Technology has a way of being able to tell you anything you want to know, or what you really didn't want to know. Its almost like a gypsy's Crystal Ball that can tell the future or find out something you need to know badly. However, people have begun to rely on it to the point where people can't hardly think for themselves. People need something to help them do a simple task like remembering to pick up their child at school. The smart phones, particularly the Iphone with Siri, has made it hard for people to think for themselves. When the Iphones came out, I really wanted one, but then again who wouldn't? With all that it could do it was like a small computer in the palm of your hand with which you can call and text. I began to realize, once I had gotten it, all I would do was play with it. I would download app after app after app. My parents would talk to me, but I would kind of ignore them while I played Temple Run. It scared me. All I did was depend on my smart phone for things and I really never thought for myself.
Kids in today's society, even adults, have experienced or are currently experiencing this same problem. We are relying on technology and software to solve our problems instead of us and our own computing devices. Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, stated:
"When you think about how we're coming to depend on software for all sorts of intellectual chores, for finding information, for socializing -- you need to start worrying that it's not giving us, as individuals, enough room to act for ourselves."
He then did a study on how people who use a software can't retain the knowledge they had just learnt. He found out that when they have a harder time figuring a problem out, or a puzzle in the case of the test, they remembered what they had just accomplished and how to do it again unlike the people who used a software to figure it out. Once we rely too much on the convenience of the technology, we are lost when it breaks.
We all love technology when it works, but when it breaks and doesn't want to work we, we don't like it anymore. If we are working on a huge project and rely on only the computer to do the work and all of a sudden the computer fails, all is lost!
There should be a perfect blend of human common sense and technology guidance.
On the other hand, when you are outside and it looks like it's going to rain, but you are unsure of the weather, than a simple look up of the forecast on your smart phone is really convenient and nice to have. Having the internet on your phone makes it easier to look things up if you are in a hurry or need help if you get into an accident or something of that nature. The problem is when people overuse the technology, and when they become too engulfed in what they are doing instead of whats around them.
As a Musician, I can attest to the fact that carrying around many sheets of music can be a real pain. Having the IPad to have PDF files of my music makes it easier to keep all my music in one place plus, it saves trees! Apple just came out with a pedal that plugs in to the IPad and when you press on it, it turns the page for you, making it easier to play the music without the hassle of turning a page during a performance.
In conclusion, although technology has made leaps and bounds in making life easier and more convenient, it's dummied down our modern society, causing many problems in everyday life, as we rely solely on something that doesn't even have a brain.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Slab and Chiesel (Blog #1)
I used to think that the best approach to communicating with anyone, to the concept of being able to search and find anything stemmed from the Flintstone approach. I mean, who wouldn't want to have their own monkey, with a chiesel and slab in hand, banging out your message and then making sure the intended person got it. It made perfect sense to me....when I was younger, of course. These days, 2012, a lot has evolved since those Stone Age Days when maybe it was dependent on monkeys and stone slabs to get messages across.
The technology age has certainly helped us to evolve and speed things up a great deal. I mean, sometimes before you are even through with submitting your search into the address bar, what you are looking for is right at your fingertips. It is so fast and painless!
In class, I liked that things on the computer were easy to "search and find".
Secondly, I disliked that I struggled with not know what to do when I was stuck within a certain page and couldn't move forward from there.
In an article writtten by Mike Pepper of Pawlings: Public Radio, entitled: "The Computer Guy: Easy Ways to Find Stuff on Mac or PC;, he writes:
First things first: where to look: These days all computers come with an automatic indexer built in. Every document and file that you make on your computer, or download to it, gets indexed.
To find things in your computer’s index, look for the search tool icon, which is always some version of a magnifying glass. On Macs, the search tool is called “Spotlight”. On Windows the search tool usually appears as a blank field with the magnifying glass icon next to it. When you click on the Mac icon a similar blank field will pop open for you.
Often when you type a little, you get more than you wanted or really even needed but the bottom line is that your computer gave you what you needed, when you needed, more than you needed, and best of all, faster than you needed it. All because of just a few words that gave a machine a hint that you were looking for something. We've come a long way since the monkey with the rock slab and chiesel.
Secondly, what to do when stuck within a page and unable to get free? I guess the easiest thing would be to merely turn off the computer, but I vaguely remember a sister who thinks she knows a little something about a computer telling me that you only harm the computer when you do that too often. And, so, I refrain from having to do that at all. I guess, too, that it would be relatively easy to just click the "X" box at the upper right hand corner of the page. This is another great tool to use. In some instances, maybe these are the only two tools to use. But, I can't help but think there might be more and maybe I am merely reading way too much into this. Thus, the best thing to do is just do what comes naturally and that is click the box in the upper right hand corner...until someone tells me that there is something else that will better suit my need for speed...but how can things possibly get any faster on the computer?
The technology age has certainly helped us to evolve and speed things up a great deal. I mean, sometimes before you are even through with submitting your search into the address bar, what you are looking for is right at your fingertips. It is so fast and painless!
In class, I liked that things on the computer were easy to "search and find".
Secondly, I disliked that I struggled with not know what to do when I was stuck within a certain page and couldn't move forward from there.
In an article writtten by Mike Pepper of Pawlings: Public Radio, entitled: "The Computer Guy: Easy Ways to Find Stuff on Mac or PC;, he writes:
First things first: where to look: These days all computers come with an automatic indexer built in. Every document and file that you make on your computer, or download to it, gets indexed.
To find things in your computer’s index, look for the search tool icon, which is always some version of a magnifying glass. On Macs, the search tool is called “Spotlight”. On Windows the search tool usually appears as a blank field with the magnifying glass icon next to it. When you click on the Mac icon a similar blank field will pop open for you.
Often when you type a little, you get more than you wanted or really even needed but the bottom line is that your computer gave you what you needed, when you needed, more than you needed, and best of all, faster than you needed it. All because of just a few words that gave a machine a hint that you were looking for something. We've come a long way since the monkey with the rock slab and chiesel.
Secondly, what to do when stuck within a page and unable to get free? I guess the easiest thing would be to merely turn off the computer, but I vaguely remember a sister who thinks she knows a little something about a computer telling me that you only harm the computer when you do that too often. And, so, I refrain from having to do that at all. I guess, too, that it would be relatively easy to just click the "X" box at the upper right hand corner of the page. This is another great tool to use. In some instances, maybe these are the only two tools to use. But, I can't help but think there might be more and maybe I am merely reading way too much into this. Thus, the best thing to do is just do what comes naturally and that is click the box in the upper right hand corner...until someone tells me that there is something else that will better suit my need for speed...but how can things possibly get any faster on the computer?
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