The boys at Offlining has a pledge. A pledge to get us off our cell phones and away from the Internet. Research has shown that cell phones and an "always on" mentality can cause us to become more impatient, impulsive, forgetful and even more narcissistic over time. Because the thought of an even more narcissistic version of a tech blogger is something even we don't want to see, we're going to give it a shot. Care to join?
The day is planned for Sept. 18th, or the following Saturday. It also happens to land on the Jewish of Atonement, Yom Kipuur. Seeing as this "digital fasting" idea came from two entrepreneurs with no real product being sold or religious agenda attached, we're 99% convinced that this is simply a helpful campaign to encourage folks to stop texting on their phones while walking into busy traffic.
Ahh. While their advertising campaign could use a little work, at least the intent is good.
For me, I plan to disconnect our Netflix, Tivo, Bittorrent, all of my PCs, and cell phone. I'm also considering biking to work instead of driving (10 miles can't be too hand, can it?).
Think you can handle a day without all your tech goodies? We'll be waiting on Sept. 18th to see if you keep your word. Offline, that is.
[Image: Yutaka Tsutano via a CC license]
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Comments (5)
No. It is an attempt to gather traffic, the exact opposite of what they are talking about.
It is like "don't buy gas day," a complete waste of effort.
I have some friends who will remain nameless.
They're pretty notorious when going out to dinner, for drinks, (insert social function here) to be constantly on their phones. It's like if the light on the phone goes off, they instantly hit it so it lights up in case "something happened" since the light went out.
I actually find it a tad disrespectful. Don't get me wrong, I love my gadgets and my toys, and I play with them when appropriate. But to be on your phone checking FourSquare or Twitter or Facebook or (insert social network here) then it's basically telling me "you're not cool enough to keep my interest, I need to see what all my other friends are doing simultaneously."
@ErikTheRed Same experience here. Drives me nuts.
It makes me almost want to pull the Larry David trick from Curb Your Enthusiasm and just pick up a magazine and start reading it while they're in the middle of talking to me.
No. Why?