You are a slave to your cell phone.

The Ecology of Media

In our society, it is considered an oddity to live or be seen without a cell phone. As I write this, my cell phone sits silently in front of my keyboard. Every few minutes, my eyes tend to glance over to it, making sure it’s not lit up; informing me I have a message. When I’m in class, my cell phone sits on silent beside my notebook. In short, my cell phone rules my life. And sadly, I’m not the only one who knows this very true fact. Our society is changing with almost every new technology that is being introduced—the cell phone, being a large player in this game of societal development.

With all the fancy new features of the cell phone: text messaging, cameras, and mp3s, its original purpose is being forgotten. Even now, cell phone companies keep adding new devices to cell phones—we now have smaller, more compact cell phones: easier to hold, and in my experience, harder to find. Their original function has been clouded by all the new and fancy gadgetry which has been added to it. With all these new inventions, were becoming more dependent on the technology.

However, look at all the problems that have arisen from cell phone usage—from accidents to privacy issues. Everywhere you look people are taking cell phone usage overboard. With all this new technology in the palm of our hands, were becoming more dependant. My friend Lina has learned to drive with her elbows so she can text message on her phone more easily as she drives—how scary can we get? Admit it. We, the common cell phone users, are slaves to new, cellular technology.

Geez, my first blog, and what an experience...

Wow. Surprisingly, this blog actually took a lot longer than I thought it would to set up. I assumed it would take me no more than a few moments to finish creating the site and be on my way, but was I ever wrong. Like 99% of my class, I automatically headed over to the blogger.com website to sign up for an account. It was simple; create an account in 3 easy steps—that sounded easy enough. So I started, and just before I was about to click the "finish" button, I paused. Something I had heard from my Media professor came to mind: "Think about who you’re supporting in using the website you choose." I was faced with a dilemma: should I think about who I’m throwing my support to by creating a blog through Google or should I perhaps look for another, smaller site—maybe even one that donates its profits (if one exists)? I mulled over it for a few days and decided I would look around to compare sites. Then I had a sudden realization: over a week had worn by since I had decided I would start my blog. Suddenly, it was no longer the thought of who I was supporting but which site would be more convenient. But isn’t that what the internet’s all about: Convenience? And what was the most convenient website to use? Of course it was the 3-easy-step, easy to use website offered by Google. So, after going in a full circle with my decisions, and taking over a week to think about it, I went with my initial choice. I proved one of the most obvious facts about the internet: The most convenient, easy-to-use, and well-advertised/sponsored sites are the ones that get the most business. We don’t tend to think about who were supporting when we use the internet, or at least I know I never did until my media professor, Mr. Lipton, pointed it out.