Too plugged in?

[LadyCrimson]

A 10th grade teacher did an interesting experiment ... to have students unplug for a week. No tv, no pc, no iphone/ipod etc. No illusions that anyone would stay unplugged, but a 'just try it for a week and see." Some broke, either intentionally or by force of habit, but some rediscovered books and relatives, etc. And then there was this person:

 

Without her headphones blocking out the real world, Flor Salvador heard strange chirping sounds.

 

"I didn't know we had birds!" she wrote in her journal.

 

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lo...029,full.column

[Gorgon]

It did that a while back, for the same reason, as an experiment. Although I didn't count music.

 

On the plus side you get more fired up about doing something when there are no distractions.

[Purkake]

Headphones are a real blessing on public transport.

 

Analog entertainment just doesn't cut it these days...

[Kaftan Barlast]

I start clawing at the walls if I dont have an internet connection, if I had to stay away from everything electronic it would be.. straightjacket-time. I mean, without electronics and/or computer all you could do would be:

 

A) get drunk

B) go to the bathroom

C) get increadibly drunk

Edited May 9, 2009 by Kaftan Barlast

[LadyCrimson]

I love my tech toys, no doubt, but while I wouldn't want to be completely unplugged, I can't imagine being entirely immersed either. It numbs my mind after a while.

 

edit: but I certainly get antsy when the power goes off for a day

Edited May 9, 2009 by LadyCrimson

[Hurlshort]

It usually depends on how good the book is that I'm currently reading. I take a group of 8th graders to Yosemite for a week almost every year. They aren't allowed any electronics, and I join them in that. The hardest part is find out the sports scores, the Yosemite newspapers are lame.

[Rosbjerg]

I made a decision to turn off my TV almost 5 years ago and I only turn it on to see special news/documentaries or films I'm interested in (which means I watch max 2 hours of TV a week). I could easily go without my mobile as well, my friends have all kinda learned that I'm not availabe 24/7 and usually just show up at my door instead of calling.

 

The Internet and games however are my big weakness, I have a hard time doing without either for at least an hour a day.

[Monte Carlo]

Where I work there are some twentysomethings. They have strange haircuts and turn up late for work, but apart from that are perfectly nice.

 

However, they have one habit that I simply cannot abide and that is wearing MP3 players whilst sitting at their desks. They don't talk, they don't engage, they just sit at their screens listening to music and it's not even as if their jobs are boring.

 

Why do they do it? when do they talk to their friends and colleagues?

 

Cheers

MC

[Maria Caliban]

A 10th grade teacher did an interesting experiment ... to have students unplug for a week. No tv, no pc, no iphone/ipod etc. No illusions that anyone would stay unplugged, but a 'just try it for a week and see." Some broke, either intentionally or by force of habit, but some rediscovered books and relatives, etc. And then there was this person:

 

Without her headphones blocking out the real world, Flor Salvador heard strange chirping sounds.

 

"I didn't know we had birds!" she wrote in her journal.

 

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lo...029,full.column

 

I already go with TV and iphones. Were radios covered in this experiment?

 

A full week without a PC would be difficult as I'm a writer. Interestingly enough, for the last week I've used carried a notebook with me and tried to write during the day. Problem is, I can't read my own handwriting. I end up having to re-write 80% of it into Word anyways - frustrating.

[Aristes]

I have a suggestion. Travel. Extensively. Preferably by automobile. Who needs the latest survival horror game or movie when you can just get lost in your own mind.

[Gorth]

I use my internet conenction quite a bit, most of it work related, but otherwise, I manage quite nicely without tv and radio (I have a clock radio, which gives me the 5 minutes rundown of the news in the morning) and my phone is switched off when I am at home. I conveniently "forget" my phone too, when I leave the office for lunch, as people are generally rude and always call you during your lunch break it seems. Apart from DVD/Blu-Ray movies, I watch on average 1 hour of TV a week. Mostly just the late night news.

 

@Aristes: You don't even need a car, I managed to get lost on my way home the other night, wanting to take a shortcut on foot through the park lands (the taxi never showed up). I eventually found a major road where I could hail a taxi and get home. Studying a map the day after, it turns out that I passed within 500 meters of home (since I followed a railroad track across a river, I sort of know which path I took), but it being pitch black in the forest areas, you just couldn't see a thing. Who needs survival horror indeed?

[Monte Carlo]

[grumble mode] These same (early - mid) twentysomethings can't drive more than half a mile without a Sat Nav swtiched on. They saw me the other day with a map book. From their stunned expressions I presume they thought I was going to get on a horse too. Alternatively, it could have been the facial piercings, but what do I know? [/grumble mode]

[Walsingham]

I agree that navigating without satnav is a lost art. An art i lament, being quite good at it.

[mkreku]

I use a sat nav to take me from my computer to the bathroom.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Where I work there are some twentysomethings. They have strange haircuts and turn up late for work, but apart from that are perfectly nice.

 

However, they have one habit that I simply cannot abide and that is wearing MP3 players whilst sitting at their desks. They don't talk, they don't engage, they just sit at their screens listening to music and it's not even as if their jobs are boring.

 

Why do they do it? when do they talk to their friends and colleagues?

 

 

Its hard to focus properly with all the ambient noise of an office in your ears all the time. Drowning it out with music or radio in your headphones is a great relief. Its also good for when you just want some peace and quiet.

 

 

And maybe they dont feel they have much in common with the other, older workers so they dont want to socialize with them?

[Monte Carlo]

^ Nope, it's just bloody rude. I don't ignore them and do my Times crossword just because I'm twenty years older.

[Tigranes]

Hey, I'm guilty of that, and I have an excuse - half my co-workers are quiet types and the other half won't stop whining about the bloody work.

 

Swore myself off TV a long time ago, though. These days I find a couple hours of internet is all I need unless I'm actually doing something with the computer (which, in fact, I do a lot of). Couldn't make me give up the mp3 player for the life of me though. Only thing that makes me cut down is fears for the ears.

[Purkake]

I find that listening to podcasts/audiobooks is way more entertaining than music.

 

The downside is that they require concentration, so you can't really do any concentration-requiring work.

[theslug]

I find that listening to podcasts/audiobooks is way more entertaining than music.

 

The downside is that they require concentration, so you can't really do any concentration-requiring work.

Yeah I listen exclusively to old lovelines at work however I can only do it for an hour or two before I start to get a headache. The kid that resides in the cubicle next to mine also listens to adam carolla becuase he puts his ipod on full blast so I can hear that nasaly drone from a mile away however I haven't yet decided to approach him about it and act like we have shared interests but my last day of work is 2 weeks from now and I'm never going to that school ever again so it's a moot point.

 

But I don't think listening to your ipod is rude. I mean if you were working in a group and your coworkers were right next to you and you had to take your earbuds out every 5 minutes to hear what they say then sure but if you have a job like mine where you just sit in front of the computer all day and answering the phone going solo then it's no problem in my opinion.

[Deraldin]

^ Nope, it's just bloody rude. I don't ignore them and do my Times crossword just because I'm twenty years older.

 

No, it's bloody rude when people keep interrupting you every five minutes while you are trying to get some freakin' work done. There is a time and a place to socialize with coworkers and that is not at my desk when I'm in the middle of something else.

[Monte Carlo]

^ Nope, it's just bloody rude. I don't ignore them and do my Times crossword just because I'm twenty years older.

 

No, it's bloody rude when people keep interrupting you every five minutes while you are trying to get some freakin' work done. There is a time and a place to socialize with coworkers and that is not at my desk when I'm in the middle of something else.

 

You miss my point. I am in a position to ask these people to do things for me. Being an inordinately nice person I always ask politely, usually pointing out what I need done and asking their advice as and when necessary. Without putting too fine a point on it, these guys are effectively subordinate to me and in twenty years time will be in the same boat I am currently sat in. The brighter ones understand this and, ergo, do not sit there listening to Evanesence, very loudly, whilst I ask for certain tasks to be performed.

 

So, is it too much to ask that I don't have to perform human semaphore / nudge them / etc to get their attention?

 

These people are commonly known in management circles as 'Generation Y.' I am aware of their mores. I am not an ass. In fact, I understand the cultural memes and ironic T-shirts they enjoy more than any other Old Guy in the joint. This is why I EXPECT THEM NOT TO PLUG INTO AN ALTERNATIVE FRICKI' REALITY when I'm working with them.

 

That is all.

 

MC

[Purkake]

^ Nope, it's just bloody rude. I don't ignore them and do my Times crossword just because I'm twenty years older.

 

No, it's bloody rude when people keep interrupting you every five minutes while you are trying to get some freakin' work done. There is a time and a place to socialize with coworkers and that is not at my desk when I'm in the middle of something else.

 

You miss my point. I am in a position to ask these people to do things for me. Being an inordinately nice person I always ask politely, usually pointing out what I need done and asking their advice as and when necessary. Without putting too fine a point on it, these guys are effectively subordinate to me and in twenty years time will be in the same boat I am currently sat in. The brighter ones understand this and, ergo, do not sit there listening to Evanesence, very loudly, whilst I ask for certain tasks to be performed.

 

So, is it too much to ask that I don't have to perform human semaphore / nudge them / etc to get their attention?

 

These people are commonly known in management circles as 'Generation Y.' I am aware of their mores. I am not an ass. In fact, I understand the cultural memes and ironic T-shirts they enjoy more than any other Old Guy in the joint. This is why I EXPECT THEM NOT TO PLUG INTO AN ALTERNATIVE FRICKI' REALITY when I'm working with them.

 

That is all.

 

MC

 

Have you tried flogging or hauling them under the keel?

 

If it's a problem why not just ban earphones during work hours?

[Monte Carlo]

Have you tried to ban anything in the 21st century workplace? The sky would fall in.

 

Life's too short to be an ass with people at work, I just have to try harder to get the job done without annoying people. I grew up with Walkman. We loved them and spent hours making up Our Favourite Tapes. Yet, for some reason, we never sat listening to them at work. Mainly because we'd be sacked.

 

Therefore I am just wondering what happened, and at what point this social atrophy actually became acceptable. When I was 23 we talked amongst our peers at work. It was fun, we learnt stuff and hopefully became better people. The ipod addicts might want to ponder that.

 

Cheers

MC

[Deraldin]

You miss my point. I am in a position to ask these people to do things for me. Being an inordinately nice person I always ask politely, usually pointing out what I need done and asking their advice as and when necessary. Without putting too fine a point on it, these guys are effectively subordinate to me and in twenty years time will be in the same boat I am currently sat in. The brighter ones understand this and, ergo, do not sit there listening to Evanesence, very loudly, whilst I ask for certain tasks to be performed.

 

So, is it too much to ask that I don't have to perform human semaphore / nudge them / etc to get their attention?

 

If they sit there listening to their music while you are talking to them, then I agree. Go ahead and have them strung up by their headphone cords for being jerks. If they remove the headphones and turn the music off, or at least down while you are speaking to them, then I don't see the problem. Granted I may be somewhat biased as I tend to listen to music when I work as well, but it honestly doesn't seem like such a big deal to me.

 

Is it really that big a deal to tap someone on the shoulder to get their attention? I know people that require that even without the headphones, because they get so absorbed in whatever it is they were doing at the time. It's not like you have to smack them upside the head to get their attention (or so I'm assuming).

[Purkake]

Have you tried to ban anything in the 21st century workplace? The sky would fall in.

 

Life's too short to be an ass with people at work, I just have to try harder to get the job done without annoying people. I grew up with Walkman. We loved them and spent hours making up Our Favourite Tapes. Yet, for some reason, we never sat listening to them at work. Mainly because we'd be sacked.

 

Therefore I am just wondering what happened, and at what point this social atrophy actually became acceptable. When I was 23 we talked amongst our peers at work. It was fun, we learnt stuff and hopefully became better people. The ipod addicts might want to ponder that.

 

Cheers

MC

 

Maybe you are such an oppressive boss that they have no choice but to hide in their own little worlds just to stave off the thoughts of suicide by stapler?

 

j/k

 

I guess it depends on the work environment and the people. Sometimes you just don't want to get to know the people, but that's for a temp job or if the people are really annoying. If my choices are listening to some cool book/podcast/music or listening to a bunch of annoying middle-aged people gossip about co-workers or talk about "today's youth" then the choice is simple.

Edited May 10, 2009 by Purkake