Speaking of Being Attached to Technology...

Introduction

Hello Everyone,

My name is Natalie Cerrone and I am currently an undergraduate student at IUP. My major is Art Education and I enjoy anything art related. I love painting, sculpting, and jewelry making. I love listening to music that makes me dance, laughing at anything and everything, and watching movies. This is not my first blog, in fact you probably saw my other one on my profile page. So on that note, if you are interested in studying abroad, check out my blog titled "Destination Scotland" to learn more about studying abroad and the adventures and experiences that come with it.

Response to Richtel's "Attached to Technology and Paying a Price"

Our assignment was to read Matt Richtel's article on being attached to technology. Ironically, when I went to go online to open the article I found myself distracted. The first website I visited was Imail to check Webmaster Justus' email about what to do for homework. I then found myself checking other, less important emails. Next, I visited Facebook and checked my profile and friend's profiles. I read a status about the weather and how an IUP student is praying for a cancellation of classes for tomorrow. That then prompted me to visit weather.com to check if that was even a possibility. So basically, 45 minutes later I was finally on nytimes.com beginning to read the article assigned. Do not be fooled though, my lack of distraction did not stop there. Within 30 seconds I opened the first link provided which was a interactive picture of Mr. Campbell's desk.

Once I got into the reading, which was also distracting in itself with all of the advertisements bordering the text itself, I found it interesting. The article claims that people think that multitasking improves their productivity, but it is shown by research that heavy multi-taskers have more trouble focusing and shutting out irrelevant information. Although that is a negative aspect, technology can also benefit the brain in some ways. It claims that internet users are more efficient at finding information and video game users develop better visual acuity. This in return can make them better drivers.

Some things mentioned in the passage were just completely ridiculous in my mind. I understand that being connected to technology can be resourceful in our society we live in but at one point it claimed that Mr. Campbell sleeps with a laptop or iPhone on his chest and checks his email as soon as he awakes. He also knows absurd facts such as it takes 221 seconds for him to lose connection when the subway train goes through the tunnel. These are things that a normal person would not experience in their everyday lives.

While reading this article online, I found myself 13 paragraphs in already bored and fighting back the urge to either get up or visit another tab. I also engaged in the distraction test linked in the text and of course the game too.

Overall, I found this article interesting yet sad to realize just how much our society is affected by technology. I am a huge fan of technology and use it anytime I can, but the Campbells, especially Mr. Kord (Thomas) Campbell, are way too involved and are ignoring the simple things in life. Mr. Campbell mentioned that he remembers a time when he used to talk more. His wife also mentioned that she wishes he could just "unplug" and spend some more time with the family. Sadly, technology has taken over their lives in a way that almost seems hard to reverse. They are truly addicted to technology in any form. Once again, I am a fan of technology but there needs to be a balance between the usage of technology and the act of simply "unplugging".

-Natalie Cerrone

*Note: The fact that blogger.com will not let me include tabs before my sentences is really bugging me!