I was rummaging through my closet the other day trying to find space for all the notes and work I accumulated over the years at school when I stumbled upon an old box labeled “Sean’s Stuff”. I was curious as to what might be inside so I decided to pull the box down and uncover the mysterious “stuff” I had in my closet.What I found melted my heart. Over the years my Mom had collected some of my earliest pieces of schoolwork. There was a book that documented my school pictures from about kindergarten to grade four and I even got to look over my first report card (straight A’s of course).
But one item in particular took the prize for the most interesting piece of memorabilia – a painting I “painted” on paint shop. When I was a dapper young lad I remember I used to sit and play on paint shop all day. I would make the screen all one colour or use a spray can to swirl all across the page. On this particular day I decided to draw me driving in a car. I’ll admit, it’s not the most exciting picture, but it was the fact that one of my parents were able to search into the computer’s history, find my painting, print it, and put it away in a box to find years later that makes this picture really special.
I must have been experimenting with minimalism because the proportions of the person and the car were all very small in proportion to the space I had on the monitor. But, like my minimalist artwork – it seems as though most things are getting smaller. The computer I designed the original work on was gigantic compared to my laptop, I used to have a large/bulky rotary phone, a huge record player with two speakers, tape players that clipped onto pants (would never fit in a pocket), Nintendo was a big grey box, and Oprah’s hair made her look at least four inches taller.
Technology is getting smaller and faster. In fact that seems to be the trend. If we can make a smaller microchip that holds more information or can process information faster – technology gets better. In my lifetime (24 years) I have witnessed a huge change in how society interacts with technology – from the inside – meaning my own life has been changed during this whole process.
What I am left with is a question I am not sure I have the answer to. “How will they grow up?” Meaning: how will the children of today grow up in a society where technology has traveled light years in a short period of time to where it is today? I see babies with a Blackberry in their mouth and apps that are child friendly on the iPhone.
How will technology influence their lives? Are there any signs out there already? Is their interaction with technology for better or worse?
How will they grow up?
2 comments:
Courtney,
I didn't realize you were still following along with the blog! Thank you for you comment.
I think you make a valid point. I was actually talking to a friend this morning who asked me if I knew of any literature that talked about how media is "dumbing down" the masses. What I told him was that every story has two sides and for every argument there is an exact counter argument.
One voice does say that video games, movies, television and the Internet are all making us smarter.
Where as another piece of work would point to all those things and say it is the "soma" (An allusion to Huxley's Brave New World) of the modern day.
to further solidify what Courtney has read; from my personal experience, its usually the individuals around me that are more 'connected' with technology and the world around us that are the ones that are the most driven.
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