Technological (Dis)Advantages?

A typical Monday evening in Robertson Hall's 'Indiana Suite' consists of six girls sitting in a circle talking, listening to music, watching a TV show, and reading. The room is completely silent. A friend sits to my left and watches a movie on her laptop with her headphones on. On my right sits a girl who talks online with her friends. Next to her lounges another who chats with her friends through the art of texting. Across from myself a suite mate is tuned into the beat of her iPod that only she can hear. Alas, here I am sitting; motionless other than my moving digits. My eyes glance across my screen over and over again. The only girl in the room who is free of electronic devises is quietly writing her essay in a notebook. How could she manage that? If she makes an error, she can't delete. She must erase with her pencil. The last time I wrote an essay on binder paper seems like ages ago. I am not sure that silence ruled the atmosphere of these halls ten years ago. I would imagine that, without the aid of current electronics, people had more to say and do with themselves rather than sit and surf the internet. After coming into the suite day after day and seeing the blue glow of computer screens, I have to wonder if this current technology is doing more harm than good.

A lot has changed since the turn of the century. In 2000, I began to take computer classes and learnt how to type without looking at the keyboard. Little did I know, that keyboard would give rise to the most muscular part of my body; my fingers. I remember the first time I googled; boy was it fascinating! With one word, I was able to access hundreds of sites pertaining to the few letters I typed in. How could something this great be thought up? Regardless, America and I became chained to our blue lights and keyboards. At first it seemed like our introduction to the internet was a blessing; we could access people, telephone numbers, hotels, and just about anything we wanted. Now, we can order our clothes, groceries, books, and even people through the internet. What once was face to face conversation now is texting. We would rather see a text from someone we love rather than hear their voice! How could this have happened?

As a human race, we have learnt to morph the world around us to fit our needs, schedule, and wants. Is it possible we have taken it too far? Initially, I am assuming that these handy electronics were invented to save time and money. Rather than traveling to the store to buy a brand of shoes its a lot more convenient to check online and see if they stock the size we want. So it makes sense that rather than traveling to New York to get something one of a kind, you can have it easily delivered to your door through Amazon.com. It makes sense right? Why go anywhere when you can save your time and money for more important things. Images, videos, and sounds are all readily available at the click of a button for your own personal enjoyment.

This is what we aimed for is it not? . We have emailed instead of sending a letter, texted instead of called, ordered instead of picking up and watched instead of lived. Now we have so much more time and money to do the things that really matter to us. And just what might those things be? I'm silent trying to think of what I can do that I had not the time for prior. The motionless suite echos my sounds. What will become of us as time is spent taping at our numbers and letters. Are Americans using their technological devices to their advantage or disadvantage? Questions like this raise touchy discussions because for the last ten years, we have fallen into the security blanket of the lovely blue lights. Is it possible that we could turn this around for the better? Hmmm I'll see what Google thinks.