> I miss Away Messages. This nostalgia is layered in abstraction; I probably miss the newness of the internet of the 1990s, and I also miss just being … away.
The difference is that Slack has a mobile app so when you step away from your computer, you’re not really “away” like you used to be before smartphones were a thing.
Yes, you can disable notifications or try to ignore them, but that’s not the author’s point. I read it more as them longing for “a better time,” similar to an expression of nostalgia for the simplicity of one’s childhood.
Similar to the "you didn't answer the phone, so now I'm worried you're dead / know you're ignoring me" scenario we have today in which 100% reachability means if you don't answer the phone, there's a reason.
The surreal world of "hey kids, go play all day. Come back before dark!" is unfathomable. We literally leash children that are too small to be reached digitally.
Fascinating societal change in a fairly short amount of time.
But would you let your child be unattended and untrackable from dawn til dusk if you'd told them "have fun but stay in the neighborhood!"?
A well-publicized truancy lawsuit from maybe 5 years ago -- in which 2? children were remitted to foster care because an 8? year old and his brother were allowed to walk 2? blocks to a park unattended (I did a quick search for the suit, but there were so many results... the specific case ceased to matter) -- implies the answer is irrelevant, as American society wouldn't even let you if you wanted to.
I have to think there is also a good middle ground here - I also remember a LOT of kids getting pretty seriously injured and if you look at the numbers deaths were definitely higher. Most of that is attributed I believe to vehicle safety (which has obviously improved) but I am not sure we should remember being a complete latch key kid too romantically.
I do feel bad for the youth of today though - I feel like I really got the very last childhood that was not inundated with social media and increased anxiety while still being just young enough to understand all the latest tech.
Which brings us to the apparently-answered question of which is better: A life in which a child is perfectly safe but steeped in micro-risk-aversion, or one that can and will have negative consequences?
Like I said - easy middleground. If you live in a safe city let you kids go and do their thing on bikes or whatever. But make sure you provide them with a good helmet and that they actually want to use it.
> I miss Away Messages. This nostalgia is layered in abstraction; I probably miss the newness of the internet of the 1990s, and I also miss just being … away.
The difference is that Slack has a mobile app so when you step away from your computer, you’re not really “away” like you used to be before smartphones were a thing.
Yes, you can disable notifications or try to ignore them, but that’s not the author’s point. I read it more as them longing for “a better time,” similar to an expression of nostalgia for the simplicity of one’s childhood.