I know that technology
and the media is common in my everyday life, but I didn’t quite realize how
much I used and depended on in until I started writing down every time I used
some form of media. I started out my day early at 4:55 to a peaceful song,
"Island" by The XX. I recently learned how to use garage band to
change songs into ring tones, something that has come in handy.
My
typical routine before I get out of my bed and shower consists of checking a
couple of things: email, face book, blackboard, and the weather. I spent about
10 minutes catching up and mentally preparing myself for the day to come.
Listening
to music while driving has become second nature to me, but because of the cold
I typically don’t leave my ipod in my car, so the radio is sufficient. While
working the radio gets extremely repetitive, so Pandora is always at hand. On
my iphone I am capable of listening to any station, where ever. It’s amazing
how far things have come since the first radio.
Something
that I also could not imagine is life with out alarm clocks. I am constantly
forgetting where to be and what to do, so I set reminders on my phone. In one
day my alarm went off 3 times to remind me to do something. Especially with how
fast paced today’s society is, it is awful convenient to depend on a phone so
much, yet it is also a little scary.
When I
got off work, I drove to grab lunch at ACRC and I used there WiFi to get some
work done before my class started.
Typically I would have to go home to do my homework, but now that I have
an iphone I can get my work done pretty much anywhere.
The gym
has become a media hotspot. On many of the work out machines they now have
chargers for your ipod, and televisions. Since they have updated all the
machines I have found that it makes working out for me much easier. As long as
I have law and order on in the background I can work out the full hour rather
then getting bored and leaving earlier then I plan. The media becomes a
distraction for me and helps me become motivated in going to the gym.
I would
like to say that I don’t use the media too much, but certain days that is
definitely not true. When I am busy with school the only time I really use the
media is for schoolwork, where as in the summer I hardly use any form of media.
I find that in the morning right before I start my day and when I am about to
go to bed I use my laptop the most. I have found that I use the media 90% of
the time to keep up to date with the world around me, whether it is checking
face book, the daily news miner, or checking my email. At the gym I use Pandora
if I am not watching a TV show.
I would
have to say this first week I learned a lot about how I use media, and how much I use all forms of media. Since I
have gone to UAF my daily use has increased, especially because in high school
you weren’t allowed to have your phones or laptops in school. I find that it is
much easier to quickly check the weather or emails all with one or two clicks
on my iphone.
As I
wrap this up, my questions that I ask is what is next? I have found over time
this generation is used to everything being so instant. Instant music, instant
Google, instant messaging. Where can this lead us?
