At heart I do consider myself anti-technology. I disapprove of it gradually (and worse, sometimes suddenly) replacing ordinary communication from human being to human being; voice to voice; face to face. I don't mind the telephone, but too much social networking is surely bad for your genuine social skills. For example, in a conversation with someone they can gather my mood, meaning and attitude instantaneously as I say something. My eyebrows might knit, I might smile without teeth, I might smile with teeth, I might raise my eyebrows, I might laugh - all these things are so under-represented via (all too aptly named) social network 'walls'. A genuine, hearty, full-bodied laugh just cannot be summed up by ": L" or "hahahaha". Anyone can write those. Your laugh is unique; the very sound of it warms the interlocutors' insides with the most comforting of satisfactions. If I laughed at something written on a screen, the only people who would enjoy it would be those supping on crappy Capuccinos in their unfortunate proximity to me in any outlet of a well-known coffee shop. Sad.
My general stand point isn't "internet will eat your children", but more a worry that it'll take over and de-mobilise those who have minimal access, and that's why I struggle with it. And more often than not do not abide by its silly laws. So you can imagine how disappointed I was when for the first four weeks of being in this foreign land, without internet on tap (a desperate pipe dream), I struggled.
There were many things to complete in those unexpectedly awkward baby steps: registering as a citizen, a student, a student of a particular faculty; setting up a bank account; getting city bearings; working out the transport system and it really goes on for quite a while like that. My favourite irony is being sent an email detailing the details I needed of how and where to pick up my internet modem and activate my internet. (Thank God for my friendly, already-internet-owning flatmate). So all these things, all so reliant on access to the internet, all so vital to my life here in Germany, all contradicted my overriding feelings: I NEED the internet. I rely on it for such a spectrum of specialities that life without it is impossible, no matter how much I would adore to bury my head in a library only made of books, void of that erratic clickity click of computer keys. I guess I'm in the wrong era. I hope some past life of mine enjoyed and appreciated the simplicities of little technology: like visiting the travel agent to book a flight and paying by cheque, rather than Easyjet demanding inside leg measurements and £10 admin fees. Or wandering round market stalls with a woven basket, rather than Tesco.com being your nutritional adviser/legs.
I think to be young and sceptical about technology is a rare mix, so I'm going to revel in the oxymoronity of it all. I guess I just don't care enough about knowing how things work in the modern world. Give me file-o-fax, a busted up guitar and a belly laugh any day.
