People sent me a lot of postcards during the digital-detox experiment, but this one is probably my favorite since it combines postcard, newspaper and typewriting all in one.
After six months of immersing myself in Slow Media, I’m back online now -- though still not using a cellphone. Interwebbing was fun for the first few days, but surprisingly the excitement faded fast.
Since starting the experiment in July, I have used payphones and yellow pages and typewriters… penned piles of letters and postcards… watched all my VHS tapes and listened to all my audiocassettes (along with some vinyl, until my record-player broke)… devoured a huge stack of newspapers and books… deciphered many a printed map…. and taken photographs with disposable cameras, 35mm film and Polaroids.
It was really fun. And honestly, life without digital media wasn’t that hard, folks. You should try it. Maybe just for a day, or a weekend?
In the next few weeks, I’ll be publishing a zine that details my experience, with lots of pictures. To read about how I survived being offline, send two first-class stamps and your snail-mail address to me at: Journalism & Communication Dept., M-404, 1 University Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11201. I’ll happily mail you a free copy whenever it's done.
Next up: I might perform a week of silent meditation to challenge the assumption that we need to speak, or maybe I’ll stop washing my hair for a few months to prove that we don’t need shampoo.
