I usually post on Mondays,but I have been playing IT guy instead of architect. Last Friday my internet went out. Being a one man office the one word I can use to describe what it felt like with no internet was "isolation".
I forgot what it felt like not having "always on" internet. I do remember the sound of the dialup modem and I can understand having to login to look things up, but what about email? I have become so use to just turning around looking for new emails, I find it hard to think I would have to login to get them back then. I can not remember the last time I sent a letter to a business associate or consultant,
I decided after the internet was down that I would just turn around and continue with my AutoCAD on my work machine, but many times while working I would try to default to the internet. I need to convert these CAD files to PDFs and email them to my consultant, then it was "Oh, yea I can't do that, no internet". I may be working on a section and wonder what thickness plywood I need to use, so I'll just Google it "Oh yea, I can't do that with no internet". I would be listening to some music (I still can do CDs!), and wonder how old the singer was and thought I'll look that up on Wikipedia, then "Oh yea, I can't do that with no internet. It really got to be a pain after a while.
Being somewhat technically literate, I think I know the procedure to check these things out. 1) unplug both the modem and router. 2) Plug the modem back in and wait for it to come back on. 3) Once the modem it back online, then cut the router back on. This did not work. I could get the internet back but only for about 20-30 mins at a time. So after it finally when out completely on Sunday afternoon I called Time Warner Cable and they said someone would be at my office between 8AM and Noon. I know if I was told that and they were coming to service my house they may show up about 1 PM. To my amazement, the TWC tech was sitting at my door at 8AM.
He was a great technician and an extremely pleasant guy! He replaced just about everything including my modem. He was here from 8AM till about 9:30AM. He had everything running smoothly so he left, but told me to call him if there were any issues. 30 mins later I had no internet. He tried to access the modem from his truck and was informed it was unavailable. He came back about 11AM and he was stumped. He then installed new modem #2. He sat here in my office an monitored my service until about 12:30 PM. He wanted to replace the line from my office to the outside, but it ran through the ceiling of the vacant tenant space next door. Fortunately my landlord is also one of my best clients. So I got a key and today another techie came by and replaced the cables from my office all the way to the box outside. Shortly after he left I had very slow speeds, but never lost internet connection. As time has progress through the day the connection speeds have improved.
I know that I am dependent on the internet. I am an android / Google / Chrome, kind of guy. I do own a Chromebook. I realize I spend most of my online time in my Chrome Browser. I use gmail, Google Keep, Google Calendar, Google Voice, Google +, Google Maps, Google Drive, and other programs like Feedly, Facebook, Weebly and Pocket none of which work unless I am online.
Just like I know I can always got back to drawing on my parallel bar in candle light if I had to, it is nice to know without the internet I can still keep drawing because my AutoCAD in located on my local hard drive. I love having stuff in the cloud, but decided that if I had a cloud based CAD program, I would have been up a creek this weekend without any internet access. So I say to you, that as much as I like all these other cloud based program, I really don't see me ever switching to a cloud based CAD service (AutoDesk) if it goes that way. It would just be taking too much control of my means of living and that is something that makes me uncomfortable. That's my two cents.
I forgot what it felt like not having "always on" internet. I do remember the sound of the dialup modem and I can understand having to login to look things up, but what about email? I have become so use to just turning around looking for new emails, I find it hard to think I would have to login to get them back then. I can not remember the last time I sent a letter to a business associate or consultant,
I decided after the internet was down that I would just turn around and continue with my AutoCAD on my work machine, but many times while working I would try to default to the internet. I need to convert these CAD files to PDFs and email them to my consultant, then it was "Oh, yea I can't do that, no internet". I may be working on a section and wonder what thickness plywood I need to use, so I'll just Google it "Oh yea, I can't do that with no internet". I would be listening to some music (I still can do CDs!), and wonder how old the singer was and thought I'll look that up on Wikipedia, then "Oh yea, I can't do that with no internet. It really got to be a pain after a while.
Being somewhat technically literate, I think I know the procedure to check these things out. 1) unplug both the modem and router. 2) Plug the modem back in and wait for it to come back on. 3) Once the modem it back online, then cut the router back on. This did not work. I could get the internet back but only for about 20-30 mins at a time. So after it finally when out completely on Sunday afternoon I called Time Warner Cable and they said someone would be at my office between 8AM and Noon. I know if I was told that and they were coming to service my house they may show up about 1 PM. To my amazement, the TWC tech was sitting at my door at 8AM.
He was a great technician and an extremely pleasant guy! He replaced just about everything including my modem. He was here from 8AM till about 9:30AM. He had everything running smoothly so he left, but told me to call him if there were any issues. 30 mins later I had no internet. He tried to access the modem from his truck and was informed it was unavailable. He came back about 11AM and he was stumped. He then installed new modem #2. He sat here in my office an monitored my service until about 12:30 PM. He wanted to replace the line from my office to the outside, but it ran through the ceiling of the vacant tenant space next door. Fortunately my landlord is also one of my best clients. So I got a key and today another techie came by and replaced the cables from my office all the way to the box outside. Shortly after he left I had very slow speeds, but never lost internet connection. As time has progress through the day the connection speeds have improved.
I know that I am dependent on the internet. I am an android / Google / Chrome, kind of guy. I do own a Chromebook. I realize I spend most of my online time in my Chrome Browser. I use gmail, Google Keep, Google Calendar, Google Voice, Google +, Google Maps, Google Drive, and other programs like Feedly, Facebook, Weebly and Pocket none of which work unless I am online.
Just like I know I can always got back to drawing on my parallel bar in candle light if I had to, it is nice to know without the internet I can still keep drawing because my AutoCAD in located on my local hard drive. I love having stuff in the cloud, but decided that if I had a cloud based CAD program, I would have been up a creek this weekend without any internet access. So I say to you, that as much as I like all these other cloud based program, I really don't see me ever switching to a cloud based CAD service (AutoDesk) if it goes that way. It would just be taking too much control of my means of living and that is something that makes me uncomfortable. That's my two cents.
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