Ok... so I broke down and got a smart phone

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As of Friday morning I Don DiPetta, finally broke down and conformed to the rest of the world. I bought a smart phone and for the past 4 days have slowly been trying to figure everything out on my phone and am not even close. I do know however, that yea... it's pretty damn cool and I have been missing out. However, I can already feel myself becoming immersed in it and one of my friends went as far as to say it will "change my life".  Its a sprint EVO Shift, and all i know is I really haven't even made calls from it yet and have almost forgotten it was even a phone. 
**Wow, a couple weeks into having this phone and I am in love.  I can now access my banking, youtube, Facebook, Twitter and the internet all in the palm of my hand! It is incredibly fast and a very reliable phone.  The applications on it are endless and most are available for free if you look hard enough. 
It is easy to see how you can get carried away and loose yourself in all of thi new, new technology though.  I am obsessed with Twitter and am crazy about the idea of being able too directly talk to famous athletes and actors. 
Critical insight is that cell phones have been and are the fastest growing piece of technolgy in history.  They are a multi-billion dollar a year industry and nearly all american's over the age of 15 have one. Our overall connectedness as a society is shocking and the number is only growing.  But, with these cool cell phones who can blame us, right?

Still fed up!

Ok, so last week my blog was about how I felt technology had a negative affect on our society by dragging them further and further away from reality. As Atiya's latest blog talks about, the alternate reality Second Life is just one example of  people immersing themselves in an alternate world ultimatly losing touch with actual reality. 
The more places I visit where there are people around the less faith I have in us as a society.  Next time you are at the mall or a restaurant as a social experiment, for a minute, take your eyes away from your cell phone (no it wont kill you) and look around the restaurant at the people around you... I can bet you the majority have their heads down texting or phones attached to their ear. When did it become so much cooler to talk to someone your not with as opposted to the people you are with?

It seems like every week we see a new commercial for a new phone or a new computer or pad or whatever else they can think of... All the while slowly and quietly our economy, healthcare, government and everything else really important in this country goes to down the toilet.  But hey, check out my new wall post and look at the new app I found, and suddenly the world is right again... Whoever "they" is, whoever is overloading us with new, new technology is blinding us from reality. 
Yes, I'm sure they have good intentions and a lot of technolgy that is produced is for the betterment of society and for healthcare.  Those aspects of the spectrum are wonderful and should be fully embraced by society. 
However, I am pleading with people to work out of our new, new technology coma and take an interest in what is going on in our country.  We can make a difference and help make change, but we cannot do it hiding in a cell phone.

Feed up w/ New, New

Someone once said life is what happens while your busy making plans. I think this can be applied to the concept of new, new media.  Last night while on my way home I listened to a song entitled " I don't know why they say grown men don't cry". The song talks of many different instances in life where people realize what is ultimately most important to them.  Those were interactive experiences between people and memories of loved ones lost, and time that they cannot get back.  It really got me thinking, " how much of my life am I wasting on the internet and my cell phone?"
While I am adamant about my overall lack of enthusiasm about the new, new media explosion, I cannot sit here and say that it does not have its uses and that there is a lot of good that has come out of technological advancements. However, our "connectedness" as a society has gone overboard. 
You can look around a college classroom today and plainly see the effects media has had on students in class. You can look around a class room and there is usually one or more computers in the room, a projection screen, and most professors teach from power point.
Are these all good technological innovations? I think so, but then observe the students. How many have their head down and their phone out?  Most students cannot go 50 min or 1 hour and 15 mins without texting, or browsing, or playing a game or updating their Facebook or Twitter.  All the while missing information that can help them succeed in their future professions. 
Now, I'm prob being a bit drastic but, honestly what would you do without you phone or computer for a day? Or a week?  Track the amount of time you spend staring into a screen or punching away at a key board and then ask yourself what else you could have done with that time. 
As a society today what is more important to us: updating my Facebook status and stalking friends and ex's, or spending interactive quality time with people and loved ones because tomorrow is a gift, that we must not waste?
I chose to add this video as a reminder to people how important each day really is. A lot of people are blessed and fortunate to be in the position that they are.  They take for granted each day what life is like for other less fortunate people all the while they waste their time lost in meaningless technology.  Life is a gift and time can never be gotten back, so make the most of it while you can and everyonce in a while turn off the cell phone and take a break from your laptop and spend sometime with people you care about.

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Hey class! Hope you like the video.

New New Tech Commercials

Seems like everytime I turn on the tv I see a brand new ad for some new piece of technology that I absolutly can't live without. Here are just a few I have seen within the last couple of weeks. When does it end? Do I really need to play xbox while I talk on the phone while getting my facebook updates all while trying to navigate through ATL traffic?

Chevy Ads: These car ads to me represent both helpful innovative tools as far as being able to gain access to our cars by phone as well as a little too much with letting me get facebook updates while I try and drive. GA ranks 48 among states in SAT scores there are stupid people around us all the time when we drive so pay attention!!!!

Motorola Atrix 4G: This to me is very cool. We could all see cell phone turning into little prtable computers and this just takes it one step further with being able to have them interconnected.  However, if its gonna slow me up anymore with security at the airport I'l pass.

Samsung Galaxy Tab: this is a very innovate piece of new new. Similar to the IPad it is basically a very small portable computer at your fingertips. This product is still hot and new apps are coming out for it daily.

New Windows phone: Windows version of the IPhone. It's about time and for the PC lover here you go. It is again just one step closer to a computer in my pocket. They need to be careful soon everyone is just going to stop buying computers and doing everything on their cellphones.  Its just another example of how in our society we have a need to have it all when we want it, where we want it and without waiting.