Technology writer challenges himself to give up Internet for one year

Life without the Internet isn't something that many of us are acquainted with nowadays. Almost every aspect of our lives depend on online interaction in some way. One technology writer has decided to temporarily pull himself out of the World Wide Web, and hopes to find out what it looks like from the outside.

Paul Miller, Senior Editor at The Verge announced three months ago that as of May 1, he'd be going without the Internet for one year.

While it may sound like a near-impossible feat, considering Miller's line of work, he says that his job actually makes it easier. Miller has the support of his colleagues and his superiors, and he's writing about his experiences for The Verge. As Miller explains in the video, he writes his posts and hands them off to a co-worker to put up on the website, so he doesn't actually have to go online at all. That doesn't mean his experiment is an easy one, though.

"Who could ever have a real job at this point [without the Internet]?" said Miller in an interview with ABC. "I'm able to do it because it's about leaving the Internet. But I'm not able to leave the Internet and be a super-functional member of society at all. Or even a barely functional member of society. I can basically write and read."

Miller's posts are reflections on his current life without Internet, as well as his pre-offline life, often filled with digital frustrations that just don't matter in the grand scheme of things. His recent post on a near-meltdown he had at a spotty WiFi connection is just a sample of the perspective Miller has gained since disconnecting.

VIDEO: No Internet For One Year: One Man's Challenge

One of Miller's most poignant admissions is how going offline has pulled him out of his comfort zone. He admits that when in social situations, he'd often busy himself online with his phone as a means of avoiding social interaction (something I think many of us can relate to). Since he started his experiment, however, he says that it forces him to actively engage with the people around him, and he feels better for it.

You can read more about Miller's journey in his "Offline" blog posts on The Verge. You can also follow him on Twitter at @futurepaul, but don't expect much to happen there until next May.