"The net is re-programming us"

An article in the New York Times describes a man who managed to miss an important e-mail where someone was offering him a large amount of money for his Internet Start-up company for over 12 days.  His usual ability to multi-task somehow failed him on the day that e-mail arrived, and he almost missed this life changing opportunity.  According to this article, “scientists are discovering that even after the multi-tasking ends, fractured thinking and lack of focus persist.  In other words, this is also your brain off computers.” 

Are We Getting Smarter? Or Lazier?

Is Google Making Us Stupid? Nicholas Carr makes many good points in his article about Google making people more stupid, but upon reading it, I didn't think we were getting more stupid but lazier. Maybe being lazy can be considered getting stupid to some people, but for me they are separate words. One of the examples Carr uses in his article is about a blog writer, Scott Karp, who used to read books all the time and now can't bring himself to read more than a couple paragraphs of something. I tried to think about why this is. I remember talking in class about how we don't read things as carefully as we should, such as the agreements, or policies of a certain site. We automatically hit agree, and move on to use whatever we wanted to get access to. I, myself, am a culprit of doing this. Now, I try and read the agreements before clicking 'agree' but for I feel like for my generation, we don't really think about the consequences but rather focus on what we want to do, and get there however we can.

      I interviewed both my mom and my dad about the change they have seen in their life. They both responded similarly, basically saying that the difference between today and when she was my age is tremendous.

      My dad would tell me about how their favorite thing to do on Sunday, as they got older, was to watch football. He would tell me how him and his brothers would get into arguments and battles about whose team would win. But, he also said that he marginally spent more time outdoors and away from the T.V. than kids tend to do in today's world. He said, "I just think everything about how we lived then as compared to how we live today is completely different." My dad usually gets one or two jokes in when I see him about me texting. He'll say something along the lines of, "Better give that thing a break so it doesn't overheat boy." But I understand where he's coming from. It doesn't bother me that he makes those jokes, not that they are intended to. I would be the same way as him. I'll be 20 in this May. In 1992, how many people had cellphones?

      My mom is pretty much the same way as my dad. They both saw the transition from house phone, to car phone, to cell phone, for example. My mom and dad both agreed that they like how much easier it is to communicate with other people now. They don't have to worry about missing a call when they aren't home because they have their cellphones now. Honenstly, I can't even remember the last time I answered the regular phone at my house.

      This however, can also be an example of how reliant we have become on technology. In October (2011), Diana Adams wrote an article titled Then & Now: What a Difference 10 Years Makes. Her article discusses how much easier technology has made things. She writes, "I would rather poke my eyeballs out with a sharpened metal ice pick than use dial-up Internet now." If thats how it feels now, what is it going to feel like in another 20 years?

(Interview) Technology in the classroom

     To grasp some sort of understanding regarding the advancements of  technology in the last few generations, I interviewed my parents and uncle on the subject. The common thread among their opinions regarding the issue centered around technology in the classroom and its role in the educational process. Coming from a family with several careers in educational fields, it was not a great surprise.
      All of my interviewees were quick to point out the vast difference in one’s ability to gather information today as compared to the past. Specifically, for school related activities such as research. They all mentioned the sometimes insurmountable task of obtaining information on obscure topics simply from outdated encyclopedias or journals in their school libraries. Now, however, we have access to online journal databases, which give us nearly limitless potential in finding trustworthy sources of information.
       My mother, who is a kindergarten teacher, was recently issued an iPad to help conduct lessons with her students. She strongly believes that the iPad allows her students to learn relevant technology skills and also provides for an alternative source of learning, which six year olds sometimes need.
       As technology continues to expand and advance, I believe that it is both a great benefit and detriment to students. On one hand, it enables students to learn important skills, however, with the quick pace of technological advancement, those skills could be irrelevant by the time they reach working age.

Bonnington, Christina. "iPad a solid education tool, study reports." CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/23/tech/innovation/ipad-solid-education-tool/index.html.

(Future Shock) Can we control nuclear energy?

          In Future Shock, Orson Wells narrates that we, as a human race, must begin to say ‘no’ to certain kinds of technology. He states that technology is advancing faster and more powerfully than we can fully understand and grasp. He claims, that unless we control technology, it is going to destroy us.
          Personally, I believe Wells is completely correct. However, I don’t believe technology and advancements in science will destroy us, I believe it already is (there are positive results from technological advancements as well, of course). Technology that allowed scientists to split atoms and create nuclear energy opened up a can of worms that has proven to be destructive and dangerous. We have seen the death and devastation that was caused in Nagasaki and Hiroshima in WWII, as well as the dangers of nuclear waste leaking from a Japanese power plant after the 2011 tsunami. We cannot control nuclear power, and it is destroying us.
          To this day, nations debate the idea of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Yet American and Russian stockpiles remain incredibly high. Volatile regimes in Iran and North Korea could potentially unleash limitless destruction upon millions on a whim.
          Although nuclear technology can be used in non-military fashions, such as power plants, it has proven time and time again that humans cannot fully control the power it contains.

Tabuchi, Hiroko. "Atomic Agency Backs Safety Tests for Japan’s Reactors." The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/world/asia/united-nations-tentatively-backs-japans-nuclear-stress-tests.html.

(Likes/Dislikes) Social Networking and the Arab Spring

            As a politics student, I have been intrigued by technology’s ability to both help and hurt countries, their governments, and their citizens. These two opposite ends of the spectrum have brought me to like and dislike the advancements of technology.
             During the Arab Spring, modern communications and social networking allowed citizens of oppressed governments in North Africa and the Middle East to express their discontent with standards of living and lack of democratic processes. In this way, technology, specifically through the advancements in social networking mediums, such as Facebook and Twitter, has brought positive change to humanity. Protestors utilized these sites to communicate and advance their cause through organized protests and sometimes violent uprisings.
             Unfortunately, however, technology can also detrimentally affect the lives of those living under oppressive regimes. For example, governments can censor specific websites or media outlets, which greatly inhibit citizens’ abilities to have a public checks and balance system on their governments. For example, in North Korea, the communist government has virtually cut its citizens off from the outside word by censoring and blocking foreign websites and media outlets. This allows the government to control the dissemination of information and retain their tight grip on power over their people.
            It is incredible to see that a simple advancement, such as social networking, can be used in both positive and negative ways. However, as is the often the case, the situation is determined by who holds power. In the U.S. (barring the passage of legislations such as SOPA, PIPA, or ACTA), the internet is more or less in the hands of the people, free from government interference. In other nations, however, the people are not so lucky.

Wheeler, David. "In the Arab Spring’s Wake, Twitter Trolls and Facebook Spies." Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/blogs/planet/2011/11/29/in-the-arab-springs-wake-twitter-trolls-and-facebook-spies/.

Likes/Dislikes of Tech.

      Undoubtedly, technology makes life a little easier. Sometimes it can really be frustrating, but it mostly makes the day easier. I like how quick I can get information, about pretty much anything, while I'm doing a paper or doing an assignment. It is definitely user friendly for the most part as well. I like how much easier it is to communicate with other people also. It is just so much more convenient to send a text rather than make a call.

      On that note. I feel that technology is kind of changing our culture. Instead of going to church, for example, we can watch it on TV. In a 2010 New York Time's Articlehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brainpoll.html, Marjorie Connelly wrote that, "Younger people are particularly affected: almost 30 percent of those under 45 said the use of these devices made it harder to focus, while less than 10 percent of older users agreed." It is very easy to get distracted. How many people do you see checking facebook or twitter during classes? Technology definitely has both its ups and downs.

Technology Taking Over

    “We must begin to say 'no' to certain kinds of technology and to begin to control
    technological change because we've now reached the point that technology is so powerful
    and so rapid that it could destroy us unless we control it.”

I agree with this statement simply because of how reliant we are on technology. It has a grip on us, to the
point that we can't remember when cellphones couldn't send a text message. I say us because I am very reliant
on technology. We all are because you simply have to be in today's world. We are a victim of our own success.
Can we honestly say we control technology? Take online dating for example. We put information into a computer and trust that computer to find our perfect match. Users could possibly be changing their entire life, based on the results of this website. Another great example is simply an alarm clock. What if we didn't have an alarm clock to wake up in the morning? How would you get to class or work in any consistent time?
In 2007, David Gardner wrote an article for Information Week News and said that, "After reviewing PC and broadband Internet usage by 1,001 Americans, Kelton Research found that 65% of U.S. consumers are spending more time with their computers than with their significant others; moreover, they aren't very happy with their technology experience." What do you think?

Technology and the Generation Gap

I conducted interviews from my parents who are in their 50’s and a professor at Juniata in their 40’s. All interviewees described how having computer technology readily available to them has helped to make their lives easier. They mentioned that it was easier to access information whether at work or at their own leisure.

Technology Through Time: Its Impact on an Older Generation

Click click click click click click click Ca-CHING! Does this sound seem familiar to you? I know it quite well, but only because my family was too poor to own a computer during my childhood.

How Are Generations Reacting?

We all know that there are differences between generations, but how much of a gap do we actually have? Looking over the responses I collected, it is crazy how different my life was growing up, compared to my parents and friends. When I think about my childhood compared to my brother, who is three years younger than I, I think about the technology he had that was just coming out when I was his age. I thought that this was a big difference, but this wasn't as big of a difference in comparison to my parents. When you drive around, do you usually see children outside playing in the yard, or whole families outside hanging out? I feel like these are starting to become rare sights to see these days.

Technology from an old head's perspective

I interviewed my mom, my dad and my high school basketball coach. My parents grew up in similar eras and households, but had very different experiences with technology. My high school coach is a little younger, so had very different experiences than my parents.
When my dad was young he was very into new technologies. He told me a story about how he was first in the neighborhood to have a color television. He said his whole neighborhood would come over and watch it, which made his house the social gathering spot. I thought it was interesting how technology was not always considered a divider. Similar to the telephone, most technology is created with the idea of promoting social behaviors. Limiting such is usually an adverse consequence. This is evidenced with the television being a social gathering place in its infancy. Now it has become an invention that typically draws people away from social interaction.
Currently, the idea of “digital natives” lacking certain social skills or willingness to socialize is the common conception of the masses. “Maybe your daughter never comes down for dinner on time because she’s always busy online, chatting with her friends. And when she does come down to dinner, she won’t stop texting those same friends under the table” (Gasser 2). This is an example of the impression that older folks get of technology’s detrimental effect on the youth.
However, my mother has a very different perspective. She feels our family has been brought closer by technology. She said when she was in college she rarely ever spoke to her parents. Now with texting, e-Mail, and Facebook, despite my refusal to friend my mom, we can stay in constant contact. On the other hand, my dad does get upset when I am in the car with him and listening to my iPod instead of talking to him. He also hates video games. He always says, “When I was a kid we didn’t play sports on a computer, we would play sports with each other.”
My high school coach and I text all the time. He loves technology and thinks it’s a great way to keep up with his former players, like me. He said he was able to keep up with my basketball career when I went to college because of the team Web site and statistics online. He would not be able to follow every game otherwise.

Technology through the Generations

I interviewed people from three different age groups.  One was in their 30’s, one in their 40’s, and the last person was in their 50’s.  All were women.  Two are professors here and another is a business analyst at an insurance company. 

The first thing most said was that they didn’t really see huge differences in their young lives without computers because they didn’t know anything different.  It wasn’t weird to not be able to use a computer because no one was doing it at the time!  My mom focused on how differently information was found, because she was always forced to go to the library to find information, usually in encyclopedias.  There wasn’t an internet for her to search!  She also mentioned that when you needed to find someone to do a service for you (a lawn service, for example) you looked in the phone book, not on the internet.  Phone books had a much greater use then than they do now. 

The Wonderful World of Change

Without a doubt technology has changed the way in which we live every day of our lives.  In order to understand just how much technology has changed our lives I interviewed my mom, dad and uncle who grew up in the 1960’s.  Being that there is a major gap between the generation in which they grew up in and the one I did I asked them several questions to understand how they remember not having it, and the changes they went through.

The first question I asked each of my family members was; what was life like growing up without computer technology?  Without hesitation they began to talk about the lack of up to the minute information.  They described how if an event occurred they would have to wait to read the next day’s newspaper or magazine to get the most current information.  In their opinion this often became troublesome because they would sometimes have to wait a day or two just to find out the end result in a major story whereas we are able to find out within minutes of it occurring.  Not only was information slower to them as consumers but also information was more tedious to come across.  They used examples of working on high school projects and research as their next examples.  My family members stated that if they needed information they would have to search endlessly in the library reading through many pages just to find the answers to their questions.  This is in stark contrast to the process we go through to find information.  We simply hop on Google or an online encyclopedia, type our question and within in seconds have the answers to our questions.

After hearing their stories regarding gathering and staying updated on information it led me to my final question; How has technology has changed the world in this context?  I was able to sum up from the interviews that the main point was the speed in which we can find answers and the most current information.  The three of them stated that computers are updated by the second, which makes it easier to find out information on world issues and such.  They also added that technology has changed the world in this context because it makes research and answer finding much easier and more productive.  As workers in the business world they stated how much time is of the essence and the less time spent looking something up or finding an answer the more productive they can be for the company, in turn making the company more productive as a whole.  Not only do computers allow them to more effectively look things up but communicate with others in their field, which they felt was a major change that technology has had on the world.

For me growing up in the age of computers and so much technology I consider myself very lucky.  As my family stated we don’t have to spend as much time looking for an answer.  With a simple click of the mouse we have the world in front of us.  Kids back in the day could not text constantly to stay close with friends in family they had to rely on maybe a phone call a day to share everything with each other.  Just like technology changes we as kids do too and it is much easier to share these changes with people instantly over Facebook, Twitter or texting and not only when we see them in school during the week.

Generation Gap

         For my parents and for my uncle, their experiences growing up differ from mine in many ways. With such a significant age difference between myself and them, the experience growing up was obviously not the same. One of the main reasons why their childhood experience differs from mine is the availability of technology.

          I interviewed mom, dad, and uncle. My dad is fifty-two years old, my mom is forty-six years old, and my uncle is sixty-four years old. I asked each of them the three following questions: what was life like growing up without computer technology readily available, what are your views on how technology has changed the world, and what are your thoughts about the current generation and their technology usage?

          All three agreed that it used to take way more effort to find information that they needed.  They all expressed how the things they wanted to know weren’t as quick or as easily accessible to get. Especially in regards to school work, it took a lot more work to find what they needed to be successful. Everything wasn’t at their fingertips; it wasn’t done for them.

        When asked what they thought about technology changing the world, the common response that they all mentioned at one point was that it has made the world faster and simpler. They all expressed the fact that things were easier; finding information wasn’t as much of a complicated task as it once was.  My uncle, being older than both of my parents, stated the fact that technology took away a lot of jobs away from people. His view wasn’t negative, but it wasn’t as positive as my mom’s, who stated that she thinks it is awesome how technology has changed the world. She likes the luxury of being able to contact with loved ones and friends so easily.

        Their thoughts in regards to the current generation and their technology usage were all similarly related. They all expressed some negative feeling toward the new generation and their technology usage. My mom stated that she feels that the current generation is at an advantage, but it can also be a distraction for them. My dad stated that he liked it better when technology wasn’t readily available. He believes it makes it too easy for kids today, and it took more productive thinking and educated the youth a lot more. My uncle thoughts were along those same lines. He feels that this generation is too reliant on computers, and doesn’t feel that they are as strong in other areas.

        This quote from a USA Today article sums up the idea of such a generation gap between young and old:

“Unlike their parents, they have never known anything but a world dominated by technology. Even their social lives revolve around the Web, iPods and cellphones. So they dress down, talk loose and reveal their innermost thoughts online (Jayson).

       There is no question that the young are affected in some way but the new rise of technology. The question is: is it a bad thing or a good thing?

Source: Jayson, Sharon. "Tech Creates a Bubble for Kids - USATODAY.com." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. Web. 01 Feb. 2012. <http://www.usatoday.com/tech/2006-06-19-oblivious-kids_x.htm>.

Why Parents Shouldn't Text

            I conducted my interviews with my mother, father, and aunt. They all had very similar answers, due to the fact they all grew up in the same time and all dislike technology for the same reason, detachment. Please, do not judge my family based on their answers, they like to think they are funny.

"No better than when I grew up..."

It seems that Generation Xers are having a hard time letting the “good ole days” go. Of the relatives I talked to, none of which are especially tech-savvy, they all seem to think that even though technology makes things easier and quicker to do nowadays, life today is no better than when they were growing up.

Is technology is changing how kids interact with eachother?

Growing up my parents did not have computers in their homes. They didn’t have home computers until I was born in 1993. Instead of having cell phones they had party lines. Compared to today, they effectively lived in the technology stone age. After hearing stories from my parent’s, aunts, and uncles I have realized that even though they love technology now they don’t always feel it is as necessary as people my age do.

Back in the day...

“Back in the day we walked to school uphill both ways, there were no cars or technology, like kids have these days!” This is a frequent comment said by my grandma when technology is brought up.  So as soon as I saw this blog, I knew she was the first person I would talk to about technology.  My grandmother doesn’t seem to realize the importance of technology.  She frequently says “I can’t even see those little screens!” Being 90 years old, I can see how she feels very lost in technology. My grandma feels she grew up in a better time without technology because she believes it is wrong to text and email because face to face communication means so much more to her.  She is very insistent on face to face communication because this is how she grew up and it is the only way she knows.  She has a mixed view on technology because she feels medical discoveries are an amazing thing but she doesn’t agree with non-face to face communication. 

            I also interviewed my parents about technology.  They are 51 and 54 years old.  Being neighbors as children you would think they would have the same ideas on technology, but this is not the case.  My mother works with technology on a daily basis at her job.  My father on the other hand is let’s say, technology resistant.  My mother texts frequently, has a facebook and loves technology.  On the other hand, my father struggles to answer his cell phone, hates facebook and frequently gets frustrated with technology.  My parents said they were fine with growing up without technology because they had no idea at that point the amount it would grow.  My mother feels technology is now very important to the world because of such great advances which help medical problems, traveling and many other things.  My father on the other hand, believes technology is just a money maker and is not needed in the complicated form it has become.  I find it very interesting that my parents view on technology are polar opposites. 

            There are many common threads between these opinions on technology.  My father and grandmother’s opinions are very similar even though they are not close in age.  They both do not completely understand how technology works and are not sure exactly how it helps people in everyday life.  Both my father and my grandmother feel face to face communication is lacking and should be used more frequently.  My mother does not have common ground with their opinions because she uses technology every day and has knowledge about how it works.  I feel today, my younger generation has better knowledge about technology which makes it a more useful source then my parents or grandparents generation.  Learning and life revolves around technology in my age group.  This was not the case during my parents or grandparents childhood.  The world has changed from then until now and many people don’t agree with this, but in my opinion technology can only help us grow and live better as a civilization. 

Fullero, Bruce. "Changing Times: Technology & Stewardship | Giving Speaks." Giving Speaks | Giving Speaks Volumes about Life, Love, and Religion. 11 July 2011. Web. 31 Jan. 2012. <http://givingspeaks.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/changing-times-technology-stewardship/>.

Kids Today

Every generation has its things that make older people look at them and say, “We never had/did anything like that in my day, why do you need it now?” In the past, it was often music: Elvis Presley in the ’50s, classic rock in the ‘80s. For our generation, that thing is often technology.