mac said:

Oh, trust me, I know I have all those. The youngest daughter is sprouting hormones. That's what makes the internet so appealing sometimes.

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Good point!