Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Post 4: Communication Technologies at Home

In this posting, list all the communication technologies you own. Then discuss (1) the purpose of each technology—i.e., what you use it for; (2) how much time you spend using each technology; (3) what are some of the intended and unintended consequences for you and your lifestyle.

26 comments:

Jo Jackson said...

Here is an unintended consequence of cell phones that I really have never thought of until I viewed an episode of Dr. Phil on Monday: teens texting while driving. I guess I never thought of it because it seems rather stupid to do in the first place. One teen on the show killed a bicyclists because of texting. Another teen couldn't stand the thought of no reading her texts as soon as they show up for fear of missing out on the latest gossip. Dr. Phil made her take an simulated drving test and allowes her to text. In 10 minutes, she had over 50 driving violations, one being swerving into oncoming traffic, head-on into a firetruck! She's only had her licesnse for 4 months. Does anyone think cell phone usage by teen drivers should be prohibited?

Mel said...

Very unfortunate, indeed.

Jo Jackson said...

I'm not that big on communication technologies, but I have the basics: cell phone, television and stereo.
I use my cell phone to communicate with my family which lives out of town. Since in pregnant, my mother, sister, friends and cousins like to keep track on how I'm doing and I send them pictures of my ultrasounds. I also use my cell phone as a regular phone when I have to conduct business (making appointments, ordering food, etc.). I don't use my cell phone too often during the week unless its important. With using Verizon, all calls made to other Verizon subscribers are free, but I do use it quite a bit on weekends (free weekends). I would say for weekends I spend about 6-8 hours talking to family and friends. Consequences of this are that my fiance gets upset with me because I'm on the phone so much when weekends are suppose to be "our time". I sometimes hate that people have so much access to you. If you don;t answer the phone, they'll either call back-to-back or leave some snide message about you being too good to answer your phone for them. I also have a cousin notorious for giving out numbers to people that shouldn't have it (exes).
My television and stereo are mostly used for entertainment, however I do use TV for information-seeking. My TV watching varies from week to week, depending on what I have going on, plus I watch a lot of DVDs and play videogames. Time watching TV is estimated at 5 hours, gaming and movies at 1-3 hours each every other day. I rarely listen to the radio. I only use the stereo if I'm cleaning or gaming. Consequences I see with this is wasting electricity, reduction of interpersonal interactions, increased laziness and its just easy to piss your day away. Once I get started playing something, I realize hours have passes and I've got nothing I wanted to accomplish done.

tammy said...

Friends have made fun of my husband and me for years for our minimalist lifestyle especially when it comes to electronics. In our kitchen we have an AM/FM radio. It also plays CDs. We almost never play CDs, but listen to the radio much of the time we are at home, particularly news and talk-radio stations. The radio is used 8-10 hours per day. On the plus side, the programs keep us abreast of news and current topics. My children have a diverse political vocabulary and the topics often spur conversation between the members of the family.

On the downside, minor demands from the children are often treated as large distractions if they interrupt an interesting exchange on the radio program. In addition, some content is too mature for my young children and I have been put in the position of having to explain material which could’ve waited a few more years.

In our living room, we have a 13” color TV with rabbit ears which gets 4 local stations. I watch the news in the morning for a half hour or so until the kids get up, after which they sometimes watch a show on PBS. Otherwise the TV is rarely used, except when we occasionally check out children’s DVD’s from the library. We have made a conscious effort to not make the TV a central focus in our family life and its presence in our home does not seem to have any real impact.

We have a laptop in the office which we use for business and school. It is used 5-6 hours per day depending on our workloads. It is a wonderful multi-tasking tool for managing work, school, banking and bill paying, renewing library books, etc. without having to leave home or get a sitter for my children. It is great to be able to help my children answer a question about something they are interested in with a few keystrokes, or to get maps, phone numbers, and addresses. We rarely use the computer for personal communication with friends and family. Once again, although it is convenient to work on the laptop while doing household chores and childcare, it is a balancing act which leaves me wondering sometimes if any one matter actually gets its due attention.

My husband and I both have a cell phone. (We recently traded our landline for two cell phones.) We have a limited number of minutes for outside calls, so we mainly use the phones to coordinate ours and our children’s schedules. My phone is also used for my work which means I can always be available without being tied to a desk, although I am pretty good about letting messages go to voice mail until I am ready to talk. The cell phone works good to keep up with family and friends while doing menial household chores, waiting, and driving. It is so much better than the landline because there are no telemarketers and the only people with my number are those I give it to. The phone is used a half hour per day. Once again, the downside is trying to do too much at one time and not really giving full attention to each task.

We don’t have any portable music devices and I am one of those moms who doesn’t allow any sort of electronic game devices for my children. (I burned enough of my own brain cells when I was a kid mastering the Pac-Man route.) We are acutely aware of the “noise” from the gadgets in our lives and try to get away one weekend a month to a cabin in Wisconsin for R&R with no technology…okay, just a radio…and a cell phone for emergencies!

Xiaomin Qian said...

In China, there are many car accidents caused by speaking on cellphones when driving. Because it is not easy to control the steering wheel with one hand holding a phone. So transportation department is trying to persuade drivers to use a certain kind earphone which allows people to talk while both hands can still handle their cars. People always use a new technology to solve a problem caused by other technologies.

Xiaomin Qian said...

Here are five communication technologies I often use: computer, cellphone, TV, MP3, radio.

Computer is the most frequently tool I use. Around 6 hours usage time per day in average. I usually check email, search information (i.e. to find research papers), access to WebCT for study; write my blog, log into a BBS, read news online, or watch movies for entertainment; I also call my Mom through internet (it's cheap by using Skype, only 2.1 cents each minute to China), chat with my friends on MSN. Logging on a computer everyday is a necessary work for me, otherwise I may feel lost something. Computer did bring convenience and effcience to my life, but I overdepend and spend too much time on it. My back and neck feel ache after a long time sitting in front of the computer. However, I can't live a life without computer.

When I still worked for a news agency in China, my cellphone was never shut down. Editors or my boss might call me at any time. I had no private time at all, so I always hoped someone to steal my cellphone. Now cellphone is an emergency communication tool for me. I bring it only for a travel. I also hate to talk through a phone.

I watch TV for half hour a day. It turned on when I have dinner. Actually, it is more like background noise. I don't like watching TV. Compared with computer, I can't control what is on on TV, but I can choose what I want to see or read online. I often watch movies online(i.e. PPlive, a p2p software allows you to click TV shows which you want to look).

I use MP3 for listening music, recording and storing digital files. I use it about twice a day. It's really helpful especially when I just arrived in American. I used it to record courses and lectures.

I listen to the radio only when driving and for rest. And the only channel I listenning is national public radio. There are BBC news at 11pm which is the time I driving home. In average, the radio using time is 10 minutes per day.

Daniela Dimitrova said...

Hi class,

Great discussion, both online and offline.

Here is a link to a recent article by Dr. Bugeja
http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=VhDkzG6wGHsNDkmdjywC5zdFnhgmx2Ch that may come up during his class visit.

Mel said...

I own an AM/FM stereo with a CD player. It never gets used anymore. I use the individual speakers more often than the stereo.

I also have a laptop. I only use it for an hour or so per day. I generally for information searches and academics or for social functions like chatting and Facebook.

I have a TV that remains in the common room of the apartment. I only watch it 3-4 hours a week, though, so it doesn't have much of an impact on my life.

I work in campus computer labs, so I always have a computer at my disposal while I work, even though I read most of the time, rather than spend time online or using the computer.

Last but not least, I have a cell phone. If anything, this takes up most of my time. So many short calls take up a lot of time! Fortunately, my phone is not equipped with SMS texting or internet access (well, it has them, but those functions are disabled). I probably spend about 5-7 hours per week on the phone (that's a overestimate, I'm guessing).

Good consequences of using the cell phone is convenience. I can make an appointment or set up a meeting time with a friend while I'm walking between classes or driving in the car. At the same time, however, I use while driving, which is a distraction and makes it more difficult to drive (I drive a manual transmission).

tammy said...

Dr. Bugeja is making for some very insightful thougts/conversations. I'm getting more and more nervous about using my credit cards and my online bill paying, etc. It sure is convenient, but I'm not so sure I like anyone monitoring my buying habits

Xiaomin Qian said...

Hello everyone,
I have borrowed "the handbook of new media" and I will put it in my steelcase(with the name tag 'xiaomin') in the graduate hub. You can make a copy or just read the book, but don't forget to return it to the case so others can also find it.
(the reading assignments for the next course are from p22 to p33)

Mel said...

Tammy - unfortunately, our buying habits have been monitored for YEARS by now. Don't get me wrong, it makes me nervous, too. I've never bought anything online - it just freaks me out way to much - but at the same convenience does win out.

My bank card is a Visa debit card. I'm sure my habits can be monitored even through my debit card, but I would rather use my debit card instead of driving to the bank (across town) to get cash or going to the ATM and being charged a fee...

My question is: In the name of convenience versus security and tracking, where do you draw the line?

Erin said...

I own a cell phone, iPod, laptop computer and a TV. I use my computer by far the most often, probably at least 2-3 hours a day. Although I am on my computer a lot, I really don't use it for much other than checking my email and when I am writing in a Word document. For me, the benefits of my computer far outweigh the negatives - I have realized that I am somewhat dependent on Google and Wikipedia though. Another negative that I have noticed is that I occasionally use my computer - the internet more specifically - to procrastinate, (I'm sure I'm not the only one to say this).

I use my cell phone mainly for communicating with my family. I talk to my Dad every day and my sister 2-3 times a week. Other than that, I sometimes text friends. One positive of my phone is the feeling of safety that it gives me. I've realized that I have become so accustomed to always having it with me that I'm incredibly uncomfortable going anywhere, (especially driving) without it. It is also nice to be able to communicate with people while I am doing things other than sitting at home; this is also a negative though. I really don't like to text message, so I guess I would consider it a negative, even though I do it. It seems to be the main way that most of my friends prefer to communicate whether I like it or not.

I don't use my iPod very often, in fact, usually only when I work out. I work out in a gym, so I'm not in any real danger by being oblivious to my surroundings with headphones on. I guess since I only use it for a short while every day I don't really see any negatives.

I listen to the news on my TV every morning when I am getting ready, and usually watch it for 1/2 an hour to an hour before I go to sleep at night. A benefit is feeling like I can hear what is going on in the world while I do something else, but it is information that I could get from waking up earlier and simply reading a newspaper. In the evening it offers entertainment, but this can also become a distraction.

Daniela Dimitrova said...

***Reading for Tuesday***

Class: Note that the reading for Tuesday's class is the first chapter in The Handbook of New Media: Social Shaping and Consequences of ICTs by Lievrouw, Leah A. & Livingstone, Sonia.

Thanks to Xiaomin for making it available for everyone in the grad hub.

Enjoy the game!

titun said...

I have to admit my husband I are slaves to technology, be it new or old. It’s very typical in the morning to find my husband reading his morning news paper on his laptop, sometimes even reading it aloud to me if there is something interesting. It not only gives us updated news in a flash, but we can also very conveniently read news papers from all around the world , in different languages without getting out of bed. Between the two of us, we have 2 laptops and one 17” desktop which I mainly use for school and for printing pictures and other fun stuff.
Computers are used the most in our house hold right from the time we get up till we hit the bed at night. We have wireless internet at home thereby giving us the luxury of carrying our laptops where ever we are in the house. We use it listen to music, work, chat with friends, play games and it lets me do designs along with unlimited options for the house and pictures.

We definitely own land lines, just because we have to talk, we have two cell phones, one of them is the iphone, again because we have to talk long distance, and be connected when we are on the run.
Apart from that I have an ipod, which I have to say I use it fairly couple of hours a day, listening to music. It gives me the flexibility to listen to music when I want to, and choose where I want to. On the go I can simply use my power adapter to listen music in the car, especially when I am traveling long distance, that way I am not stuck changing radio stations or fumbling for cd’s to put in my cd changer.
Though we don’t really have time to watch a lot television, apart from CNN or other news channels, we own 2 TV’s, one a 21” and the other a home theater system with a 70” screen, which again primarily serves it’s purpose when we have company over.

I have to admit though all these up to date gadgets have definitely made our life easier and more connected, I sometimes crave for some solace time to my self when no one can reach me, not even my hubby. The consequences are definitely not very good, as I have felt it can lead to decreased productivity time, because I am so easily distracted with chatting or surfing the net, have burned dinner several times, trying to balance the phone, the proportion of salt to the food and talk to my husband all at the same time. We are so addicted to technology, that sometimes we wish we could go back to the simpler life, but alas

Etse Sikanku said...

The communication technologies i own are a cell phone, audio recorder, and a laptop computer. I use my laptop computer the most and indeed during my first year here i'll admit i had more interaction with my computer than humans. This was partly because i was trying to keep a long distance relationship and partly because of school work. In the end i realized the inability of modern technology to save my relationship from inevitable collapse.

I use the laptop most also because of tons of homework, papers and presentations that i have to come up with. I addition i write columns for the Daily, and some newspapers and websites back home in Ghana. As a result of this i find myself doing some kind of research or writing on my laptop most times.

Consequently this is why i spend a greater part of my time when i'm not in class, eating or studying figuring things out on the computer or putting together on piece or the other.

Thus i reckon i use the computer for its intended purpose except those times when i log on to instant messenger networks to chat with my friends. This will therefore be considered an unintended consequence.

In essence the computer has changed my life in a significant way. Coming from a country where communal lifestyles and social relationships are considered the basis for human interaction, hardly will i have imagined such an individualized lifestyle.

Etse Sikanku said...

I find Erin's technological choices interesting since there are some similarities. I definitely agree with you on the issue of text messages. I really don't like using them even though it seems to be the only way some want to communicate.

First i'm wary of it because it limits my ability to express myself and i'm not a fan of coded messages(or short hand writing) since i tend to assume-perhaps rather lamely-that the other person will not fully comprehend what i say, thus limiting the diffusion process.

Additionally i’ll admit that i don't like text messages because i'm charged for sending and receiving them. In Ghana one does not pay for receiving text messages. So i often ask “Why do i have to pay for receiving a text when i did not instigate it?". Till date this whole concept intrigues me a lot. So most times I save my use of cell phones for the free hours which are after 9pm.

Scott Schrage -- Program Assistant said...

The communication technologies I own include a television and cell phone (I don't own a computer or a video game console, though I have regular access to both).

I utilize my television far too frequently, though I have been cutting back in recent months. I probably spend anywhere between two and four hours per day with it on (whether or not it is my primary focus of attention). I utilize it primarily for entertainment and partially for news-gathering, but I have certainly found that its time displacement effects hold a great deal of influence over me.

I would say that I text message more often than I call when using my cell phone. This is rather inefficient, as I sometimes spend an inordinate amount of time having lengthy interactions via text messages that could be significantly expedited through a simple phone call. I send approximately five to 10 text messages per day, but obviously feel as though I have a great deal of flexibility and versatility when it comes to getting in touch with friends. However, I've noticed that I sometimes rely on text messages to express what I should probably be voicing -- even if it is not face-to-face, there is a level of intimacy in the human voice that separates the spoken word from the written one, making it more appropriate in certain situations and scenarios for which I have recently substituted the text message.

Though I do not own a computer, I find myself utilizing my friend's for at least an hour each day. On certain days, that hour becomes two or three, during which I check my e-mail and Facebook acounts and sometimes check out other sites of news/entertainment (in addition to typing out assignments and the like). Like television, I often find that the Internet's nearly countless options keep me engaged far longer than I initially intended, often convincing me that I require information or entertainment that rationale and objectivity would deny. After absorbing such vast amounts of information for such lengths of time, I find myself numbed to critical thought in the way described by Bugeja and so many others.

Scott Schrage -- Program Assistant said...

On the issue of cell phone use while driving, I recently heard (over the radio) that the UK is attempting to institute legislation that would mean several years of jail-time for offenders. This obviously is not the first time that government has legislated communication technology, but it does make me wonder whether this might usher in a new era of governmental interference -- and how such legislation might eventually affect the Internet, which has been, relatively speaking, largely unaffected by such restrictions to this point.

Andrea said...

The devices I own and use mainly consist of a laptop, TV, cell phone, and a portable CD player.

I obtained my laptop through my undergraduate years at Buena Vista University. Every student who enters their first year is given a laptop (pays for it in tuition). So, unfortunately, I've been trained it seems to depend excessively on a computer for several years now. As a student at BVU, I was "on" my computer for almost every hour I was awake, to be totally honest. As the first wireless campus in the US, BV was completely run online. School email served as the way we heard about everything, class materials and readings were almost all online PDFs, and students never called each other on the phone (even though we all had a land line in our dorm room). Instead, we e-mailed and IMed each other for everything from when to meet for dinner to asking for interviews from other students for the student newspaper. It was rather pathetic, really, but it was that type of culture.

One main unintended consequence was the lack of face to face communication among students. We became extremely dependent on computers for everything, and many reporters on the newspaper staff seemed to become nearly incapable of conducting in-person newspaper interviews without feeling totally awkward (something I struggled to change as copy editor). Today, however, my laptop time has decreased a great deal to about two to three hours a day. However, I am on a computer for work in the Reading Room, so maybe I'm not making such a great change from BVU.

I watch my TV quite a bit. I turn it on immediately in the morning to listen to morning shows when I'm getting ready. I turn it on again when I get home for background noise and to watch certain shows during dinner. The consequences of watching TV are more positive than negative for me. As an undergrad, we didn't have cable in our rooms and being from a larger part of Iowa with cable and the works, I felt really disconnected from what was going on in the world without having access to TV. I felt I was missing out on everything from awards shows results to war coverage. So having cable today feels is a comfort almost. I can also argue that this is pretty ridiculous, but it's a fairly realistic reflection of growing up in a household with lots of TV watching.

I use my cell phone mainly to keep in contact with family and friends back home, but also to touch base locally with a significant other and to schedule oil changes, order pizza. etc. My time on my phone is limited because I have share minutes with my sister, but I talk for probably 30 minutes a day. Consequences of using the phone are having to abstain from calling friends and family sometimes if I'm running out of minutes. I've also lost close connection with some past college friends because they don't like to communicate on the phone and no longer live next door (I guess that just goes to show a technology can be disappointingly useless if those around you don't use it as well).

Finally, my CD player is used only about a few times a week if I go running or make a long distance trip in my car. I haven't upgraded to a mp3 player yet, so there are definite consequences in terms of obtaining new music. I used to borrow music from friends from their CDs to burn onto my own CDs. Anymore, so many of them don't use CDs because they have mp3 players, so I have to purchase CDs which gets expensive and boring with limited options at most stores.

Actually being able to type down these ideas really brings my attention to how these devices make my life more complicated a lot of the time. And to think I thought they'd make it so much better!

Andrea said...

Ah! I'm so envious of Tammy's lifestyle. If I could get my family and friends on board with a more simplistic lifestyle, I'd love to take my technological uses down a notch.

I've actually thought a lot about this topic since hearing Tammy and Erin talk about how they were raised as kids with TV. Tammy said that after being raised with lots of TV time she's opted to live with little TV time as an adult. It's interesting how our notions of impact change when we have kids. I don't have any yet, but I could almost feel myself nodding when I listened to Tammy talk because I know I'll want my kids to have more in their life than just TV, even though I don't have them yet.

The theory of the third person effect ties in nicely here. We always think the effects of something have a greater impact on "them" than on us. But I suppose that comes with being a parent. While I may be on the computer a lot today, I know I'll be putting limits on computer use once I have kids. And needing to lead my example, I'll probably have to start by limiting my own use first.

Eva said...

If as Wikipedia said, "Very broadly defined, communication technology includes the theory, technology, design, and equipment related to the processing and transfer of messages/information." Then besides mobile phone, laptop(Internet), traditional television and radio, I may consider blog and podcast are the communication technologies I owned as well.

Firstly, I use cell phone to communicate with others, such as friends, families, the professor, the doctor, and the community center etc. It can be used as a connection with people, also can be used for some business or emergency. It may be true that there is an increasing number of car accident because of using cell phone when driving, the direct factor which results in these accidents is their lacking of sense of safe. Can you imagine you are in come kind of danger without a cell phone? Or you lose the cell phone and fail to contact with any friend? I bring the cell phone all too often. When I was in China, I often texted to or called my friends and families. It is a good tool which provides much more convenience and helps to keep the relationships. For example, I have many friends from the high school and we used cell phone to contact with each other. We always texted to greet with each other, talked about the latest things, and made a date to meet each other. It did help to maintain and improve my friendships. It is the same here.

Secondly, I can't live without my laptop. It is used everyday and most frequently. There are a lot of things to do, like surf the Internet, typing the document, listening to music, using some software as photoshop and adobe, uploading and collecting some photos from digital camera and so on. When I am on line, I can communicate with the world. I read the daily news on Times website, I chat with my friend on line, I talk with my parents with the web-cam...Some people complain about overload of information. Yes, I believe I am also one of the victim. Once I sit in front of the laptop, it is hard for me to shift my concentration back to study because the information on the Internet is so various, abstracting and excessive. But it is from the Internet, I got detailed information of Iowa State University. And then I was able to apply for it on line and received the admission letter. It is because of Internet, I get better understanding of different culture and background of USA to prepare my study here. It shortens our distance. We are one member of the global village, and it is our duty to learn how to deal with the overload information.

Thirdly, for tv and radio, I watched and listened a lot before I came here. But I spent less time on it than the Internet. Because most of TV program and news could be watched on line selectively,. We, my family would watch TV together during the dinner. And then I will go back to my room, facing the laptop, for there are pretty more choice on line than the TV and radio.

Eva said...

If as Wikipedia said, "Very broadly defined, communication technology includes the theory, technology, design, and equipment related to the processing and transfer of messages/information." Then besides mobile phone, laptop(Internet), traditional television and radio, I may consider blog and podcast are the communication technologies I owned as well.

Firstly, I use cell phone to communicate with others, such as friends, families, the professor, the doctor, and the community center etc. It can be used as a connection with people, also can be used for some business or emergency. It may be true that there is an increasing number of car accident because of using cell phone when driving, the direct factor which results in these accidents is their lacking of sense of safe. Can you imagine you are in come kind of danger without a cell phone? Or you lose the cell phone and fail to contact with any friend? I bring the cell phone all too often. When I was in China, I often texted to or called my friends and families. It is a good tool which provides much more convenience and helps to keep the relationships. For example, I have many friends from the high school and we used cell phone to contact with each other. We always texted to greet with each other, talked about the latest things, and made a date to meet each other. It did help to maintain and improve my friendships. It is the same here.

Secondly, I can't live without my laptop. It is used everyday and most frequently. There are a lot of things to do, like surf the Internet, typing the document, listening to music, using some software as photoshop and adobe, uploading and collecting some photos from digital camera and so on. When I am on line, I can communicate with the world. I read the daily news on Times website, I chat with my friend on line, I talk with my parents with the web-cam...Some people complain about overload of information. Yes, I believe I am also one of the victim. Once I sit in front of the laptop, it is hard for me to shift my concentration back to study because the information on the Internet is so various, abstracting and excessive. But it is from the Internet, I got detailed information of Iowa State University. And then I was able to apply for it on line and received the admission letter. It is because of Internet, I get better understanding of different culture and background of USA to prepare my study here. It shortens our distance. We are one member of the global village, and it is our duty to learn how to deal with the overload information.

Thirdly, for tv and radio, I watched and listened a lot before I came here. But I spent less time on it than the Internet. Because most of TV program and news could be watched on line selectively,. We, my family would watch TV together during the dinner. And then I will go back to my room, facing the laptop, for there are pretty more choice on line than the TV and radio.

Eva said...

In terms of blog and podcast, they are a new form of communication technologies which come into it in Internet. With the developing of blog and podcast, multiple and numerous voices get free space in the Internet. This communicated form is so different with the former ones. It seems like it comes out the masses communicate with the masses. For example, we write our blog and post it, we can post our comment on other's blog and others can do it so. There is little limitation of speaking and larger space for communication, since we can communicate with pretty more kinds of people even though we don't know each other, and we can get pretty more information through the open tunnel. But for me, I haven't pay much more time on it, I prefer to listen to others' podcast but seldom make one, and my blog just open to some of my friends. Otherwise, many other people communicate well in this way. I just think it is so different that I hardly make a conclusion.

Daniela Dimitrova said...

A few interesting articles online that would be great for in-class discussion:

Love and Technology

Wikipedia and Politics

Cyclone said...

Cell Phone/PDA:
1) I use it to check my email, voicemail, the Internet, and make telephone calls. I don't text message people.

2) I spend about 1 hour per day on the phone.

3) I heard somewhere that it causes cancer...? Aside from that, I spend absolutely inordinate amounts of time answering inane questions like "What are you doing after class?" -- after class. Very frustrating. The upside is that I can use the Internet during class for academic and non-academic purposes.

Laptop Computer:
1) This has my digital life on it. Email, homework, music, calendar, video games, and everything else. I take it everywhere.

2) I spend about 3 hours a night on the computer -- besides the amount of time that I'm using it during class.

3) I've become a whole lot more dependant on the computer to order my life. What I'm doing tonight, what I'm doing tomorrow, who I should call next week -- I have no idea. If it's not on the computer, it's not on my mind. If it is on the computer, I'm not going to forget it.

MP3 PLAYER
1) I own an iPod that I take to the Rec when I workout. Oftentimes, it blares the usual intense workout tunes, but it also auto-downloads podcasts online.

2) I spend about 3 hours listening to the iPod each week between classes and at the Rec.

3) As was discussed in class last Thursday, technology plays an isolating role. You probably can't talk to me between classes, because I'm busy rocking out, and you're not going to get my attention at the Rec, because so many things are competing for it. Between the exercise, the TV's, and the iPod, I'm pretty wrapped up in the mediated experience.

Cyclone said...

One last thought about video games spurred on by the comment that technology isolates. Do MMORPG's like WoW really isolate us, or do they provide a forum for formerly isolated nerd-types to gather in common and just be isolated -- together?