Mobility has been one of our popular topics in class and has taken us into many discussions and numerous blogs. Recently, it has been a trend to revisit older posts and reply to it. So here I am, recollecting my thoughts and putting them into a blog. Bernie's blog demonstrates that many of us take mobility for granted. I agree that many of us do take mobility, in this case, laptops, for granted. Laptops are so convenient and light weighted that we are able to take them outside our homes. Therefore, people become very dependent on it, using it almost as much as a cell phone, if not even more. I know I simply cannot live without my laptop. Well, okay maybe I can, it's just that I can do many things very easily on my laptop, and the thought of being laptop free is very scary. I used to carry my laptop everywhere on campus, and the days when I do not, I find myself face to face with a computer in one of the computer labs on campus. So yes, I guess I am one of the many millions of people who are very reliant on a laptop just because it makes my life a little easier but I'm not sure if I do take it for granted. I mean I still have a life outside my laptop because the only things that I really do on it is check emails, blog, manage my accounts, etc. Things that I can easily do at home without going anywhere else. Just like Bernis said in his post about blogging at home rather than driving to school to do it; it's mere convenience. Laptops are designed to make our lives easier, that's the way I see it. I believe and hope that many of us do not just sit and stare at the laptop all day everyday, making it our primary focus, maybe that's what you call taking it for granted? I'm not even sure, how you would go about measuring if a person is taking mobility for granted or not. Where do you draw the line? Moreover, it was mentioned that "There are people who have fatalities, from amputated limbs to permanent, life-threatening disabilities, while others simply cannot afford other types of mobility." He stated that people should appreciate what they have instead of worrying about what we don't have. I feel that many of us at some point in our lives feel this way when a tragedy happens to us or to our loved ones. Sometimes we tell ourselves not to take life for granted, but that thought just doesn't stay in our minds afresh every minute. Therefore, it's very difficult to realize that we do take technology or mobility for granted. But even after we realized that we do take it for granted, most of us are not willing to abandon to prove to people that we do not take mobility for granted. The truth of the matter is that laptops help us in more ways than harm us, so why even care if we take them for granted? As for those who simply cannot afford these mobilities, I feel that if they were able to, they could be one of many, who would take it for granted at one point or another. Simply put, we are a species that depend on technology whether we use it sometimes, use it all the time, or take it for granted. This is, after all, a fast paced world and people learn to adapt to an advanced world by taking mobility for granted, all to make our lives a little easier. And Kudos to "Still, immobility sucks!" I agree!
4 comments:
Amy,
This is a very interesting response to Bernie’s mobility post. I totally agree with you on the insane permeability of technology in every aspect of our lives. For instance our college education has grown to be twins with computer technology: we use computer to graph, calculate and even write for an English class! I don’t see these advantages as negatives since we are able to achieve a new level of precision and efficiency. However, as I have discussed in one of my previous post Laptops, I have concerns of technology being too “convenient” and becoming an interference to our life.
Personally I am grateful for the mobility granted to me by laptops, however I started to question this convenience when I realized my personal life has been invaded by technology. I don’t remember how many times I have pulled an all-nighter on my laptop to work on school/work projects or simply just stayed up late to chat with friends. Technology and its developer are trying harder and harder to mix in with our lives, which I consider a new form of control. Yet this technological control appears to be the foundation of the order of today’s society. If you have watched the latest Die Hard movie, you would see what chaos it would create when one day all computers break down. That being said, should we embrace this new form of control or try and resist it? This remains a question I am trying to answer.
Rick
Your point about how technology is helping us more than it is hurting us is interesting and it is a good point. You bring up the idea that many may not want it admit, which is that technology is good. Technology allows us to live our lives easier and keeps us further connect with the world. A laptop allows one to address problems immediately instead of waiting for them to get worse. People may not like to admit that they are dependent on technology because it makes human's sound weak but instead it reveals how far we have come through time. The advancements in technology should be appreciated because they are manifestations of human thought and imagination. Ultimately there may never be a technology that can replace humans so we are making our species stronger by developing technology further.
On a technical note, near the end of your post "specie" should be "species."
"Sometimes we tell ourselves not to take life for granted, but that thought just doesn't stay in our minds afresh every minute."
That's what I was also trying to say in my post. That thought only arises when we are actually IN that situation. When we go back to our regular lives, however, we start to forget that. It's just hard to separate the things we take for granted from...not being granted I guess?
In response to Rick's comment, I think for now we're safe with what we have. It's true how laptops, in a way, hinder our daily lives by unnecessarily keeping us up late at night to chat with friends or watch movies. As long as there is a distinction in what we need technology for, I don't think there is anything to worry about.
I also agree on what Danielle said (Your point about how technology is helping us more than it is hurting us is interesting and it is a good point.). It complements Rick's response to a certain extent that we need to view technology as something helpful rather than an interference (but I still blame my late-nights on my laptop).
I don't think we need to feel a rush to define technology as 'good' or as 'bad'—rather, what seems crucial is that we pay attention to the ways in which technologies ornament, supplement, infiltrate, and maybe sometimes infect our lives. 'Control' seems too powerful a word, because suggests that technologies can have 'their own' lives, which, at least at the moment, is not true. Our technologies would quickly become (as Polly says in her post) junk if humans weren't around to animate them. But this does not mean that we can simply conclude that everything's okay—"for now" as Bernie says. I have to wonder: what is the threshold of this "for now"? How would we know when this 'now' is over and we've entered a new stage in terms of our relationships with technologies?
This sentence has unnecessary commas around the word laptops: "The truth of the matter is that, laptops, help us in more ways than harm us...."
Your sentence about humans as a technological species is smart and sums up both the problem and the solution: we need to come to terms not with how we use technologies, but rather with that we are somewhat indiscernible *from* technology. Admitting this might change how we feel dependent on *or* separate from technologies.
Danielle: There is no "immediately" with technology (or without)—it's just that technology sometimes *hides* systems of mediation, or makes them *appear* immediate.
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