View Full Version : Pray for me: No Internet at Home:-)
We are going internet-free at home; service ends tomorrow. I'll check email, etc. from the library or other places. Great time to make the change as the weather is getting nicer and we have many camping trips planned over the summer. Hopefully that will help with the withdrawal symptoms:-)
Watched this video recently and decided I didn't want to spend too many jelly beans on Google searches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOksW_NabEk
Wish me luck;)
p.s. "the pray for me" is a joke, not meant to offend anyone. I can't figure out how to edit the title of the thread!
iris lilies
5-3-15, 11:48pm
We are going internet-free at home; service ends tomorrow. I'll check email, etc. from the library or other places. Great time to make the change as the weather is getting nicer and we have many camping trips planned over the summer. Hopefully that will help with the withdrawal symptoms:-)
Watched this video recently and decided I didn't want to spend too many jelly beans on Google searches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOksW_NabEk
Wish me luck;)
p.s. "the pray for me" is a joke, not meant to offend anyone. I can't figure out how to edit the title of the thread!
good luck with that. I toyed with this idea for when I retired, but now that I'm retired, I don't want to be without the internet. My favorite way to communicate with others is via email. The phone annoys me. Probably I would like texting if I gave it a try.
There is a fair amount of real volunteer work that requires internet access.
But still, I spend way too much time on it.
Reyes-
I hope you have a chance to check in from the library now and then to let us know how you are doing without internet access. I also want to thank you for the link. I'll never look at jelly beans the same ever again. :D
I remember BC (before computers) how I spent more time at the library and would read about 300 books a year. Now it's not even 1/4 of that amount. I'm an information freak, so the computer is another conduit for me to get more information, and more up-to-date information, than what I could find at the local library. I also spent a lot of money purchasing books, and that was easily off-set by the amount internet access costs. Unfortunately, it also means I print reams of paper so I can have it for reference (usually for classes I teach). Our last computer is a reconditioned model from a business and it doesn't have any games on it, and that was a great move because games can consume LOTS of "jelly beans".
We are considering it so I'm anxious to hear how you do. We just got rid of netflix as a start. Sometimes I sit down at the computer, check the few places I go and then I say "What would I do next? Oh right, watch an episode or movie on netflix." Since I can't do that now, my computer time has cut back some.
A worthwhile experiment--good luck with it. I've thought about going without broadband at home from time to time, but it's just not practical for me now, mainly because I still need to work at home occasionally. Having to go to the library or a coffee shop to search online or check my email would get me out of the house more, which would be a good thing. It would also increase the amount of reading I do.
It doesn't help that broadband is both overpriced and lousy. The levels of service we get in the US would be considered shameful in most other developed countries. Internet access is now a utility and should be regulated like one, or run by the government entirely, for the same reason that roads and police and fire protection are. We've seen what the private sector running it has brought us.
We've seen what the private sector running it has brought us.
Nearly universal access?
iris lilies
5-4-15, 10:42am
Planning ahead. This would really require me to plan ahead.
when our U verse and phone was out for ten days, i signed up for Internet sessions at the library, but never went. (I did accent my bookings, our library holds no-shows against you!) I could make this work, but planning! Necessary!
Good luck! Do you have a Smart phone at least? I would find it REALLY difficult to go without internet. I'm like IL, I was so happy to see email emerge because I'm not good at writing and mailing letters and I'm a TERRIBLE telephoner. I never talk to friends on the phone. I don't even call my kids. I just find it intrusive to interrupt people in their day for the dubious pleasure of talking to me. Texting is great--I usually text my kids before calling them and ask them if they're free at that moment and then I have to assure them that there's no emergency.
Nearly universal access?
About 70% of US households (http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/broadband-technology-fact-sheet/) have broadband. Not exactly universal. We rank 24th in fixed internet subscribers, slightly ahead of Belarus (28th). Given that we invented the internet, not exactly a track record to be proud of.
Average download speeds in the US are around 36 megabits per second. South Korea is currently experimenting with speeds up to 22 gigabits
per second.
We also pay roughly twice as much (http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24528383) as they do in Europe.
That's not to mention the two completely incompatible mobile phone platforms we have.
That's what the private sector has given us.
About 70% of US households (http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/broadband-technology-fact-sheet/) have broadband. Not exactly universal. My mother and several of my older relatives don't have broadband, but that's their choice, access is available to them all.
Teacher Terry
5-4-15, 5:46pm
It is probably cheaper in Europe because in general many people make lower wages then in the States.
I have an alternative, because I am tired of paying the price for internet from that Big Mama Company that they broke into several Big Companies, back in the 80's. What I will do is buy a wifi laptap, okay? Then, I will go the the Lirrarry(Bibliotheque), and use their wifi. There is a coffee shop in the same building, not owned by the lirrrarry. There are tables out in front. I was by there at 10:30 at night, and a guy was sitting at the table out front, using a laptop. I am just assuming, don't know for sure, that he was accessing the wifi internet inside the facility. If so, that would be good. I may do that. Wish mee luck. $100/mo, in my pocket & not theirs.
Nearly universal access?
Yes, near universally slow and expensive access. At least compared to many other countries.
http://consumerist.com/2015/03/25/new-homeowner-has-to-sell-house-because-of-comcasts-incompetence-lack-of-competition/ And then there's this guy's perspective. Thankfully this isn't me...
Yes, this will take planning:-) At home I have a slip of paper to list the things I want/need to do on the internet. Fortunately I do have it at work so can jump on the internet during lunch, I teach a couple nights at the local university and can do stuff before/after class, and I live a couple blocks from a grocery store that has it and a few blocks to the library. I'm surrounded by free internet availability:-) And no, I don't have a smart phone.
My u-verse service went kaput overnight. Not sure why, resetting modem hasn't worked and I don't feel like dealing with tech service in India right now. I'm on my new iPad with Internet tethered to the new iPhone. I used that when I was out of town last weekend and it worked well.
I'm wary of using free wifi due to security issues of passwords being transmitted over unsecured networks.
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