Luftpause
We still have some key words left in “what is broadband good for” — both the “good” and the “for” are ahead of us. But it's time for a break.
I've been taking breaks offline on weekends recently, and I recommend it. I find it's really hard to make any sustained progress in writing or reading if I'm wondering who's sending me the next email. (Not that my email traffic is that great - there's a lot of listmail and a lot of news.) In fact, I can't write these days unless I intentionally isolate myself from online access.
What's up with that? I keep writing about how great it is, how productivity-enhancing and empowering and all-around helpful the internet is, but I can't write anything longer than a few paragraphs when I'm online. I bet many people who check by this blog have the same problem.
There are some architectural fixes for this. There's a physical switch on the machine that prevents it from picking up wifi signals. There's a chair in my office, a big, comfortable chair, that isn't anywhere near either a wireless signal or an ethernet connection. There are libraries and benches that don't have access. I need these architectural limitations. It's a challenge to settle my mind down and concentrate.
And increasingly I need a day or two off each week to take a breath and reflect, both offline and online. I'm a mix of the very old-fashioned and the very-electronically driven. I spend hours working on playing an instrument whose sounds can be synthesized perfectly by Ray Kurzweil's machines. So tomorrow and Sunday I'll take a break, and I'll be back here on Monday.
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There's a passage I like, quoting Witold Lutoslawski, on being asked if he considers the symphony orchestra to be becoming obsolete:
“I say the same! But do you have to replace it? Electronics is a new art, a different art, but not replacing (traditional) music,… I love traditional instruments, though of course they are anachronisms. Satellites run around our planet, but we still play bassoons.”
I have one of Kurzweil's fantastic machines (actually, more then one: the Midiboard, all but forgotten, is one of the few synthesizers capable of polyphonic pressure, which is great for string patches). And I too find joy in playing my anachronisms, and would feel a huge sense of loss if they were entirely obsoleted.
I don't Twitter. I let my phone go to voicemail, and my IM is generally set to Away. My IRC client is always open, but I am generally idle. I abandoned my personal blog after I felt that it contolled me more than I controlled it; I may return with something slower-paced, but it's more satisfying to work on collaborative project. I always feel myself compelled to check my email and messages, though, and I think I am the worse for it; if I want to do any sort of writing I have to turn off the data feed… and even then I wonder what I am missing. I don't know that I have the discipline to go a weekend without email regularly, but perhaps I should.