Interpreting Technologies

It’s interesting to see the dependence that humans have developed on new technologies today. When thinking about the people before us, I often wonder how different it was to grow up without the technologies we hold dear today. They don’t seem to feel deprived of anything, yet when I think about life without my computer, I can’t help but think about how much it contributes to my life.

Recently I went through an experience with my computer that I found particularly traumatic, although looking at it now, I severely overreacted. Spyware masking itself as anti-spyware infiltrated my computer, giving it viruses. I had a panic attack, and then promptly took my laptop to the technicians at Flagler. Through the entire experience, I felt like I was taking my child to the hospital, asking the "doctor" what I could do, pestering them non-stop (I went in to check on it four times- I was annoying, and I regret it now). It turns out, the program’s the technician gave me worked, and now my computer is virus free...as far as I know (rumors about the Conficker virus are scaring me half to death).

This experience reminded me how much I value my computer and use it on a day to day basis. I check my e-mail multiple times a day, use it for school research, typing documents, as well as catching up with friends from home. It gives me information I would probably never be aware of without it because it is so easy and always available to access.

I value this piece of technology because of what it does for me. It links me to the farthest places of the world. Thanks to the portability of my laptop, I can access this information from almost any part of the world. My laptop changes the way that I look at information because it is always quick and easy to access. I feel no sense of urgency when I watch the news on TV because I know that I can look up anything that I am curious about later on my computer.

The computer has changed how I feel about doing things individually. For the most part, multitasking is what I do. I watch TV while listening to music (I’m aware of how stupid that sounds, but to explain, I mute the TV, then listen to the music on my computer, while surfing the internet. I don’t really know why.), and doing things one at a time can often drive me crazy. Looking at this technology has made me realize that I even multitask on this one device.

The things I get from my device are not things that I couldn’t get from other sources. I could write papers by hand, I could look at the newspaper or watch TV, and I could listen to the radio for music. However, computers link all of these activities together, making it possible to do them in one place, which I really appreciate.