Journal Entry #4

Media is a part of my everyday life. Before taking this class, I never really thought about how much I am affected by media and technology. The minute I wake up to my alarm clock on my cell phone, I am using media. Then, I go to my computer and turn it on and check to see if I have any messages. After class, I will go on the Internet, or turn on the television. I am constantly texting friends or family from my cell phone, or checking my email to see if I have any important events coming up that I should know about. Where would I be today without media in my everyday life? I can't even begin to imagine what I would do each day if I didn't have a computer, television, cellphone, or Ipod. One day, I forgot my cell phone back in my dorm room when I went to work. I only worked for three hours and I was having cell phone withdrawls. I was going insane without being able to text message people. Just the fact of having my cell phone with me, even if I didn't use it, felt reassuring. Another time I had to suffer without media was when I didn't have Internet for three days here at school, because I got "kicked off the Marist network" because of downloading music. I wasn't able to log onto the internet for three days, until I went to talk to Resnet. This felt like the longest three days of my life. I wasn't able to check my e-mail, talk to friends on AIM, or go on the Internet. It felt so weird to not be able to see what was going on with everyone else's lives due to Facebook status's and away messages on AIM. It was during finals week, and a snow storm was due for the morning of the last day of finals. I wasn't even able to check the homepage to see if finals were cancelled or not, which really bothered me. Luckily, my housemates were in the same class as me and could inform me. It sounds selfish, but without media, I don't know what I would do. I can't imagine what the people who can't afford computers or cell phones do on a daily basis--probably more important things than I do. They are probably harder workers due to their lack of technology. I feel that technology is making people lazy. I know that instead of going to the library to check out books, I simply use the internet to find sources and articles. I feel that without the use of technology, people in general would be more intelligent and motivated. In general, without media and technology, our lives would be greatly affected in many ways. I am grateful for living in such a highly technological world.