You don't know what you've got till it's gone.

Tout Seul

Tout Seul

Senior Jockey
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
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Yesterday morning my broadband went down and after having dismantled and reassembled everything twice I realised the landline was faulty. Bt said that it would be repaired within 3 working days ie by end of Wednesday.
Very soon I discovered how much I use the internet, emails, newspaper, form studying, betting, travel news, etc,etc. I felt totally bereft - I even had to talk to the family which, since those living here had temporarily decamped to the northern lands, was not easy. I also read a book last night.
How did I live without it in the past.
 
It is a huge 'friend' to many people, that's for sure. Think of all the folks using their pcs to talk with distant chums and families via vidcams (a friend of mine's just bought a Spanish laptop with a built-in videocam incredibly cheaply, and also uses Skype all the time). I use mine for Internet trawling, emails all the time, news, live streaming cams for animal watching, and spending far too much time playing Spider Solitaire and Hearts! Like the tv, life would probably be okay without either function, but boy, news would be awfully dull - the instant film via computer and television of the tsunami and 'quake in Japan had the impact that only immediacy could bring - reading about it a day later, with a few stills photos, just wouldn't convey the sense of terrifying, implacable destruction both incidents wrought.
 
I find it incredibly useful for finding news/info about less mainstream subjects that you wouldn't get from watching the news on tv and it's great for keeping in touch with overseas friends and family but I wonder if I added up all the time I spend online over say a month how much of that would actually be spent doing something productive. I know a lot of the time I look things up because I'm either bored or putting something else off. I have to do quite a lot of reading to keep my knowledge up to date for work and in all honesty most of it is now available online but I'd still rather have it in hard copy if it's something I have to read through and learn.

I spent a month volunteering in Namibia a few years back and we had no internet, mobiles or tv just books and other people to keep us occupied when we weren't actually doing the volunteer work and I didn't miss it all that much even though I used it an awful lot before I went (and since I've been back).
 
I don't think a month without the Internet would be too hard if you're focussing on a new and involving pursuit and know you won't have it - but as a way of life in the UK, you'd be hard pressed to not want to be using some form of modern communication. I can't believe how everything can be Tweeted, Twittered, Digged (Dug?), Stumbledupon, Facebooked and YouTubed every second of every day, let alone Texted, Skyped or just plain emailed! There is an overload of communication access, I think, with a certain amount of delusion that every moment of one's life must be an open book - and then there's the imbecility of immediacy. Who cares if you just got a new fridge/coat/puppy this minute? You can tell someone about it in conversation at some point - but to actually take up the airwaves with announcing it? But like all great innovations, it doesn't take long to be reduced to its lowest common denominator. Just like being able to write was once the purview of only the highest social echelons of society - now pretty much any half-brainer can Text sm srt of stpd crp 2 NE1.
 
The internet has changed the way we live, no doubt about it. The world is a much smaller place.

My dear old dad who died in the 90's always said that in his opinion we were entering the age of communication. We used to have these conversations about the great ages of enlightenment, art, music, fashion, industrial revolutions etc. I felt a bit hard done by as I seemed to have missed a lot of them. My Gran talked about how in her life she had seen communication go from the pony express, telegrams, and then telephones, radios and tvs. Imagine what she would think now! :lol:

Have you seen the makeover advert for the yellow pages?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...place-JR-Hartley-trendy-DJ-new-TV-advert.html
 
Yes, it's very reminiscent of the old J P Hartley one. I thought that about halfway through.

It was really nice of Yellow Pages to show the old ad again a few years back when the actor who played J P Hartley died, with a dedication to him at the end.

The last line of the new ad is the same and the new chap's name has the same rhythm. Very clever.
 
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