The Day "Without" a Phone......

Yeah..... I couldn't handle it. I am a failure. I guess I'm a prime example of society's technology-consumed youth. Ever since this assignment, I have been waiting for the perfect day to go without my phone, but it never came and I've finally realized it probably never will. It's not like I'm a texting addict. I don't freak out if I can't use my phone. It honestly doesn't bother me all that much. It bothers other people, and in turn that bothers me. I feel like it is my responsibility for my friends, family, and boyfriend to be able to reach me, in case of a "crisis." Whether it be my best friend's boyfriend of two years broke up with he and she needs support, or my boyfriend flipped his car four times and fractured his spine (both of which have occurred since I've been here), I can't stand the feeling of not knowing what's going on. I couldn't imagine a time when people were not able to immediately reach each other, from nearly any location. Even my parents seem to have forgotten life without cell phones. My boyfriend doesn't have a working cell phone so when he wrecked he had to push his way through an overgrown field to the nearest house to call 911. When my Mom heard this, she became enraged and yelled, "That's what cell phones are for! It is inconceivable for him to not have a cell phone! Totally ridiculous!" But cell phones have really just become "necessities" in the past ten years.

I don't think this need to be reachable 24/7 is just me. Most people I know sleep with their cellphones on and are used to getting texts or calls in the middle of the night, something my parents find ludicrous. If forgot my phone in my parent's room once. When my friend called at one, my Dad dashed in to my room as if there was a fire, assuming something must be wrong if someone was calling so late. I think it would be a lot easier for me to have completed the "no phone" assignment if I didn't have a long-distance boyfriend. We're used to talking to each other on a daily basis, and if I didn't pick up all day, he would go in to panic mode. Even if I warned him ahead of time, it would still cause friction and he would encourage me to "cheat" and talk to him. If I still lived at home, or if he lived here, than the no phone deal would have been a piece of cake... I think.

Cyber Images

The cyber image that I found to be the most striking was that of the bald, naked woman watching television while attached to technological cables. This image is full of meaning and can be interpreted and connected to modern society in various ways. Firstly, I believe the image represents the way technology is blurring the distinction between humanity and technology. The cables, or whatever they are, attached to the woman are a part of her. However, the foreign, metal objects attached to her body seem to be of no concern to the woman. To her and the society she lives in, they're accepted and considered normal. She is essentially blending with technology, and it is a part of her as much as her arm or leg is. Secondly, the image is representative of the way that technology can reduce individuality and make people all the same, with the same thoughts, wants, and expectations. I think the fact that the woman is bald and nude was a deliberate choice for the creator of the image. The woman has no individuality anymore - it has been stripped from her. She has no privacy - the technology took that away as well. Instead of being her own, thinking person, she is just part o a community. She is gazing at the television with complete concentration, as if she has no thoughts of anything else. The technology has become her life, and is more real than anything else. It is her whole life, and there is no conceivable way of her functioning without it.