Mobile Devices



I want to be buried with a mobile phone, just in case I'm not dead.
Amanda Holden (Brainyquote, 2012).

     How connected are people to their mobile devices? I can only speak from personal experience so I will try and answer this question from my own point of view. I am guilty of taking my children to the park and checking my facebook page. I am guilty of answering the phone while I am eating dinner. I am guilty of having 4 browser windows open with university assignments on one page, facebook on another, and shopping on the following two.
     How much information can the brain absorb in one moment? For information to be remembered after it is no longer present, it has to be represented with either sensory representations or verbal representations (Burton, Westen, Kowalski, 2009, p. 246). If we are for instance only receiving information online, how many other sensors are we missing out on? How much is being retained and how much of our brains are not being used?
     Are we becoming cyborgs? I believe so. If not in a complete sense, there is always a part of me at least, that is not present. My girlfriend came over for a visit and a chat, I counted 5 times she answered a text message while we were talking. I myself checked my messages 3 times. How much of our conversation was actually listened to? I sometimes wonder if we had the same conversation via text message if we would have had more of each others attention?

          Gone are the days where people have to respond face to face. Captain cook didn't email England to let them know he had discovered a country. He had to send a message across the sea, taking months at a time. I guess the question is, are we benefiting from the advancement of technology or not? In some instances of course we benefit. For instance in my case, I can now study at university level because I can do it via correspondence. We can engage in group work, watch lectures, and submit assignments online, which would have been an impossible feat before the introduction of Internet. But I truly believe we are missing some important aspects of life, how many people do you know from younger generations who have a vegetable garden? How many people knot or sew their own clothes? Maybe a few, maybe none. One thing is for sure, family relationships have changed with mobile devices, they have removed some crucial part of human interaction that is quite necessary in human development.
     One thing I know, after reading this week's material for university on mobile devices, I vow to turn my phone off during dinner, leave my phone at home when I take my children to the park, and only have one project at a time opened on my laptop. I am not removing the mobile devices from my life, but I will remove their control of it.


 Brainy quote, Amanda Holden, 2012 <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/mobile.html#j2ImLDyvQfWTRjdm.99

Burton L, Westen D, Kowalski R, 2009, Psychology 2nd edn, John Wiley and Sons Australia, Milton Qld

[image] Facebook.com 'Dude, I was there. Don't change the story'.



 http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/mobile.html#j2ImLDyvQfWTRjdm.99

A quick hello!

Well I suppose an introduction is in order. I'm Mandy, a 30 year old single mother from the south coast of Australia. I have two young sons who keep me both young at heart, and slightly insane. This blog has been created specifically for a university assignment, but I thought perhaps getting to know me personally first would be the best way to start.
I will feely admit I am slightly obsessed with mowing my lawns, and my hobbies include drinking, laughing, playing guitar, singing and pole dancing (in the non-stripping sense). Anyhoo that's enough about me, and I had better get on with reading enough material to make my first uni-related post interesting :) Cheerio!