Technology: Where the h*ll am I? (part one)
Eight years ago I wrote a manifesto denouncing cell phones. Now 90% of my closest friends have one. When I started college 13 years ago I refused to touch Photoshop. I worked in a black and white photo studio. Now I own a digital camera. The other night I was talking to my friend on the phone, instant messaging another friend, and looking through some internet personals webpage. While I was doing all that at once, I was also thinking: This is crazy. I can’t even focus on one of these activities, yet I am doing them all at once. And I can’t tear myself away from any of them.
That is the setup of these times. There are so many things demanding our attention constantly, and for some reason, it is necessary to pay attention to all of them. At once. The technology demands it. We can’t just be talking on the phone. No. We have to talk on the phone, wash the dishes, and be checking email all at the same time. It’s a fracturing way to live.
My computer is sometimes like a pulsating beacon, begging me to noodle around on the internet, check some junk email, see if anyone else is online. The promise is connection. The reality for me is total confusion. When I leave my computer, I stumble into the rest of my house with a sense of amnesia, totally exhausted.
I feel that way now. So this will be continued.
