Chris's Thing Blog

Alright, so it’s not entirely without merit. WiMax is a great technology that allows broadband speed (up to 10 Mbps) wireless connectivity over great distances (3-10 miles from broadcaster). However, Clearwire’s 4G marketing campaing is dumb as hell. “Play an online game while waiting in line for a pretzel” ? Seriously? Stream an HD movie to the kids in the back seat while making a business call and texting so-and-so?

How anti-social are we? Or rather, how over-social are we?

I like to see friends every so often. I like to see them pretty often, actually. But, there’s only one person on the planet I don’t mind seeing every day, and that’s Becky. Other than her, if I see you in person more than once a week, you’re either a store clerk, a coworker, or a really close friend. When I’m online, I usually keep to myself with the exception of a brief message here and there. But, I really, really like to disconnect from people every so often.

I have noticed a trend that has dramatically increased as the cost of telecommunications has decreased – something I’ll call “social virtualism”. It’s the idea that once you’re old enough to establish a set of pretty consistent friends, the advent of cheap telecommunications enables you to remain close to those friends in a way that stretches the relationship in a way that has been impossible until the last 15 years or so. Because most friends are just a click away on Facebook, Twitter, Google Talk, Skype, or any of a thousand other social media networks, “catching up” becomes unnecessary, since every mundane detail of most people’s lives can be relived vicariously online. As such, many individuals find that they are spending a fairly decent amount of their daily lives staying connected to these people (who can live thousands of miles away), and end up ignoring the world right in front of their faces.

That’s the reason that many cities are passing into law texting ordinances, which prevent drivers from texting and driving. Seriously, is driving so boring that you have to spend half the time staring at your thumbs? Probably not – but you do it anyway because texting has risen in importance from casual convenience to de facto lingua franca. if your girlfriend texts you that she’s angry, you sure as hell had better respond right away – isn’t that right? If someone tweets about this awesome new video by Beyonce (best video of all time, amirite?), it’s considered good etiquette to watch and respond within a minute or two.

I think that this is a load of crap. I use the internet as an informational tool and occasionally try to reach people through it for the convenience. But, most of the time, I live a real life and unplug. Doesn’t anyone have hobbies any more?