Digital detachment
Posted: Wednesday 18 January, 2012
Alex Smith
I’m never far away from digital technology. Wherever I go I have my smartphone on hand, connected to the internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whenever I’m at home I’m online, on email, Facebook, Twitter.
However, on Thursday my laptop broke. I was without my laptop altogether as it wouldn’t boot, and was left with my trusty phone to access emails and social media. Whilst smartphones are great for this kind of activity when on the go, they aren’t yet terribly good for actually facilitating working for extended periods of time. I found myself very detached from what was going on and temporarily unable to effectively do my job.
In fact, I found myself detached from everything and everyone. It was like I had an arm or leg missing, and I didn’t enjoy it one bit. A form of digital claustrophobia if you will.
Yet to resolve the situation, I opted for old school tactics. Writing the first draft of this blog on actual paper for example. I also read a newspaper on my way back from a meeting in paper form rather than the usual digital.
Suffice to say… neither sufficed. As a thoroughbred digital native, I think I must have reached a point where the digital world has enriched/eroded my life so much (you choose) that I can’t go back.
I can only hope that my laptop is fixed soon. Gone are the days of reading news on paper, playing games on boards and creating messages with ink and paper. The future is digital, might as well embrace it and mourn the memory of traditional media consumption in all its glory. Well, for me at least.
