After reading “Is Google Making Us Stupid” by Nicholas Carr, I would have to agree with the topic of the article. To an extent yes it does as well as any form of technology. The creation of technology is to make our lives more efficient and putting less effort into everyday tasks. Such as spoon and fork, they may be simple in design and do not require electricity but they are still a form of tech. Google which is an online search engine formed in 1998 which is used to look up information online.

Google is commonly used throughout the day by millions of people to search up terms, people, addresses, songs, and much more info. Google is definitely useful during the modern times even I use it multiple times a day. But the problem is people rely on Google too much which takes the work out of looking up particular info. It is also shortening our attention span and our sense of patience. Because of the ease of access, Google has given its users, we expect info to come in a snap of a finger or however as fast your internet connection is. Technology does provide a ease of access to its user that’s why it was created but at a risk of making us more lazy and possible limiting our cognitive functions.

The article mentioned that because of Google people nowadays are less willing to read long articles or books. I agree with this statement, I do not read books often unless it is for class. Also, I have not read a book from back to front for entertainment since high school. I do feel insecure because it because I am a college student. I also know many students my age that does not read that often for entertainment.

For this week’s blog post, I am choosing to respond to “Missed Connections”. I enjoyed reading this article because it highlighted issues that I feel are important to speak about and bring attention to. The internet is beneficial and helpful in many ways, and with the same amount, extremely dangerous. The power of a search engine is magnificent and can educate many people on all sots of things. Unfourtatuntaley, the education isn’t so well placed and unfairly so. In this article we see how putting a woman of odor into a search engine to learn about culture, heritage, history etc, but instead of that coming up first and foremost, pornagrophy related sites and articles come up. The problem is, that the internet hows the ability and power to teach so much, and it is placed in such a terrible way. We need to do better. We need to improve the machines to us, before it overcomes, as with any device. We need to be so cautious with what we allow to be seen and how it affects us an future generations, and this article highlights one example. I took from this reading how crucial it is to be on top of ourselves with technology. To say it even better, the video we watched in class the other day, the subjegation to technology, screams exactly what I am trying to say.

“The Coming of the Microcomputer” by Brian Winston  explored the advancing technology of the computer system. when it was first introduced the computer wasn’t what it was now. when it was invented typically a computer and the monitor would be huge. taking up big spaces in rooms. scientist were the ones who could operate this technology. they were not used for public entertainment purposes but for only for government en devours. as the technology has advanced the size and its usage purpose has changed as well. it slowly became integrated into offices schools and homes , becoming readily available to the public. the size of computers also started to decrease as it became readily available for the public. in the present day, computers have become the norm in certain institutions. we use it everyday to interact with friends, business partners, and as a past time. computers have developed rapidly, that its structure have been Incorporated into our smartphones. essentially you can do everything you can do on your computer on your phone.

Johanna Drucker’s article “From A to Screen” opens your eyes to the historical and conceptual nature of how letters appear upon your computer screen. when we type, we never take into consideration that a simple letter as “A” can take on a different or new meaning based on the size and font. it is common for students in college to use a times new roman font for our work. it is seen as formal and legible but what if in another country times new roman is shunned and look down upon. with many things we are used too, we fail to recognize the history or power of words and font.  although speech is universal, language is widely different. our alphabet and how we use it, may seem peculiar to people from other countries. just how their language may be different from ours. i had a vague understanding of the power of letters. slowly im beginning to see how the look, sound, and presentation of a letter can be considered a aesthetic representation of a country or culture.

in  “The Capture of Sound” by Brian Winston’s, winston writes about the invention of the telephone and its impact in the office space. this article made me wonder how businesses conducted business with other companies without it. the telephone seems to have been apart of our human nature forever, so much so we take it for granted. talking to someone thats not in the same room or state is revolutionary in many ways. we connected with people regularly, conducted more transactions, and more work. this article also made me realize how much money the telephone has made for various companies. before companies would have to send representatives to other companies to complete business transactions. the telephone saved time and energy by simplifying this process to a simple phone call. i began to wonder how much the telephone has contributed to our current advanced society? to what extent can we relate our success by this invention? not only did it connect businesses but made talking to other countries easily accessible.

over the past couple of days , i consciously paid attention to my media screen time.  i tracked how long i watched tv, went on my computer and used my phone. before i began tracking, i believed i spent the most time watching t.v and on the computer , but  surprisingly it wasnt. in the morning i usually watch tv for about an hour and a half.  i would catch up on news, weather, or anything interesting. i noticed as i watched tv i would also be on my phone at the same time( social media, texting, or games).  since my schedule is different during the weekday versus the weekend, i noticed my t.v screen is less during the week than the weekend. while on the other hand my phone and computer usage usually increases during the week and on the weekend.

i spent most of my time on my phone. since phones are mini computers now, i usually could spend at least 5 hours a day  on my phone. i would spend my time watching movies( youtube/netflix), reading news articles, on social media, texting friends, listening to music, or playing games. it surprised me how long i would spend on my phone. i use my phone for all my entertainment,social, and educational needs. whenever i would be bored or even around people i dont know, i would pull out my phone and escape to my own world. even when i had no urge to use my phone, i would find myself blindly using it. since  you can watch television shows, surf the web and play games on your phone, it is my go to media platform. even though i do use my phone most of the day, i dont see it as a huge problem in my life, just simply a distraction.  i find it convenient to have a thought of something unknown and looking it up with easy access. in my opinion its not how long you use it, but  how you use media which dictates if its good or bad for you.

I’m constantly on my phone consuming content for my future creative work, however this past weekend I was in my room, strictly glued to my laptop. I had spent 8 hours on Friday, 16 hours on Saturday, and 5 hours on Sunday writing 3 papers, studying for an exam, and constructing research needed for a communicative project.

I had spent the rest of my time in church this past weekend on Saturday (9:30am- 12:15pm) and Sunday morning through the afternoon(11am-1pm). Although I did spend a few minutes on my phone, it was solely for the purpose of checking time, and reading, and responding to emails. Which only took 15 minutes on both days; totaling up to 30 minutes of phone screen time through the week-end. I would have to turn my phone off and put it under my bed as to not get temp ted into using it.

I worked an 8 hough shift on Friday and most of my work is usually done via computer desktop. I spent about 6 hours of screen time at work in the office, and the rest of those hours were physical interactions as college assistant to student inquiring about their financial aid status. I also noticed recently that even in my creative line of work, which is more career related, I work at an optimized level when I place my laptop on a desk seated up straight. I would usually slouch on my bed and use my laptop in the same stance as I would watch a movie or videos on my laptop.

It was quite a nostalgic effect as it felt like my phone was taken from me when I finally finished with my tasks. that Sunday evening. It would be refreshing to learn how to spend less time as usual from my phone for at least 4 hours once a month on a Sunday.

 

I want to focus on Aja Monet’s poem “mobilizing a movement of the mind”.  In her poem, Monet speaks on the power that cell phones have given us in a relatively short amount of time. Cellphones have “catapulted” us into the society we currently live in. They fold the world “like maps” allowing people to communicate from all corners of the globe. Although I have been very critical of cellphones and the effects it has on humans on my previous blog posts, I have to agree with Monet’s assessment. Cellphones, when used appropriately, can have an extremely positive effect on humans. Monet says ” a soldier watches his son grow up through an LCD screen… a friend text messages a smile to brighten the day of a co-worker”. These interactions wouldn’t be possible without modern technology and allow us to communicate with our loved ones when its impossible to be physically present.

Since I haven’t been working, I know I have been using my phone more than usual. When I was working and going to school full time, the only time I really had to use my phone was before work or once I got home. Now that I just have school and my internship I find myself on my phone much more. This weekend I found myself using Instagram, Youtube, and Facetime the most. At the same time I didn’t find myself on my phone as much this weekend because I celebrated my best friends birthday on Saturday and Sundays are usually my “family day’s”. Saturday morning my boyfriend face timed me and we were on facetime for at least an hour since he was getting ready for work. Afterwards, I was on Youtube watching videos for 30 mins and then I went through Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook before I got up to get ready. I was running a few errands that day so the only time I went on my phone is if I was answering texts or if someone called me. Later on, that day was my best friends birthday celebration so I only used my phone to post videos and pictures of the celebration. On Sunday I woke up, did a run through of social media and then went to church. I wasn’t really using my phone because I was with my family the whole day but I did catch myself checking Instagram a few times throughout the day. I did notice I usually spend more time on my phone when I am by myself which is Monday through Thursday when I’m on the train, in school and back at home.