Watching television? Meh. It's been days since I turned on my TV. My cellphone? Half the time I forget to bring it home from work?

But internet access? You will have to pry that from my cold dead hand.

I don't think I like where this is headed. It's bad enough that TV is shunned so on A.T. ... now am I to look forward to COMPUTER shunning too???

This is a very interesting post. As someone who has been fairly low tech tech the last 10 years I decided it was time to either get on the bus or get left behind.

I have an iPhone, a new iMac (27" what was I thinking?), an HD TV (quite large), high speed everything, more cable channels than I know what to do with, facebook, chat, Skype, etc... This list could go on and on and on.

I have come to really enjoy these things...a lot. I spend a lot of time not on a computer when I am teaching, but I do a lot of research online, and I do more and more of it at home as my schedule allows me that little luxury.

My nephew turns 13 in a couple of weeks and my brother have asked me and 12 other 'important men' in his life to right him a letter. I was talking to my sister about this awesome opportunity and I was describing how I was going to import a picture of the two of us into the letter on my new Mac and she interrupted me and said, "wouldn't it mean more if it were hand written?"

Oh...yeah. Proof that I need to slow down a bit.

Judging from the few times I've lived without internet or power, I would go absolutely raving mad.

I'm a child of the information age. I can't handle going without instant, easy access to information for long periods. If I think "Say, what's the typical use failure rate for this BC versus a NuvaRing?" I want to know, right now, not when I can go to a library or call a doctor.

I can live with not knowing for a few days, but after a week of wondering things and having no way to research I go bonkers.

Besides that, I need my miniature computer (smartphone) to deal with having ADHD. Alarms, reminders, and lists that can't be lost are the only way I'm able to cope like a normal person.

And schoolwork, of course, would be impossible.

I've recently rediscovered a very enjoyable low-tech activity while staying at a hotel with expensive rates for daily internet service... reading the paper! *and* delivered for free every morning. Strangely, I felt better and more roundly informed as opposed to reading my everyday blogs & websites. I swore I'd subscribe to the paper at least on the weekends - still haven't done it. When was the last time you sat and read the paper?

It took me a long time to get a computer, and only when I had to have it for some online school classes. My main (important, not fluffy) use for it now is looking for work. Before I got one, I would just sign up at the library to use theirs which is much faster and better.
I have an old tv, but no cable, no cell phone, and the car only has a radio in it - and it's fine!
People are mostly shocked about the no cell phone, but it hasn't made any big difference in my life.

I used to live in a sensory deprivation chamber like the one descirbed here. At the time, it was a self-important choice I made because I was just sooooo busy doing what I thought were super important things. I wondered how or why my fellow humans relied so much on entertainment - why weren't they busy working 4 jobs, going to school, serving in the Army Reserves, renovating a house, juggling a relationship and being generally as awesome and important and busy as moi?

Now when I'm at home, I look forward to relaxing, kicking back with music or a great movie or a crappy reality show or some web surfing. OR turning everything off and reading a book in silence if I feel like it. I can't remember why I thought it was so great to live in complete silence all those years, but now I rather like having the choice to tune in or tune out as my mood dictates.

Well, half of the classes I teach are on-line only and I need internet access at home to do it (or else I have to go into the office everyday). Beyond that, I listen to a fair amount of podcasts/radio (mostly npr and some sports). But even though I have the usual media devices (tv, iphone, ipad, etc.), I don't like to have something on all the time. I mostly work in silence (unless I am grading; then I have a grading playlist that helps make the time pass) and figure my media is mine to control.

Of course, if I had to listen to a neighbor's music all day, I would lose my mind--heating other people's "stuff" make me insane and I don't tolerate it. That's a big part of the reason I won't share walls, ceilings, or floors--loud music brings out the total jerk in me.

I sit in front a computer all day at work (I'm a librarian, it's part of the job) so when I get home I use my Mac very sparingly. I got an iPhone for Christmas, and I mainly use it to play Sudoku while waiting for seating in restaurants. But I do watch some TV -- we Tivo some favorite shows and watch them when it fits our schedule. And my partner has a home theater, which can easily become a time sink since movies are VERY nice on a huge screen in a dark room with comfy chairs! (Unfortunately, that also rules out multi-tasking -- can't craft in the dark.)

I generally spend more time reading than using any technology, but I wouldn't want to be without access to all of it.

"I also do not own a stereo, ipod, television, or any other music/noise-generating device"

I can see living without one, or maybe two of these (including the PC) - but not having music would be like slow torturous death.

Internet, tv, ipod, stereo - I have all these things. And something else too: willpower. All those machines have off switches. I am perfectly capable of reading a book all afternoon in perfect silence without having to ban these items from my home.

I'm also a child of the information age, but I'm also old-fashioned. I love hand written letters over emails and phone calls over aim chats (though Skyping is pretty great).

For school, I was required to get a laptop early on in my program. It was really great - rather than being cooped up in my dorm room all the time, I could work on projects sitting on the couch next to my friends. But now that I've graduated, I've gotten an iMac (desktop) - and it's even better!! Because I'm not mobile with it (and also not doing schoolwork anymore), I've started spending a lot less time on the computer, and I love it. It opens up hours of time to do other things.

I'm also the sort of person who refuses to get a smartphone. I like the idea that I could shut my laptop or just walk away from my computer and not be accessible to everyone, all the time. As technology gets better, privacy gets worse, and I like having time to just myself.

I don't have TV so I use my computer to watch the 'important' shows I enjoy. I find I use my time way more effectively. If I am starving to watch some programs I can't find on the web I go to the gym. I pay for a membership and then I get fit while I watch. It also means I can run WAY longer just because I am in a trance watching a marathon of something or other.

I'll be moving into an electricity-free home soon. I've got a plot of land and a teepee I'm fixing up. There are a few more angles to work out, but once I'm moved in, be sure to look for my feature on Apartment Therapy!!

Over the summer, my fiance and I went out to Indiana to visit/meet his extended family. I have an iPhone (and recently launched a major website at work, so had to check in), but I tried to limit the iPhone to just work email and setting visits/tours up or so... I was without my computer (web designer/developer) for an entire week... and no TV (which was nice), so I read an entire book while still maintaining conversational level of a recruiter at a fast paced networking function.

But in all honesty, I thought I was going to lose my mind... I felt so out-of-touch with the world... no news, no daily Morning Coffee, no Apartment Therapy - But - no getting sucked into a TV show that really shouldn't suck anyone in... or that look up to notice 3 hrs has passed since you sat down to quickly check your email... guess good and bad...

@rr90027 I read the news (paper) every day... from my computer. The idea of sitting to read printed on paper news is more nostalgic than anything. Save a tree and read online. I used to work in the editorial/news industry--at a newspaper for some time but mostly for magazines. I cannot wait until the day when newspapers are strictly online content and just news.

My (now) husband and I had no tv, Internet, or home phone at our first shared dwelling for over a year. What did we miss most? The Internet, by far. We didn't have iPhones back then, so we were truly without any Internet access.

I freelance now, so I have to have a computer and Internet access. I was recently without Internet access for several weeks while Comcast tried to figure out how to install it in our new home, an old farmhouse that had never been wired for cable or Internet. That wasn't fun. I was in the middle of a big project, and had to run to Starbucks, McDonald's, or my inlaws' every night to post files while my husband watched our baby. Luckily, I still had my iPhone to check for client emails.

And like many have said, I have the willpower to turn everything off if I want to, and I frequently do. Often I want nothing more than to curl up on the couch and read a book or magazine, or to go outside for some fresh air.

i can live without tv but having a computer at home is a must have.

the couple of times where i did not have it were while the most productive for my housework, were the least productive times business wise.

good thing i have this here laptop with internet or i guess i wouldn't have been able to read this er...eh life changing? post.

I think Internet is a necessity to avoid wasting time.

For example, I don't have a GPS. Going to Google Maps is much more helpful and efficient than breaking out a road map, which isn't as current as MapQuest or Google Maps.

If I want a book at the library, I can simply go to their online catalog and make sure they have it/it's available. I can even hold it online. If I make a trip to the library only to find that the book isn't there or isn't available, I've wasted time and gas.

The internet is also helpful in matters such as: looking up businesses and phone numbers, selling items (via Craigslist or otherwise), booking flights, looking up facts, and a whole lot of other things that would take much longer (aka not in an efficient manner) if you were to do it in a non-electronic way.

Basically, the point is, if you can't turn off your computer, TV, whatever, that's a will power problem, not a reason to ban them from your home. Electronics are much more beneficial than not.

I'm def. in the camp of finding my computer and internet access helpful, not invasive. I want to spend my time doing things, not preparing to do them the old analogue way. I find technology useful provided two conditions are met:

1) you know how and when to turn things off
2) you use it to access people, activities, and causes you are involved with OFFLINE much of the time. I use my internet to network with people I actually know, to plan things I will actually do, and find information I will actually use the majority of time I'm online. This was it's enriching my life, not giving me a virtual life.

I'm going to have to agree with most of the posts above - having a computer with internet access in this age is more than a must, it's is life. I'm not talking about the social impact technology has on our lives, but just for the necessities, like paying bills, researching jobs, apartments, or reading up on current events.
I recently completed a master's degree and would NEVER have been able to do this without a computer and internet access. I think at this point it is almost needless to say that the two go hand-in-hand and one without the other is almost pointless.
Giving up television is one thing, I personally don't have cable and only watch Netflix or Hulu, but computer/internet is not something that I believe most people living in developed nations are willing (able?) to give up.
I know I'm not.

I haven't owned a home computer in many years, mostly because I'm too poor/cheap to afford one, and too snobby to settle for what I might afford! (Tho now I live with my boyfriend, who has not one but TWO computers!)

But the only thing I really ever need a computer for is looking up addresses, restaurant reviews, and directions to things on the weekends, when I'm making plans -- and now I have a smart-phone for those occasions. It's NICE to watch netflix online and read AT, my msg boards, and 50% of the Gawker Industrial Complex on a daily basis, but not having those things easily to hand made me work harder to stay occupied.

Mulling over the ironies of extolling (or even debating) the virtues of computerless life on an online forum...

Did you type this whole post on a smartphone? Or in a library?

I am online all day at work, so we opted not to have internet access at home. It's nice because we talk to eachother more, and I have less headaches!

Could never, ever get rid of the TV though!

This article just inspired me to go offline to*click*

I would lose my mind and be so ineffiencet without all these gadgets.

Maybe you just need to learn how to control yourself....because all of these gadgets have off switches. All it takes is your finger to control it.

I'm amused by the idea of a blog encouraging people to spend less time on a computer. If blogging paid my bills I'd be touting the brilliance of techy gadgets all the time. :-)

I haven't had cable in six months and since I moved I've turned my television on exactly three times. I do, however, spend a lot of time reading online, and I'll throw a movie in my laptop to watch in my jammies before bed. As a student and graduate assistant, there's no way I could live without a computer at home. I enjoy turning it off some days, along with the phone, but eventually I always need to go back to it (yes, need, not want) to get things done.

And no one will ever take away my music. I always have a song in my head and would seriously lose my mind without music to clean to (or organize to, or craft to, or, well, you get the idea).

I have a very old, my mother's hand me down, lap top, but no internet at home. I spend all day on a computer and have no desire to spend evenings and weekends on one. I like to see people face to face and get out of doors most weekends (it is Hawaii after all). Most of my peers think it's very odd.

Banning tv, banning computers, cell phones.. Let's all go back in the woods, eh?
I am enjoying all the technologies I can afford and I need them all - tv for news and entertainment, mac for research, work and communication (and AT), and cell phone - to be accessible and reach anyone I may need at any time. I travel, work out, read, do many house projects, and sometimes I do not turn tv or computer for days.

I prefer everything reasonably balanced. Extremities like no tv, computer or cellphone, admiration and promotion of extreme raw vegan diets, obsession with eco-products or farmers markets seems like a material for extreme personalities, who had spent most of their lives watching tv, eating junk and watching others watching tv and eating junk.

A computer is a must as a sys admin, but I spend so much time on line and at the keyboard at work that I have no problem fully unplugging at home.

However, my current apt is in a building that can't get dsl and my cell is a cheap pay per use dumb phone. The laptop is effectively dead without internet and I don't use open wifi for anything using passwords. I've been staying longer at work and visiting on the weekends as a temporary workaround.

I first tossed cable and then the landline years ago after getting tired of being nickel-and-dimed for so many things. The worst was being charged a long distance fee of $5 since I wasn't making a minimum of $5 in ld calls each month. Crap like this made even the cheapest plan irritating costly.

I find contract phones just as irritatingly costly, and the restrcitions on most mobile broadband make them expensive too.

So, I'll grit my teeth and likely get some combo cable package or finally decide on a smartphone. I just wish there were more a la carte options.

I have been re-reading some childhood favorites lately (on my Kindle, btw), and marveling at how full the lives of the heroines are...Laura Ingalls, Anne Shirley and the like. Obviously, a hugely different time, but the thing that I love and admire about those books is the relationships they built and maintained by <gasp> going to someone's home...making dates with people and sharing their lives. I have a computer at home (though I'm not on it much since I'm online all day at work), and I proudly own up to loving tv, but I think the point of this post is that eliminating the white noise from our life - including the quiet technology addiction we all seem to be developing - makes room for other things. Shouldn't life be about experiences?

For me it would be kind of hard to be with no computer at home.... Since i basically do everything (including productive things like paying bills, or shop for certain things or research or looking up references).

I also use it for tv watching (so i'm pretty sure i'll never having cable tv again), listen to radio, pretty much everything....

I am a research-aholic. I have a couple medical conditions that I need to stay up-to-date on, and I just really like to know as much as I can about things. The internet makes so much information available to people that once was nearly impossible to find. Losing internet access at this point in my life would be like losing a limb. I know that sounds dramatic, but I don't just use it to check Facebook and watch videos on Youtube. Also, I get so sick of people acting like there is something wrong with watching television. There are many t.v. shows that teach. I enjoy history and science programs and documentaries more than just about anything else, and I find it a little insulting when someone acts like not owning a television makes them intellectually superior in some way. It does not. :)

I don't have a TV, a mobile phone, or an MP3 player. I don't have any electronic gadjets; I just don't need them. But my laptop? As a previous commenter said, you would have to pry it from my cold dead fingers.
From watching movies and online television programmes on demand, staying in touch with friends, and listening to music, to graphic design and research for various projects, I use my laptop daily. An invaluable tool with which I could not produce half the work I do currently. What is a flat felled seam in sewing? How do I make a centred double decrease in knitting? What's a great recipe for chicken pie? I have a large collection (read: library) of books, but I could not even fathom ammassing enough books to even begin to rival the vast amount of information available on the web.

- amazing, refreshing post.

I can't wait to get rid of my computer but - alas - academia now thrives on E-journal articles. Consequently, my life centres around the laptop screen.

A few months ago, I had a one-week power outage following a storm. My university had hydro, but when I got home there were no lights, no radio, no phone, and no internet - my laptop held its charge for about two hours, giving me enough time to complete any lingering work. It was amazing. I got stuff done, and actually went to bed at a realistic time.

Articles like this remind me to take time to turn off. Of course, today, I'm very busy being home sick trying to decide if I should go in for my night shift.

but it's important to know how to turn off. My aunt has perfected this- she does have a stereo, but they put their TV in a studio located on a different part of their property. Her main home is just this serene oasis. I love visiting. She does have internet, though, and my uncle does have satellite TV. They just use them as tools, and turn them off when they are done.