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| Author | I gain much by limiting myself with System 7 (Read 24514 times) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bolkonskij
Administrator 1024 MB  Posts: 2023 
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on: July 23, 2024, 09:45
As some of you may remember, about two years ago I've made the decision to move away from social media. I've deleted my Facebook, Twitter and Discord accounts. I have not missed them. Initially, during the first weeks, I felt this desire to look what was happening there. That faded quickly. I'm not looking back. It was a good decision. It was not a decision to make modern life impossible for me. No sort of an escapist thing. It is about trying to waste less time. In our modern society, "time" has become the most valuable commodity. More valuable than money. If people keep watching after their stock portfolio, why not watch your time portfolio? I want my imagination back. I used to be a kid that loved day-dreaming. And a creative one too. But creativity, as I have learned, needs silence and it needs procrastination. You can't force it. And you don't get it while you're distracted consuming a movie. The best ideas come to me when I'm in bed before sleep, showering or commuting while on the train / bus watching outside the window. I assume it's probably the same with most of you? I feel that ever since I started consuming less online, I've gained back some of my creativity & drive. I've since started and worked on web projects like Cornica, Bolkonskij's Cheat Emporium, re-invigorated System 7 Today, Mac OS 9 Lives and many others. I couldn't have done this if I was still hanging out for hours on my newsstream in Facebook. Because I know I would - I'm susceptible to Facebook's neverending stream of news. So as a result of that, my internet has become rather small and catering to my personal interests. "Fine-Tuned" if you'd like to say so. It's a small universe for me to check daily now: System 7 Today, Macintosh Garden (recent changes), OS9 Lives and two bookmarked gopher pages - and then I'm done. That's my daily routine. Well, add my e-mail in Musashi / Classilla. Today all of this was done in under 10 minutes, since there wasn't much new. 10 minutes! You wanna know how much time I used to spend daily on Facebook, YouTube and others before? Hours flew by arguing with strangers about politics, following links to news outlets and watching video after video. By the time I shut down the Mac it was dinner time, I had done nothing but just to consume. So while that might sound odd at first, I feel that I gained much by limiting myself to my System 7 (and Mac OS 9) Macintosh since then. Yes, it does limit my options and that's good. Lots of people don't get it. I couldn't either until I tried it out and started to understand. I feel other members on here e.g. like @68040 are there with me already. (hey, you still there 68040? Haven't read from you in a while!) My next step will be limiting my YouTube access times. Because YouTube is sucking out the creativity of ordinary people. Yeah, I can hear you guys protesting me already :-) ... "wait Bolko, but among the trash there's all these cool life hacks and how-to tutorials!". Well, granted, there IS some really useful stuff. Showing you this or that much better than any textbook could and making for a real learning experience. But it also gives you the faux feeling of learning something helpful when in reality all you do is just staring onto a screen for hours. How are you ever possibly going to fix your leaking bathroom faucet with a wire and a rubber band? You probably won't - 99,9% will just exchange it for a new. And then there's this related video that you click, and that has an interesting related video, and then ... So I'm starting to limit YouTube access to 2-3 times a month. I'll be writing up the videos I'm interesting in and then going and downloading them with an add-on, so I can watch them as mp4 locally, so no Youtube algo can distract me. (before you ask, can't do that on Mac OS - I'll be using my wife's Mac Book Pro) Why do this? Again and in short, three reasons: bringing back imagination into my life. Sharpening my senses. Getting more time. I suddenly find the time to do more things with my three children, to read books again (remember those paper sheets glued together) and do things around the house that I should have been doing months ago. Or simply just have more social interactions with the people around me - be it a simple chat with the neighbours or inviting interesting people over for a coffee / tea. It is all connected. Do you think it's weird or can you understand the reasoning behind this? Somebody else who embarked (or is embarking) on this journey? I'd really like to hear from others what their experiences are. |
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Last Edit: July 23, 2024, 09:52 by Bolkonskij
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snes1423
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256 MB  Posts: 458 A Man born of Mechina
Reply #1 on: July 23, 2024, 11:16
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got rid of everything made after 2003 (2002 if your talking macs only) and im sing software from 2003 and below (2002 on my macs) simply due to 2 things 1. my brother cant handle himself on the internet so he isnt allowed to have his own computer but still needs acsess to word for college related stuff so i let him use my imac g4 running jaguar with ie 5 and netscape 7 2. life is simpler on older os's theres no AI either so no scrapping of my hard drives info/images/videos/music for AI purposes like apple intelligence stealing youtube videos 3. unlike many of you boomers i find something like the ps3 to be the perfect console for gaming again i was born in '04 not '84 and most modern games made after 2019 suck cyberpunk 2097 needed 2 YEARS of updates to get it fully working for most people that and microtransactions like loot boxes and such... 4. physicallity is better than imagination i.e streaming a movie versus buying a dvd/blu-ray humans naturally want to have the ability to use there five senses and you only get 4 with streaming beacuse theres no touch part 5. i always support developers of ANY platform that make physical games/software/movies as thats dying right now (ie redbox closing there dvd kiosks for instance) edit: a clarification in terms of PC's nothing after the merom C2D/2006 as they integrated IME after that macs nothing after 2002 with consoles nothing newer than the 8th gen due to physical media disapearing after that
Last Edit: July 23, 2024, 19:46 by snes1423
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ShinobiKenobi
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256 MB Posts: 362 System 7 fan
Reply #2 on: July 25, 2024, 19:36
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Part of the fun and cool factor is being able to still use past computers in this time. I don't care about facebook. I like youtube, though. I use discord. I use youtube for getting my news. I don't like spending a lot of time on it, though, and I could let hours go by on it also. So I don't go on it as often anymore. But I can't blame Youtube, it's me clicking on the links. There are plenty of things I use my modern computer for that my old Macs can't do. Take care of financial stuff, pay bills, order pizza, use most of the websites I need, write cds. What is the cut-off for social media? At what point is a thing too new to use anymore? I'm sure some people hated email, but it became unavoidable. To me, discord is just a polished instant messenger from the '90s or '00s, which I used a lot back then. Hotline is similar. I use my old Macs to make me remember part of what it was like in the past, but I do inevitably need to change computers and get on my new one. What I hate is being reached and contacted EVERYWHERE. Cellphones are handy in emergencies, but I don't like using them if I don't have to.
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023
Reply #3 on: July 26, 2024, 11:11
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My post was intended to share my personal journey. Not a "missionary" statement. You live your life, I live mine. Everybody is different, everybody has different needs. Nobody needs to excuse or teach somebody else. That's my take. So don't get my post wrong, please :-) I do have a cheap Android smartphone I use to do some of things you mentioned needing your modern computer for. At this point, it seems very hard to do without, but I feel I can severly limit it to the bare essentials and reveal as few personal data as possible. And that feels SO good! As for YouTube ... yes, it's you clicking. Yet their mechanisms have become sophisticated and you're constantly being manipulated - especially visually, which has great power over humans. I found I myself am susceptible to it (even though I'd rather not acknowledge it first) and hence decided to stay away as much as possible. A good way is simply to honestly write up the time you spend on YouTube or Social Media for a week to get a feeling for it. I used to think "well, I'm just on there every now and then". And then after a few days I started to realize that it would amount to a considerable part of my time that I'd rather like to spend on other things. And I once used to do so, in the past. And there's no reason why it couldn't be like that again.
Last Edit: July 26, 2024, 11:14 by Bolkonskij
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Scout
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1 MB Posts: 1 System 7 Newcomer!
Reply #4 on: July 26, 2024, 19:07
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As I approached retirement, I knew I had to set some guidelines to get the most of my time. I made a list of all the kinds of things I like to do. I started to devote specific time to each item. If I found it was not worth the time or I had lost interest in a particular thing I adjusted. Retro Apple computers and computer history became a great hobby, ( why I am even on this site, ha ha) and it has been really interesting. It opened up my eyes to electronics in general and how we got to now. Reading, hiking, woodworking, music, ever expanding family and just taking action to improve my overall life have been great rewards. But you do have to plan some. Human beings can be easily distracted. Great topic for thought, Bolkonskij
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ShinobiKenobi
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256 MB Posts: 362 System 7 fan
Reply #5 on: July 27, 2024, 07:12
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Bolkonskij, what did I say that offended you so much? You shared what stuff you do with old Macs, and I did too. I never criticized anything or said what I thought was better. There is no "better". We're all different, which was why I shared. I had no thought or intention to make you feel criticized an any way, but it sucks that you took it that way.
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Knezzen
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Administrator 512 MB Posts: 608 Village idiot
Reply #6 on: July 27, 2024, 11:08
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Quote from: ShinobiKenobi I had no thought or intention to make you feel criticized an any way, but it sucks that you took it that way. Don't worry, I think it's just a matter of how one would use rhetorical questions depending on where in the world we live. Many of us here on S7T aren't English native speakers (me included) and tend to read English like we would read our native language, if you know what I mean. I'm pretty sure he didn't feel criticized and just wanted to clarify in general. On topic; I feel like I'm being lost in social media. I spend an considerable amount of time on Facebook and I don't really want to, but I feel drawn in. When I have no idea what to do there's always Facebook like this blanket of comfort, giving me purpose for those minutes (hours). Removing my account feels... bad. I've had it since 2009 or so and I have all these memories and photos there. I guess I have some kind of fear of missing out. I did remove all the social media apps from my phone though and I see that as a first step. I want to get back to being creative and stop literally dumping my time into mostly Facebook for no apparent reason. Can't even remember what I'm doing there 
Last Edit: July 27, 2024, 11:10 by Knezzen
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023
Reply #7 on: July 27, 2024, 16:50
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Quote Bolkonskij, what did I say that offended you so much? @ShinobiKenobi, it’s a misunderstanding. I was not offended at all!? Why would I? I merely wanted to add more to my initial post. I'm sorry it came through like this! I’m not an English native speaker as Knezzen noted and we do indeed communicate „more direct“ in my native language compared to English. That might lead to my post seem „harsh“ or „defensive“ when it wasn’t my intention. I’m in the process of learning to adapt better to the rules of communication in English, though I have to say, it’s sometimes hard for me to understand. (nobody here understands the concept of „a little white lie“ or „passive-aggressiveness“ for example). But let’s always remember that we’re all friends here sharing the same hobby, independently of where we’re from and that unites us. There’s no place for animosities, so please don’t worry and don't feel like you have to be watching what you write - everybody is entitled to their opinion and each opinion is worth to be expressed. I hope this was more clear and everything is good? I know it might be hard to believe, but I actually liked your posting ;-) Quote from: Scout But you do have to plan some. Human beings can be easily distracted. Welcome to our little community! :-) Yes, yes yes, you're absolutely right. I've come to think that I was pretty naive in the past in a sense of ("well, nobody is manipulating me!"). I was sooo wrong, because it work on such subtle levels these days. When I had the facts in front of me, I couldn't deny I am really susceptible to it. It's good to read others are thinking about it as well, I believe this topic will grow in the public discussion within the next few years. We shall see. Quote from: Knezzen On topic; I feel like I'm being lost in social media. I spend an considerable amount of time on Facebook and I don't really want to, but I feel drawn in. Hah, familiar feeling! After I had left Facebook, I had the urge to check what is going on there. When you want to delete your account e.g. on Facebook, they will keep the account around for another 30 days just in case you'll reconsider (and they'll try to lure you back in with e-mailings). In the end I found it was necessary to "burn all bridges behind me" in order to get out of the cycle. I would not have had the discipline to stay off, because it's so easy to get suckered back in. Just one mouse click away. For everybody's interested, there's good scientific work done on how these social media sites stimulates / manipulates your brain as to keep you engaged. It was interesting read, I need to see if I can dig up some of these links again. What else I can share is that I was mostly concerned with the loss of contact with certain people by dropping out of Facebook. This included part of my family which had emigrated to the U.S.. In the end, these worries were ungrounded and I managed to stay in touch with everybody through other means. But I also took the step to inform everybody - that I wanted to stay in touch with - that I'm leaving Facebook and how they could reach me in the future. Ultimately, where there's a will, there's a way. If you absolutely realize you can't live without it, you can always jump back in within 30 days. But chances are, you'll even forget when the 30 days are over and at one point suddenly notice unmoved "now my account is gone for real"
Last Edit: July 27, 2024, 17:14 by Bolkonskij
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Knezzen
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Administrator 512 MB Posts: 608 Village idiot
Reply #8 on: July 27, 2024, 18:02
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I'm trying to move into Usenet more, actually as a slower and more real way of online interaction. Finding newsgroups that speak to me and since the new posts are quite finite nowadays I don't spend hours and hours looking at the endless cat and food pictures (well, there is none). That being said, I'm struggling to find a good modern client for macOS. All the modern clients seem focused on "alt.binaries" and I'm not all that interested in that newsgroup. Well, that's a problem for another topic 
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wove
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1024 MB Posts: 1363
Reply #9 on: July 27, 2024, 19:18
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You may have hit upon the first of the time wasting sink holes that appeared, probably even predates the internet. I am surprised there are not a lot of Usenet clients for System7, since it overlaps the heyday of Usenet. (If you are talking about your M1, I might suggest using Homebrew and see about pulling in something from the Linux world. I have to believe there is some odd-off VIM/Vi add-on to follow Usenet 
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Knezzen
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Administrator 512 MB Posts: 608 Village idiot
Reply #10 on: July 27, 2024, 21:19
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Quote from: wove I am surprised there are not a lot of Usenet clients for System7, since it overlaps the heyday of Usenet. (If you are talking about your M1, I might suggest using Homebrew and see about pulling in something from the Linux world. I'm good on my System 7 - Mac OS 9.2.2 and OSX PowerPC machines (Unison is AWESOME). I'm struggling to find anything native for my M1 MacBook Air running macOS Sonoma.
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ShinobiKenobi
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256 MB Posts: 362 System 7 fan
Reply #11 on: July 27, 2024, 21:40
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Bolkonskij I'm glad everything is good I know what little white lies and passive aggressiveness are. I ended a friendship about a month ago because I was tired of her being passive aggressive.
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ovalking
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128 MB Posts: 199
Reply #12 on: July 27, 2024, 21:42
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> I'm not looking back. It was a good decision. Good for you Bolkonskij. It takes mental discipline to change your habits. It's much harder to stop something than not start it. I don't have a modern machine (only at work) or a smartphone, so if it doesn't work on my Mac, I can't get distracted in the first place. As I get older, I realise I'm running out of time to do all the things I wan t to do. I'm reducing the disliked unsatisfying activities in my life but it tough to get rid of low value routine items. Some activities I don't like but they give great satisfaction once completed (e.g. running). In contrast some things I enjoy but afterwards you feel like the time has been wasted (e.g. computer games). I think it is important to retain a balance b ecause not everything can be a win:win - otherwise the good would just be average. Sometimes an enforced change of routine can help. For e.g. I used to check out the TV every lunch time. After a holiday, I thought 'wonder what I missed on TV?. No, actual ly I don't care!'. The TV stayed off. I've not watched TV for about 3 years. >My next step will be limiting my YouTube access There's a history preference setting somewhere which you can turn off. This can be a big help reducing the click bait. .e
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wove
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1024 MB Posts: 1363
Reply #13 on: July 29, 2024, 15:13
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One side effect of tech that is overlooked is the loss of introspection and self awareness. Even older tech has this effect. I know people that eat by the watch. "I cannot be hungry it is only 10:30." "it is not time for bed yet." "It is 70 degrees in here, I should not be cold." But we are animals and it should be just instinctive to know whether or not we are tired or cold or hungry. The more complex the tech becomes the more it intrudes/hinders our inner senses. Do we need a watch to tell us if we have slept well? Do we need external devices to tell us if we are "active" enough? Apple health app will ask you how you feel, then allow you to select from a list reasons you feel the way you do. Tech just pushes us to rely on tech rather than relying on the our internal mechanisms to know how we are doing in life.
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lauland
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512 MB Posts: 674 Symtes 7 Mewconer!
Reply #14 on: July 29, 2024, 18:48
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I think this book nails part of what is going on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice There have actually been times when I'm in a grocery or (used) book store, just browsing around thinking "I'd love to get a snack/drink/book", and my brain just overloads on the choices and I end up walking away with nothing...or I pick just the closest thing or something I've always gotten before. Same thing with NetFlix and other streaming services, etc etc. It's because I know my tendency is to buy/watch too much. I need to try EVERY new flavor of chip/crisp/drink, or I find 5 books by a favorite author...or there are 10 shows/movies I want to watch. How can I know if I pick just one it is the best?!? More and more, as I become greyer and greyer, I find it's easier and I get a lovely sense of inner peace by not making any choice at all. Inside, we're still animals and we're hardwired to think if we see something we "need", it may not be there later when we actually need it. Netflix capitalizes on that instinct by "removing" shows/movies seemingly at random. Or, at that used book store, I HAVE to buy all the books because someone else may buy them, and they may be out of print, etc etc. It's easy to say it's a case of nurturing self-control (at least it sounds relatively easy)...but it's especially hard to fight when you can't think of a good reason to control yourself. I work hard, I can afford it, I'm in good health, tell me why I shouldn't have ALL the new flavors/books/etc?!? (But am I "happy" when I have all of them...NO! Which to try/read FIRST? ARGH!) I think the analogy extends to social media, you tube, etc. There's always "just one more" to check, and next thing you know, an hour goes by. So, it's an odd problem we have in today's society of plenty, a very human one. I think it's exactly what is behind the fulfillment some people get doing manual labor, or behind the classic "the farmer is happier than the millionaire" cliche.
Last Edit: July 29, 2024, 18:55 by lauland
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