Freedom frees you (and your Mac) from the horror of the internet

Filed under: Utilities, Macintosh, Productivity, Apple, Freeware

Freedom frees you (and your Mac) from the horror of the internet

by Jason Clarke Aug 5th 2008

If you're anything like me, you're probably at least a little bit addicted to your internet connection. The first thing I do when I wake up is check my email and RSS feeds, and it's also the last thing I do before going to sleep. But that addiction can sometimes be a problem.

Staying on-task these days is not easy, particularly if you work at an internet-connected computer. The possible distractions are virtually limitless. So what is a geek to do? One option is to simply pull the plug. The network plug, that is.

But of course, these days almost all computers have wireless capabilities, so turning off your internet connection isn't quite as simply as just pulling the plug. If you're on a Mac, you can use Freedom.

Freedom will turn off all of your Mac's wireless and ethernet networking for a set amount of time. So if you need to put your head down for an hour and get some work done, you can set Freedom to an hour, and know that you won't be tempted by any distractions.

If you absolutely need to get back online before the chosen duration is up, the only way to do so is to reboot your computer.

This is one of those apps that will be a life saver for some people, and seem totally ridiculous to others. Which are you?

Tags: distraction, Freedom, internet-addiction, networking, time-waster, wi-fi, wireless

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Eric said 5:51PM on 8-05-2008

I feel like I read this just a week or two ago... but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume it was on TUAW.

Jonathan Dansby said 6:04PM on 8-05-2008

Oh man. Maybe this is too soon to ask, but is there a Windows equivalent?

Mark Gilbert said 6:56PM on 8-05-2008

This was mentioned a few weeks back on TUAW here http://www.tuaw.com/2008/07/07/beta-beat-freedom-leaves-you-internet-less/

Parker said 12:19PM on 8-06-2008

I find some irony that a program called "freedom" is actually about control and putting restrictions on yourself (or other people using that computer). Almost Orwellian.

(Yes, I totally get that it's referring to the liberating feeling of getting offline and going for a walk or something, but still...)

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