He looks douchey. Reading his story would only waste valuable seconds.

He was probably happier for it.

SurfaceTension: Can't see why this would be that difficult. Went on a cruise in January and didn't bother setting up international roaming on my cell. Didn't hit any of the internet cafe spots on the ship or in port, either. Completely cut off. And it was kinda nice.

Actually, for a college student these days, it might: At the school where I work at, a *LOT*, if not most, of the communication from the school to the student is through things like e-mail and text messages.

You mean he got a life?

He looks cheerful.

hmmm. I was expecting more College Freshman memes in this thread. Fark, you have failed me.

I do this all the time on vacation its the best. I may look up something on the internet and if Im not using my phone for something vacation realted it stays off. Pisses work off to no end. But oh well I need to be completly away from that place.

what an attention whore.

DNRTFA

Magorn Is this the part where I point out how retarded he was for calling this "The Amish Project" since many Amish regularly use cell phones? Contrary to popular belief, the religious prohibition in on having wires connected to thier HOUSE so many Amish have electrified barns and quite a number have embraced cells phones as they also don't break the "no wires" rule

Well, he obviously didn't do his research on the Amish. But, it would frankly be hilarious (for someone who is not familiar with the nuances of Amish rules about technology) to see an Amish person using a cell phone. But, it's bizarre that he thinks that living with tech as it was 20 years ago is akin to being Amish. Did he use a car? Did he have electricity in his home?

Social media would be easy. Cell phone, not unless I wanted to risk my job.

SurfaceTension: Can't see why this would be that difficult. Went on a cruise in January and didn't bother setting up international roaming on my cell. Didn't hit any of the internet cafe spots on the ship or in port, either. Completely cut off. And it was kinda nice.

Mrs bearcats and I took a cruise for our honeymoon last year. No cell or Internet for a week while cruising around the Caribbean. It was actually a nice change to be disconnected for a while. Although, no immediate updates on sports scores did take some getting used to.

I don't think I could do 100% electronic disconnection. I rely on texting/emails for most of my communication, it's just a way more efficient way to plan.

So what the Hell did he do in classes? Listen? Take notes?

The poor kid is going to freak out his peers and become ostracized when he starts saying the various things that he learned in college. It will be like a millenial Flowers for Algernon.

Oops. Missed that text/email about the gunman running around campus.


Better luck next time.

bearcats1983: I don't think I could do 100% electronic disconnection.

And yet your Fark handle implies you went to Binghamton University, where "100% electronic disconnection" is the motto for computer services.

Next we know, he'll be getting up to turn the record over, cook his food microwave-free, and have to actually leave his chair to turn the channel on the TeeVee.

/AKA "My Childhood"
//My lawn. Get off it.

"Oh noes I'm so connected all the time, I gotta get off the grid for awhile!!"

Extravert problems.

As noted by some others, "Gee, so he's replicating my college experience from the 90s? BIG NEWS"

Next he's going to be renting his own videos, watching broadcast tv, making those plastic slide thingies for use of the overhead projector instead of powerpoint...

**Lights a pipe, leans back in rocking chair** Did I ever tell you kids what it was like back in the late 80s / early 90s when I was in college? Most computers weren't connected to the Internet. Even if they were, we didn't have web pages yet. If you wanted to look at porn, you had to go to a VAX workstation and get to the usenets. Alt.picture.nude.porn would have binary files that you could somehow view, but you often needed help to do it from someone in the comp-sci lab. That's where all the Xterms were. Then one guy got Mosaic for his Unix X-Window station and we looked at a topless picture of Deanna Troi from Star Trek. It was the first web page I ever saw. Then a friend of mine flunked out of school for pulling all-nighters in the Sci-Engineering building playing MOOs all the time. He ended up in Maine working at a pizza joint with a dial up modem, still jonesin' for the tinySex he used to get every day from some possibly female character on a MUD run out of NAU, Flagstaff. Well, anyway, I guess if it ain't the facebook or the twitter, it'll eventually be somethin' else.

I love going to my little hole in Colorado where I get no cell or internet service. I only am there for about 2 weeks of the year though which makes me sad.

how 'bout you just cut back a little. It's possible to deal with problems in ways other than complete extremes.

...and I'm sure he wasn't missed. If anything, his "friends" were probably over the moon about not having to deal with his annoying status updates and constant text messages for a whole semester.

So basically he pretended to be poor.

hmmm

24 - check
still in college - check
Daddy is a sportswriter - check
Cute quote from Mommy - Check

All that's missing is a picture of his basement apt at Mommy's house.

Otherwise known as: HOW EVERYONE OVER 40 LIVED THEIR TEEN YEARS AND EARLY TWENTIES.

Magorn: Is this the part where I point out how retarded he was for calling this "The Amish Project" since many Amish regularly use cell phones? Contrary to popular belief, the religious prohibition in on having wires connected to thier HOUSE so many Amish have electrified barns and quite a number have embraced cells phones as they also don't break the "no wires" rule

Makes me wonder what the Amish are going to do once inductive charging becomes the standard.

Donnchadha: dittybopper: Actually, for a college student these days, it might: At the school where I work at, a *LOT*, if not most, of the communication from the school to the student is through things like e-mail and text messages.

But you can still check your email without a cell phone or social media. However, if you're going to send me some sort of official communication via text message (and only text message), then you're a moron.

RTFA: He cut off *ALL* electronic communications, including e-mail. We *DO* send a lot of official communications that way now. If you don't read your e-mail, you won't know when you can register for classes, sign up for housing, etc.

There are some communications that we send via e-mail and text simultaneously, mostly campus safety sort of stuff, also if we are closing due to weather, etc.

I actually think it's a relatively stupid way to communicate, personally, but then I'm known to chat with people on the other side of the world using Morse code while I'm driving, so YMMV.

MDGeist: So basically he pretended to be poor.

If he's going to college on student loans, that would make him a broke dude pretending to be a rich dude pretending to be a broke dude.

This is a big deal? F*ck I hate the people my age.

WinoRhino: **Lights a pipe, leans back in rocking chair** Did I ever tell you kids what it was like back in the late 80s / early 90s when I was in college?

...and in college back in the late 70s early 80s, we not only had no cellphones, but many of us had little or no access to landline phones. We hung out with each other in a haphazard fashion or were somehow able to plan ahead in order to get together for sex- & drug-fueled sessions of vinyl record listening.

Johnny Bananapeel: WinoRhino: **Lights a pipe, leans back in rocking chair** Did I ever tell you kids what it was like back in the late 80s / early 90s when I was in college?

...and in college back in the late 70s early 80s, we not only had no cellphones, but many of us had little or no access to landline phones. We hung out with each other in a haphazard fashion or were somehow able to plan ahead in order to get together for sex- & drug-fueled sessions of vinyl record listening.

[i.imgur.com image 300x400]

when i was in school in the earl 2000's, we only used the 10, in our 10/100 Ethernet cards. Texting was so new that you weren't always sure someone with a different carrier would get your message. phone screens were black and white and we modded them to have blue back lights. The only social media we had was e-mail and IM. Monitors were mostly CRT and it was common for them to be defaulted to 800x600 @ 60hz. it was a rough time.

How did he survive without being able to download mp3's off of Napster? How?

Check me down as another: so what, we didn't have that stuff when I was in college. Well there was email on campus, I remember using one of the first versions of pine. I did have a pager too... that was so my ummm parents could get in touch with me to see how I was doing.

I am a bit jealous though. I did ok in college, but man I could have nailed more girls with txt and facebook. It's so much easier today because of that tech.

Nihilist's Guide to Reticent Entropy: Otherwise known as: HOW EVERYONE OVER 40 LIVED THEIR TEEN YEARS AND EARLY TWENTIES.

That's how people over 30 did it, too.


Do I really have more in common with people over 40 than with people under 30?

I think those who are 30-40 right now are in an interesting position as we clearly remember the pre-internet period while living in the current internet boom. I think we're more resourceful about using tools and different ways to search that, as time progresses, we'll be more versatile than those who are 20 who have always had the internet have had never to develop additional analog skills.

dittybopper: SurfaceTension: Can't see why this would be that difficult. Went on a cruise in January and didn't bother setting up international roaming on my cell. Didn't hit any of the internet cafe spots on the ship or in port, either. Completely cut off. And it was kinda nice.

Actually, for a college student these days, it might: At the school where I work at, a *LOT*, if not most, of the communication from the school to the student is through things like e-mail and text messages.

Duuude, CSB times - I had an older iphone 3 up until the new one came out, which i had dropped so many times that starting at the beginning of last summer, I couldnt txt anymore. I'd send them, but they wouldn't get to their respective recipients nor did I ever get ones sent to me. I wasn't too upset about it, everyone I cared to be in contact with knew to call me and those who didn't, well, let's just say there was nothing not to like about it... Plus, i didn't want to buy a new phone, those things are farking expensive nowadays!

Then the problems started when trying to meet new girls. First off, don't get me wrong, I'm no player but I'm a guy and guys go after girls, always have, always will... until they can't anymore, ...because the last girl put their balls in a mason jar ...only to be brought out when she wants'em. What I'm trying to say is that I don't really know if there is a correlation but the grounds works is that i'm not an unattractive guy, have always had some confidence and have always been good with the ladies, somewhat. Now, out of school, things are even better, I believe i'm semi-successful (an employee but good monies not broke college student), and somewhat interesting (I travel a LOT and grew up in Cancun). My track record suggest the same as I've always been able to leave a bar with a few new numbers, even without text, nothing was different.

At first I thought it was actually going to work in my favor, most thought it was cute, "oh, hey, it'll be kinda nice to actually get a call instead of texts" and in the beginning they did answer but that was soon followed by "at the tone of the beep, leave you message". NEVER HAD A VM REPLIED TO. At first I thought it was just the specific person but this kept happening, for six farking months! Despite my friend's suggestions that the lack of texting was to blame, I refused to believe that simply due to a lapse? in communication my "game" was reduced to nil. I mean, really? After all, I'm a nice guy, interesting, semi-successful, and not to hard on the eyes, how could something as insignificant as a few characters and send button be the fall of what I once was?

I was wrong, it seems they were right and maybe communication problems aren't verbal-specific. When I finally bought a new phone in December things changed, instantly. As soon as my new phone was online I got inundated with past txts that had been lost in text purgatory from girls I had met throughout the "dark" era. Funny thing is that they were consistently escalating in falling-out, "hey what are you doing later this week" to "uh, hello?" to "wtf farkhead". Now that I'm text-able again only proves this accurate since I'm again meeting new people. So let me be the first to say that in this day in age, it's a must. Especially with that new fad girls have of sending sexy pics. Hooray for boobies!

rawbert7: I was wrong, it seems they were right and maybe communication problems aren't verbal-specific. When I finally bought a new phone in December things changed, instantly. As soon as my new phone was online I got inundated with past txts that had been lost in text purgatory from girls I had met throughout the "dark" era. Funny thing is that they were consistently escalating in falling-out, "hey what are you doing later this week" to "uh, hello?" to "wtf farkhead". Now that I'm text-able again only proves this accurate since I'm again meeting new people. So let me be the first to say that in this day in age, it's a must. Especially with that new fad girls have of sending sexy pics. Hooray for boobies!

1) Transfer off phone
2) Take out any personally identifying information
3) Publish

The escalating falling-out bit sounds hilarious.

Imagine being an urban youth in Chicago, too poor to afford a cell phone or computer... How absurd must it seem to read this.article?

He just described any and all vacations I take.

uh, i got numerous friends who are too broke to afford either a cell phone or an internet connection. i guess "it's still the '90s" for poor folks, too

Bladel: aka: "The 90's"

This.

Went to college in Fall of '96. Had a corded landline phone in my dorm room, a PC without internet, and a TV & VCR with Basic Cable and a few of my favorite VHS tapes. My roommate bought a Playstation and had a few games for it.

I walked to a computer lab to use the internet. Spent a lot of time there, got to know some labs pretty well.

That was basically my undergraduate years. Didn't get the neato modern tech stuff until after those first 4 years.

I didn't get a cell phone until summer of 2000, that was pre-paid for emergency use only. Didn't get one that wasn't prepaid until 2003.

Didn't have any kind of social media profile until 2006. . .and that was because my then-girlfriend (later wife) would insist I get a MySpace profile to go along with hers. I got a Facebook profile in 2008, but didn't really even use it at all until 2009.

You can be a college student without social media and cell phones. Cope.

NetOwl: Nihilist's Guide to Reticent Entropy: Otherwise known as: HOW EVERYONE OVER 40 LIVED THEIR TEEN YEARS AND EARLY TWENTIES.

That's how people over 30 did it, too.


Do I really have more in common with people over 40 than with people under 30?

Welcome.

Two words for me:

1. Job.

2. Security.







/Today's college students are such pussies.



//And that's just the way I like it.

/Cheers!

i would love to get rid of my cellphone, but i do actually need it for emergencies and such, since its really the only way my family can contact me. i have to use my phone maybe 2 or 3 times a week and i hate every second of it. as for the internet, i kind of need that to pay my bills. i don't get paper bills in the mail anymore, just emails letting me know the bill is due. so without email, i would not know when anything it due. as for social networks, i don't use any of that crap anyway. my favorite quote from the article:

"All of a sudden, you get home on a Friday night and there's no one around and it's just you and your thoughts," he said. "Very scary."

oh no! the horror! not you and your thoughts! what a nightmare that must have been!