Sometimes I feel like I am all-alone,
struggling to stay afloat in a world obsessed with technology. Everywhere I
look around me I see the masses busily tapping away on their mobile devices.
I am one of the millions of Australians who
use a mobile device. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics as at end
of June 2012, mobile handset
subscriptions were at a staggering 9.7
million of which 37% (3.6 million) were dedicated data subscriptions (ABS
2012).
In my household alone (of two people) I count
2 IPhones, 3 laptops, a desktop computer, 2 IPads, Internet capable TV, Apple TV, Internet connected gaming
consoles and this menagerie is all connected through wi-fi. We have become obsessed and hooked to the
digital world. We need to be constantly connected to our devices and heaven
help us if the Internet goes down.
I am an older generation that has adapted
to the use of digital media, I am a digital immigrant (McNealy, JE 2011, Prensky, M 2001). I was at
the cusp of the change. I am generation X,
the last generation to grow up where we were not consumed with digital
technology. I played outside and used my imagination, there were no Xbox’s or
PS3’s. The Internet made its debut as dial up at the very end of my high school
years. Like most of my generation I have adapted to the digital world and use
technology that supports my lifestyle – that is I use Internet banking and the
like.
I am not a slave to my mobile devices. I like the convenience of my mobile phone but
do not jump the minute it rings. In fact, my phone never rings as I found the
blessing of the silent switch. Recently
my sister was over (and she remarked that she wishes she could be like me and
not be on her phone 24x7. I silently laughed and thought to myself that she
is cyborg, that is her mobile devices
(IPad and IPhone) are appendages to her body.
Everything she does is through these devices and they are never not
attached to her. My sister is an example
of Ingrid Richardson’s (2007) argument that the mobile phone is accepted
‘almost as a body part or appendage’
Prensky (2001) states that Digital
Immigrants learn to adapt to their environment but to some degree retain their
‘foot in the past’. I guess that I am a true Immigrant – like Prensky claims I
have kept my ‘accent’. By necessity I
have adapted to the new digital frontier. I have my Facebook to keep up with
family, but I welcome a good old fashioned get together anytime. I do most of
my banking online. If I want to know something I ‘Google’ it. I draw the line
though at online shopping, for me I don’t feel safe crossing that step yet. Interestingly
enough though I have an app on my IPhone that lets me QR read the barcodes of
the goodies in my house and builds a shopping list. That list is linked to my
local store and when I go there with mobile app in hand it tells me which isle
and where about’s in the aisle the goods are and crosses them off my list as I
scan the barcode into my IPhone.
On reflection maybe I am more hooked then I
think…
Citations
ABS 2012,
How Australia accesses and uses
the Internet, viewed 2 December 2012 http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/1301.0~2012~Main%20Features~How%20Australia%20accesses%20and%20uses%20the%20Internet~175
McNealy,
JE 2011, The realm of the expected: redefining the public
and private spheres of social media,pp.255–269.
Prensky, M 2001, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, viewed 2 Decmeber 2012, < http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/prensky%20-%20digital%20natives,%20digital%20immigrants%20-%20part1.pdf>
Richardson, I 2007, ‘Pocket technospaces: the bodily Incorporation of mobile media’, in
Goggin, G, c2008, Mobile phone culture, Routledge, London, pp. 66-75
Hi Liz
ReplyDeleteI was searching for a generation X blog to see how we all differ; turns out we don't. We have all immersed ourselves in technology, young and old, whether we were born into it or learnt skills along the way.
I referred to the idea of cyborgs in my blog also, when i first read the term I thought it was an over exaggeration. However after this weeks reflection I beg to differ, it seems that, like you sister, I am a cyborg and i can not live without my phone. Even the silent button can't help me!!!
Great first blog, look forward to reading more
Hi Tara
DeleteI agree we are immersed into technology - to some degree. I think it has become such a central part of of society that without it we are left behind. My Dad is a good example of this, there was no way he was going to go digital (internet and email). He has a mobile and I recently got him an Ipad. From I will never use this and have no need for email, he sends email all the time, reads his newspaper online etc. And surprisingly (and said with a little laugh) he does not know how he managed to get by without it before, particularly email as he can send letters to his siblings on the other side of the country and they get it straight away.
As for cyborgs, wether its the mobile or something else we are becoming the cyborg state
Deletehi Liz,
ReplyDeleteI think regarless of the amount of technology that surrounds us, we all need to find a medium for ourselves and be content with it. As in your case, using the internet banking, which could not have been possible without the current improved technology. In my case also internet banking and many more. As I hear the criticisms for the use of mobile phones, it dawned on me that TV was getting the same criticism before we all spend a lot of time on our smart phones. The 'stupid box' as people called it. I suppose it is an improvement now that we spend more time searching google and reading each others blogs instead of using that time to watch Tv programmes?
thanks for your blog,
Seda Moss
Hi Seda,
DeleteTechnology is everywhere and we cant live without it. I agree its up to the individual user and how comfortable they are with it. But where do we draw the line. My nieces and nephews do not know how to play or have fun without technology. I once banned the game consoles and internet when they were staying for a visit, and I was asked "Aunty Lizy what did you do for fun back in the olden days" and "How can you have fun outside with no playstation". It wasn't a case of them trying to give check, they generally had no concept of how to use their imagination to play. (AND BTW I am only 35 so the concept o olden days refering to my childhood amuses me).