Jan. 26th & 28th Media Usage

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?