So, there is a wide-area outage of the Rogers networks, one of Canada’s two major communications providers. I don’t have cell phone nor internet service and never owned a landline at this location. How do I know it’s a network outage? The neighbour came over in hopes that I am with the other provider. And as we were talking, another neighbour stopped on the road and reported that the outage is also affecting the big city over 100 kilometres away.
I don’t have news from my significant other, who is with the same provider, nor from my family, with whom I connect via social media app, nor from the friends, who were planning to visit today or tomorrow. While they have my address, I wonder how they will find it without navigation. Maybe they’ll find a forgotten road atlas in their glove compartment or trunk. Or they will follow signs to my town and then ask their way to my street. Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to walk to my community mailbox, but it was empty as usual.
At work, I am busy with a major research grant proposal involving communications with 35 co-applicants. We use shared documents to complete the proposal. Coincidentally, I saved a backup of the latest version yesterday to my laptop, so that I can proceed, yet without the necessary feedback from my colleagues. As I am writing this post, I also realize that I constantly look up English translations of words in my mother tongue as well as synonyms of the first English word that comes to mind for a particular thought. For example, I would have looked up a better fit than the word “feedback” two sentences above.
Here at the lake, life is much more weather-dependent than in the city. A sunny day just turned cloudy and windy, and I have to decide whether to take the shade sail down or not. Once it gets too windy, I cannot take it down safely any more. Alas, the different, often contradictory weather and wind forecast sites that I use to check multiple times each day are inaccessible.
I was thinking of driving to the public library. I wasn’t sure of the location but could confirm it in the stored maps of my smartphone. However, I have no way to verify their hours, whether they have public internet access, and whether it’s online today. I may go later, although my recent car troubles don’t make it appealing, considering the risk of being stuck with no way to phone for help.
In the meantime, I have to think how a nice day can turn so utterly dark. Are we really so dependent on digital communications, online services, and virtual distractions? Not yet, I dare to say, but we are on a slippery slope towards global digitization of everything. I currently have shelter, food, gas, and some cash to make it through several days if needed. However, if I depended on digital currency and digital ID for access to these basic necessities, I would be in trouble right now, along with half of everybody else.
This outage is a stark reminder to fight against over-reaching politicians and technocrats. With all due respect and admiration for some new technologies, we need to ensure that redundant fall-back systems and practices are preserved, as there is no such thing as fail-proof technology. Life isn’t over and out, but in terms of the message that the Rogers outage sends us, we should be like in the movies: “Roger, over and out”, and pull back on total digitization.
Roger(s), over and out
You don’t really realize how utterly dependent we’ve become on telecommunication providers until they stop working, it’s unnerving. Satellite radios and phones are sounding more appealing. As nice as it would be to be totally independent from needing them.