Over the past month, I discovered how dependent I have become on the Internet. I live in rural Douglas County. In terms of communications, I might as well live in Northern Afghanistan.

For years we were unable to get cable service. Instead we have subscribed to a satellite television service. But we chose not to subscribe to satellite internet service on the advice of a number of experts. Until two years ago we used dial-up. It was painfully slow. As a result, our Internet activities were limited to E-mail and occasional Google searches.

Then, about 18 months ago, we learned that our wireless telephone provider was offering wireless internet service. Although the speed wasn’t all that great, usually 40-56 kps, it was so much better than what we had had available, that we began to use the internet to read the news, bid on books online, and to find directions. I felt like I had joined the 20th century.

Every morning I would rise at 5:30, get on my exercise bicycle and read a half-dozen online news services as I pedaled away. Then, last month, our service became painfully slow again, an average of only 12 kps. I was shattered. No more online news or auctions. No more travel information. I thought that I would go mad. I realized that I was an addict.

Over the past month I’ve gone through Internet detox. I thought that my addiction, if not cured, had been brought under control at last. Now, when I got up in the morning I would go out and get my copy of the Journal-World from the yard and read it as I bicycled. If I finish my reading before I finished cycling, I would read a novel. I’ve gotten through several in the past four weeks. And I’ve saved a small fortune by not bidding on books and other antiques on Ebay. I realized that I could, indeed, live without high-speed internet.

I felt liberated. But then things changed again. This weekend, our Internet service speeded up again. Now, however, it was no longer a sluggish 40-56 kps but almost broadband speed at 1 mbs. Suddenly I could do everything I used to do but do it faster. And, oh, the new experiences which have opened up to me!

Now I can watch You Tube videos. I can join Second Life. I can watch streaming news clips. I can even watch television trailers. And suddenly my “cure” has disappeared. No more novels in the morning. Now I can view ten news services with live video. Forget joining the 20th century. Now I am a full-fledged denizen of the 21st. I’m hooked again!

But in all seriousness, I can now see, after my month of sluggish service and in light of my new speedy service, both the dangers of too much Internet and the seductions high-speed Internet offers. Certainly, technology has changed my life. I can only hope that it changes it for the better.