More or less connected

A friend and I will soon be starting an experiment, an experiment in technology

Now normally you would expect this to mean we will be trying out some new technology, or some new way of using it, but no

I was 15 when I got my first mobile phone, 15! I didn't even have anyone to call, in fact I think I only had one or two friends that even had a mobile and why did I need to call them

Text messaging didn't even exist, if you wanted to speak to someone you phoned them, or better still you went to their house and knocked on their door

I fully appreciate that I use my phone more than most people, I have a fair amount of spare time, but I wonder how many people could live without it

But it doesn't stop there, or start there in fact. I cannot actually live without any sort of phone, it's just not viable, I don't work in an office and am often 50 miles from home when at work, so I won't be switching off completely.  However, this is not limited to phones either, this is a shut down of the Internet as well

My methods of communication will be in person or actually speaking on the phone. Text messages will be responded to with a phone call or ignored. Emails, other than work related ones, will be ignored. Facebook will stay active but not be used. Twitter, well I don't really use it anyway, but the same as Facebook. 

You may be wondering what the purpose of all of this is, well it's a test to see whether technology brings us closer to our friends and family or actually pushes us further apart. Does it connect us or disconnect us

Will i be more or less aware of current affairs, more informed or more distant from what is really going on in the world

Will this experiment really show who our friends are, as if someone is not prepared to call you, or receive a phone call from you can they really be counted as a true friend or merely an acquaintance.  Does Facebook and the interaction it brings enrich our lives or just feed a desire to snoop on other people's lives in a bid to make ourselves feel better or even to affirm our belief that we really are in the worst position

It's ironic that this blog is typed on a smart phone, published in an app and posted to Facebook and twitter, all from the comfort and warmth of my bath tub. But just think what opportunities I'm missing out on in the bath by being on my phone

I will publish a start date when everything is discussed and arranged, likely to be a couple of weeks or maybe the start of September 

Lets get connected 

P.S - for those saying that it's easy and they do it on holiday. In most cases that's a lie and in others it's very different, I'm talking living everyday life