My Year of Tech and Relaxation

I used to go to the mall to use the internet. Until a few months ago, I would leave my apartment after dinner, carry my laptop five minutes down the road to the Kingsland Shopping Center, and squat on the dirty linoleum floor outside Costa Coffee, one hand balancing my laptop on my knees, the other hand typing out email replies letter by letter. Passersby would yell comments at me as I squatted; I looked ridiculous. Internet access was a humiliation ritual. If it lasted longer than it needed to, it might inflict physical and psychological damage. But hadn’t it always been this way?