Matt Schiavenza From the Dragon to the Apple- A Sinophile in New York

A Week Without My Computer

Late last week,  a classmate accidentally knocked over my laptop while I was preparing to leave class. It hit the ground with a thud, and when I picked it up I realized that it was broken.

I'd like to say that I reacted with cheerful good humor, patting my classmate on the back and telling her not to worry about it. But I didn't. "Um, I guess write your information on this paper," I stammered,  as if I had just survived a car accident. Mortified, she apologized profusely. "It's ok," I finally said.

But of course, it wasn't 'OK'. The plane had crashed into the mountain. The wheels had come off of the car. The train was on fire.

You see, I am very attached to my laptop. It isn't because the laptop is particularly special, though I do like it very much. I am simply the sort of person who uses a computer all the time. I don't own a television or a stereo, so virtually all forms of entertainment I derive from my little HP. Living without it seemed unthinkable.

Yet this is what I've had to do for the past week. My laptop is currently in a shop somewhere near Times Square, being attended to by the best and brightest in computer repair.  I was told to expect it back within 5 to 7 business days.

In the meantime, I've had to adjust to a new reality. The change became apparent to me on Saturday, the first evening without the computer. After walking through the door, I was struck with the realization that I didn't know what to do. Normally, I'd march over and check my e-mail, turn on some music, and catch up on some blog reading that had piled up. But without my computer, none of this was possible. So I did nothing but sit on my bed and stare into space for awhile. I felt like a helpless animal.

Then, I noticed that a fair chunk of the Sunday New York Times was sitting on my kitchen table. For the uninitiated, the Sunday Times (most of which arrives on Saturday) is a beautiful thing, one of the great accomplishments of the American media. Most of the time, I barely get around to it. But this time, I tore through each section, reading even articles in the oft-neglected Sunday Styles and Real Estate sections. After a few hours I was caught up on international, national, and local events, what type of shoes Brooklyn hipsters currently favor, and learned how much one-bedroom apartments cost on the Upper West Side.

Slowly but surely, the benefits to not having a computer have accrued. I have had to write my midterm papers at the library, where there is far less to distract me, and as a result have become far more productive. My kitchen and bathroom are spotless. All of the laundry is done. I've even gone to the dry cleaners.

Alas, I am not totally removed from digital society. For e-mails, Facebook messages, and other forms of communications, I have my phone. For music, there's my iPod. The situation isn't that desperate. But I've come to realize just how much time I was wasting sitting in front of the computer every day. I've long taken pride for avoiding television, the leisurely scourge of many of my friends and family members.  But was my Internet idling much different? In retrospect, almost certainly not.

I expect to get my computer back in the next couple of days. I can't wait. But despite the inconvenience, I'm glad in a way that our little separation has happened. Otherwise, I might not have realized that I had become a peculiarly 21st century version of a couch potato.