jamawani 

Information technology has the POTENTIAL to open up far more possibilities - but if the result is simply 800 flavors of Coke and/or Pepsi, I would argue that it does not. The poster asked if he he could "wing it" - deviate from Google. My question would be, "When did Google gain such influence and who gave it to them?"

I think the poster also suggests the obsessive compulsive part of electronic communications. 25 years ago, I did not have to have a WiFi hotspot overnight and at lunch. If I stopped at a town library, it was for the facilities, a little air conditioning, maybe a glance at the newspaper, and a long rest in an arm chair where I might catch up on post cards. A telephone booth was never that far away - but being mostly disconnected was the actual idea.

If you look at riders' journals, you see how being connected to the electronic world often trumps being connectd to the world people are experiencing at the moment. Yes, you can Google "Jeffrey City" - but it's far more rewarding hearing about from the old-timer behind the bar. Today, if I forget to turn off my phone, it will ring when I am riding. Yes, I know there can be emergencies, but how did I survive years back when someone couldn't reach me at 11:42 a.m.?