By Zoe Huber-Weiss ’13 and Sabrina Merold ‘13, Staff Writers

During the first 24 hours that the iPhone 4S was available, Apple sold 1 million units. Technology has truly revolutionized the world that we live in today, but until it was taken away from us, it wasn’t clear how much we depend on it. During the October 29th snowstorm, many people in the Newark Academy community lost power. The outages forced many to either live in freezing darkness or to leave their homes altogether, seeking solace in hotels or friends’ houses. There is no doubt that the blackouts were major inconveniences, yet there were noticeable advantages to having no Internet and being disconnected from the online world.

Newark Academy students tend to blame their lack of sleep on the enormous loads of homework assigned each day. However, during the blackouts, many found that homework took significantly less time due to decreased distractions. Without Facebook, Stumbleupon, YouTube, and Hulu, there was nothing left to do but work. Procrastination all but disappeared, thanks to the lack of Internet; without the web, many found that they had no idea what to do. A seemingly universal dependency on the online world was evident and concerning. Visiting public places with Internet, such as Barnes and Noble and Starbucks, it was difficult to find an outlet to use due to the enormous crowds of people without power that had gathered. A woman even asked an employee if there was a “secret outlet” she could use.

While the lack of Internet furthered many students’ abilities to concentrate, it also made the completion of certain assignments difficult to impossible. Students are not the only ones that have become more and more dependent on the Internet— most teachers assign homework only online, and some assignments can only be completed with access to the web. The Internet is incredibly helpful with research projects, papers, even reading for foreign language classes. It is necessary to try not to use the Internet as both an interactive and intellectual crutch, to remember that there was a time before Facebook and Google, and people survived then. We must learn to do the same now, so that if our resources are taken away again, it will not wreak such havoc on our way of life.