M&M Comments

Michelle-

Michelle,

What I first noticed about your blog was that you show the progression of technology for each generation, something that I really liked and shows you how in a way nothing has changed even though everything has evolved.

Your main point that people are becoming less interactive physically and more digitally actually goes hand in hand with your other main idea that people are becoming more self-centered. The two of these show how people are closing up into shells and forgetting about the outside world.

I think that you arose some very interesting points about "I" products. While I'm sure that Apple intended for this to mean it was the owners own product, you flip that onto its head and show that Apple is a leader in the centering of the worlds citizens. I never really thought about this and it is in fact very interesting, because it shows how technology is treated as a representation of oneself with everything having a name reflecting them.

Your mention of Ipods especially affected me because it made me think of how I named my ipod MinIV, in reference to it being a miniature representation of me. This led to me later naming my computer MarcoV, as it was a larger representation of me. I think that your talk of Twitter is also interesting. I for one hate Twitter. I find it to be even more self-centered than Facebook and Myspace and it has almost no value for networking and reaching friends, like the others. It is the perfect example of how self-centered our world has become.

Overall, I was quite surprised by your blog and I look forward to reading more of your insights into the world we inhabit, and the world we live in.

Maggie-

Maggie,

The second I go to your blog, the first thing I notice is that you went back and edited it and noted your edit. That just right off the bat made me think that you were on the right track and were actively thinking about the topic, and that impressed me. I also like that instead of approaching the types of technology that we frequently encounter, you focused on the usage of electricity in our lives.

Your general idea that electricity runs our lives is a very clear one and very true. Almost every single thing we do in life can now be done with the use of a technological device. Even right now, my homework here is on a blog, which is on the internet, which can only be accessed through electricity. Electricity in essence rules the world and without it people wouldn't know what to do.

I think that your ideas on Facebook are essentially the same as everybody else's, myself included. It is particularly handy for talking to friends that have very hectic schedules and I otherwise don't get to. I think that what you say about AIM is also very interesting. Tone is the most essential thing, I find, in talking to people. It can affect the entire conversation and the way people see you. I am a very sarcastic person and I find that using AIM to talk to people gets very annoying because people cannot sense when I am being sarcastic unless I couple it with an extraordinary amount of "lol" 's and "jk" 's.

I think that your concept of the electrically powered items not being "real" can be narrowed down a significant amount. I think that they are very much real, depending on the media. For instance, interactions through a webcam are very much real, and I have friends that I am very close with just because of the internet and its capabilities. All things can be real, it is a matter of how people use them. People feel like the internet is a place where they can be somebody other than who they really are, so they create an alternate reality which in turn carries over to affect the real lives they live.

Your posting makes me think about my use of texting though, and how I do not use it "correctly" and to an extent I agree. I am irresponsible with it and talk to people I shouldn't about things that my real consciousness does not want to. Texting is really just a time filler though and I think that when used to notify people of things that are too quick for a phone call, it works well, but when it becomes something you cannot live without, it is a problem, and that is why I have been working on cutting down.

I really liked your blog and I think that there is a lot of room for new ideas to be collected through our commenting.