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Charlie Bromberg
February 9, 2016
Comm. 311- Disruption of Media use paper
Dr. Weiland
Life without my I-pad
When I was thinking about which technological itemI would give up for a few days I immediately thought of my I-pad which has a red case around it. I did not use my I-padfrom Monday February 1 throughWednesdayFebruary 3. The I-padis my number one distraction because it keeps me awake longer than I would like.Other technological items that I thought about giving up instead of my I-pad were my phone, my computer and my music player but these are necessities that help me get my work done at King’s. When I use my I-pad I feel relaxed, even though it keeps me upuntil the early hours in the morning. I think that I use it way too much because I spend aproxamentlly 14 hours a week on it! Hopefully, through this exercise,I will use my I-pad less.
My parents gave me my I-pad on December 2011 and I have used it almost every day since. Before I had my I-pad, I would go to bed at around 11p-12p and as I would fall asleep, would reflect on the day’s events, as well as past and future events. However, now that I have my I-pad I still go to bed at around 11pm but am on my I-pad until 1:00a or 1:30a. As the paper continues, I will go into how and why I use the items on my I-pad.
Over the past 5 years, I have downloaded many apps that I will be breaking up into three categories which are appsthat I use the most, apps that I use second most and apps that I use the least.
The apps that I use the most are Safari (which is Apples internet), I-tunes music app, Youtube, Spotify, LinkedIn, USA today, Ab workout X, Twitter, Netflix and Facebook. These apps help me socialize with friends, listen to music and watch cool new television shows as well as workout.
The apps that I use the second most are messenger, Amazon, Instagram and a few games like Game of War, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Rick, Monopoly, Solitaire. These apps are when I have friends over and they want to play board games. Amazon is also my backup music app, in which I download songs when I do not have money in I-Tunes.
Finally the apps that I use the least are Temple Run, AccuWeather, Candy Crush and Clash of Clans.These are mostly one player competition apps or accuweathers weather app, which I mainly use my phone for. I will now reflect on why my I-pad is part of my daily life.
The first reason is that it relaxes me before I go to bed. Just like some people watch television or read a book before bed, I go on my I-pad. This helps me to forget about the day’s problems. Also, I have many apps to choose from so I get tired over time.
The second reason is that it allows me to multitask. In high school and occasionally in college, I would have background music that I download the night before and play while I do my work. This helps me concentrate and occasionally focus on a task.It also allows me to take a 15 break when I am doing my work. I usually use the break after my classes are finished for the day.
The third reason is that it helps me discover new artists and songs which help me vent frustrations and explore different worlds. When I look for music to download I try to pick songs that have encouraging messages or talk about events that I went during my life. This helps me stay calm and collective when I am around friends. Some examples of songs that have a message are “the Messenger” by Linkin Park, “Let it go” by Zac Brown Band,“A million Lives” by Jake Miller and “All the above” by Maino. There are many more artists and songs that I could name but these are the songs that stand out. It also helps me explore different worlds with a click of a button, meaning I can get hooked on the different apps that I have downloaded.
The final reason that I choose to give my I-pad up is because it is the only item in which I can connect to the media with on a consistent basis. If I was at home, I could also throw in the television but since I use my I-pad in so many different ways I figured that it was the best choice. As I have explained why I have given up my I-pad I will reflect on the experience and how it has changed me.
When I first decided to give up my I-pad, I thought that it would be challenging, since I use it so often but, I actually felt better without it. The day before I gave up my I-pad I used it constantly which drained the battery which got any temptation out of my system. I then hid the I-pad in a cupboard and I didn’t use it for the entire study.
The first day that I gave up my I-pad it was a little challenging. I woke up around 9ish and felt empty because I wanted to check the weather outside. Once, I woke up a little though, I used my phone. I also went to bed early around 11:00p which I have not done in awhile, but woke up a little later and used my phone.
The next day, my main coping device was my phone and occasionally watching television. During the day, my roommate found my I-pad so it had to be hidden in a different spot for the remainder of the study. The next day, which was Wednesday, was a day that I barely touched or thought of my I-pad.
The devices that replaced the I-pad were my phone, television and the school gym. My phone helped me wake up in the morning and fall asleep at night because I would check sites like facebook, snapchat, Youtube and occasionally twitter. The television in my apartment helped replace my I-pad because I would watch it late. This would help stimulate my brain like my I-pad did. The final item I used to replace my I-pad with was the gym. I would go to the gym almost every day and work-out and it helped me stop focusing on what I was giving up.
All in all, this was a very good exercise and I noticed a few positive changes throughout the three days.The first change was that I was more active without my I-pad. When I used my I-pad I would stay in my room whenever I finished class but when I didn’t have my I-pad I went out to the gym, like I mentioned earlier.
The second change I noticed was that I was more alert and rested for the day because I was not staying up as late.This helped improve my overall focus and energy level which made me accomplish many things. I did not know that the light from my I-pad was causing more harm than good.
The final change that I noticed is that I felt isolated without my I-pad. At times, during these three days when I was falling asleep, I felt the need to surf the web and listen to music. I found myself going to sleep at a reasonable time and then waking up a few minutes later and checking my phone for half an hour before falling back to bed.
One day, hopefully in the far future, if technology were to malfunction and overpower the human race or we run out of minerals able to produce electronic devices what would we do and how would we react? This question posed a real threat when 2012 was upon us because a few people thought the world was over but it could be relative today as well.
If either of these situations above were to happen the human population would be lost. We would have to revert back to old fashion ways that involved pen and paper for everything and we would be less connected. We would also let fear overtake us and start riots. The point of this made up scenario is that we are depending on technology for every aspect of life. There are limits to everything and while this exercise did not reach those limits people might have felt the same feelings I had when I gave up a part of technology which were active, alert,and maybe a little isolated from the world.