Offline
Thanks to major faults with the broadband service from Eircom (my ISP), I’ve been without Internet connectivity for over a week. Being offline for a week or two is something I do when I’m on vacation, and even then I have the mobile Web, which is useful for finding my way around, checking local events etc. But being offline when I’m working, that’s a different story.
So, why is this such a big issue for me? I still have the mobile Web, and I can still use the ‘Net when I’m in the office and if I have to, I can send/receive emails on my phone. So I’m not really offline, am I?
It’s an issue because I tele-work, often during strange hours, and I do a lot of it at home. Even now, during the May Day holiday weekend (three days when many people in the country will rediscover the joys of gardening), I’m surrounded by servers and programming IDEs. Yet, without an Internet connection I face problems:
- I cannot download software updates.
- I cannot compare configurations against similar systems elsewhere in the world.
- When writing code, I cannot search for advice, best practices, snippits, known bugs, workarounds…
- I need to access files on the office network, but cannot set up a VPN.
- I cannot access any of the company servers around the world.
- Email with large attachments have no hope of getting to me. (Text-only is OK via the phone.)
- I’m no longer “always on”, which will be puzzling for many people with whom I work.
Even this rant won’t be visible until I get my broadband fixed.
Bright side
It’s not all doom and gloom though. I have an extensive library of text books and manuals, and while it may be faster to find answers via a search engine, there’s a certain pleasure from thumbing through a paper book, partially guided by an index, and chancing upon several gems of information that would have been overlooked if one had simply gone direct via the Web. It’s certainly not as efficient, and there’s always the danger that the printed word is quite out of date. It feels like I’ve jumped back in time by 20 years. Back to the days when paper books were absolutely essential, and networking was something I experimented with, using a modem I soldered together onto some Veroboard. 300-1200 baud. Such blistering speed!
What I wouldn’t give for 1200 baud right now…. sigh
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