Hi everybody,
I remember times (before 1977) when we lived a happy life in our offices, working with typewriters and calculators, communicating with telex, copying with stensils- copiers, even writing with pen and ink.
Today, I couldn’t no more work, even live without my PC and his modem. But sometimes, I feel that I live more with my screen than with people around me.
And you ?

I am addicted to computers. I know it is not healthy, but I have an addictive personality. I wish I could say otherwise.

I admit, I am addicted to my computer as well as GA.

I spend most of my day (if I am free) on the computer, especially on GA. I am proud of it. I cannot live without GA in my life, for this community is the only place besides my stories that offers me a haven, a place that I can be myself. It doesn't judge me, it doesn't scold me, it doesn't demand or have expectations from me, and above all....it listens to my ramblings all day long.

I don't know what I'll do without it.



BeaStKid

P.S
Oh yeah...sorry if I went off tangent there. I get too sentimental when the issue of my time being spent on GA/computer is brought up.

I love working on the computer and being part of the GA. I can't live without my interenet or my computer.

I must say I'm addicted to my laptop and the internet. When the power goes out and i can't use the internet, I get very annoyed (Also when my ISP has problems at their home-base and my internet goes down)

When i didn't have my laptop from the beginning of this year to around the second week of February, I felt very disconnected from the world.

-Jules

I use my computers/servers to make a living and also to have fun. Even when I goto bed I take a laptop with WiFi with me.

I also remember the days of telex, paper/pencil, tape and card readers, US$1000 HDs that held 5MB, computers with 32KB RAM, 1MB of RAM for US$400, frame relay, 300 baud modems with acoustic couplers. I wonder what we'll be laughing about in another 20 years?

lol, i suppose most of us here are in the same boat when it comes to computers and Internet .
As I earn my money programming, i use the computer - and the Internet, all day long. I am lost without my Internet connection - work depends so much on getting information and communicating via email. I do have (at least 1) backup computers in case my "main" PC dies. If my ADSL connection doesn't work, i have an old fashioned modem (better slow than none) to connect to the web. If the phone line is dead as well I can use my cell phone with an UMTS connection to connect to the web.

I'm on my computer quite a bit, and about the only things I do on it are internet related in some way. I mean I don't use it for games or anything...well sometimes I play card and board games on it...but that's on the internet

Anyway, my computer would be essentially useless to me without the internet. Oh I suppose sometimes I'd turn it on to type things maybe, but I'd use it like a fraction of 1 percent of what I do now.

It's simple, when I'm at home, I'm always on my computer, when I'm watching tv or movies, I got my laptop close by even if it's just for the IM, waiting for someone to be on.

I need my computers for writing, without them, I'm bored, lol

I'm completely addicted to the computer and the internet. Even if I'm just writing something, I like to have internet access, so I can randomly check my email, IM, or check the GA forums.

I use the internet a lot for school- research, communicating with teachers, getting info, writing endless history papers, so it's a necessity for the time being. But even when I'm done with school, the internet and computer would be vital, like an arm!

While watching TV or movies, I always have my laptop with me, so everything else becomes background noise. Jeez, in Vegas for three days, I went through major withdrawal and had to use the internet on my cell phone and it was so crappy- small screen, slow, and everything! Next time, I'm bringing it with me and paying for wifi.

I think most of us are in the same boat. Especially those of us in the GA community, because we write, we read, and we talk with others- all which need the internet.

Basically I'm the same as Frenchcanadian, I just have to add that when I'm in class I'm usually online as well.

Not only that but I can say that most of my very good friends, both here at school and elsewhere, I met online first.

My classes are computer-based, so I literally need it for school. That is another reason why it takes me longer sometimes to finish a chapter of a story.

Nothing wrong with being addicted to GA! I think a lot of us are! It's a great place, always something to read or discuss! How could you not be addicted? Even more so for you because it is a safe place and you can escape here and let off some steam or relax. Very understandable.

Haha my classes are not online but having the IM open makes it easier to talk to my classmates without the teacher noticing.

I used to be so addicted to the internet, but I broke my laptop and had to go without it to get it fixed.
Thing is, I never sent it to get repairs. For months, like, 4 or 5.
It felt good. I only ever sent it in because of school, I have an online class this semester and use it for several others.
I got it fixed, and well, I'm not an addict anymore. I spend an hour or two on it before I go to bed every night while watching tv. If I find an interesting thread here, I will check more often. A good story, another half hour before bed. But other than that I only spend an hour or two each night at my computer, other than schoolwork where I don't connect to the internet.
My schoolwork would be near impossible without it though.

Maybe you got your addiction out of your system because you went cold turkey. Maybe I should give that a try! The longer you go without it and start doing other things, the less you will "need" it. In theory, anyway.

An hour or two before bed every night; you are so disciplined. I'm jealous.

Yes Tiff... I completely agree with you...

My Daily Routine (on weekdays)

05:45 - Wake up.
06:00- 07:00 : On PC. Mainly for mails and then wondering around.
08:00-12:00 - At work, working only on PC!! For Computer-Aided Designs
12:00 - 13:00 - Lunch
13:00 - 04:45 - Work again on PC
05:30 - 06:30 - PC and internet- looking in forums and all
06:30- 07:00 - Dinner
07: 00 - 08: 00- PC again!
08:00 onwards- normally TV.

Around 3 hours of internet. No internet at work. Bastards! 11 hours on PC!

Ieshwar

P.s When I submit a story/poem, it's worse. I check in in every 5 minutes to look for new reviews!

Exactly...

........Most likely I'm addicted to GA 6:00 am - 5pm, lurking always

It is my new addiction. In other news, I broke my habit of Yahoo! Chat.

Gak. GA is why I reinstalled Trillian...it was the only way to communicate in near real-time with Myr. I'd rather spend my time reading or in the forums cause basically I strongly dislike IM.

Does it count towards my addiction if my SOHO-based servers are doing things on the internet even when I'm sleeping? They are, after all, doing what I told them to do. Mostly backups of and maintenance for my live websites.

I think we've gotten fairly glib about the way we throw the word addiction around.

Computers are tools- or at least that's the theory. Would we say that a carpenter is addicted to his hammer?

No...but then we do say that we are addicted to TV...

Your day is almost exactly like mine! Only I don't really watch TV but am online then as well, lalala. And I can't sign on to forums and such at work either -- so when I'm at work, it doesn't annoy me as much if my computer doesn't work, unless I'm doing something urgent and really need it; at other times I can do something else instead, and that is usually rather nice. At home, however, I hate it when my internet doesn't work.

Nice to meet so many other internet addicts! That there's so many of us means we're all normal, right?

Of Course we are normal...

I'm usually on the computer and internet for 10+ hours each day. 14+ hours on Thursdays sicne both of my classes are computer-based on that day.

Computers and the Internet are, to me, tools. There are some things I can't do without them, but I don't need them. I've had other things I've done in the past for leisure, and I can do them again if the computer is unavailable. Work, however, requires a computer -- I can't do my job without one.

The problem with the above survey is it doesn't distinguish between time spent because it's required (ie. five days a week for my job) and time spent because I want to (ie. the time after hours when I'm surfing or writing). Most of computer and internet time is still work-related, though I'll admit that my leisure time use has gone up a lot over the last couple of years.