5 scientists hike for 7 days, no electronics

[couscous]

For their next experiment they should reduce their internet bandwidth back to the 300 baud we had 28 years ago for CompuServe forums and email. That should generate some interesting brain activity as they try to access today's forums, email, blogs, etc.

[SMSP]

For their next experiment they should reduce their internet bandwidth back to the 300 baud we had 28 years ago for CompuServe forums and email. That should generate some interesting brain activity as they try to access today's forums, email, blogs, etc.

That would definitely create Internet Rage and mass violence.
I remember having 300 baud and then thought I was bad ass at around age 13 when I got a 1200 baud modem.

SMSP

[Danielsen]

Sign of the times: What's a baud?

[couscous]

Baud was an old way of measuring data transmission speeds before bits per second. It actually measured how frequently sound changed on a phone line. Most people now enjoy 3,284kbs connection speeds .. roughly 11,000x faster than a 300baud modem.

[Danielsen]

Mmm, good old phone-line internet... I'm still old enough to have caught the tail-end of that. I say good riddance.

[Marta]

If you're into electronics, you'll need one of these:

http://www.theonion.com/video/sony-r...-doesnt,14309/

PS--If you're sensitive to foul language, don't click on this link!

[Mags]

Sign of the times: What's a baud?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtqz0bdq30Q

Then add in my Dad saying (Approx 15 seconds after picking up the phone) "JC Paul...are you on the friggin' phone again..GET OFF NOW".

..and this was my first modem:




(Why do I feel like saying "GET OFF MY LAWN"... )

[SMSP]

Mags - you must not throw anything away, or is there some sentimental value?

SMSP

[Heater]

Ah. Shell accounts. Pine. BBs.

Remember these?

[Spokes]

"5 scientists hike for 7 days, no electronics"

Sounds like a Far Side cartoon.

[Graywolf]

I for one do not watch TV except the occasional DVD I get from REI. I have a cell phone but rarley use it. I do have internet which is my info hub, I do not text. heck, I was even turned down on a date because I prefered ;istening to a REAL voice then texting..LOL..All and All,, We have be come way too dependant on technology..

I also must add, the big tech companies better not see this article. They will be looking for a way to ban ALL outdoor activities if they knew it takes away from their profits...

Give me the wilderness any time!!

[grayfox]

I was glad when I saw this thread. What is clear is that the explosion of gadgets is having a profound effect on the developing brains of the young, an almost drug-like effect. On others who have a need to connect via internet and other mediums these may be an invaluable social networking tool. Some of us can become addicted without knowing it to new forms of instantaneous communication. I am very surprized that there have been so few serious studies of this huge issue, with university conferances and summits.

I am reminded of what C.S. Lewis once said in Screwtape Letters, quoting from Aristotle:

"Let him do anything but act. No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will. As one of the humans has said, active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened. The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel."

I am afraid that some of the new technologies are giving the illusion of action, while re-enforcing habits that are not helpful.

This quote really gets to the heart of the matter--thanks for posting it.

Have you read Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451? I heard they might remake the film, which stared the Austrian character actor Oskar Werner.I wonder if this time they will burn computers instead of books.

I have a friend who aways says, "Everything in moderation." for me a bit of hiking and a bit of web surfing balance very well.

[Hikes in Rain]

Baud was an old way of measuring data transmission speeds before bits per second. It actually measured how frequently sound changed on a phone line. Most people now enjoy 3,284kbs connection speeds .. roughly 11,000x faster than a 300baud modem.

Just from another perspective: I can read faster than the old 300 baud modems could spit letters on the screen! I could just keep up with the 1200 ones. Just imagine accessing this forum with something like that. Boggles the mind.

[Danielsen]

I suspect the page formatting would have to be just a *tad* simpler.

[Graywolf]

This quote really gets to the heart of the matter--thanks for posting it.

Have you read Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451? I heard they might remake the film, which stared the Austrian character actor Oskar Werner.I wonder if this time they will burn computers instead of books.

I have a friend who aways says, "Everything in moderation." for me a bit of hiking and a bit of web surfing balance very well.

Farenheit 451 was a very good book. Always enjoyed Bradburys works..

[Blue Jay]

"5 scientists hike for 7 days, no electronics"

Sounds like a Far Side cartoon.

You know it really does, I can see the look of terror and desperation. Thank you for that one.

[Regulus]

That's very cool - in 2001 I went on a 4-month hike and came out on 9/11. The next week and half, where ever I went people were glued to televisions watching the news. It was a trip to go from total digital disconnect to intense dependence all around me. I felt that having been in the woods for 4 months, I was able to stay more grounded and, at the same time, more emtionally connected, with the whole 9/11 incident. I think there is a ton of more research to do in this direction.

This is easily the most interesting thing I've read on these boards for awhile. Far more interesting than this "study".

If you aren't angry with the current state of our society and the world in general than there's something seriously wrong with you. Sorry, but it's true.

[berkshirebirder]

[To friends with instant messaging devices] Every little thing turns into an urgent event. --Tuckahoe

I think this is an important part of how it's possible to be "dumbed down" by constant contact with "news" or the minutiae of other people's lives.

A sense of urgency is created and used by other media, too--CNN runs BREAKING NEWS captions for yet another vehicle chase in California or another broken-down celebrity. Hear all about it...after the commercials.

[John B]

I think this is an important part of how it's possible to be "dumbed down" by constant contact with "news" or the minutiae of other people's lives.

A sense of urgency is created and used by other media, too--CNN runs BREAKING NEWS captions for yet another vehicle chase in California or another broken-down celebrity. Hear all about it...after the commercials.

To quote Elaine (Seinfeld), after hearing Jerry and George blabbing endlessly about getting a haircut or whatever, [I] can't stand hearing "...the excruciating minutiae of your vacuous lives..."

[sbhikes]

I used to work in a modem factory building modems like Mags' modem. I didn't even have a clue what a modem was but I stuffed circuit boards and ran them through a wave solder machine.

I did my PCT hikes alone and without electronics. I had a phone but didn't look at it until I got to town, and sometimes not even then. When I returned to civilization, I felt like my mind was crystal clear. I could see everything so plainly. All the lies, all the bias and most importantly, all the omissions. What they focus on in the news and in our culture as a whole, how they frame all discussions, what they leave out of the story, how smoothly they lie about everything. I'm still angry.

Yep, Regulus. You understand.