Could you go without using your computer (or smartphone, PDA, or other means of accessing the internet) for an entire day? That’s the question being asked by the minds behind Shutdown Day. I ran across their site on Chris Hardie’s Weblog and I must admit it’s a compelling proposition. So far they’ve gotten almost 10,000 people to commit to going offline this coming Saturday, May 3, 2008. Read on for more on why anyone would want to do this and whether or not I plan on shutting down.
According to their website, Shutdown Day (which is a non-profit organization registered in Canada) was founded:
with the sole purpose of spreading awareness about the pitfalls and dangers that lie in the excessive use of television, computers, and computing equipment like game boxes, cell phones, music players, online social websites, etc. that impinge on social space and interaction amongst our communities.
They go on to say:
Shutdown Day is a Global Internet Experiment whose purpose is to get people to think about how their lives have changed with the increasing use of the home computer, and whether or not any good things are being lost because of this.
The idea of Shutdown Day project is simple - just shutdown your computer for one whole day of the year and involve yourself in some other activities: outdoors, nature, sports, fun stuff with friends and family - whatever, just to remind yourself that there still exists a world outside your monitor screen.
I must say that they make a very compelling point. So compelling, in fact, that before I even knew about this project I was already engaging in a similar sort of activity. Every Monday evening for about the last month my wife and I have been doing “Monday Nights Unplugged.”
Starting every Monday at about 5 or 6pm on we power down all of our computers and turn off the televison. No web surfing. No email. No Wii. No TiVo. And it’s sooooo nice. Yes, it has taken a little preparation, especially with these last couple weeks being the last few of my senior year of seminary, but it has been well worth it.
Our line of thinking is pretty much exactly the same as the folks over at Shutdown Day. Both of us spend tons of time in front of computer screens. So much that we felt we need to step away from them once and a while to retain our sanity. It has been a great opportunity for us to read, play games, work around the house, and so on. A secondary effect I’ve noticed is that we seem to be sitting in front of our computers and watching TV a little less on other nights of the week as well.
Participating in Shutdown Day is going to be relatively easy for me. I will be graduating the same day and already have plans that will take up nearly the entire day. However it will be really tough to wake up that morning and not stumble over to my laptop to check my email.
So what do you say … can you go without using your computer for 24 hours? If so, don’t forget to register with Shutdown Day and let us know in the comments!
I...
I think this will be really easy for me, but not only because we will have a jam packed day with graduation, worship services, and a swinging graduation party.
In the past, I have gone entire weeks without using the computer and have not missed it. As much as I love using the computer and keeping up with the latest and greatest technology, I recognize my love of things totally unrelated to computers: reading, gardening, camping, knitting, beading, hiking, biking, talking with friends in person, etc.
Without computers my life would be different but by no means empty!
I use my computer as my phone. If you could stand giving up your phone too then I might try it.
Still, you and Becky have each other right there and I am liable to have no one to talk to.
[...] May 3rd. In honor of that (and because I won’t be using my computer tomorrow because of Shutdown Day) today’s Friday5 is about my graduation. Here are 5 reasons I’m glad that I’m [...]