Creating a Buzz: Rural Living in the 21st Century

By Susanna Opper
iBerkshires Columnist
06:00AM / Wednesday, July 08, 2009

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Susanna Opper

Offline!

I won't reveal her name. And she won't know I'm writing this, because she's gone offline. That's right — my friend pulled the plug right out from her computer and sent her machine to charity. No more hard disk crashes; no more rude e-mail jokes; no more newsletters; no more Facebook. Nothing. Silence! Disconnection.

Would you do it if you could? I wouldn't. I won't disconnect until I'm so dottery that I can't remember how to turn the darn thing on. All right, so I've been using e-mail longer than many of today's users have been on the planet — nearly 30 years.

I have my own twisted relationship with technology. On the one hand it terrifies me; the slightest computer aberration and I'm in flat-out panic. On the other hand, I'm a trailblazer, someone others look to for guidance and direction. Sometimes that sends me into flat-out panic, too.

My new semi-monthly column here at iBerkshires will look at technology from our point of view, from those of us who live in the Berkshire Hills because quality of life is our highest value. When we take a walk, we listen to the birds, not to our iPods. We forgive our GPS when it gets addresses wrong. After all, it's the country. Getting lost is a respected pastime. Like many of you, I don't have broadband access. Cell phones ring where I live, but when I answer, they disconnect.

So with one foot in the 21st century and the other in the 17th, I'm constantly a little off balance. But, hey, I like it that way.

I'd love to hear your take on technology in the Berkshires. Please contact me at susanna@shawenon.com. You can also check out my monthly e-zine here and sign up for future issues.

Susanna Opper heads Shawenon Communications, which specializes in electronic communications for small businesses, solopreneurs, professionals and not-for-profits.

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