The Time Thief

Thirty years ago I would get up, wash , shave shower, make kids breakfast and packed lunches , make my own , then go off to work. After work I would sort out tea, watch TV , maybe practice for a gig , then go to bed. That was effectively pre internet. Yes there was a rudimentary email but nothing worth connecting up for. There were dial up modems but it was expensive and didn’t really give you much.

Today I get up, check emails, and news sites on the internet and sometimes this can be up to an hour, and while I think I spend a lot of time on my devices there are other people I know probably spend a lot more than me. I removed Facebook from my phone although I have left messenger on there but I still use it while walking and to check if people are contacting me.

I have notifications turned off for most applications (apart from phone and text) , but again I know people who get notifications for everything and their phone seldom stops.

A funny story , when I worked at EE a we have a policy of sending messages in defined business hour and this guy had switched phone on at three in the morning and a message came through which disturbed him so much that he could not get back to sleep so he demanded compensation because he was too tired to go to work. The message was sent at a proper time and just waited for him to switch the phone on, but if you switch it on in the middle of the night don’t be surprised if you get marketing messages.

Our devices enable us to do so many things and share so much, such as pictures , music and video which we were never able to before, although when we were in contact either socializing or by phone we would recommend things to watch , listen to or look for, it’s just now we can share that thing on YouTube or whatever.

We can send music to friends via our devices where before you had to record in real time onto a cassette tape and then give it to whoever you wanted to listen to it.

So when you think about it like that , a lot of the time it used to take to do things we now don’t do and maybe that means we are allowed to spend time exploring what’s on the internet.

One thing is certain: with a combination of Google , Bing and YouTube I have discovered I need manuals and reference books less and have a decent reference library online assuming that I have a connection.

The thing is, that gateway to the internet can very easily lead you astray , and that “just ten minutes” can turn into a lot longer.

Thirty years ago I could not have thought about writing this , well I could but it would not have been published , so I am spending time writing this, and my device and the internet can definitely be seen as a time thief , but if I wasn’t doing this what would I be doing.

I could read a book , go for a walk , mow the lawn , watch TV , listen to music, so is this not another form of relaxation or creativity rather than stolen time?

There will always be those who will see time stolen. My dad once said “If you’re not working , You’re doing nothing, and if you’re doing nothing , you should be working” and it’s possibly that thought that inspired me to actually write this piece.

It is good to be creative , but some people may see your creativity as time wasting, but as long as you don’t then things are good.

For some reason the Sparks song “The Rhythm Thief” from the excellent “Li’l Beethoven” album is going through my head and Rhythm Thief / Time Thief is fairly close , which to reminded of one of my favourite Michael Moorcock titles “The Dreamthief’s Daughter” and the book itself is excellent.

So anything that takes time can be seen as a time thief if looked at from the wrong or negative perspective.