Throttled: My Involuntary ‘Digital Detox’

 

In retrospect, it might have been Microsoft Word that tripped me up.

In 2016 I was writing a 6 million USD proposal, and I needed to turn drafts around fast.
I’m used to proposal writing, but my home computer used an Open Source operating system and ‘Libre Office’.
It emulated all the Microsoft document formats OK, BUT wasn’t very good at reproducing Word’s ‘track changes’.
I NEEDED track changes and I needed it FAST, we lived in those comments.

So I went out and bought a cheap Windows computer for $300. If I couldn’t handle Track Changes efficiently, I wasn’t doing my job.
Sure, give me a hard time for abandoning the cause of Open Source tech and programs; I got my reports and proposals done.
(Even my friends at OpenDevCam, an ‘Open Data’ nonprofit, use Word for their proposals. Crazy.)
I hung on to the Windows laptop.

This June, I hauled the laptop out again. I’d finished my role at Forum Syd, moved to work at (also Swedish) INGO Diakonia, where I’d also done a lot of writing and grant reporting. They’d given me use of a top-of-the-line Lenovo Thinkpad. I was addicted to the speed.

I went back to using my home laptop. The internet speed was appreciably slower. If I wanted to load say, Facebook or Twitter, it was like molasses.

I troubleshot my home connection and switched internet providers. I bought a new (super cheap) Windows laptop. The speed wasn’t much faster.

Also in June: traded in my phone for a used Iphone 6 Plus. Bigger screen! But a bad camera lens. And to compound the theme of low access, my phone’s data plan experienced a week’s interrupt.

So for two months, while I could use the internet, I couldn’t use it reflexively. If I wanted to visit a web site? It would load, but take half a minute. I couldn’t take and post a selfie with ease.

I resolved to be patient; I had a fair degree of unstructured time. And it was a reminder for me how much I use the internet without thinking.
I have outlets for comics (Comics Lifestyle), Cambodia (TweetCambodia) and inspirational items (The Bubble). I had to be much more patient when flinging articles and links around.

And in my daily doings, I felt like I’d woken up from sleepwalking. I know everyone is glued to their phones, I am too! But I was glued a lot less.

One impression of the last few weeks: phones are not really handphones, not in the sense I’ve known them from 2000 to 2009.
They present now to me as a slice of the internet, manifested.
They are a reactive screen that has a highly intuitive touch interface. Laptop, desktop computers will look a lot like them in the near future.
Worth a ponder.

Late in August I decided I’d better speed up my web time, since I was doing a number of freelance web sites. (And all the job postings are online.)
So I did some careful comparative costing and bought a $700 Thinkpad (similar to my Diakonia model). But to make it really fast? I was going to install the Linux Ubuntu operating system. Most of what we do these days is via a web browser, and browsers don’t are what operating system they run on.

For this I tapped Mozilla and Open Source maven Arky. After I’d bought the computer, he wheeled up to a cafe with a USB containing Ubuntu and booted it in a few minutes. So fast it was gratifying.

Now? Well, I am doing all the things I was doing before, but with a lot less frustration.

It’s GREAT to be back using an Open Source computer.

And exercising a bit more self-control and reflection. I’ve always had the internet at my disposal, or is it really the other way around?
Do I need to visit this site, this app? What’s my goal, how much time will I spend?

(And if I need to do ‘track changes’? I’ve still got my old 2016 windows box. There are certainly tips and tricks that can be had as well. If that’s the ONLY puzzle, I will find a way. 😉 )
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