When
contemplating the prompt, I initially tried to find some sort of unique
technology that aided my daily life, something beyond the cell phone or
personal computer, something I wouldn't find in everyone else's blog. Unfortunately,
I'm not that edgy and I don't have the next greatest 'life-hack' to tell you
about, but instead of telling you how convenient the cell phone is or praising
word processing for the countless hours it saved me, I thought I would discuss
a few points that Bellah makes in our prompt quote. In case you have forgotten
already, here it is:
"Similarly, the relatively affluent twentieth-century
American could reorganize habits and styles of
life experimentally to achieve a more gratifying private life."
Most
of what I'll call our common technologies work to reorganize our habits and
daily lives, both in a work environment, and at home. This reorganization is
focused on efficiency: our personal computers allow us to both consume, create and
exchange information easily, our cell phones make our contacts just a text away,
and now with tablets becoming more popular any online media will be at our
fingertips. In a lot of ways this technology has sped up our lives. We don't
have to toil over handwritten essays and we can send a dozen texts and fb
messages in the time it would take just to find the stationary.
We
would hate to see these things go away, but can we say they have lead us to
"a more gratifying private life"? I find this question pretty
difficult to answer. I've had a cell phone, easy access to a computer,
facebook, email and a dozen of other technological conveniences for so many
years I don't have another point of comparison. Without a computer or phone
certain things would be harder, more time consuming, but in a lot of ways my
life would be simpler. While being able to contact most people I know through
facebook is a convenience, there are a lot of inconveniences that come along
with this type of technology. I have to maintain a public profile and make sure
what is available on the internet about me is what I want representing me
publicly (I've untagged myself from plenty of photos I rather my grandmother
not see). Perhaps some of the technologies we consider more efficient or
convenient are really just adding complication to our daily lives. In closing,
do we see these modern conveniences as leading us to a more gratifying private
life? I'm not sure-- but I'm certainly not ready to give up my computer or cell
phone.
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