Technology Today
Still trying to figure out if the all the technology we have in this day and age is a good thing or not. But I have to say that it is pretty cool most times. After all, it makes this blog possible…
A couple of evenings ago, I was watching Studio 60. Not a big deal, but I was about a week or so behind which was ok, since I had TIVO'd it (side note: TIVO is a great homeschool tool!). For those of you who are not up on Studio 60, it is set behind the scenes of a show like Saturday Night Live. On the show, Sting was the musical guest and he was performing one of his new songs from his new album…it was beautiful…a piece for the lute written in the 1500s. I loved it and wanted to learn more. In the past before the internet, this would have been much more difficult.
But not today! I just hopped onto Google, typed in "Sting Classical Album" and up popped a link to his website with the name of the album (Songs from the Labyrinth). I then hopped over to iTunes to listen to some selections to see if all the songs were as wonderful as the one that I had heard. They were. After a quick check on half.com to compare prices, I decided to purchase the album from iTunes. Another couple of clicks and the songs were downloaded into my iTunes for me to enjoy. All this took less then 20 minutes and happened around 10pm at night. And since then I have downloaded the album to my iPod and enjoyed the music in my car and wherever I happen to be. Pretty neat.
It really is pretty amazing what we can do with technology nowadays. I have to admit to having spent way to much time looking for the "perfect" ringtone for my phone and I probably have way more shows then I should waiting to be watched on TIVO (although one nice thing is that if a show sits around too long without me watching it, I will delete just delete it).
One great thing is that I love being able to easily take my audio books with me on my iPod. I was not really interested in an iPod when they first came out…I enjoy my cds and music, but did not see the need for a "new gadget". And then I discovered that I could download audio books and found audible.com. That hooked me and I got an iPod last Christmas. I am slowly starting to use it more and more and have just discovered podcasts. I love being able to download NPR stories that I miss to listen to any time I want.
I do wonder about the immediate gratification issues that this technology brings…but I also love the flexibility and control that it brings. TIVO allows us to watch shows that we want to watch rather then having to watch what is on. Podcasts allow us to do the same.
My take on the technology is that it is neither good nor bad. It just is. And like everything it is all in how you use choose to use it. So I guess that I will enjoy it!
