A change in course

I received my first web-connected computer - a Zenith laptop - in 1988.

It was shipped to me FedEx - it was twice the size of a modern laptop, with a blue on silver LCD screen. 10MB hard drive. 80806 Intel chip. 2400 baud modem.

It was the pinnacle of what was available 21 years ago.

I frankly don't know what I did to divert myself prior to 21 years ago. There were no cell phones, no iPods. Just books. I know that I read a great deal. I didn't engage in watching much television even then. I did have more external contact.

My computer came with a subscription to CompuServe - then, the most advanced of the internet services. They had email, chat, news, stocks, all in text only format, all of which spilled across my silvered screen in purple/blue letters and lines.

Fairly quickly, I knew that I was avoiding work and life by focusing on this safety zone. It's seemingly impossible to break away from that sort of distraction, and somewhat terrifying to see it happening but not be able to stop.

For these last two decades, I've zeroed my attention in on my computer, and although I've produced a prodigious amount of work output, I've also invested the large part of my time reading, reading, reading. It was like having access to the Library of Alexandria in real time - without having to get up from my chair.

I can completely understand how some South Korean video gamers end up dying in their chair after not having moved for three days during an intense game.

So, things are changing and I have been calling out to the Universe for support in changing for months. In the next week, my environment will change and in that new space there will be no spot for the computer, nor connection to the interwebs. All communicating of that nature will be during business hours.

What will step forth to replace that time and focus will be a renewal of live interaction, a renewal of my standards of care for clothing, home and vehicle, and a reconnection with reading that is no longer of the divergent sort, but of the challenge to self-structure sort.

After hearing of this notion, I was told that I was going to be getting a Roku for my birthday, so the blackout may be over by mid-October. In the meantime, the political blogs and reading are cast out, and the endless searching for some new piece of information is likewise cast out.

I'll let you know how this all goes.