I have recently downgraded cellphones, from the student standard blackberry to a more 'old age home-esque' Nokia, circa 1999. It has been great, no longer am I being bombarded with notifications every time one of the people I didn't particularly like at school visits the bog.
However on the downside, it also seems to be that whenever something important and deserving my immediate attention comes through I am usually asleep. Being a student this is most of the time and the feeble Nokia message alert tone does little to alter my state of sleep.
Last Saturday for example. I slept soundly while my friend Gina tried desperately to inform me that she had a box ticket for Ellis Park with my name on it. By the time I had risen from my slumber the ticket was in someone else's greedy paws.
And just this morning I woke to find four messages in BLOCK CAPITALS informing me that a place had opened up on the Fish river canyon hike. Euphoria was soon replaced by dread as I saw the messages were almost four hours old. History repeating itself.
One hurried phone call later it was determined that, yes the place was still available. Euphoria. For those of you who don't know, the Fish river canyon is the second largest canyon in the world (after the grand canyon) and it meanders from the Orange river and up through Namibia. The wind and water shaped rock is a wonder to behold and I cannot wait to complete it!
Being self sufficient for seven days means carrying all your own food and survival equipment. Although the fact that it is a desert means a tent won't be necessary. The space this will save in my pack will no doubt quickly be replaced with whiskey - a hikers best friend. It lubricates tired souls and prepares them for another day of walking. Although having the privilege to walk through areas that are almost untouched by humans should make that unnecessary.
Through all this turmoil and excitement I began thinking about the nature of personal connectivity devices. It seems that their is no middle ground when it comes to being connected to other people. Either you have a smartphone and get updates every time casual acquaintances take study breaks or like me you end up missing out on box tickets for the rugby.
I do feel that feeling of 'being connected' to your friends lives has been taken to the extreme by phone developers, specifically Blackberry. I am however at a loss as to how one could maintain the features that are particularly useful while completely discarding a lot of the drivel that comes along with it. Apple offers a much less intrusive user experience (if one chooses) however the cost factor is one which keeps them out of many hands while Android is a big unknown in my world.
Perhaps with more investigation it will turn out that an Ice-cream sandwich is all I need. No doubt Google has already logged my complaint without me knowing it. Until then I shall play snake II every day and remain happily unaware of the sea of information we are all drowning in.
