When I first signed up for this course, I expected it to be pretty much the way it has been; reading about blogging, blogging, etc.
What I did not expect was to be overwhelmed by it.
I registered from classes while living in the comfort of my parents' home. My dad is a technology freak and always has the newest gadgets cluttering up the house. I think I took that for granted, or perhaps not. I actually sort of hate technology, which is a bit of a contradiction considering I'm typing this into a blog.
I was looking around my room the other day when it really hit me that I must be trying to rebel against the ever-changing world. I don't have a cell phone, I have a rotary phone. I don't own a DVD player, I own a VCR. I don't have a computer, but where it might sit there is an electronic typewriter. A digital camera? Pah. I'm still using my dad's manual from the 70's and my shitty APS I got 10 years ago. I don't have an iPod, I have a record player. And for those times when I absolutely must travel with music, a portable cassette walkman.
Of course, despite all of this I still consider myself "technologically advanced" because I know how to load a printer and download music. I did have a laptop once upon a time, but it left me, completely, for a better place. It took all of my files with it. Even my rare Stevie Nicks demos. I don't think I've quite come to terms with that yet.
Part of this is stemming from my frustration with not being able to do what I really want to do with this blog, easily. I'd like to have a lot of pictures and I can't do that without my own computer/camera/scanner. I really like the idea of traveling around Columbus looking for creepy stuff, but I don't exactly have any dowsing rods at my disposal either.
I do think that this weekend I will go on some expeditions and find some freaking scary stuff. It can't be that hard. Athens had it all in one little town...this is a big city full of death and turmoil and misery. There must be something!
What I did not expect was to be overwhelmed by it.
I registered from classes while living in the comfort of my parents' home. My dad is a technology freak and always has the newest gadgets cluttering up the house. I think I took that for granted, or perhaps not. I actually sort of hate technology, which is a bit of a contradiction considering I'm typing this into a blog.
I was looking around my room the other day when it really hit me that I must be trying to rebel against the ever-changing world. I don't have a cell phone, I have a rotary phone. I don't own a DVD player, I own a VCR. I don't have a computer, but where it might sit there is an electronic typewriter. A digital camera? Pah. I'm still using my dad's manual from the 70's and my shitty APS I got 10 years ago. I don't have an iPod, I have a record player. And for those times when I absolutely must travel with music, a portable cassette walkman.
Of course, despite all of this I still consider myself "technologically advanced" because I know how to load a printer and download music. I did have a laptop once upon a time, but it left me, completely, for a better place. It took all of my files with it. Even my rare Stevie Nicks demos. I don't think I've quite come to terms with that yet.
Part of this is stemming from my frustration with not being able to do what I really want to do with this blog, easily. I'd like to have a lot of pictures and I can't do that without my own computer/camera/scanner. I really like the idea of traveling around Columbus looking for creepy stuff, but I don't exactly have any dowsing rods at my disposal either.
I do think that this weekend I will go on some expeditions and find some freaking scary stuff. It can't be that hard. Athens had it all in one little town...this is a big city full of death and turmoil and misery. There must be something!
posted by suzified @ 1:12 PM
1 Comments:
At 5:08 PM,
Lewis said…
You raise important issues that, I hope, will get full attention during this course. I share your concerns, but as you might guess, I think the problem lies not with "technology" in general but with our stances toward technology, and the solutions involve raising the sorts of questions you seem to be thinking about. After all, rotary phones, cars, record players, cassette players, and electric typewriters are all technologies that would seem other worldly to folks from the 18th century. What matters, I think, is the quality of our choices about how to use technologies. Doing without digital technologies is perfectly reasonable, as is living "off the grid" (providing all of your own electricity). My own stance, obviously, is to try to think critically about technology from a position of familiarity with it, but there is a danger of getting sucked into uncritical fascination. Anyway, if you would like to read how someone from the 19th century viewed the dawn of the 20th century and its attendant technologies, have a look at The Education of Henry Adams, especially the chapter entitled "The Dynamo and the Virgin." Note: This is an autobiography, but Adams writes about himself in the third person.
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