Tag Archives: #Passion

I absolutely love technology!! Don’t you?

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Disclaimer: There is absolutely no sarcasm in this article: I am utterly serious.  

Technology, where would the world be without it? Well, we would be without all the unreliable pains that come with it, such as power-shortages, printer’s not printing, frozen computer screens, and viruses. I mean, how did the people survive without technology in the olden days? I know I have a blast when I’m typing up a paper that’s due the next day and my printer runs out of ink, then my fun continues when I’m forced to drive to the store to  buy some since almost every single teacher now-a-days assumes everyone has access and patience for technology.  Isn’t it wonderful when your computer gets a virus and you have to wait for eternity while your computer cleans out this invisible monster you don’t even know how it got there? Good times. I don’t know why anyone would ever want to write an essay on paper and miss out on all the adventure of Microsoft Word.  Not to mention, paper kills trees, unlike computers; all they do is use up a ton of electricity, it’s not like electricity is made from any of our limited natural resources.  How about the fact that technology in general is so reliable! You buy a computer and it lasts, maybe seven years! Phones as well last for a long time, don’t they.  Oh, well they don’t, but who cares when new phones are created all the time because the previous ones were crap: I just always know the new phones will be much better than the old ones.

My next point about how I love it!  Some people prefer to spend their time outdoors, in the sun, getting in touch with themselves. Ha! I can get in-touch just find, in fact technology allows me to get in touch with anyone, anytime I want–even at three am when I’m deathly alone with no one to talk to.  I feel I don’t need to get to know myself when I can get to know everyone else and possibly even lose my personality with it because I’m so focused on other people and my amazing technology.  I hope you can relate; I never even leave home without some form of technology with me, I literally cannot live without it (I’ve tried and failed). But, there are some crazy people who don’t even have a smart-phone, why  torture yourself. Everyone should be able to experience the joy I have, it’s a shame some just don’t understand.

 

They Probably Aren’t Talking to You (It’s the 21st Century)

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It happens to everyone at one point or another: you’re walking casually down the sidewalk minding your own thoughts when you pass by someone who says, “Hello!”  Your head turns to view said person, a stranger to you; I don’t recognize them, you think, and they aren’t visibly talking on a cell phone .  Then the stranger proceeds to loudly proclaim some phrase such as, “What’s up?”  or “How are you?”.  As your gait slows again, you do a double-take just to be sure: still a bit confused.  It’s by this point you realize–because of the lack of eye-contact, or because of the unfamiliarity of the conversation (and person), as well as the assumption that they are mentally stable–the stranger is speaking not to you, but to an almost-invisible blue-tooth protruding from their ear.  Welcome to the twenty-first century; who needs phone booths when we have blue-tooths!

This form of mobile phone can–if used for good–be beneficial: like in cases where you cannot hold a cellphone because you’re preoccupied driving.  But other-wise, please, shake off the idleness and just hold the phone.  It’s much less baffling to fellow pedestrians and, for some reason, less loud.  Is it me, or do people who talk on blue-tooths seem to talk louder than people who talk on regular cell phones? Maybe it’s the extended distance from mouth to receptor?

Either way, open endorsement of  these devices by companies seem to have lead to an increase and acceptance of blue-tooth talkers in public, when in my opinion they can be as noisy and distracting as anyone on a cellphone. Oh but wait, loud cell phone talkers often hold conversations publicly too.  For example: once while shopping in a department store, I took a trip to the restroom with my younger sister and while I waited the sound of a cellphone ring echoed through the stall next to my sister’s, suddenly to stop.  No, she wouldn’t really answer it here, would she?  As I feared for the loss of society’s dignity, the lady in stall number 2 proved me wrong; she had answered the phone while in the midst of relieving herself.  She even continued–clear enough for everyone in the room to hear the conversation–talking through flushing the toilet; so if the person on the other end didn’t know she was using the restroom before, they sure knew now.

It may disturb you, but it remains true just as it remains a reflection of how some technology has lead to a decrease in the importance of social etiquette.  If someone on my contacts list answered the phone while in the bathroom, I’d question why I was friends with this person when they did not even have the decency to call back at a better time. (well, maybe that’s an exaggeration)  Also, I wouldn’t appreciate everyone in the same vicinity as the person I’m talking to knowing the details of our private conversation.  When talking in person with a friend you wouldn’t normally  project your voice to the extent of passerby’s being able to interpret every word.  For loud-talkers and blue-tooth users: sometimes maybe it’s better to wait to answer the phone, quiet down a little, or, find a phone booth (do those still exist?).

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You’ve Got To Be Kindle-ing Me (First Post).

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As seen from the “About” section, technology doesn’t really float my boat; it sinks my boat,  down, deep, into the sublime depths of technological annoyance .    Some specific burdens strongly aid in the sinking of my boat  (they irk me).  They are what I call fake books: Nooks, Kindles, and eReaders.   Why are they the source of my annoyance?  Do I not like convenient reading means?    Here are my reasons:

1.  Don’t be confused, I adore books and avidly jump into the plot of any story whenever I get the chance.  This fondness enhances my dislike of these new “books”.  For me, I like having an actual book in my hands, holding real pages bound together by beautiful–most of the time– covers, and being able to absorb the gallantry scented whiff released after turning the page.  This, in my opinion–along with others, including some of my good friends–beats swiping a screen.

2. They cost money!!   Why spend hundreds of unnecessary dollars on a machine to contain books–many of which you have to purchase–when you can simply go to the library?   I know with my sister’s Kindle Fire, not only are there books on there, but games as well: a negative distraction if your true intention relates to reading.

3. You don’t have to charge a book.  (I never have, and probably never will here someone say, “oh darn, my book needs to be charged.”)  Many people use the argument of, “you can have as many books as you want on vacation or far away trips without having to lug heavy books around.”  Though that point is true, let’s see how that argument stands when your on the beach or in London, your Kindle gets down to 1% battery level, and needs to be charged; books are at 100% all the time.

4.  For one of the last, but definitely not the least:  studies have proven that reading information through a screen actually rewires our brains, inhibiting the full capacity of information to be retained.  We remember more of what we read, if we read through actual books because we have started acquainting ourselves with scrolling and fast paced Twitter or Tumblr skimming.  This rewiring also impairs some people’s abilities to carefully  read more difficult literature; our mind is so used to jumping around on electronic devices from reading, to Facebook, to Email, to Pinterest,  that taking time to slowly digest literature–Shakespeare for example–requires a lot more effort.  “Our ability to focus is being undermined my bursts of information” (Richtel)  Reading from a screen also takes more time, “the most common experimental finding is that silent reading from screen is significantly slower than reading from paper”.  ( Kak,1981; Muter et al, 1982; Wright and Lickorish,1983; Gould and Grischkowsky, 1984; Smedshammar et al 1989)

I’m still baffled as to why anyone would prefer a Nook, Kindle, or eReader over an actual book.  If my parents bought be one, that thing would go straight back to where it came from.  Now that I’ve put mine out there, feel free to comment your own opinions! books

References:

Dillon, A. (1992) Reading from paper versus screens: a critical review of the empirical literature. Ergonomics, 35(10), 1297-1326. (www.ischool.utexas.edu/~adillon/Journals/Reading.htm) Richtel, Matt. Reading from paper versus screens: a critical review of the empirical literature.  The New York Times.  June 7, 2010. www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0