Throughout the film, the two stock hands travel
continually westward, always one step ahead of the railroad, until in the last
scene of the film they ride over the crest of a hill only to discover the wide
expanse of the Pacific Ocean in front of them.
As they are discussing their options, the
whistle of a train can be heard blowing behind them. In response one of the
cowboys turns back to face the ocean and asks his companion, if trains exist in
China!
As I write this I am feeling a little like the
cowboys, but instead of outrunning the railroad, I am outrunning the internet.
Like most people I spend hours connected to the
web each day, (some might say I am addicted to it). I have always been a little smug about my ability to disconnect without
withdrawal symptoms however,
as each month my wife
and I visit her elderly parents on their isolated farm in the mountains where
there is no internet or cell phone coverage.
For those two or three days per month that I am
not connected I re-experience something of the simplicity of life I once knew.
Watching birds flying in and out of the bushes in the front garden seems to
have a greater importance than watching the day's stock exchange movements on
the web.
Likewise, being woken at two by the farm dog
alerting that a rabbit has just entered the vegetable garden seems to be much
more important than attending one of my clients who insists on sending me
WhatsApp messages at two in the morning and then expects an immediate reply. Then
there are all the things my father-in-law likes to teach me while we sit on the
veranda watching the sunset. He likes to study the sky and tell me his weather
predictions (which are usually much more accurate than the weather forecasts I
receive via cyberspace), or about how the way a certain bird is singing indicates
that the harvest will be plentiful.
I suspect my few days of “internet-free bliss”
each month may soon be coming to an end however. The nearest neighbor has just connected
to the web and the internet company has launched a concerted campaign to
convince my parents-in-law to connect as well (even though they don’t even have
a computer).
Last weekend as we travelled back from the farm
and returned to "civilisation" (defined today as the point one has
mobile phone coverage and one’s phone joyfully returns to life emitting undelivered
messages), my wife and I turned to each other and both asked the same question
at the same time: "Is it really necessary to be always connected?"
|
Originally published by Fairfax Media: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/does-technology-make-our-lives-better/9608820/The-joy-of-disconnecting
|
COMPREHESION CHECK
(1)
What
was the cowboys dream?
(2)
What
represented the advance of technology for the cowboys?
(3)
Why
does the author feel a “little smug” in relation to technology?
(4)
What
does the author do on his parents-in-laws farm while he is off line?
(5)
Where
does the author define the “limit of civilization”?
Some reader comments in response to the above
article.
|
Lbbillib
|
While
I have a PC and am connected, we have no cell phones and when TV went digital
in our area, we opted out given the crap which passes for
"Entertainment". Consequently, we now have ample time to
communicate with one another and engage in spending time walking and smelling
the roses. Reading too has regained its former favoured status.
Nothing
has been lost in the process; in fact I would venture to suggest that much
has been gained instead!
|
|
Melcraig
|
I
am known among my circle to be 'bad' or 'useless' with my mobile phone
because I apparently don't answer text messages promptly enough.
|
|
HumanPower
|
It
wasn't so long ago when everyone didn't have mobile phones or internet, how
did we cope? We made plans in advance, "see you at the pub on Friday at
6ish", or a phone call was all it took. These days, a massive series of
tweets or txts or facebook conversations before the event, instagram photos
or FB posts of what is being eaten or drunk during the event, and later on
"comments" and "likes" of the photos or posts from only a
few hours prior.
|
|
Roswell
|
I
regularly disconnect. I go tramping or go bush for a few days and its bliss.
I also have a habit of turning my cellphone off which annoys some people,
sometimes I turn it off for the whole weekend *shock horror*
|
|
DavidM
|
As
for mobile phones and the ever increasing complexity and ridiculously small
buttons , Forget it. I enjoy my life without very many "friends"
who might want to pester me with trivial rubbish at all hours. Time to get on
with life, and do the things with one’s partner that I want to do, and not be
at the beck and call of every Tom, Dick, and Harry! My mobile phone that I use about twice a year
is mainly for "emergencies'. It sits
most of the time unused at the bottom of my day pack.
|
(1)
What points are the commenters making
in the following statements?
(A)
Lbbillib:
…… when TV went digital in our area, we opted
out given the crap
which passes for
"Entertainment".
(B)
Roswell: sometimes I turn it off for the whole weekend
*shock horror*.
(C)
DavidM:
I enjoy my life without very many
"friends" who might want to pester
me with trivial
rubbish at all hours.
(D)
DavidM:
…….. and not be at the beck and call of
every Tom, Dick, and Harry!
(2)
Match the following technological
developments with the category they belong too. (You may add to the lists with
your own examples).
|
3D windup watch radiogram automatic watch tape recorder valve radio MP3
YouTube transistor radio MP4
video cassette floppy
disk DVD black and white 4K
the cloud pen drive color
Cd digital 3” diskette battery watch net flicks i-watch
remote control cable LED
digital watch CD player
|
|
Listening to
music
|
Television
|
Telling the time
|
Information storage
|
|
|
|
|
|
ANSWERS
COMPREHESION CHECK
(1)
What
was the cowboys dream?
Their dream was to ride the prairies forever. In doing this they would
do exactly the same thing they had always been doing. Their lives would not
change.
(2)
What
represented the advance of technology for the cowboys?
The railroad and barbed wire.
(3)
Why
does the author feel a “little smug” in relation to technology?
He can escape from it when he wants.
(4)
What
does the author do on his parents-in-laws farm while he is off line?
Contemplate nature and talk.
(5)
Where
does the author define the “limit of civilization”?
The limit of cell phone coverage.
EXERCISE
(1)
What
points are the commenters making in the
following statements?
(A) Lbbillib: …… when TV went digital in our area, we opted
out given the crap
which passes for
"Entertainment".
The
commentator thinks “free to view” television is of very poor quality. In fact
quality
of programing is so bad that they no longer have a television capable of
receiving the “free to view” signal.
(B) Roswell: Sometimes I turn it off for the whole weekend
*shock horror*.
For many Roswell’s ability to turn
off his cell phone is an action totally out of the ordinary. They are shocked
he has the courage to do this. Such an action is not perceived to being a good
idea. What if someone wanted to make contact with him in an emergency?
(C) DavidM: I enjoy my life without very many
"friends" who might want to pester
me with trivial
rubbish at all hours.
David prefers to have just a few
“real” friends rather than the hundreds of internet (false) friends many people
have. His real friends have a meaningful relationship with him, respecting his time
and space.
(E)
DavidM: …….. and not be at the beck and call of every
Tom, Dick, and Harry!
The phrase "every Tom, Dick and
Harry" means multiple unspecified people. David is saying he does not need
to be available to every unimportant person who wants to make contact with him.
EXERCISE
(2)
Match the following technological
developments with the category they belong too.
3D
windup watch radiogram automatic watch tape recorder valve radio MP3
YouTube transistors MP4
video cassette floppy
disk DVD black and white 4K
the cloud pen drive color
Cd digital 3” diskette battery watch net flicks i-watch
remote control cable LED digital watch CD player
clock
|
|
Listening to
music
|
Television
|
Telling the time
|
Information storage
|
|
valve radio,
transistor radio, radiogram,
tape recorder,
CD Player,
MP3,
MP4
|
black and white,
color,
remote control, digital,
3D,
YouTube,
video cassette, DVD,
4K,
cable,
LED,
streaming
|
clock,
windup watch,
battery watch, automatic watch, digital watch,
i-watch.
|
3” diskette,
floppy disk,
the cloud,
pen drive
|
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