I read an article this morning that said a survey commissioned by Primus Canada found that almost half (46 per cent) of Canadians would give up their television before giving up their Internet access, and 35 per cent would give up their phone to keep Internet and television access.
The survey also found that 20 per cent of Canadians would turn down $1 million in cash in exchange for never accessing the Internet again. At first, I scoffed. A million bucks? I love you guys, truly I do, but not that much. Bah. Then I started to think about it — giving up the Internet forever. I wouldn’t just be giving up Flickr and Twitter and the blog. I’d be giving up g-mail and google, and (gasp!) Pinterest! The million dollars began to seem less valuable the more I thought about it. I mean, what good does a million bucks do if you have to actually drive to a bricks and mortar bank to deposit it and actually visit a mall to spend it? The humanity!
I have to ask, what would tempt you to give up the Internet, bloggy peeps? I’d happily give up folding laundry, eating liver and country music for life, in exchange for the ability to solve arguments about actors in bad 1980s movies and to check the weather of places I’ve never visited nor likely ever would.
What about you? What’s the Internet worth to you?
I would gladly give up the Internet for one million dollars on one condition – that everybody else had to give it up too. It’s not that I enjoy the Internet so much that I can’t imagine living without it, or that I feel incapable of functioning without the convenience of online information – I feel quite confident that I could turn the clock back to 1994 and still maintain a good quality of life. The problem is that if I were the ONLY one sacrificing the Internet, there would be all kinds of repercussions today – I would have no access to my pay stubs, I would miss most social gatherings, etc. I would also be unable to do my job, so that million had better be tax-free if it’s supposed to last for the rest of my life …
Oh boy, i think I would give up the internet for $100,000,000. Maybe.
I felt so out of touch for many months without my internet here at home. Surviving only on my cell phone. An iPhone doesn’t seem all that worth it when it is your ONLY internet source. A million dollars would not make me give up the internet.
I would take a million to never have to smell cigarette smoke again, clean my house or pay for car repairs. Then again, I am being greedy. Those are things I really dislike.
Asking me to give up the internet is asking me to give up a main source of news, entertainment, information, advice, convenience, shopping, contact with people who are far away, not to mention a social circle. Not. A. Chance. Not for anything in the world!
It’s kind of a weird question. How do you define “Internet”? TV versus Internet is becoming less and less meaningful. Phone vs Internet? A significant number of conversations take place over the Internet now, and I’m not talking about Skype. Technologies are converging to the point where the distinctions are not terribly meaningful on a technical level. This is why I think the whole metered Internet discussion is terribly important.
I’ve thought about it for ages and I realise that I couldn’t do it. I’d give up tv, telephone and even electricity before the internet. That’s assuming that I could get online without power LOL! I’d even give up my laptop and PC if I could have access to a fully functioning iPod touch. A million dollars just isn’t enough unless, like the poster above says, everyone gives it up too.