“Shutdown Day” Is Tomorrow - March 24, 2007

Every year it gets easier and easier to leave our machines on 24 hours a day. They get quieter, we notice them less. They use less power and can run off batteries longer. We're more connected than ever before. For some it's getting harder and harder to stay away from their laptop and desktop computers. If you haven't heard of it, Shutdown Day is a project aimed at daring people to shut off their PCs for one solid day. Tomorrow, to be precise. 24 hours of being unplugged from the digital world. Think you can survive?

And if you read the fine print on ShutdownDay.org, there isn’t any mention of using external devices to connect to the web, say via a cell phone or Blackberry. (Yes, I always find ways to beat the system.) Now if for some reason I forget about Shutdown Day, just send me an e-mail to remind me. I mean…I won’t be online to read your e-mail?

I may participate. After all, Shutdown Day falls on a Saturday so that makes it much easier to unplug myself. I do my best to stay unplugged from my laptop during weekends already, so tomorrow should just be another Saturday for me. Just don’t ask me to give up my cell phone or iPod for a day. Now THAT would drive me to suicidal tendencies! Sad, but true.