Downtime

I’ve just been through the inconvenience of losing my telephone and internet connection.  Its really quite silly and interesting how we are now a society who relies so heavily on cyberspace, especially since I remember the latest in modern technology was a clunky rotary dial phone fixed to your kitchen wall. Message bank and mobile phones were unheard of; you just called back later.

Everything has sped up creating bigger and faster downloads, wireless connections and handheld devices that do it all. Since I started studying again, I made the decision to connect with the biggest monopoly in the telecommunications market, purely for reliability.  Many a time I have logged on at midnight or 5am in a desperate bid to squeeze in a bit more research for my latest paper. I didn’t and don’t want to have to waste time with ‘busy’ periods and being booted out of the system.  But I think that in our busy, bigger and faster world that these days are now gone.  So many more services are available, many of them quite reliable and considerably cheaper.

When I reported the fault with my provider there had been some strong winds so I assumed this was the cause for losing my connection. Perhaps it was the reason but there was never any definitive answer or logical explanation given.  Additionally, I had to wait 24 hours before a technician would even take a look at it and I was promptly told that if the error was due to a hardware fault I would be charged a fee. The customer service was, not surprisingly, lacking. Ok, it wasn’t dire circumstances. I do have a paper due next week and I am currently two weeks behind my course work.  My problem – granted, but I do expect to have a reliable connection so that I can get on with it, at least thats what I pay for. 

The whole experience was quite frustrating. I became irritable, annoyed and lost my patience. I disliked the way I had become so reliant on modern technology and the way this experience made me feel. The reality is that this is how we live, these are the ways of modern society and technology in the twenty first century. If we don't keep up we just get left behind with constant updates and changes.  I could end with a cliche and suggest becoming a hermit on top of a mountain somewhere but I think even the reality of this is becoming less of a possibility.