One of the readings for a class some weeks ago was Christine Rosen’s “The Age of Egocasting.” It’s a fascinating article, and we all had something to say about it, whether agreeing or disagreeing. I recommend everyone read it, as it’s bound to start a train of thought and interesting discussion.

I was speaking with one of my classmates about how much technology we allow into our lives and have found myself thinking about a tech/non-tech life balance ever since. How far do we allow technology and personal devices into our lives?

It’s amusing, as I think I’m getting a reputation in class as a techie. We were asked what services and/or computer-y things we do, and I was one of the 2 people who raised our hands to almost every question. But I don’t think of myself as a techie. I suppose I’ve always thought of tech people as people who enjoy technology for technology’s sake. Perhaps I’m a part of that after all. But I’m not interested in building the technology or making new technology or getting behind the scenes with it at all. But I do like using technology to explore things I enjoy. I’m a practical user of technology, but also one who enjoys trying out new things if they can do something useful and interesting. This is some sort of tenuous distinction, I admit.

I currently use these social networking services (some under my real name, some not):
facebook
flickr
last.fm
youtube
librarything
etsy
livejournal
dreamwidth
google reader
delicious
tumblr
kaboodle
netflix
iPod
myspace (dormant)
twitter (dormant)

I am an advocate of open-source software and love customizing my computing and web experience. We have Ubuntu on 2 laptops (this one and my netbook, which is dual-boot XP & UNR capable), love firefox and its add-ons and userscripts, and generally advocate the “information wants to be free” idea. I also have this website and blog and have made some short videos and plan to do more since I am in The Studio every week. So I suppose I could be considered a techie (but not by techies themselves, because I am a gurl.)

I agree with Rosen in some ways: I don’t enjoy listening to tvs when I’m in a restaurant, or piped-in music when I’m outside, or hearing everyone’s cell phone conversations when I’m anywhere. I would love to tell the world to SHUT UP some times and just let me think, or hear, or see, or smell by myself. I don’t need the constant input from the media or other people.

So, I’ve made some choices as to things I don’t do with technology:

texting
watching broadcast/cable tv
DVR-ing
always talking on the phone
surfing the web on my phone
listening to my iPod all the time

so I can have some peace. And most people I know do this as well. It all depends on our comfort level with the technology and how much we enjoy doing what it enables us to do.

Example:
I don’t listen to my iPod most of the time, because I like hearing what is going on. Not only will I be able to interact with people on my journeys, but it is also safer to not have something blaring in your ears when you need your senses to figure out what’s going on. Even when I’m gardening, I don’t take my iPod with me. I want to hear the birds chirping or my neighbor saying hello.

I also consciously choose to do activities that don’t involve the internet or media. Gardening doesn’t require a streaming video feed to keep me interested and watching the birds in the backyard doesn’t need real-time comments to be fun. When N and I go on a walk, we take along the Sibley’s and that’s it. Sometimes when we see or hear a new bird, we can’t precisely identify it even with the Sibley’s, so we check out Cornell’s awesome All About Birds. So the web does help in non-web activities, but I still try and structure time away from the internet and electricity if possible.

So I think the way to avoid the catastrophe that Rosen seems to think is inevitable is to pick and choose what we use, how we use it, and when we use it. And doing that is very hard, because it relies on us as individuals to tune out of some things and stop blindly following the ads and what the corporations and media want us to do (consume, consume, consume!) and use our minds and hearts and really pay attention.

I am toying with the idea of reformatting this blog and changing the focus to be a bit more personal and updated more regularly. I am going to play with the format and see what I can do with this.

What’s the point of this blog if not to keep it updated, right?