Being much closer to baby boomers then to the NEXT generation, I do remember life without computers or the internet. Because my father liked having the latest thing, our family had the first microwave oven in the neighborhood; we were the one of the first families to get call waiting and the voice mail--my dad said with all his daughters, these were a necessity. (Not surprisingly, he went on Face book before his daughter.) I wrote first longhand, then I typed, and then word processed (on a glorified typewriter with memory, i.e. not a computer), and I was finally forced to use a computer in college. While I can't seem to go a few hours without email, I remember waiting for days and even weeks for mail (good old fashion snail mail). I, at one time, could not image why students "needed" a cell phone, but this summer I bought a prepaid cell before I would head home--a 700 mile drive--after my cell died on vacation. On my return, I bought an IPhone.
In the 19th century, my fellow blogger noted, we went west, in the 20th century went to the university in record numbers; and the the 21st century we went online en mass. The first decade of the 21st century saw the broad migration to 24/7 connectivity. What will this latest migration mean for our culture?
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I really enjoyed your post. It was fun to read about your dad needing voicemail to accommodate for all of the phone calls his daughters got. I liked hearing about your journey through the digital world, but I think it could be more detailed. I think maybe individual stories about longhand, typewriters, word processors, and then finally what we know as computers today. It would be very entertaining and engaging for the reader to hear some stories about these different times in you life. I think by adding these stories you will liven your paper up. What has kept my attention, thus far, were the stories and examples from your own life that you've already told. That's why I would like to read some more stories about you. I would also like to hear the answer to the question you asked at the end. I'm not sure if it applies to this assignment, but it's an interesting question to ask, and I'm sure the answer could take up an entire essay.
ReplyDeleteI think your topic is interesting and unique to that of the rest of the class. I like the voice of your narrative because it is fun and nice to read. I'm excited to learn more from your perspective on the changes in society as a result of technology.
ReplyDelete"I, at one time, could not image why students "needed" a cell phone,"
ReplyDeleteI like that. It's true that we quickly get so used to new technologies that we then "need" it. Even if we thought it was pointless before.