Tired of Using Technology?

Every holiday season, when I'm busy with end of term papers and exams, my parents demand a Christmas list. So every year, I write them an elaborate list with one item I know I won't get. Last year it was a labtop. The year before it was a new cell phone (there was nothing wrong with the one I had). One year it was even a way to Save the Whales. But this year, there were a few things: a new digital camera, an iPod alarm clock, and again...a labtop.

Well no wonder I don't always get everything I want. I'd be costing my parents a fortune, and they've got three other daughters to please. Plus, my lists are a bit overwhelming and filled with all these technological items my Mom probably thinks you can download online. (She thinks you can download everything) So how does my Christmas list relate to the 90's? All the things I want pretty much come from the fact that the internet dominates my life. And , when did the internet first come out? Though it had been worked on for many years previous, By 1996 usage of the word "Internet" had become commonplace.

If the internet had never came to be "common place", would I still crave all of these things? Well I certainly wouldn't want a digital camera as bad. I mean let's face it, I want one so that I can post all my photos on Facebook, and show my online friends what I've been up to - even if its as simple as a night out to the movies, or a night of playing in the leaves. And without the internet, what purpose would an ipod alarm clock serve me? Better yet, what would I do with an ipod at all? No internet would mean no Limewire, which would mean no song downloads, which would mean....no ipod. And lastly, a labtop. I know I wouldn't want a labtop if the internet didn't exist. What would be the point? Would I bring it to lecture and "take notes", while actually playing Mindsweeper or drawing pictures in Paint? No way, I'd need the internet as my distraction -able to lead me to the online world of e-mail, random websites, and of course Facebook. Never in Dale's class though.

The internet has obviously changed very much since the 90's. I remember the day we got dial-up. My Uncles all came over to help set it up as my Dad ran around the house screaming
WWW. we-are-a-hip-familly-now. com! In the 1990s, when it was new to me, I used the internet minimally - for the purpose of search engines, and the occasional Yahoo game. After I was introduced to instant messaging, the internet pretty much crawled into my life and leeched onto to my existence. I try to picture my life without MSN , Facebook, or e-mail, and sadly I just can't do it. I have come to rely on the internet so much that my Christmas list pretty much revolves around the fact that the internet is such a dominant tool in my life.

Sheesh, no wonder Justin Timberlake is "tired of using technology".