THE DIGITAL AWAKENING

3/12/2003

My name is Peter and I am a cyberaddict. I had my first Internet account at the age of 29. I believe I was hooked the first time I logged in. Initially, it was just a couple of hours each day – one hour in the morning and another in the evening. It was so subtly gradual that I did not realise I was addicted to the Internet until I could not log in for several weeks.

The withdrawal symptoms were awful. I suffered from insomnia, poor appetite, and had a foul temper. I unrestrainedly hammered my computer and modem with the notion that it would get me connected again if I hit them hard enough. That was never successful!

That was five years ago. I am not making any effort cure myself from this addiction. Why! I have even graduated to a broadband connection just to squeeze more digital juice out of my waking hours. Now I can surf all day long for a flat rate of RM88 per month. I still suffer from withdrawal symptoms occasionally when the line goes dead for several hours without any reason. If I was not in a foul mood, I would be wallowing in despair at the dead connection.

I am a cyberaddict and I am enjoying every moment of it. I have no desire to yank myself away from my PC. I have no desire to recover. And I have vowed to get a connection with an even higher bandwidth when it is available and affordable.

posted by Peter | 3/12/2003 10:42:00 AM