My iBookG4
This is my office, social organizer, news stream, and creative outlet. It is the most invaluable tool in my life. I have become dependent on it's ability to save every thought and idea I have. As an easily distracted person, if I weren't able to manage the fireworks of information in my life with the use of this machine, I would be lost. Between work, school, social life, hobbies, interests, and everyday errands, it always seems like there's to much to do and not enough time to do it all. The only way for me to keep track of it all is by using this amazing little machine. I have used it to find work, use it for work related stuff, use it to shop, to do the bills, to make travel arrangements, to create graphic art pieces, to create music, post pics and videos, and to connect to my friends and family through e-mails and Facebook. I am digital for sure. Both sets of my grandparents know how to use the computer, and well. Which just demonstrates how pervasive technology has become.
My ipod
I am a room-service waiter at the Union Square Marriott. I get up at 4 AM to get ready for my job which starts at 5 (most people cringe when I tell them this). Everyday I ride my bicycle about 20 minutes in the cloak of darkness to get there. I do this since MUNI in this town stinks at that hour (as well as some of the passengers). Getting up at this forsaken hour is a very dreary task, so to soften the harsh blow of having to ride in chilly early morning air, I listen to some tunes on my way to work. Because of this device I don't feel so bad and actually I am in a pretty good mood after just a few minutes into the ride.
The grandparents don't use one of these, so when it comes to music they're analog all the way.
My cellphone
It's my computer away from home. Sure I use it for phone calls but that's just the beginning of what this sleek, sexy little gadget can do. It does photos, video, music, ringtones, alarm clock, calendar, and it can even cook a hot dog! (or is it that it microwaves the side your brain? I forget...)
My favorite function is that it can record live audio. As a musician I might be strumming my acoustic or tapping out some notes on my keyboard. If I do something cool that sounds really good I just pull out this little baby and hit the record button. If I want to recall a piece I was working on I just hit play.
My grandparents use cellphones too. What can I say? Their pretty savvy when it comes to the modern world. They're even on Facebook.
I prefer not to incorporate other peoples ideas and words artificially into my own writing unless I feel their writing styles mesh well with my own. Instead of trying to do so, here is my take on the readings:
In the DNA of information, the author Nicholas Negroponte expresses the differences between analog reality and the digital realm. As technology has improved, the ability to store media digitally can preserve information so close to its original analog quality, that Negronte compares the difference in bits and atoms to being like a cup freeze dried expresso being indistinguishable to its freshly brewed counterpart. He follows with the thought that all forms of media (newspapers, television, computers, etc.) are beginning to fuse together and will continue to offer the user a even more customized media experience.
In the Medium is the Message, McLuhan discusses how the delivery of content becomes almost more powerful than as the ideas contained within. The public consciousness is shaped by each new form of media. As a result, the thoughts and attitudes of entire societies are formed not just by what we see but how they are seeing it. McLuhan mentions how top minds in Britain didn't fully understand the threat of Hitler because of their anti-red bias. It's almost an analogy of how little Americans are aware of Middle Eastern culture, mainly because the medium of media delivery does not lend itself to any viewpoint outside that of Western thought. In closing he sees similarity between various form of media and a limited group of commodities. A society without a diverse mixture of resources become dependent on the few they have and begin to exhibit certain observable traits. This dependancy has aspects that resemble a master/slave relationship. Eventually the master's grip erodes and the master succumbs to the slave mentality.
In the Don Norman reading, he touches on the same analog vs. digital theme as Negroponte. Interestingly enough, the slave concept brought up in the McLuhan reading is also touched on but in an inverse manner. Norman talks about how digital technology is the slave of accuracy while the human analog mind, formed after years of evolution, is capable of bridging the gap within areas of information containing noice and still making sense of it. Next he discusses the pace of change. Human's are no longer able to keep up with the mountains of information and the need for specialization continues to grow, but in doing so, also create ever increasing gaps within the collective knowledge base. It was thought breaking work into smaller automated tasks would make things more efficient. Instead the workers found their jobs dull and repetitive. Another example of the weakness in automated procedures can be seen when air-traffic controllers follow every rule by the book, it ties up air traffic. It is only when skilled professional controllers take the necessary shortcuts that air traffic begins to flow smoothly. The computer is necessary because it produces exact and rigid results. Humans have the ability to take uneven and random events and find compromises that smooth out the situation. Both of these approaches are necessary but not complete. It is only when we combine them when we achieve the best balance.
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