Internet Addiction
 

I'm posting from my iPhone in a hotel room in Reno, NV right now. Can someone post a link to the xkcd comic on addiction? I can't copy/paste. Anyways, I am about to disappear into the wilderness, AKA Ravendale, CA, for 4 days to see my sister get married and I don't know if I will be able to get on the Internet during that time at all. I am a connected person; my life revolves around the Internet. It is my livelihood and my career. Now I am being asked to shut it down for several days and I don't think I can. I will probably drive to the nearest large town at least once a day to hook up to the net. I will probably die if I don't get Edge reception. I can't be the only one this desperate! I need to hear other tales of Internet addiction to feel better.

To compensate for my lack of connectivity, I have been using my phone constantly, checking emails like mad, even though I don't get new ones too often. I am going crazy! The funny part is that if I was at home right now, I'd probably be avoiding the computer.

Hang in there, buddy.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/addiction.png

It's an interesting topic. I couldn't imagine what I would do at home without the Internet. I suppose I'd play certain computer games, but most of the gaming I do is online now. I think my addiction is more computer-related than merely Internet. At home without a computer. Imagine that.

I'd probably read more books.

Meh.

I'm addicted to the Internet too.

Also, the best part about the Internet is being able to prove all the stupid shit you hear at family reunions false with snopes and google.

the internet is full of boring.

I can go days without it or just use it to find something fast.. I can't say that I spend hours upon hours on it.

QFT

I am addicted too and I don't care. Most people who aren't addicted to the Internet are addicted to TV or something else similar. At leas the Internet is extremely educational (whether it be perverse or not).

I suggest two stumbles and try again in the morning.

Yup, I'm addicted. I "could" put it down, but like all things worth being addicted to, I do come back to it.

Seriously Hal, if you're not tethering that iPhone to a laptop for internet on the go - you're not addicted enough.

Here and here.

*raises hand*

high, my name is -deathboy-, and i too am an innerwub junkie. in fact i refered to it as the innerwub at a bbq last weekend and the lady i was talking to asked me what that was.

Back in December there was a fierce snow storm and I lived one million days without internet, phone, or car. On the 1,000,001 day, I determined I would shoot myself in the foot to relieve the boredom. Instead, while standing at the bus stop I took a petite step the the right and boom! I fell and sprained my ankle. The swelling and colors took away some of the boredom but I knew it wouldnt be enough and continued on. After fighting the elements, and worse the corporatees, I walked home wounded and dejected, but with a new $2,000,000,000 phone in my pocket. Still no internet though.

Since that time, Ive not used the internet as much. The swelling has gone down, sort of like my ankle.

In the event of a world-ending apocalypse where I was the only man alive, I would only stave off suicide by two things:

Living in a library full of books I'd never read

or

The computers of the world somehow survived the Apocalypse and continue to host old content.

I was addicted to the Internet in the early '90s. Then I found the World Wide Web.

I don't have a TV so the internet is a replacement entertainment source.

^^ On the same boat.

But I can do without it and only use it for necessary purposes. As for going for days without it? I dunno, I receive bills online and stuff like that so no.

lol at your weaknesses.

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/7164/giggler.gif

On the weekends when we get up, while I'm putting in my contact lenses, my husband gets my coffee and brings it into the computer room and puts it on the desk in front of the monitor.

He knows that is where I'm going. He doesn't have to ask.

When I type that is sounds kinda sad. But it is what it is.

^^ so says your online persona...
:p

edit:@ woods

eh... I like to be disconnected from time to time. I find it resurges and recharges my interests in things electric and electronic.

I like not having a computer with me when I travel, even though I could take the laptop with me. At home I tend to never stay off this thing for very long.

"I cannot live without books." - Thomas Jefferson

With fountains of information, pictures of cats, and the filthiest pornography this side of the Mississipi, the Internet would have had a grip on Jefferson too. I wager that he would have had a massive World of Warcraft addiction as well.

I've been without the Internet for stretches and it's uncomfortable and liberating at the same time. It's good to pull the plug sometimes, but never cut the power cord.

Oh yeah, too long untethered and I get twitchy. I work on the web all day at work, come home and login for pleasure. But I do much better without the internet than I do without the Blackberry.

I have more than one, grasshopper.
Personalities too but meh. http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/2299/icon9d.png

I am moving apartments in a week or so and I am not sure how smooth the transition between places will be. I will likely have a few days with no Internet or TV. My brain is spasming at the thought.

charl, funnily enough im moving out of my place next week too...just found a place down the road

ill be at least 3 days without internet at home.. i have no TV subscriptin, so i dont watch tv...

I am generally a controlled person so I can go without internet for a few days in a row. It depends on what's going on online that might make me want to check things more often! A few years ago I moved house and was stuck with no TV for a few weeks. I went a little mad then. At first I thought it would be good for me to have time away from it. But after a while I was just annoyed. I think it's great to have no mod cons for a time...it really makes you re-think what you spend your time on, and it gets your mind working more, because there's extra time to do other things. In your case Hal, if you're stuck at a wedding that definitely limits your options. Horse-riding? outdoor sports (frisbee, running, ball sports)? Take photographs, hike? Swimming (if there is a lake or pool)? Have interesting conversations with other guests? Hope that helps :)

don't we all, or at least that's what teh voices tell me...

Till your reading glasses break like in that twilight zone episode.

I'm addicted to the internet, I feel funky if I don't have SOMETHING electronic to play with. When I was in between apts I went by my work and let myself in so I could check my email. I was in the bar two nights ago and without thinking yelled "Ohhh FREE WIFI!" in that high-pitched school girl voice. Can't help it.

Oh, and when you get back, upgrade the OS on your damn iPhone. Copy and paste ftw!!

i think he'd rather be in Portugal! who wouldnt ;)

During the week the internet falls upon me, trapping me beneath its enormous heft, but then, just as I am about to lose all hope, the weekend comes and lifts it off my crushed and mangled legs so that I can crawl to freedom.

I have gone a few weeks without getting on-line. But that is only when I am traveling (if I do get on-line it is only for tourist research purposes).

I don't always have the most reliable connection at home, but after a day without getting on-line it gets to me a little. If I'm bored, and have no TV, internet, or anything else is when I can go crazy.

I'm only addicted to refreshing forums for new posts and checking my email. things that update relatively constantly

I'm not addicted to the internet, I just have nothing better to do.

Hahaha, I saw that one recently.

Ive only had internet for 3 months and I am always online. Finding out about this website really didn't help, now I never get off my computer.

I'm on vacation soon. The kids and I talked about going to the same campground we went to last year and the year before. My first thought, I'm embarrassed to say, was 'but ... but ... there's no internet.' I can forget hot showers when there's a creek, forget a nice soft bed when there's a sleeping bag, forget a hair dryer when I can just braid my hair. But 'no internet' and I hit a mental snag.

Hal, next time you're out in la la land and need some email to read, I'm sure you'll get plenty if you post a request here first.

The Internet helps so many of my other hobbies, I can't give it up.

I want to learn a new song on guitar? Internet.
I want to make a batch of cookies I haven't tried before? Internet.
I want to know what the French bits in Beautiful Losers mean? Internet.
I want to spend an evening wanking? Internet.
I want to know what type of tree this is? Internet.
I want to know where the best bike trail in this gross little city is? Internet.

I'd be fine without the Internet if I wasn't ever alone and I had a custom made pocket encyclopedia, but no such luck.

I just finished a week of relatively nonexistent internet compared to my normal connection habits.

Mostly, the internet is the main way I connect with family and friends. The rest I could live without.

Don't Panic.

I've lived without internet. The transition is odd, but after a week or so you get used to not being constantly connected.

I do very much like having any information I could desire available at my fingertips, though.