Disconnected

A fascinating documentary, Disconnected follows the lives of three students at Carleton College in Northfield, MN, who volunteer to abstain from using computers for several weeks. Members of a generation that has never known life without personal computers, Andrew, Caitlin, and Chel initially suffer serious withdrawal pains after going cold turkey on e-mail, word processing, Google, Facebook, and the World Wide Web in general. Minus the PC, the trio struggle (often comically) with old-fashioned alternatives for getting their work done and maintaining a social network, including leaving notes for friends, attempting to figure out how to use a typewriter, and doing research with actual books housed in a real library. After a while, however, all three discover that they have more time on their hands than before (not to mention that sticking a message in a girlfriend's mailbox is more sweet and personal than texting her via cell phone). Watching Disconnected reminds us of what it was like before computers—a time almost unimaginable now. DVD extras include deleted scenes. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)