The Tech Bubble

Recently people in Charleston were a little panicky. No it wasn’t the threat of Tropical Storm Andrea. It started when hundreds of Charlestonians tried to log on to the internet to check their email, surf the web, or update their Facebook status only to find they were disconnected. Business throughout the metro area ground to a halt as many owners ran their credit card phone lines through the Internet. Comcast was the culprit.
At first, I thought I could handle no Internet for a few hours, and waited, patiently at first, until they could get it back up and running. No problem. Then withdrawal set in. Clammy hands, sweaty brow, pacing back and forth. I couldn’t stop refreshing my browser. Katie, put the computer down! I realized I was addicted. I couldn’t do my work, watch Netflix, or even see what my other friends were doing. The isolation began.
I’ve got to get out of the house, I thought, to take my mind off the need to be connected. Surely, nature would help! I stepped outside to discover a beautiful, balmy perfect Charleston day. I made my way to the beach, stepped onto the soft sand and went for a walk. The salt air cleared my mind and when I got home, I felt better.
Two days later I find myself sitting in an airport, about to board a plane home. I pick up my laptop to write this column and it’s dead. I forgot to charge it. I grab my cell phone to listen to a podcast on the plane to keep me entertained. God forbid, I’m not entertained. The cell phone stares blankly back with a 10% warning message. Oh no! What will I do? The panic starts to set in. No devices on the plane will equal complete boredom.
My experience earlier in the week quickly came to mind. Determined to overcome these technology hiccups, I pulled out my trusty notebook and a pen and began scribbling this very column by hand. It doesn’t flow as easily. I like the click-clack of the keyboard and the ease of editing, but it works. Next, I will read a book…on a dead tree.
Update: I read Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris on the plane. It had me laughing out loud. The book has been sitting on my bookshelf for a year untouched. It took being “disconnected” for me to pick it up and read it. It took the internet going out in the middle of the day for me to take a walk on the beach. Sometimes, my connectedness is leaving me disconnected from the real life I want to be leading. I’m going to try to connect via technology less and be present in my real life more.
Did you connect to the real world while disconnected from the online one this past week? Email Katie at katie@kewsolutionsinc.com.