is for Internet
Like most 21st Century humans, I rely on my computer and internet access to make my day run more smoothly, do research, fix problems, resolve issues, and communicate with others I cannot talk to directly - i.e. my husband at work, my friend in Philadelphia or my brother in Berlin. etc.
I also read the news (NY Times, Ha'aretz, the Guardian, Slate, Salon, etc.) and watch streaming shows. My life is tied up with my internet access and without it I feel a bit lost.
Which is why I brought not my iPad but my Macbook Pro with me. The computer is so much easier to use, and I knew I was going to use it a lot. I used a VPN (virtual private network) to protect my work from spying eyes and to be able to access websites that were not permitted. Everything was working fine until....
We were in Shenzhen and the internet went down.There was a blackout of Western sites and google/gmail and my AOL and iCloud accounts were significantly slower than usual. Nothing I did - changing settings, turning the VPN on and off and on again, talking to Sonia and the manager of the hotel - nothing worked.
Sonia and others we talked with were having the same experience, but no one seemed to know what was going on. That is, until Sonia and I tried to take a walk to and through Tiananmen Square. There was a roadblock set up at the entrance to the Square, and people were having their IDs checked before being let in, a few at a time. We saw strings of soldiers marching in straight lines, followed by a person in a suit. As we walked down the street, there were more soldiers, and big busses parked in tidy rows on the the lawns of the buildings. I do not know who told us but we learned that the big annual meeting of the THAT's why the internet was "down."
Sonia and others we talked with were having the same experience, but no one seemed to know what was going on. That is, until Sonia and I tried to take a walk to and through Tiananmen Square. There was a roadblock set up at the entrance to the Square, and people were having their IDs checked before being let in, a few at a time. We saw strings of soldiers marching in straight lines, followed by a person in a suit. As we walked down the street, there were more soldiers, and big busses parked in tidy rows on the the lawns of the buildings. I do not know who told us but we learned that the big annual meeting of the THAT's why the internet was "down."
Access was cut off to most of the outside world. Instead of Amazon.com, I could go to Alibaba. Instead of the the NY Times, I could read People Online, and Slate (sometimes) and some other such "news". I never had thought of the freedom of the internet, or what it would be like to be without that freedom. Without being able to make my own choices. Without being to make choices of where to get news, how to communicate with others, who I could communicate with.
It was sobering.
It was sobering.
Sobering indeed I imagine! I was without broadband internet for months last year and limited to expensive wifi...makes you realise how much you rely on it. Let alone know "big brother is watching".
ReplyDelete