For the love of technology rant (Part 1)

NOTE: The below rant takes place on the campus of the University of Kentucky.

Over the past 6 or 7 months my eyes have been opened to a disturbing trend among young people, namely white and foreign college students. My observations have shown that the increasing love for technology is actually hurting interactions between people in public. The love for technology is becoming a way to hide so that you can avoid any and all human interaction, any eye contact with other people while out in public.

Let me give you an example. I believe that this took place about 3 months ago. I was walking to work one morning when I noticed one of Sarah's (my wife) students coming towards me. We will give this student the name of Margaret. Now, Margaret was approaching me from the opposite direction along the same sidewalk. As we approached, I made eye contact and said a simple "hello". Margaret simply looked straight ahead, listening to her iPod, and didn't even acknowledge me. I was quite offended to say the least. Now, I realize that she may have been having a bad morning or may have had other thoughts on her mind, but to not even acknowledge someone saying a simple hello?!  It seems like more times than not, students are hiding behind their multimedia devices. And it is a great hiding place really. But this need to hide is destroying the way humans were meant to live. We were not meant to hide and isolate ourselves.

INTERESTING FACT: One interesting fact that I have observed while on the University of Kentucky campus is that black students are far more likely to interact than white or foreign students. I rarely ever get blown off by a black student. I wonder why that is? I don't know that I have an answer.

Now, when I do post, this blog is pretty much entirely dedicated to technology. I love technology. It is absolutely fascinating. However, I do not allow technology to control me; to distract me to the point of not even acknowledging someone's existence; to distract me to the point of not giving a simple smile to someone who may desperately need it; to distract me from keeping a door from slamming in someone's face. It appears to me, especially among younger people, that technology is doing this. When walking around on the University of Kentucky campus, I am amazed at how many people hide behind their iPods, or other music player and avoid eye contact by all means possible. Since when did interacting with people become so foreign? Since when did looking another human in the eye and saying "hello" become so foreign? Since when did holding the door open for that person who's arms are full of stuff become so foreign?

I feel as though I have to add my little "I'm not perfect" sentence because if it's not here someone is bound to become irate at my supposed pious attitude here. So here it is. I'm not perfect by any means. I make mistakes and may miss out on saying hi or giving someone a friendly smile. I may miss holding that door open for someone from time to time. But I feel that those times are few and far between because I'm not hiding behind my mp3 player, isolating myself from any human interaction.

As I close on the issue of hiding behind these music players, I have to say that I'm by no means against them. There are numerous times and places where they can be appropriate. Studying and exercising are great examples. I just don't believe they are appropriate when walking, or riding a bike, out and about in public. You never know when a great opportunity to interact with another person will come along. If you're hiding behind your music player, you will more than likely miss it. And what's even more sad, from my perspective, is that more and more young people are choosing isolation over human interaction.

Now, I'm not saying that all young people do this. This is not so. I personally know numerous students who have a great social life and love to interact with people. However, if any of the information in the previous paragraphs sound extreme, I encourage you to seek out a college campus and simply observe. You will be surprised at the percentage of students hiding behind their music players. And it seems that this percentage is getting larger every year. So, what are your thoughts on people isolating themselves with their music players? Agree? Disagree? I'd love to hear comments and feedback. But I must say, you'll have a hard time convincing me that putting on your headphones every time you walk out the door is OK. To me, that's just a 21st century way of isolating yourself. And humans are not mean to live life in isolation.

Closing note: I plan on having a Part 2 on "For the love of technology" but I want to do a bit more research first.

June Headlines

Wow, it's been over 2 months since my last post. Craziness! Here's a post.....headline style.

1) Intel's i3, i5, and i7 series are the latest and greatest processors. If you're purchasing a new desktop PC, a processor from one of the three lines is a must. If you can afford to spare a bit more cash, they're a must if you're looking into a new laptop.

2) DDR3 memory, or RAM, is hitting the mainstream. Unless you're getting a netbook or an ultraportable laptop, DDR3 memory is a must for a new computer. Hek, even netbooks and ultraportables are coming with DDR3 memory now.

3) SSDs (solid state drives) are going mainstream as well. Best Buy is now stocking Intel SSDs. Hopefully this will begin to drive prices down to more reasonable levels. The performance of SSDs are amazing. Grab one if you can afford it!

4) Starbucks will begin to start offering fee WiFi in July. A few years late don't ya think!!!

5) Droid X and the iPhone 4 are now out. If you can afford the extra for a data plan, these phones are a must.

6) Microsoft has sold 150 million copies of Windows 7. That's about 7 copies a second.

7) Take a look at the US debt. Now imagine that you had all of that money in the bank. That's a bunch of money right? Yes, that's a crazy amount of money. It's so much money, that you could buy every single living person in the world 9 iPhone 4s..........9 iPhone 4s..............for every single person in the whole entire world............craziness!

That's it for now! I hope I won't go 2 more months without another post! Life just gets busy.