Below are paraphrased interviews:
My brother - 29
How do you use the internet? I use the internet to do nearly everything. I work as a software engineer and focus mostly on computer networks. I spend most of my day setting up internet networks for companies and then making sure that no one can hack into them. I also use it to do all of my bills and banking. I can’t even remember when I went to a store last – I buy everything online.
What are your primary uses of the internet? Primarily I do work on the internet. I set up online networks for companies, which takes up most of my day.
How comfortable are you with communicating on the internet? I would much rather send an e-mail than call someone on the phone or have a meeting. It’s easy because it means that I do not have to drive anywhere or inconvenience myself.
What do you think of the internet? I like it.
Mom-
How do you use the internet? I use the internet for work a lot, and then I use it at home to send e-mails and shop
What are your primary uses of the internet? I use it a lot for e-mails and when I come home from work I use it to pay bills, shop, by plane tickets, and check the weather.
How comfortable are you with communicating on the internet? I like sending e-mails because it is easy to do. Sometimes they go back and forth too many times, so I pick up the phone and call the person.
What do you think of the internet? I think it is good, but sometimes there are too many pop-up ads and other junk that shouldn’t be there.
Grandma – 70 (lives in England)
How do you use the internet? I do not really use it. I like to write letters or go out shopping with my friends. I do not really understand the computer, and the internet seems very confusing
What are your primary uses of the internet? When I do use it, your cousins help me check my e-mail. I would much rather write a letter though because it is hard for me to look at the computer screen.
How comfortable are you with communicating on the internet? Like I said, I would much rather write a letter because the glare hurts my eyes. Also, I have a hard time typing with the keyboard so it takes me a long time to write a …. What do you call it……e…..mail?
What do you think of the internet? I think it’s hard to use. There are lots of buttons and it is difficult for me to use. I would rather have tea with my friend Margret down the road.
In this weeks Postman reading, he says “… we tend to believe that only through the autonomy of techniques (and machinery) can we achieve our goals” (142). This reflects on the overall tones of the interviews I had. The younger people were a lot more familiar with the computer and internet, and believed that the computer was vital to achieving goals. The older generations, that did not grow up with computers, thought that they were OK without the technology and that they did not need to learn this “high tech stuff”.
I think that the impressions I got from the 3 people I interviewed, were what I expected. My grandmother still believes that when you e-mail her a digital picture, she needs to send it back to you, so that you can have it back. It is funny to think that she really believes that she needs to do this- and there is no convincing her that it is untrue! I think that as generations grow up, technology will become more and more important, but I do wonder if we will be accepting of new technology and change as we approach 60…
Friday, August 14, 2009
Final Post
I think that the blog experience was different than I first expected. I had never written a blog before, so this was my first chance to do so. I found it slightly frustrating during the first few weeks because the browser I was using (firefox) would not let me post my blogs. I have actually just noticed now that my entire blog post from several weeks ago has never been posted (oops). I would submit my work – and later when I checked back, nothing was ever posted. I found that using Internet explorer helped with these problems most of the time.
I will not continue to post on this blog, nor do I think I will blog anywhere. For me, I just do not think I have time to go on the computer, type things, and then post them on the internet. Doing so does not interest me. I would much rather talk to someone or be outdoors, rather than sitting in front of a computer typing. I can understand why people enjoy keeping blogs and getting an opportunity to share themselves with others, but it just does not suit my personality. Some of the blogs written by my classmates are pretty amazing because of their writing styles. It was a lot of fun to read what others wrote about, and how we all took a different approach to each assignment. Some of us were straight forward and used information from the books, while others were much more creative in their writing styles.
I found that a lot of these blogs for me seemed rather fake. I think that the fakeness stems from the fact that it is a forced, class assignment, rather than a creative outlet. I am a very quiet person who does not like to share a lot about myself with other people. The idea of posting my thoughts online in an environment where anyone with an internet connection can read them, is unsettling for me. I would much rather keep to myself and share my thoughts and ideas in a more intimate setting or in person with friends or family.
I enjoyed reading the assigned books and talking about the readings, but for me, the blog seemed silly. I am not sure what the lesson in blogging was, other than giving us another opportunity to relate the readings to other topics. I would much rather have been assigned short 500 word essays each week that were submitted via blackboard than going to a blog site. Despite my dislike for the blogs, I learned a lot about the internet and the change in communication as technology has increased. I have talked to friends and family about the readings in the books because there are many interesting topics. I think that my favorite blog assignment was the one where we sent out a letter and e-mailed a letter. It was a great opportunity to do something that many of us have probably not done in a long time (mailing a bill was the last thing I have mailed in the past few months). Thanks for all of the information!
I will not continue to post on this blog, nor do I think I will blog anywhere. For me, I just do not think I have time to go on the computer, type things, and then post them on the internet. Doing so does not interest me. I would much rather talk to someone or be outdoors, rather than sitting in front of a computer typing. I can understand why people enjoy keeping blogs and getting an opportunity to share themselves with others, but it just does not suit my personality. Some of the blogs written by my classmates are pretty amazing because of their writing styles. It was a lot of fun to read what others wrote about, and how we all took a different approach to each assignment. Some of us were straight forward and used information from the books, while others were much more creative in their writing styles.
I found that a lot of these blogs for me seemed rather fake. I think that the fakeness stems from the fact that it is a forced, class assignment, rather than a creative outlet. I am a very quiet person who does not like to share a lot about myself with other people. The idea of posting my thoughts online in an environment where anyone with an internet connection can read them, is unsettling for me. I would much rather keep to myself and share my thoughts and ideas in a more intimate setting or in person with friends or family.
I enjoyed reading the assigned books and talking about the readings, but for me, the blog seemed silly. I am not sure what the lesson in blogging was, other than giving us another opportunity to relate the readings to other topics. I would much rather have been assigned short 500 word essays each week that were submitted via blackboard than going to a blog site. Despite my dislike for the blogs, I learned a lot about the internet and the change in communication as technology has increased. I have talked to friends and family about the readings in the books because there are many interesting topics. I think that my favorite blog assignment was the one where we sent out a letter and e-mailed a letter. It was a great opportunity to do something that many of us have probably not done in a long time (mailing a bill was the last thing I have mailed in the past few months). Thanks for all of the information!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Wild Card!
Communication has become a lot less personal as the internet has become more popular. It seems like one of the most common internet usages is email. E-mail allows people to send messages, information, and pictures to others much cheaper and faster than using standard mail. Because of the ease of email communication, it seems like even though people may be computer illiterate, they are still capable of sending emails.
Because e-mails can be sent out so quickly and people send out so many e-mails throughout the day, things get mis-communicated. It is difficult to relay emotion in emails, so that is often the cause of the misunderstanding. Something that someone intended as a joke may be interpreted as an insult by the recipient because there is no tone of voice.
Email communication gives us access to a medium that doesn't allow for tone or nuance. It is very fast, and we often use I impulsively to communicate. Sometimes e-mails go back a forth over 10 times between two people, and sometimes e-mails serve as the only communication. An example of this occurred at my work – a chemistry lab. We became so dependant on email that our department basically stopped talking to each other.
I use e-mail throughout the day with my supervisors and my coworkers. Sometimes e-mails are sent to people and cc’ed to others in the department. When this occurs, I think it is appropriate etiquette to keep everyone cc’ed on the email communication until the matter is resolved. My boss recently sent out an email to everyone in my department asking us to perform an inventory of various products in our company. It was a task that combined computer work, paper work and lab work – and more importantly it took up a lot of time. About an hour into the task, I noticed that some of my coworkers looked like they were doing the same thing as I was. It turns out that my boss had sent us each the same e-mail, asking us to perform the same tasks, but had sent it to each of us individually. Instead of sending one email and listing multiple recipients, he sent it to each of us alone. No one had any idea that we had all been asked to do the same thing.
and it's a fast, often impulsive way to communicate, which can be great – except when it isn't.
This issue blew up into a slew of frustrated and angry e-mails between coworkers and managers and could have been avoided. We all sit within 40 feet of each other, so we could have easily had a meeting or split up the task. Eventually the matter was resolved, and general email etiquette was discussed.
When talking about relationships between coworkers Woods and Smith say, “As these systems become increasingly more common as part of the working experience, it becomes easier to take for granted the effect they have on human communication” (91). This is very true, and hopefully we recognize that working relationships need to be given attention in response to cyber communication. We can not forget to maintain “real” communication with coworkers rather than relying only on e-mail.
Because e-mails can be sent out so quickly and people send out so many e-mails throughout the day, things get mis-communicated. It is difficult to relay emotion in emails, so that is often the cause of the misunderstanding. Something that someone intended as a joke may be interpreted as an insult by the recipient because there is no tone of voice.
Email communication gives us access to a medium that doesn't allow for tone or nuance. It is very fast, and we often use I impulsively to communicate. Sometimes e-mails go back a forth over 10 times between two people, and sometimes e-mails serve as the only communication. An example of this occurred at my work – a chemistry lab. We became so dependant on email that our department basically stopped talking to each other.
I use e-mail throughout the day with my supervisors and my coworkers. Sometimes e-mails are sent to people and cc’ed to others in the department. When this occurs, I think it is appropriate etiquette to keep everyone cc’ed on the email communication until the matter is resolved. My boss recently sent out an email to everyone in my department asking us to perform an inventory of various products in our company. It was a task that combined computer work, paper work and lab work – and more importantly it took up a lot of time. About an hour into the task, I noticed that some of my coworkers looked like they were doing the same thing as I was. It turns out that my boss had sent us each the same e-mail, asking us to perform the same tasks, but had sent it to each of us individually. Instead of sending one email and listing multiple recipients, he sent it to each of us alone. No one had any idea that we had all been asked to do the same thing.
and it's a fast, often impulsive way to communicate, which can be great – except when it isn't.
This issue blew up into a slew of frustrated and angry e-mails between coworkers and managers and could have been avoided. We all sit within 40 feet of each other, so we could have easily had a meeting or split up the task. Eventually the matter was resolved, and general email etiquette was discussed.
When talking about relationships between coworkers Woods and Smith say, “As these systems become increasingly more common as part of the working experience, it becomes easier to take for granted the effect they have on human communication” (91). This is very true, and hopefully we recognize that working relationships need to be given attention in response to cyber communication. We can not forget to maintain “real” communication with coworkers rather than relying only on e-mail.
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