Unplugged: Mobile Phone and Portable Music Player
Unplugged The world is full of technology; Almost everywhere you look you will see some form of technology, from a cellphone that can speak to you, to a computer that can run anything your heart desires. As Martin Lindstorm writes in his article “Friends who have accidentally left home without their iPhones tell me they feel stressed-out, cut off and somehow un-whole.” (Lindstorm). People tend to be overly attached to their phones, as if they were people capable of loving them back. I see how this could be possible because your phone does connect you to the people that you care about and when you can’t contact them life is a little bit more difficult. The people of this country seem to always need the fastest and newest piece of technology, often because it is viewed as a part of one’s social status. For this assignment I was tasked with going a full 24 hours without using technology. Since, society is so connected, I found this project to be very interesting, and relevant to the present day. This seemed like it would be an easy task that would not take much effort or thought; however a simple 24 hours unplugged from technology subsequently unplugged me from the world. I have never seen myself as someone who needs their devices so much; however we often learn new things about ourselves. Once I began tracking my usage I noticed for the first time how much I use technology. I thought that I only used my phone and other technology when the situation required it as well as a little bit of recreational use. In my usage log I recorded mostly a few texts, my laptop usage and the movie I watched on my Xbox. I did more in my trial period then my log shows. I texted more then it displays; I really texted people once or twice to set up plans with them to hang out later in the day. I also did not record every time I checked my phone for the time; I forgot at the start and then realized that my phone is really just a rectangular clock. I realized that I use my phone mostly