Fuck Computers.
Yes, I realise how utterly ridiculous this statement might sound in this arena, seeing as this is after all Teh Intarwebs, and both you and I need to use those vile machines in order to write and read my inane blather. But even still, the fact stands. Computers might be a necessary evil in this, the dawn of the 21st century, but they're still fucking evil.
And here's why.
See, I have complained for years about the awful plague on our society that we call television. I am a child of the 60s, and for people my age and younger, television has, from the day we were born, been a drug....an addictive, patently useless device that renders US just as useless as itself. My family and most of my friends' families when I was a kid had one television, in the living room/parlour/den/whateverthehell you choose to call the family room, and at a given time in the evening, if we could all agree on a programme, we'd plop down and watch. Anyone who didn't want to watch what the majority did would go off and busy him or her self with whatever other hobby he or she pleased. Yes, I said 'hobby'....remember those? Writing, art, model making, music....that sort of thing. Hell, we were even known to engage in physical activity back in the day. Somehow, we found the time. But nowadays, when there's a TV in every fucking room in the house, no one needs to have outside hobbies anymore. Someone doesn't want to watch what everyone else does? So? Just go to your room with your personal set and you don't have to. Watch what you please. So what if you don't 'have the time' for creative endeavours or keeping in shape? Those things are secondary.
Or to people with TV they are anyway. Me, I fucking hate the thing. I can proudly state that I've NEVER had cable, and for the past 3 years, I have not actually had a television at all. I have no idea what the hell's on TV these days and I don't give a good god damn. I have a full life and I don't need to waste my time with the boob tube.
But I have a computer. And this is where the problem comes in.
Computers, computers with games and internet access particularly, have become the snob's television. Those of us who are too good to waste our time with television still somehow manage to become computer potatoes. Recently I realised, to my horror, that I was spending literally HOURS a day parked in front of a screen....albeit a computer screen, not a television....but a screen all the same, most of the time not doing ANYTHING AT ALL WORTHWHILE. This is when I decided two things - (1) I was going to start blogging again, since if I need to have this fucking piece of overpriced crap in my possession, I'm at least going to get some constructive recreational use out of it, and (2) I'm going to start limiting the time I spend on the bloody internet.
And so I have. I no longer allow myself to eat in front of the computer, regardless of the circumstances. I do not access any websites except for email and work-related shite before lunchtime. To make a long story short, I have cut my internet time down to less than half what it used to be. And lo and behold, I'm still alive. And I doubt if the results would be too different for anyone else. Trust me, MySpace and AIM are NOT crucial to your existence. You can actually go DAYS without accessing them, and when you do decide to go back to them, not only will they still be there, but you might even find you'll spend less time at a shot on them, since in your newfound OFF-line time, you might have actually developed a real-life SOCIAL LIFE.
I expect to rant more about the internet in posts to come. I have serious issues that have arisen lately with paranoia and security worries based in instances of nosey, internet-addicted, social-life-impaired individuals breaking into my email and other password-secured information, issues that never would have come into play in the days BEFORE everyone had internet access 24-fucking-seven. I have been stalked on the internet, both by people who found me through websites like my old blog and MySpace, and by people who found me in real life and used the net to further track me. People have even used the internet to insult and spread lies about both myself and friends of mine, in their own names, and of COURSE in others' names and anonymously, because after all, what's the internet for (besides porn) if not making cowardly attacks on other people without having to worry (too much) about being found out and retaliated against?
But I'm not going to get into any more of this now, nor am I going to talk about how computers and free wifi everywhere has turned New York into an even lonelier city than it was to start with. And you know why? Because I'm meeting a friend....a real, live, flesh-and-blood person....in a little bit, and I need to skedaddle. Yeah, that's right...I have a life. And I'd advise you to turn your fucking computer off, and get one too. It's not too late, I promise.....
And here's why.
See, I have complained for years about the awful plague on our society that we call television. I am a child of the 60s, and for people my age and younger, television has, from the day we were born, been a drug....an addictive, patently useless device that renders US just as useless as itself. My family and most of my friends' families when I was a kid had one television, in the living room/parlour/den/whateverthehell you choose to call the family room, and at a given time in the evening, if we could all agree on a programme, we'd plop down and watch. Anyone who didn't want to watch what the majority did would go off and busy him or her self with whatever other hobby he or she pleased. Yes, I said 'hobby'....remember those? Writing, art, model making, music....that sort of thing. Hell, we were even known to engage in physical activity back in the day. Somehow, we found the time. But nowadays, when there's a TV in every fucking room in the house, no one needs to have outside hobbies anymore. Someone doesn't want to watch what everyone else does? So? Just go to your room with your personal set and you don't have to. Watch what you please. So what if you don't 'have the time' for creative endeavours or keeping in shape? Those things are secondary.
Or to people with TV they are anyway. Me, I fucking hate the thing. I can proudly state that I've NEVER had cable, and for the past 3 years, I have not actually had a television at all. I have no idea what the hell's on TV these days and I don't give a good god damn. I have a full life and I don't need to waste my time with the boob tube.
But I have a computer. And this is where the problem comes in.
Computers, computers with games and internet access particularly, have become the snob's television. Those of us who are too good to waste our time with television still somehow manage to become computer potatoes. Recently I realised, to my horror, that I was spending literally HOURS a day parked in front of a screen....albeit a computer screen, not a television....but a screen all the same, most of the time not doing ANYTHING AT ALL WORTHWHILE. This is when I decided two things - (1) I was going to start blogging again, since if I need to have this fucking piece of overpriced crap in my possession, I'm at least going to get some constructive recreational use out of it, and (2) I'm going to start limiting the time I spend on the bloody internet.
And so I have. I no longer allow myself to eat in front of the computer, regardless of the circumstances. I do not access any websites except for email and work-related shite before lunchtime. To make a long story short, I have cut my internet time down to less than half what it used to be. And lo and behold, I'm still alive. And I doubt if the results would be too different for anyone else. Trust me, MySpace and AIM are NOT crucial to your existence. You can actually go DAYS without accessing them, and when you do decide to go back to them, not only will they still be there, but you might even find you'll spend less time at a shot on them, since in your newfound OFF-line time, you might have actually developed a real-life SOCIAL LIFE.
I expect to rant more about the internet in posts to come. I have serious issues that have arisen lately with paranoia and security worries based in instances of nosey, internet-addicted, social-life-impaired individuals breaking into my email and other password-secured information, issues that never would have come into play in the days BEFORE everyone had internet access 24-fucking-seven. I have been stalked on the internet, both by people who found me through websites like my old blog and MySpace, and by people who found me in real life and used the net to further track me. People have even used the internet to insult and spread lies about both myself and friends of mine, in their own names, and of COURSE in others' names and anonymously, because after all, what's the internet for (besides porn) if not making cowardly attacks on other people without having to worry (too much) about being found out and retaliated against?
But I'm not going to get into any more of this now, nor am I going to talk about how computers and free wifi everywhere has turned New York into an even lonelier city than it was to start with. And you know why? Because I'm meeting a friend....a real, live, flesh-and-blood person....in a little bit, and I need to skedaddle. Yeah, that's right...I have a life. And I'd advise you to turn your fucking computer off, and get one too. It's not too late, I promise.....
posted by Róisín Ruaat 12:08 AM
1 Comments:
Some of my friends don't understand why it might take me weeks to answer an email or months to send one with a quick update. Booting up my comp when I get home is the last thing I want to do. Thank you for reminding us that seeing humans is important too... it's too hard to hug a computer.
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