Blog #1-Daley

Albert Einstein once stated that, "It's clear that our technology has far surpassed our humanity." Now, whether that's true or not is up to every individual to decide, but Elizabeth Daley has a certain perspective on this issue. Since the invention of the internet, the cell phone, the iphone/ipod, facebook, myspace and more, kids have become more attached to these devices. Daley has noticed these trends and what seems to be her main argument is that kids are constantly sitting behind a screen, (whether that be computer or television). In addition, her main argument is also the fact that literacy is changing; no longer is plain text on paper the only form of literacy. We now have computers, media, images, pictures and sounds as forms of literacy. Daley quotes, "In short, our shared experiences as human beings are more often than not derived from the images and sounds that exist on screens." I very much agree with Daley because first of all, I'm living proof; I get home from school, work or just being out, and you know what the first thing I do is? Grab my computer, sit in front of the television, interact with facebook and text my friends. I just counted, and that's three screens at the same time... I find myself asking, "Why am I so obsessed with these devices?" or "Why can't I just be with the people I'm with and lay off on the texting?" I also wonder, "What did my parents, and their parents, and their parents do for fun?" In addition, since I've been writing this blog, I've heard at least three people's cell phones go off and vibrate. Can we no longer wait one hour without texting? Should we get waterproof cell phones so we can take them in the shower with us too? Oh wait, we now have waterproof phones... Thank god. I believe this article directly affects us, not only as kids in general, but in this class as well. Now that we're acknowledging that technology will continue to advance, we're at least attempting to create technology that betters humanity. We can now post things on youtube, blogs and other sites that lets our voices be heard. I think it's a good direction (hopefully) in which we're traveling and I'm glad Daley has presented these issues, so we can see where to go from here.