Societal Commentaries

Over the last several weeks I have endured multiple Internet outages of several days at a time, the latest one last just a hair under a week. While, the outages were an issue with me getting any site work, or emails replied to, they were also very eye-opening for me. I am sure that like me, you have heard of people whose lives were ruled by Facebook, Twitter, or Redditt, for myself I have stayed away from all of the Social Networks whenever possible. However, I have concluded that like those folks I also live in a Digital Prison, maybe not in the same manner as them, but I am imprisoned just the same.

I have tried to write without Internet Access and found it fairly difficult, for several reasons. One of those reasons is that I mostly use Scrivener to write these days and while it is possible to use it without Internet Access that partially cripples that program for me. You see I use its Sync Option to Sync to my Dropbox Folder, I also use it on both my Desktop Mac Pro as well as my iPad Air 2. Without being able to sync files that makes writing that way very difficult. Since I can't sync files that only gives me the option of writing on one platform. To not cause any Sync problems, I went back to using MS Word and LibreOffice. However, both of those programs are also partially crippled by the lack of Internet access. Again, partially a Saving/Syncing issue as I use One Drive or Dropbox to save the majority of the things that I write using either of those applications. Since Office 365 is partially to completely Cloud-Based, any of its apps, MS Word included don't function well without being able to call home.

But I can save all of my files locally, and then Sync/Upload them later when my Internet Connection is available, and resolve the saving issue at least temporarily that way, of course, that means I will have to do a lot of Manual Saves instead of AutoSave using MS Word, the AutoSave Feature, still works I believe in LibreOffice, however, being the big scaredy-cat that I am I manually saved every couple of minutes to be on the safe side.

No, the biggest issue that I found trying to write without Internet access, is that I use DuckDuckGo and Google to not only verify that I have the right word to use for the scenario I am writing, but also too research items, people, and places. In addition to those problems several of the applications that I use for Grammar Checking are also cloud-based, so they are dead in the water as well. Without Internet access, I find myself hobbled beyond belief. In the old days, I would just pull out my Funk and Wagnalls, or grab the appropriate volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica or the New World Encyclopedia. Since I don't have any of those now, I am sheer out of luck, well at least the Thesaurus in MS Office and LibreOffice still work.

Because of that situation, I have concluded that the majority of our Digital & Electronic Society are ill-equipped to live life outside of our Digital & Electronic Prisons. You see I found out that not only was my writing crippled but my whole life was partially crippled as well. Now before you say well you can always write by hand in those notebooks that you are always carrying on about, well that is fine and dandy except for one little thing, even when I was writing in my notebooks, I was using my iPad to research things. So that idea went down the tubes as well.

The reasons that I found the rest of my life crippled outside of writing were little things that I never really paid attention to or thought about. I need to use a Nasal Spray twice-a-day to help keep my allergies under control, and I am too lazy to set the alarms on my watch to remind me or download an app for my Desktop or Phone, so I just asked Alexa to do it. However, with Internet access, Alexa is dumber than the proverbial blo... All she can do is flash her lights, Siri on my Desktop Mac Pro and my iPad suffer the same affliction, lack of Internetitis 😉.  So, since I can't write or visit any web sites, that also means no site work, that leaves either reading or watching the idiot box. I have been doing a lot of reading, finished several books, went to watch TV, however, since I use an Over the Air Antenna, and I live in the middle of nowhere that kind of limited my options, so I thought I would just watch something on Amazon Prime (one of the perks of being a Senior Citizen and on Social Security) or my friend's Netflix. Unfortunately, no Internet no Amazon Video, or Netflix. So, I have been doing a lot of cleaning, driving my cats crazy, even reading some physical books, going to bed early, and plotting out lots of stories.

All of these issues made me stop and think about how imprisoned we are by our Electronic Digital Leashes; we really do live in Digital & Electronic Prisons.

I can't tell you how many times that I went to send an email, buy something from Amazon, pay a bill, or even look up something on the Net. Every time that happened, I would just shake my head and mutter, "Later or Tomorrow."

With as many issues as I have been dealing with just think how much worse it would be for those folks that rely completely on Electronic/Digital Devices or totally Electric Houses and there was a massive Electric Outage? How many folks have BBQs, Gas Ranges, Battery-Powered Lights, and even Old-Fashioned Landlines? 

How many folks can cook without their Digital Recipes, as most folks don't have Physical Cookbooks anymore? Cell Phones don't need electricity, or do they? Sure, you can use Solar Chargers to keep your Cell Phones and tablets charged, however, you won't be able to call anyone, because Cell Towers need power, and their battery packs only last for a short period of time.

Another interesting thing that I found out about Cell Phones Apps, is that while the vast majority of them used either a Cell Signal or Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet some of them won't connect to the Internet when your Wi-Fi is down and you have WiFi turned on. They will just sit there and spin their wheels or give you a message that there is no Internet Connection. So, you turn off the Wi-Fi and voila the apps will connect to the Cellular Network. This issue may only be on my Samsung S7 Edge, but I highly doubt it. One of the issues you will occur is that when your Wi-Fi comes back on, and it isn't turned on you won't notice, and your Cellphone Data is going to disappear rapidly.

So, is it possible to break out of our Digital & Electronic Prisons, and if so, how do we do it? It isn't easy, but it can be done, however, it will require some planning and a fair amount of intestinal fortitude or stick-to-it-ness! First, if you have a family, you need to set strict Screen Time Limits and then stick to them. Second, adopt a No Electronic Device at the Dinner Table Rule and enforce it. Even back in the era of landlines, my family had a very strict rule about phone calls at dinner time; in fact, we used to love busting my parents when they tried to take a phone call at dinner. Third, get a Library Card and use it to borrow and READ some Physical Books, you might have to teach your kids how to turn the pages. Fourth, go to someplace like Goodwill®, the Salvation Army or Garage Sales and pick up a physical dictionary and maybe a set of Encyclopedias. While the Encyclopedias and Dictionaries may be out of date, they are still a good place to start, and a very good skill to have for College.  Fifth, and probably the hardest thing to do, teach everyone, including yourself possibly, how to cook without a Microwave, and how to make coffee without using one of the 'K' things. I didn't promise that it would be easy, but it can be done. At least I didn't tell you to teach your kids how to use a Typewriter!

I actually have a few physical books, because now and then, I like to experience the physical act of turning a page and reading that way. Plus, when I use a physical bookmark, I know it will still be there when the power goes out or my computer crashes.

Another example of our Digital & Electronic Prisons watching a table of teenagers sitting at a table in a Mall Food Court, and totally ignoring the people they are with while they are playing, video games, tweeting, or thousands of other things. One of the strangest things I ever saw was a couple strolling through the mall arm in arm and each of them with their nose in a phone ignoring each other!

And since I am an old Fuddy Duddy^[1] I happen to abhor eating in Non-Cell Phone Free Restaurants. I go there for a nice relaxing meal and maybe some quiet conversation. I detest having my meal interrupted by a Salesman taking orders over their phone while talking loud enough to be heard throughout the restaurant. The polite thing to do if you get a call that you have to answer, either answer it and tell the person calling that you will call them back as soon as you have finished your meal; or take the call outside or into the lobby.

So, let's all see if we can break out of our Digital & Electronic Prisons, and see if we can make this a better world to live in. You just might find it nice to have face to face Physical Conversations again as well! It is a sad symbol of our time when people can only communicate with each other by text or voice through an electronic device. Now don't all pile on me, because I use Skype and Discord voice chats a lot, however, I use them to talk with people across the country not sitting next to me.

 Author's Notes:

Thanks for taking the time to read my words. I am always looking forward to hearing what my readers think of my words, and I always reply to every email as soon as I can, Internet outages notwithstanding. So please drop me an email to The Story Lover

^[1] (A fuddy-duddy is a person who is fussy while old-fashioned, traditionalist, conformist, or conservative, sometimes almost to the point of eccentricity or geekiness. It is a slang term, mildly derogatory but sometimes affectionate too and can be used to describe someone with a zealous focus on order.)