Shut down, switch off, unplug, disconnect, go offline, go analog, jack out — No matter how you say it, sometimes it’s really a good thing to get away from technology for awhile.

Shutdown Day is a non-profit Canadian organization founded by Dennis Bystrov & Ashutosh Rajekar to help raise awareness of the increasingly excessive use of digital media (TV, computers, game consoles, cell phones, MP3 players, etc.) and how technology can interfere with real world social interaction.

The idea of this global experiment is simple — just turn off your PC on Saturday, May 3rd, for the entire day and involve yourself in some other activity:   go outdoors, play sports, get together with friends & family — whatever, the point isn’t to reject our wired culture, but just to take a brief technology vacation and re-engage with the real world.

Maybe this also serves as a good opportunity to reflect & consider:   Are we too wired?   What do you think — can you survive for 24 hours without computers, email, & Internet?   Are you willing to take a technology vacation for just one day?   Do you think there’d be any benefit to doing so?

Note:   (I first mentioned Int’l Shutdown Day quite a bit earlier last year.   Dennis & Ashutosh explained that the annual event was shifted from its original March 24th date to May 3rd for the sake of warmer weather and a tree-planting event that’s to be held in Quebec.)
 

Labels: technology