EatingSteak

I actually did this, from July 2009-2010. I have to recommend against it.

Started off as a 'FUCK YOU' to AT&T, who screwed up setting up my Internet access, made me wait two weeks, then ended up saying they couldn't give me Internet access at all in my area, THEN SENT ME A BILL FOR IT. Long story on that, but tl;dr, they're evil, and I just said, "hell, why not, I can live without the internet"

• I thought it would be sort of a 'challenge' at first. My god, how could we live without the internet, right?

• It wasn't nearly as challenging as I had expected. I mean, I still had a job and a car, and stuff like buying groceries and walking in the park hadn't changed.

• The minor conveniences really showed through. I had to use a PHONE BOOK to find a locksmith. A PHONE BOOK (really, first time in over 10 years). Booking plane tickets was a pain in the ass. Finding a newspaper or whatever to get movie showtimes. What time does this restaurant close, etc etc. What's going on I'm the city this weekend...

• It became rather dull rather quickly. The movies, TV shows, and games I had saved on my computer became stale rather quickly. When I bought games in the store, they always ran like shit cause my comp wasn't patched. Had to have a friend get updates/drivers onto a CD, bleh (is that cheating?). Everything happened more slowly. You'd be surprised how much interesting stuff you have to talk and learn about of you actually read something that isn't cat pictures. And how boring you seem when you don't.

• Regained some appreciation for 'old' forms of media, but was more often reminded of how much they suck. I fired through a lot of books, which was nice (and easier, when you're not getting bombarded with emails and facebook requests, and crap like that). Other than that, news from a paper or on TV is just insufferable. Ew.

• Life just seemed to pass me by a bit more. I was always behind what games, movoesl and TV shows were hot, what news was interesting, how far battery technology or cell phone trends had developed (heh, I almost completely missed the decline of Blackberry).

Really hope you get to read this and it doesn't get buried. I'd recommend six months rather than a year. It's not nearly as challenging or rewarding as you'd think, it's just boring.

But congrats on the ambition. Hope it works out well for you!

[Edit] Glad enough people dug this up even with 700+ comments. A final thought I'd like to add is that you'd be surprised how many ways you use the internet indirectly. A celebrity or sports figure might make a big announcement on Twitter, someone calls you to tell that so-and-so just posted on facebook that they got engaged. You see a hardcopy of The Onion newspaper. Even mainstream news organizations get a lot of their content virally. You go to a party, and someone has an ipad hooked up to their sound system with Pandora streaming (yeah could do without that last one, I know).

I've always been amazed at how slow the 'dinosaurs' of established businesses are to pick up technology, but it's impressive to see even restaurant chains giving special perks if you "like" them on facebook or follow them on Twitter.

If nothing else, it's definitely obvious how much of life passes you by if you shut out technological changes. I missed out on so much in just a year... I'd feel like a complete moron if I had never bothered to use a computer ...can only imagine, but wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

Since no one else asked...

• Are you considering any functionality to prevent NSA snooping?
  
• Any NSA backdoors you'd care to disclose?

...or are you unable to answer for some reason (wink wink)?

Is there any way to look up these brands/labels, like maybe a similar string in the UPC? Or do you just kinda have to know or work at the place to fi d out?

You do have a good point, but maybe it's more the lack of my ability to articulate and write... those were the most glaring examples, but certainly my 'life' didn't revolve around those things.

I was living in downtown Chicago at the time, and there was always plenty to do (and I got out plenty). Blues fest, Taste of Chicago, Lollapalooza, museums, beaches... had it all, a ton more to life than sitting at a computer. But after ripping that part away completely, it was a strong reminder of how much you do read and learn online, and how much of that contributes to real-life activities (such as hitting up meetup.org to organize outdoor trips, etc).

Usually they just hang out on the roof, and yes, the views are nice.

I lived in a skyscraper and had a pair of binoculars... I could see them on the roof when they did other buildings.