My Computer Crashed, What would You do Without Your Computer?

Recently my computer crashed, we have all been there before haven’t we? We have all seen that lovely blue screen that illuminates the room like a cheap strip club on Sunday night after a bunch of drunkards have just been kicked out. Quite frankly, if I had to choose between having my computer die or being a kicked out of a cheap strip club, I would pick the strip club hands down. That being said I did learn a bit about my technology habits and had time to reflect on my dependencies (yes it’s meant to sound like a drug, social media is not that different you know) and online usage. Once you realize your computer is dead, you begin to realize how dependent you really are on technology and on the internet…

Not having a computer immediately makes me think of the following things (yes I know it can be argued that these are not really computer related but internet related…give me a break huh? My computer just died! Let me vent)

E-mail

I have definitely learned that I spend too much time checking and reading e-mail. In fact, most of my client relationships and company relationships are handled through e-mail. This is perhaps the most vital communication stream for me. Funny how e-mail is so simplistic (maybe not on the back end)yet so vital for communication.

Aim/Gtalk

I am usually on aim and gtalk throughout the day so that I can communicate with friends/family/colleagues. I do not have too much client interaction through chat programs but I do find them useful nonetheless. I share links and files with my online buddies and vent when I need to (much more valuable then it sounds). I can’t say that I would really be too dependent on aim/gtalk and I think I could live without them.

Twitter

Ah yes, my online mistress twitter…I must say that I am on twitter quite a bit, although recently I have cut down somewhat. Twitter has been a great communication and information source for me. I find valuable nuggets of information from tweets that my followers (or folks I follow) make. Twitter has also been a great tool for me to help build my personal brand. Now I am not one of those folks with 10,000+ followers but the few hundred followers that I do have are quality! And that is far more important than quantity. I definitely rely on and use twitter throughout the day and would miss it!

Linkedin

I definitely spend a good amount of time of linkedin asking/answering questions and networking with all sorts of folks. If you are linkedin and we are connected, click the linkedin icon on the top right  I receive at least a dozen requests a day to join the search marketing salon group and I usually send each person that requests to join, a personal message. This is a great way for me to build a relationship with each one of my contacts.

Blogging/Reading blogs

Perhaps one of the most important uses for my computer is writing. I try to write everyday, sometimes I do not get the chance to, but I try. In fact, one of the first things I said to myself when my computer died was, “Shit! How I am going to blog?” (sorry twitter, I still love you). In addition to not being able to blog I am also not able to stay up to date on the new, both tech and non-tech related. Yes that’s right, I do get all of my news information from the internet!

These are just a few of the things that I really use my computer for. Of course there are other things as well, but these are the ones that immediately came to mind. What are some of the things you would have to forgo if you did not have a computer? What would you miss/need the most?

Thanks for reading!