A Day without Wireless

You really start to appreciate things after you no longer have them. It's that concept that begs the question whether we can truly appreciate something unless it is no longer there. One could sit and philosophically ponder over this idea but its truly a theme embedded into our daily lives. A simple thing such as losing wireless internet access for a day was enough for me to rediscover these feelings.


On Wednesdays I now have a class at 8:30 AM. It's not at my usual university as I'm trying to save some money and just have the credits transfer. It's actually a MS Office class and one I really do not need, however it's a prerequisite for a class I want to take in the fall. Because its already stuff I know and I need to take it before the fall, taking it a community college seemed like a good idea. There is nothing wrong with a community college but I've spent my entire college career at larger universities. These larger universities are more expensive, have more students, and have the funds to provide technologies and services that other smaller colleges may not be able to provide.

While attending Oakland University I am treated to many wireless hot spots. There is also ethernet/broadband access in all the study rooms in the library for student without wireless cards. The library even now loans out wireless laptops for students in four hour periods. Getting online is one of the easiest things to do!

At home I have my own Dorko network that I am in charge of. Using a cable internet connection (Comcast rocks with 6 MB downloads!) I distribute the internet connection wirelessly to 6 computers scattered throughout the house. Again an internet connection is never hard to find.

This is not the case at this smaller community college. Although my class is only four hours my mom is also attending classes this semester. (It's never too late to go back!) Going back to school for the first time in years she is trying to get done as quickly as possible. This semester she scheduled classes from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Because the campus is located 40 minutes away and I really need to save money I've decided to car pool with her and avoid the costly price of gas. This leaves me at the school for 8 hours with a lot of free time.

I complete a lot of my work with my tablet and assumed I would be able to take full advantage of this opportunity. I would just bring the tablet with me and get my work done while she was in class. Unfortunately this smaller community campus is not wireless which greatly affect my productivity. After my initial panic I quickly looked for an ethernet jack. The campus does have computers and internet access so I figured there had to be one around. I even brought an ethernet cable just in case. After going on a lengthy scavenger hunt I finally found one in the cafe. I sat down, plugged in and tried to get on the internet. My computer informed me a new network was found but when I actually opened up firefox it was nice enough to inform me that the webpage could not be found. I played with it for awhile to make sure all my connections and settings were correct but finally concluded it was the network. I tried another ethernet jack but my troubles would not fade. I then asked an assistant, that was helping students register for classes, if it was possible to get on the internet with my computer. She had no idea and neither did anyone else I asked. In fact I only saw one other student with a laptop the entire day. Enabling student access to the internet from personal notebooks was not a priority for this small community college.

The entire campus is enclosed in one building (I think my high school was bigger) so it was easy enough to find my way to the library. I recalled seeing computers there while on my scavenger hunt for that sacred ethernet jack. I quickly spotted that jungle of computers and observed that these were connected to the famous world wide web. Although the internet was right before me its discovery was of little value. Since I do so much of my work on my actual laptop a barrier existed separating my tablet from the internet. One of the things that makes my tablet so great at school is its ability to access the internet at almost any time. I don't ever have to leave my quiet study space just to look something up real quick. I also prefer editing my blog or signing on to personal pages from any computer since I know its secure and has the proper firewall protecting my identity. So although the campus did have access to the internet not being able to connect to it with my own notebook/tablet left it practically useless while I was working/studying.

During that period of time while I read and took notes I continually found myself wanting to connect to the internet. There were times I wanted to check my e-mail real quick, or lookup a word, or catch up the latest trends on the internet (waking up a 6:30 is not something I am used to right now and I had no time to check my RSS feeds that day) I could have navigated back to that jungle of computers in the library but I couldn't leave my stuff out in the open and packing up everything just to look up a word would be an inefficient use of my time. Being this disconnected from the internet was not an experience I was familiar with. The internet is a great tool but without a key to grant you access its resources might as well be sealed behind a steel wall.

It was very uncomfortable being this disconnected and I really have a much greater appreciation now for the internet and the wireless capabilities I am privileged to have at my own home and university. This is a lesson I think we all should be reminded of. Be thankful for everything you have! Even things as little as internet access is a resource that still many do not have. All of with us notebooks and Tablet PCs should be reminded that many students have a hard enough time paying for school and purchasing a laptop may not be possible.

As many of us talk about new gadgets and expensive fancy programs lets not forget about all those that are not as lucky. Be thankful for everything you have including gadgets, family and friends. In such a digital and busy world our feelings and compassion for others may get forgotten in the shuffle of things. It's funny how a little thing like wireless internet led to this deep thinking but with 8 hours on hand, and no distracting internet the thoughts that danced around inside my head would be enough to write a small novel.

posted by Jason Dorko at 9:53 PM 0 comments links to this post