Six months ago, I dove headfirst into the "on-line" world of the Internet, and now I'm designing a website.  It's fascinating, thrilling, useful, and very, very seductive.
         Computers should serve us, but we can end up being their servants unless we keep the machine in its place.  I hope this article will help readers, but I'm also writing to remind myself.
         "True or false?"  I asked the office people where I worked, then waited for
everyone's attention.  "Computers save time."  Moments of thoughtful, puzzled silence, then our office manager offered:  "Well, we can do more with them..."  We can "do more" with computers, so now--voila!--there is "more" to do.
         Author Jeremy Rifkin says "it is ironic that in a culture so committed to saving time we feel increasingly deprived of the very thing we value."  I love working hard; but I hate the push to work fast.  When assembly lines were introduced, people speeded up to keep pace.  Today, we are "entraining" ourselves to the rhythms of the computer--which measures its moments in nanoseconds, while our biology remains rooted in the leisurely cycles of the natural world.  The computer may tend to make us impatient--prompting us to always "click on the next link" instead of pondering what's in front of us.
         In addition to speeding us up, computers can swallow our time, just as the
television has done for decades.  We have exactly 24 hours of life each day; the time with TV or the Internet is taken from other pursuits, including some things we desperately need to do.  We must retain the ability to turn off the machine.
         We have fallen under the spell of dazzling technological forms, but slick
communications mean little if we lack things of value to say.  I recently saw a film whose director had spent 100 million dollars creating the most lavish effects imaginable, but the uni-dimensional characters and formula plot left me lukewarm.  I've seen many websites which are beautifully constructed but lack substance.  Much of our media is long on form, short on content.
         It's fantastic that computers enable us to exchange ideas with people all over the world.  But what have we gained, if we sacrifice talking with neighbors, relaxing with our families, or going bowling with the folks from work?  We have basic human needs for direct, face-to-face communication, and for being part of a community rooted in a place; "cyberspace" can never satisfy such urges.
         A recent study showed that the more time people spend on the Internet, the more depressed they tend to be.  This was contrary to the researchers' expectations:  they had anticipated finding that "the net" helps us feel more connected, but instead it can sometimes leave us feeling lonely and isolated.
         Computers may unite us in a "global village."  I hope so, but computers are also powerful tools of the forces driving us apart.  For example, computers can help small businesses, but giant corporations are much better able to fully utilize this technology, further increasing their domination over the "little guys."
         One thing is certain:  computer companies want to sell us as much stuff as
possible, and the push to "upgrade" is constant.
         My machine is amazing:  fifteen years ago, it would have filled a small room.  Five years ago, it was "state of the art."  Now, I'm told, it's too slow--a real "dinosaur."  As computer hardware becomes more powerful, software producers and website designers give the machines progressively more to do.  Unless we have the very latest technology, we still have to wait for the computer to act.  This, of course, provides a stimulus to buy more equipment.
         I like my slow computer; it does what I need.  I usually don't mind waiting for it: it teaches me patience, lets me collect my thoughts and plan my approach, and gives me a chance to look out the window or across the room to avoid the eyestrain that comes from continual focus at one distance.
         I'm grateful to have the opportunity to use this device.  "E-mail," in particular, is wonderful--I am more connected with my family and geographically distant friends because of it.  The Internet is an incredible resource, but I must know why I'm there and what I'm looking for, or else I can be swallowed.  Finally, I'm very proud of my budding website.  There, you'll find previous columns I've written along with loads of other great stuff and "links" to some marvelous other websites.
         So, if you're not "on-line" yet, I heartily recommend it.  Dive in!  But remember:  keep cyberspace in its place.
 
 

          Two brief columns on computers in "The Global Citizen" series by Donella Meadows are very worth reading:  The Last Lament of the Macintosh User (which is simultaneously amusing and sobering), and The Secret Life of My Computer, which is quite an education on how, where, and at what cost these machines are made.
            Here are links to a variety of articles pointing out some of the negative aspects of increasing technology and the Internet.
            The World Wide Web: Is Commercialization Inevitable? is a good article by Patrick Mazza.  Click back to see the extensive links to material on his remarkable Cascadia Planet website.