Thursday 7th April
It was the early sixties and the world was just getting connected. We had a couple of satellites floating around and land-line telephones and we got news from America pretty quickly, or so we thought. And there was a comedy hit record by, I think, Anthony Newley called “Stop the world, I want to get off” which bewailed the then feeling of being oppressed by news of World events and being constantly bombarded by things.
Little did Anthony know what the 21st Century would be like. The world back then was barely connected at all. Telegrams were still used. You had to wait to be connected to overseas phones. Air travel was expensive and most importantly there were no computers or mobile phones. You have to make a conscious effort today to be un-connected. Lots of customers to the Café ask if we have wi-fi; as if having a coffee is such a waste of time unless you are checking your e-mails at the same time. And I am just the same. First thing in the morning and late at night and several times during the day I boot up the internet (I can’t stand internet or e-mail on the phone, the writing is too small and my eyes are bad enough anyway) desperate not to miss an e-mail. I also love reading the newspapers and BBC news on-line, it is like an addiction and there I am hunched over the small screen frantically dragging on my own little drug of choice.
And sometimes I just wish life weren’t like this. Wouldn’t it be lovely not to switch on the telly or the e-mails, to be unconnected for a whole day or even longer, not this desperate need to scroll down and see who is posting on facebook, or more likely, who has responded to one of my posts or my blog. “Stop the Internet, I want to get off” would be the 21st Century edition. I wonder if any budding little Anthony Newleys are out there in their bedsits trying to write the next hit. But of course they would record it themselves and post a video on Youtube of them singing it and repost it on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook, because without the Internet it would be almost impossible to get the song out there. Have fun….