We spent the last five days without any internet at home. I was going to rehash the entire ordeal, including about a dozen calls to Comcast, but I decided that I’d rather just forget the whole episode. Let’s just say that it included long hold times, constant repetition of the modem’s MAC address and a visit to the local office. As it turns out, the switchover from Adelphia to Comcast wasn’t as smooth and they expected and we got hosed in the process.
What have I learned in my time without the internet at home? (I make a special point to say “at home” because I obviously still had it at work… although the internet there is just… different.) Well, pretty much everyone knows I depend on it for communication with friends and family in addition to wasting massive amounts of time on it. What was lesser know, until our time without it, is that the internet has moved from a novelty to what a co-worker described as an ‘appliance’. It’s become so integral to making daily life easier that the little things became harder. Whether it was paying bills, looking up insurance account information, buying plane tickets, researching hotels or reworking a Netflix queue, life was generally more of a pain in the ass without the internet. That’s where the term ‘appliance’ comes in. Like a stove, microwave or dishwasher you really don’t know what it does for you until it’s on the fritz.
I suppose not all people have their life as interwoven with the internet as me. I suppose some of those people even like it that way and would argue their lives are actually much easier because of it. Maybe they are and maybe they aren’t, all I know is that it works in my life… and it works well. Al Gore gets a gold star from me.