Anthony's Manifesto

The explosion of technological advances in the past 20 years has been staggering, and either by design or not has managed to become an integral part of our daily lives, be it in our social interactions or even our economic ones. The aim of this project, to abstain from all aspects of digital media that we possibly can, is surely to assess not just the advantages or disadvantages of technology but to examine the ways with which life without technology in a technological age is vastly different and maybe more difficult than we believe.
Although social media has never gripped me, I still find my self reliant on technology alien to an older generation. The use of games as both a tool of procrastination and as a mode of entertainment robs me of many hours, and many more are lost to films and TV shows that seem to be at times more appealing than leaving the house for a night out. The use of a digital media player also allows me many hours of enjoyment, although the use of this is more fractured, mostly in half hour bursts or so. My main use of digital media though, and most others I assume, would be the use of communication devices such as mobile phones and Skype, which have given me the opportunity to communicate with loved ones regardless of location.
The benefits of Digital media are at times clear to us all, but without permitting ourselves time away from our greatest obsessions the disadvantages become blackened from sight. As such, the devices that I will in all possibility abstain from are my:

• Mobile phone, save for emergencies
• My laptop, including the use of it for essay writing unless grossly inappropriate
• My MP3 Player
• TV
• Radio

As the week of abstinence is in progress, my daily opinions will be catalogued in a group notebook, the entries then posted on-line afterwards.