As high-speed Internet access and other constantly innovated modern technologies are being adopted by millions of people each year, a group of people now claim themselves as “digital resisters”. They are neither Luddites nor laggards; instead most are young and educated. So what makes them immune to the lure of electronic gadgets and Internet services?

Compared with those people who feel lost and distracted all day when they forget to take along their cell phone, these “digital resisters” reject any presence of the Internet or cell phones in their lives.

Such a group of people may be in the minority, yet they insist on adhering to their life style instead of accepting the modern technological trend.

“The cell phone buzz makes me sick!” Zhang Zhi, a manager based in Beijing, announced to his friends a month ago that he would never use a cell phone. “I resent it! The endless ringing makes me suffer from auditory hallucination.” When he’s unavailable he has fewer social activities and more private time. If there is something urgent to deal with, his secretary will inform him immediately.

But it is still not easy to resist electronic products in today’s fast-moving web world. “I am not rejecting communication tools, but I need more privacy,” Xiao Jia, 25, hailing from Tianjin, does not seem as radical as other “digital resisters”. “I am just baffled by people who cling to their cell phone all day long.”

Xiao Jia said she was quite nostalgic, adding that: “I dislike E-mails because they all have similar fonts and formats. Letters should be more than just letters; they are sentimental links and they become spiritual wealth as the years pass. ”

She doesn’t care a whit for Internet tools such as online forums and MSN. She doesn’t mind that her tech-savvy peers consider her a laggard.

A retired professor surnamed Guo has discarded his cell phone since he retired a year ago. He explained to the International Herald Tribune: “Chatting with my old friends face to face can bring me more tangible happiness. We bought computers and cell phones thinking they would enhance our relationships with family, friends and coworkers. Instead, these devices are eroding our relationships.”

Reading the newspaper is an important part of his daily routine. Guo said: “Although we have speedy web news, it dilutes my primary enjoyment of reading itself.”

(China.org.cn by He Shan, September 3, 2007)