How long could you survive without the internet?

[boz]

Since the conception of the World Wide Web back in the late 1980s the internet has become part of our lives whether we like it or not. Over the years the internet has really taken off bringing visual, audio or text communication to the masses across the continents in an instant. It seems nowadays businesses big or small have to be a part of this revolution to survive and sell their products, and we as consumers gladly part with a monthly fee to our service provider to be part of this revolution, be it by your home PC or via a data plan with a phone company.

I didn’t realise quite how much I did rely upon the internet until I recently had the misfortune of losing my home PC’s internet connection for three days over a weekend due to a problem with my service provider. Now a few years ago I could have lived with this, and would not have been unduly worried about it, but to be honest I found it a huge struggle and didn’t realise how much my internet connection to the outside world had become an integral part of my life.

As soon as I realised I wasn’t going to get connected again anytime soon I relied heavily on a Windows Mobile powered device to keep in touch as best as I could, not by Wi-Fi of course but via a data connection as I am lucky enough to have an unlimited data plan, and it was quite successful to a point. I couldn’t function at full capacity as I would liked to have done due to the constraints of the Windows Mobile platform and Opera browser, but it got me out of a hole until I regained my internet connection.

So my question is could you or have you, managed to survive without the internet as a home or business user for any period of time, and not had withdrawal symptoms as I did, like a thirty a day cigarette smoker that has just quit?!

[tonybro]

Being on the road quite a bit (well, mostly!) I am at the vagiaries of both lack of internet connection at the locations I stay and working in Wales, lack of any mobile signal at all!

I can just about manage with the phone's connection as a minimum but rather than rely on the mobile browser I usually 'tether' the phone to my laptop as a data connection so i can use proper browser and applications. In fact I can even use it for my VPN connection.

As it can be almost as quick as my home broadband at 1.7Mb, I don't feel I'm missing out much.

I have been known to stop in a lay-by in Wales when the signal miraculously appears in the hills and send an e-mail or two!

[The Mailman]

Well I have managed all day today but finally had to give in and check my email and news sites. But, it was only as I had been so busy doing jobs around the house that I should have done yesterday.

It just draws you back - you see that little light on the screen saying" Come on - you know you want to".

Though this years holiday is in a wooden hut in the Lake District for a week so we will son see how I get by with just the phone. All a preparation for next year as we are thinking of doing a 10 day raft trip down through Sweden - first job is build your raft - with no technology along at all. Enough to scare any techie.

[neilm]

The question 'How long could you survive?' could, for me, be answered in a number of ways. I probably could survive for some time, but what would be the impact on my life if I had to?; profound I'd say

I've had an ISP subscription since 1995- good old BTInternet at 9.6, then 14.4 then up to 56kbps over a modem/phone line, followed by Cable Internet and now a BT LLU service which averages 6.5Mbps at home, and a BT Business connection at work which also gives 6-7Mbps.

Through these generations of service supply we've seen an ever increasing reliance on the WWW for both 'infotainment' and business use. At work, my new clients coming via a web search comfotably exceeds those using paper based directories and many use email as a 1st point of contact. While working, the on-line postcode form fillers and automatic SMS reminders have made life a lot easier and the ability to do research in front of a patient is now an essential part of business. I've been fortunate that the longest outtage I've seen over the last 7 years is about 2 hours.

For out-of-office business use, having a WM device with a Microsoft Exchange Connection which also syncs to my office diary has freed me to leave the office if I want to, knowing my admin can be acheived using my mobile device and telephone call diversion.

At home, the whole family is 'net aware', even my wife who abhors anything computer related, though she still appreciates the necessity it has become. I can't think of an evening when something we see on TV has not prompted a 'what was he in before?' or 'who sang the original of that?- look it up on the internet' has not occurred. This is usually quickly acheived via the ever present XDA Flint using a mobile browser. Every holiday we have taken since 1997 has been booked via the internet or email, and increasingly all our major household purchases have been researched and bought via websites.

I mustn't forget also that entertainment, whether via 4Winmobile or using sites like iPlayer, Napster or AudialsOne is now derived largely from the internet.

So, how long could I survive without it? The short answer is not long, without seriously compromising both home and business tasks!

[Michael_Mcr]

In a work situation - not very long, as my work is all things IT.

When i go on holiday, i usually have a complete break and just check phone once or twice a day for messages. If travelling, i use the Orbit2 as a walkman but no more than that really.

I suprise myself sometimes that i seem to find it easy to turn my back on it all when i am on my hols - nice to have a total change of lifestyle, if only for 2 weeks

[windows]

For me I've got to be connected whether it be by GPRS or WiFi. Got to keep up with what is taking place on the site even if jut limited to emails.

When the PC's net connection goes down I just tether the WM device I use at the moment and continue, slow but it works. Record is 3 days via that method when the BB went down big time!

[irblinx]

Don't even joke!

The longest I've gone without connecting for one reason or another is probably on a long haul flight (15hrs is my max) and that is painful enough. For the Disaster Recovery of our Malaysian site I'm having to consider the possibility of a prolonged break in connectivity, it is frankly a frightening thought.
posted via mobile portal

[milla03]

I can't go for 24 hours without some sort of internet access, be it wired, wireless or via mobile. When I travel to Germany on business my company BlackBerry gets an hammering on Facebook and various news sites. When I visit my in-laws in Suffolk I take my laptop and piggyback on their wifi, and I always head to the Adnams Brewery Cafe in Southwold to use the free wifi from my phone. Next week I'm off to Somerset for a week, and I'm taking my laptop and buying a PAYG broadband dongle to tide me over (even though I've now got Orange's 500Mb data bundle on my account). First thing I do when I wake up is download my email on my phone over the wifi. Am I addicted? Yes. Could I give it all up? No. Would I want to? Hell no!

[fowljr]

I pretty much agree with everyone's comments here... Although one thing has surprised me... And that is how much I rely on broadband itself, not just from having a reliable connection, but also the speed.

Today I'm away from home, I've got my netbook tethered to my HTC Athena as there is no Wi-Fi available, but, the connection I have is GPRS only, no 3G... That means I've been returned to surfing the net at 56k max...

Now, I'm finding I'm shocked at how SLLLOOOOWWW it is, but the main point being that at least I am still online... Does this mean that we're all spoilt by fast broadband, or does it just illustrate how we adapt ourselves and our expectations to new technologies?

[irblinx]

Originally Posted by fowljr

I pretty much agree with everyone's comments here... Although one thing has surprised me... And that is how much I rely on broadband itself, not just from having a reliable connection, but also the speed.

Today I'm away from home, I've got my netbook tethered to my HTC Athena as there is no Wi-Fi available, but, the connection I have is GPRS only, no 3G... That means I've been returned to surfing the net at 56k max...

Now, I'm finding I'm shocked at how SLLLOOOOWWW it is, but the main point being that at least I am still online... Does this mean that we're all spoilt by fast broadband, or does it just illustrate how we adapt ourselves and our expectations to new technologies?

I've spend a lot of time in Malaysia (or internet hell as I've come to know it) over the last 12 months and not having fast, reliable access to the net pretty much killed me. Imagine having to wait for a youtube video to download! We are pampered and spoilt, just the way it should be