What bad technological habit do you have?
Who would have thought that it would all start with an Atari, Nintendo, and now a system you can talk to. Technology is advancing, and fast. We depend it for everything. If email goes down at school, it is like the end of the world. Before I get into my article I would like you to take some time to reflect on this question. When will technology be smarter than us, or is it already? That brings me to my article texting while driving the deaths, injuries, lives ruined over a few words. What a great law, unfortunately it can only be enforced if someone is killed it seems. Next, when holding a real life conversation, and we get a text the world gets put on hold. I’m guilty of this as well. Hang on a second let me just respond to this text, or I just tune the person out. Also, it is pretty easy to tee off on someone on the internet. Break up with someone, make fun of some one, post inappropriate pictures, and ruin reputations. Our children start playing on cell phones, and computers long before we learned, so I guess that means lol, brb, ttyl will be acceptable for their papers in college? Finally, being on time, it seems it is not as big of a deal anymore, because we know most people have their cellular device, or something on them 24 7. What does this mean well hey just shoot them a text, tweet, snapchat, facebook message that you are going to be late. Trust me I use this technology, and understand the benefits of it, and what it means to our profession. Let me pose another question What if technology is only as good as our morals? Let us face it our morals are not what our country is really known for right now. Watch the evening news murders, kidnappings, school shootings, 9/11, and much, much more. One could argue that Jim could program, and create a robot smarter than most of us in this class. Now I am not completely insane, but what if robots start being made by Microsoft? Are they smarter than us? Will this ever happen? I bet my 101 great grandmother wouldn’t have thought she would live long enough to see the day that you can Skype someone from Pennsylvania to Afganistan. We are walking a very thin line, I’m just wondering when the line becomes to thin
http://insidetech.monster.com/benefits/articles/9494-6-bad-habits-to-blame-on-technology
jojorizzo 
Lots of people, my wife included, would agree that the line has already become too thin Mark. As you stated, we have already become too dependent on so many technologies, perhaps especially smartphones.
But I worry about big systems even more than the little ones we take so much of our personal time up with. I worry about systems that control our electricity, our water, banking, etc. Though most of us could live without our phones, our society would break down very quickly should the big systems be disabled.
With all things we need balance. Though I enjoy using my computer for many useful things, I enjoy playing guitar and singing even more. I love my time outside, walking on the beach, or riding my bike. Finding balance.
But I was born and raised without any of these devices. I learned how to entertain myself without any electronics. I am truly concerned about Net Gens and their lack of resourcefulness when deprived of devices. With them, the line is not thin. It doesn’t exist. -Jim
Jim way to look at the bigger picture, I never even thought of what could destroy us. Could that be the end of society? Think what has happened to target, scams, bank cards, credit cards, counterfeiting money. All of these are just a couple of worries that concern me.
Great topic! I think technology has created some awful habits, and one of my biggest pet peeves is people over-sharing on Facebook and Twitter. I like social networking to keep up with distant friendships, but I don’t need a minute-by-minute update of what you’re doing — especially if what you’re doing shouldn’t be seen my the public.
I also find that our society’s ability to just sit and wait for something is almost non-existent as people pull out their smartphones while waiting in line or sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. I find myself guilty of that — I have a hard time just sitting and waiting without being entertained by my phone. I really, really try not to text or use my smartphone in conversation with others (especially my older relatives who can’t even begin to understand how the internet works) because it is just plain rude when you are in conversation with someone and they are distracted with their phone. This technology has brought out an inconsiderate side to many people.
I think you raise a good point about technology is only as strong as our morals. We have these tools with great potential available to us, but the tools are only great if we choose to use them for good, not evil, and choose to use them following rules of etiquette.
Thanks for bringing this topic to the class discussion!
I’m just afraid that technology is all this generation knows. All I hear from this generation is How do the Amish do it? They never knew anything else, unfortunately, all this generation knows is technology, and it looks like it is not going to stop developing anytime soon.
What a great topic. I too am guilty of many of these things..While I feel I am in the generation where we know what it used to be like and now I see where it is, I can see the need to back off a little bit from technology sometimes. I know that I must be doing something right when a colleague tells me that she was bummed because I she didn’t see a funny facebook status I made from 5:30am….like I so often do. It tells me that I actually found something better to do with my life! Unfortunately, today’s generations never knew what it was like without the technology. It doesn’t matter how disappointed the elders are… these kids don’t know any better… and besides a complete blackout… I’m not sure how we fix it!
What if everything just decides to crash? Everything is done electronically now, and technology is always involved. I honestly find what is helping us now will destroy us later.
Have you ever watched the show “Revolution”? It is basically based on the blackout of the whole planet.
http://www.nbc.com/revolution
Has the thought of robots replacing employees crossed your mind? In my dental office, we have a milling machine to create chairside crowns. It takes about a 1.5 hour appointment. Prior to this “robot”, two appointments were required. Each appointment was one hour long and set two weeks apart. Patients were forced to walking around at least fourteen days with a cheesy plastic temporary crown which offered no thermal protection. Of course this “robot” had a hefty price tag, 100K+ over four years ago. We have nearly eliminated all outside laboratory prescriptions; thus, eliminating potential jobs.
Check out this commercial- maybe you want to paste it into your post.
My tech bad habit, according to my husband, is texting during a conversation with him. I get it. He doesn’t text at all. He’s not adverse to technology, just wants my complete attention during a conversation. Our technology is only as good as our morals. Unfortunately, if you pay attention to the media, you’ll get the wrong idea about our morals. I see plenty of middle school students who stand up to bullies and high school and college students who perform community service on a routine basis.
Is the technology smarter than humans? I would say that technology can perform certain functions more efficiently and quickly than humans, but it is still the humans who develop and program the robots, making us the smarter species!
The reason I posed this question is because most of the humans that make the robots, or come up with the technology are smarter than most of the common person, so I thought it would be an interesting theory that could we have Planet of Apes with technology?
I think about this topic frequently. Will the world go that way or will someone put a stop to all of this? What will life be like for my kids? Their kids? Are we always thinking ahead to bigger and better things. Will there be a point when people acknowledge that we have all that we need? I think the bottom line is money, fame and motivation. While these people and companies are creating these great, new technology tools, becoming billionaires, and getting famous, are they even thinking about where life is going and what life will be like for future generations? While I think we’ll always have people who value face to face contact, people who use technology in moderation and people who want to keep up with the latest and greatest, my hope is that the sparkle and joy of life isn’t taken away by these new inventions.
My bad technology habit would be sitting at home in the evening searching Pinterest. I know my husband is beginning to hate it, because his honey do list is getting long.
For me the biggest technology habit that I see that probably bothers me the most is when you are talking to someone and they get a text or a notification on their phone. Most people cannot ignore it and finish talking to you first.
You definitely brought an important topic to the forefront. Unfortunately, anyone who owns a device that allows you to browse the Internet, text, Snapchat, Skype, receive alerts, etc get sucked into this trap. Although technology and the Internet have been around for quite some time, within the last few years, it has gotten out of control. There have been so many times that I have caught myself ignoring someone else, or texting while driving. How do we end all of this? I know it’s rude, but I continue to do it. I would like to see if for just one day, we all could agree to power off our devices, and appreciate the day and the people we have around us.
Mark,
Technology certainly has its advantages and its disadvantages. I have a bad habit of checking my texts and emails while out to dinner. There have been many times when my husband and I will be out, planning on spending quality time together, and we end up both with our phones out.
I agree with Jim. I have interests outside the realm of technology. I enjoy going on walks, reading books, and spending time doing other things, but I grew up doing other things because we did not have the technology. It is concerning to think about future generations; will they know anything about a tech free life? But maybe I am looking at it as our parents looked at television and things will be different but fine.
It is a bit disconcerting to see how much time we spend on our SmartPhones. Sometimes I worry that Siri is a bit more intelligent than I, but still have the power of reason! (And for the most part, I do at time exhibit some common sense.)
One of my favorite anecdotes is the one that there is a new trend starting when meeting up with friends for drinks/dinner. They all put their phones in a central location, and the first one to reach for his has to pay the tab. And those restaurants that don’t allow cell phones? Genius. There is a time and place. If you are expecting an important call, then perhaps that isn’t the restaurant for you.
I really tried to think of a bad habit that I have in regards to technology…I’m not sure! I have a cell phone, but to be honest I don’t use it very often. My family jokes with me that they will call my husband’s phone before mine because they know that I either don’t have mine, or the battery is dead. I have a facebook account, but might have posted one thing ever on it and almost never get on. I too don’t enjoy hearing the play by play of people’s lives. Some things, to me, are meant for face-to-face conversations; however I do enjoy hearing the positive stories that people post. My husband always drives me crazy because he is the opposite of me with these types of technologies. He loves texting, facebook, checks his emails frequently, and reads about sports on the internet. He really likes being connected, like so many others! Even though I see so many advantages of technology and I love using it in my classroom, I would rather sit down to dinner with family then have a Skype session. Texting while driving scares me and I always think about what if the person that I am with is texting while driving and they take a life of another…that person can never come back. When I talk to my students about this subject they have very strong feelings about it as well. You raised some great points and I agree that we need to have a balance.
Mark,
What a great question to pose to all of us!! I too enjoy technology used with some standards though!! What I detest most is when my own two kids are sitting in the living room with my husband and I and they are looking at their cell phones and not talking. We don’t often get the opportunity to all be together so I love it when we are able to do this. When they look at their phones, it angers me that they don’t find it important to spend time with us. When I step back and look at how busy their lives are also (son in college, daughter junior – playing for two separate sports teams) I know that this down time is when they also get caught up – just not always with us!.
I also feel that Jim’s response to the big picture of technology needs to make us all aware that those who are completely involved in technology are only as strong as the program that holds them together.
There is more to life than just texting and blogging!! There is family, faith, outdoors, friends etc. I hope this list is endless for all!