Earthquake off Taiwan.

Posted by Mari Nicholson Jan 2, 2007

No articles could be put up, no blogs written, no friends emailed. It made me think. Am I too attached to my computer, my mobile 'phone, my laptop?

When the earthquake struck off the Taiwanese coast, six fibre optic cables were broken, internet services and phone lines were disrupted throughout Asia. With spam emails www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/inbox.htm dropping into my Inbox at the rate of 300 a day plus, and days with only eight "real" ones getting through, it was a nightmare.

When I had to resort to pen and paper to send faxes (not having a printer handy) I was amazed at how grumpy it made me. My frustration turned to irritability and my sunny (well, I think so) disposition turned sour.

Things are slowly getting better. 20 spams downloaded today in just under two hours!

What do you think? Is our reliance on technology a bad thing? What can we do instead? Travel writers by nature are travelling and writing, and without laptops/notebooks it's well night impossible. Maybe a PDA?

Mobiles. I was connected twice to Sweden but got no voice recognition. I was charged for the calls of course.

It's going to take about six weeks they reckon to fix the cables and meantime, some emails go through and others not. But the gremlins have thought of everything. I don't know which ones are getting through!

I'd appreciate some ideas.