LIFE WITHOUT COMPUTER

A Life Without Computers

BY NATE SHENK FEBRUARY 29, 2012 FILED UNDER: AMERICAN 12 COMMENTS

For me, computers have dominated my life & I’m not sure how I feel about that.

When my family got our first computer, I was 8-years-old, spent most of the time outside and had no idea what the Internet was.

A friend of my dad’s somehow had an extra, somewhat older Macintosh computer that he generously gave us; which we (the kids) joyfully accepted.

Since I had enough siblings to fill a small orphanage, we had to take turns using the computer and I frequently felt as though the waiting was unbearable.

Once my turn to use the old Macintosh came around, I would either play Wheel of Fortune, Solitaire, or explore all the other files and programs I could gain access to.  

I couldn’t really tell you why I found the device so fascinating; it was as if something was telling me it would become a major part of all of our lives later down the road, which caused me to want to know everything about it.

Sometimes it would take 5-10 minutes just for the dinosaur to boot up, sometimes it wouldn’t boot up at all and I remember thinking that it would be nice once they figured out all the kinks with the over-sized calculator in front of me.

However, if someone had told me back then that one day I would have a cell phone more powerful than a hundred computers, I’d probably become terrified. I have no doubt that my dreams would then be filled with Terminator-like scenes; where my house and/or family would be getting vaporized by intelligent computers and cell phones.

Thankfully, no one ever told me about the future of technology and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I was given on the family computer…sometimes sneaking on it when I wasn’t supposed to, but little sisters don’t tattle as long as you hit them.

Kidding….

Now zip up to the present day and I find myself, not only with a cell phone 100 times more powerful than my old Macintosh, but constantly being surrounded by high-powered (compared to prehistoric times) computers; with the Internet at the tip of my fingers.

At work, I use a computer to look up student financial accounts and can instantly find an answer to practically anything I can think of by using Google. At home, I use a computer to write new material for my website; where I also spend a ridiculous amount of time designing and editing.

In between and during my time at home and work, I use a Smartphone to communicate with other humans and for anything else under the sun because there’s most likely an app for it.

This description of how I spend a majority of my time is undoubtedly identical to millions of others (such as yourself) who find themselves immersed by technological devices at every turn.

I sometimes attempt to imagine what it would be like to not be a member of Generation Y and have an understanding of what the world was like before all this technology came into the picture.

How did people stay in touch with friends? How did they survive without being able to text?

What did people do with their free time at home; sit on the couch and knit?

Because I do not know the answers to those questions, something inside of me feels sad–like I missed out on life before computers controlled the world.

Sure, I had 7 years of life before getting a computer, but what 7-year-old observes and remembers the world around him? I was too busy playing in the woods, catching snacks and scaring my sisters to think about the non-computer-dominated world around me.

This morning, while at work, I was trying to decide if I thought all this technology was a good thing by weighing the pros and cons. I found myself unable to come to a conclusion, simply because I don’t have anything to else to compare it to.

Of course I can read all I want about what the 80s, 70s and 60s were like, but reading can only take your imagination so far.

And don’t get me wrong, I understand that technology saves countless lives, makes contacting your 7th grade best friend a cinch and (apparently) makes life easier.

But all the previous generations didn’t seem to have a problem living without Facebook, Google and computers in their pockets.

I’m not sure how they did it, but they obviously made it just fine using other ways to communicate (e.g. talking in-person–if you can fathom that).

Now that I think about it, if someone had told me, when I was 8, that one day life would completely revolve around computers; I’d probably let my siblings have all the computer time they wanted and enjoy the few precious computer-free years I had left.

For the rest of my life I will either be on a computer, near one, or have a computer in my pocket. Then, when I die; I’ll most likely be hooked up to one.

So I guess it doesn’t really matter how I feel about our computer-run world; there’s not much choice in the matter and, if I protest, one will probably vaporize me.

A Life Without Computers? I don’t understand that sentence.