I chose this You Tube video because it quickly highlights several things I mentioned in my previous post. In particular I like how the video starts with the sounds of a dial up modem connecting to the internet. It makes me wonder how many millennial's will remember this sound by the time they graduate due to the increased reliance on wireless and high speed internet connections?
The video also bring into to mind some of the things I didn't mention. I suppose this is due to my advanced age after all I am almost 40! :) (note the primitive use of emoticons! Actually, that is the only one I am able to successfully replicate on a regular basis)
I did have a bear of a time locating an appropriate video to attach. I was hoping to find an episode of the Simpsons titled "Homerpalooza" in which Homer joins one of the big social things of the early nineties, Lalapalooza. Unfortunately, this could not happen. I then typed in "Gen X college students" and while some were okay, as I perused the video selections, I found some very inappropriate videos. I couldn't figure out how they appeared in my search until I thought a bit more about my search term, then it dawned on me.
I suppose this will be another growth opportunity for me!
Due to my lack of prior success, I typed in the search term "Millennial college students" and came across this video.
Damien Simpson
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
What is up with the title of my blog?!
Now that I have spent some time inspecting other blogs and becoming more comfortable with posting my thoughts and ideas to the web, I admit to being easily overwhelmed by this thought, it is now time for me to explain the title of my blog and the vast changes in technology that have occurred in my life.
I am a Gen X'er. I was an undergraduate student from 1988 to 1992. While the techie devotee's will say that I had access to the Internet, I really didn't. I was one of the first people to have a Macintosh in his college room, purchased through the university bookstore at about $1,300. Mine was so fancy it used two floppy disk drives and one disk drive was needed to run the start up system, yup, no hard drive! I purchased a 20 megabyte hard drive about a year later as I was sick and tired of playing with the damn floppies at the whopping cost of $300.
To put things in perspective, my current cell phone (mobile phone) has a two gigabyte flash memory card that set me back about $20. Wow!
While the computer was useful, I was one of the few people that owned a PC, much less a Macintosh which was much more user friendly than the clunky Windows operating system....wait a minute on that thought, something is occurring to me about how similar that is to today. Anyway, the computer became a nuisance as my friends wanted to borrow it at all hours of the night towards the end of the quarter when papers were due. They seemed to have difficulty understanding why I was reluctant to let them take this very expensive piece of equipment out of my room to work.
Now, most students have a computer when they arrive on campus and the campus computer labs are better staffed and have increased hours of operation. Not to mention the increased computing power and decreased costs of said items.
My time as an undergrad was also before the Internet was able to take hold on society. This was well before You Tube, Google (any common search engine for that matter), AOL, and e-mail. In fact, a couple of years after graduation, I ended up overseas and was mailing letters to my family and friends stateside. It took 3 weeks for a letter to get home and an additional 3 weeks for a letter to be returned. Even though I had upgraded to a Mac Powerbook 100, there was no Internet service capability and this new computer did not even have a modem, although it came complete with a 20 megabyte hard drive built in and cost about $800. Quite a savings from the first Mac I purchased about three years previously!
Lets put this in comparison to life now, a mere 14 years later. I can now call friends overseas for as little as 10 cents a minute (back then it was over a dollar a minute). I can now publish my thoughts and ideas and get feedback from people around the world in minutes. An e-mail takes moments to arrive at the destination and costs nothing (I forget the postage but I think it was over a dollar per letter).
Lets flash forward to the life of an undergrad now. They have ready access to family and friends using a cell phone that is attached to their hip (mine sits in my pocket as I can't stand the idea of using a holster). They can use their phone for e-mail, text messaging, surfing the Internet, and listening to MP3's, all activities that never existed while I was an undergrad about twenty years ago.
My ambition during this time is to express my growth process as I transition from my life as an undergrad during the age of Gen X to understand undergrad life as a Millennial. One of the ideas that is quite apparent is the easy access to information and the near constant inundation to all things in the world.
Damien Simpson
I am a Gen X'er. I was an undergraduate student from 1988 to 1992. While the techie devotee's will say that I had access to the Internet, I really didn't. I was one of the first people to have a Macintosh in his college room, purchased through the university bookstore at about $1,300. Mine was so fancy it used two floppy disk drives and one disk drive was needed to run the start up system, yup, no hard drive! I purchased a 20 megabyte hard drive about a year later as I was sick and tired of playing with the damn floppies at the whopping cost of $300.
To put things in perspective, my current cell phone (mobile phone) has a two gigabyte flash memory card that set me back about $20. Wow!
While the computer was useful, I was one of the few people that owned a PC, much less a Macintosh which was much more user friendly than the clunky Windows operating system....wait a minute on that thought, something is occurring to me about how similar that is to today. Anyway, the computer became a nuisance as my friends wanted to borrow it at all hours of the night towards the end of the quarter when papers were due. They seemed to have difficulty understanding why I was reluctant to let them take this very expensive piece of equipment out of my room to work.
Now, most students have a computer when they arrive on campus and the campus computer labs are better staffed and have increased hours of operation. Not to mention the increased computing power and decreased costs of said items.
My time as an undergrad was also before the Internet was able to take hold on society. This was well before You Tube, Google (any common search engine for that matter), AOL, and e-mail. In fact, a couple of years after graduation, I ended up overseas and was mailing letters to my family and friends stateside. It took 3 weeks for a letter to get home and an additional 3 weeks for a letter to be returned. Even though I had upgraded to a Mac Powerbook 100, there was no Internet service capability and this new computer did not even have a modem, although it came complete with a 20 megabyte hard drive built in and cost about $800. Quite a savings from the first Mac I purchased about three years previously!
Lets put this in comparison to life now, a mere 14 years later. I can now call friends overseas for as little as 10 cents a minute (back then it was over a dollar a minute). I can now publish my thoughts and ideas and get feedback from people around the world in minutes. An e-mail takes moments to arrive at the destination and costs nothing (I forget the postage but I think it was over a dollar per letter).
Lets flash forward to the life of an undergrad now. They have ready access to family and friends using a cell phone that is attached to their hip (mine sits in my pocket as I can't stand the idea of using a holster). They can use their phone for e-mail, text messaging, surfing the Internet, and listening to MP3's, all activities that never existed while I was an undergrad about twenty years ago.
My ambition during this time is to express my growth process as I transition from my life as an undergrad during the age of Gen X to understand undergrad life as a Millennial. One of the ideas that is quite apparent is the easy access to information and the near constant inundation to all things in the world.
Damien Simpson
Following the Assignment
I realized after my post yesterday that I really didn't follow the request of the assignment so I have copied/pasted the assignment to this page and will address each question. Yup, I am anal rententive, enjoy making jokes at my expense.
Is this new for you?
Yup. I have never done a blog before and I admit I am getting more used to this with each post. Alright two posts are not much to talk about, but it is a start.
If so was it difficult?
No I found the directions on the website for Blue 2.0 to be very helpful and that since I had already set up a Google account, Blogger was incredbily easy. So far so good, my anxiety levels are reducing.
Did you use any other resources to help you set it up?
No, I did not use any other resources the directions were great. Although, it might be useful to include some directions for people on how to set up a Google account. This could be a pre-activity to the start of a course.
Do you think you might use your blog once Blue 2.0 has ended and, if so, what sorts of professional or personal uses can you imagine?
At this time, I really don't know. I think it depends on my willingness to share my ideas with the world and those who would stumble upon my blog. I am not against the idea, I really just don't know at this time.
Is this new for you?
Yup. I have never done a blog before and I admit I am getting more used to this with each post. Alright two posts are not much to talk about, but it is a start.
If so was it difficult?
No I found the directions on the website for Blue 2.0 to be very helpful and that since I had already set up a Google account, Blogger was incredbily easy. So far so good, my anxiety levels are reducing.
Did you use any other resources to help you set it up?
No, I did not use any other resources the directions were great. Although, it might be useful to include some directions for people on how to set up a Google account. This could be a pre-activity to the start of a course.
Do you think you might use your blog once Blue 2.0 has ended and, if so, what sorts of professional or personal uses can you imagine?
At this time, I really don't know. I think it depends on my willingness to share my ideas with the world and those who would stumble upon my blog. I am not against the idea, I really just don't know at this time.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
First Blog Ever
Wow! Am I really doing this?! Creating a blog for the first time ever for the whole internet to read! ....
Okay so far this really feels like I am typing an e-mail, so nothing that special.
I am using an alias so that if I publish something that I later regret (akin to sticking my foot in my mouth, a rather common occurence to those who know me), I have decided to use the name of Damien Simpson. This makes it easy for me to remember and yet distant enough from my real name so that anyone doing an internet search for me will not come across this blog. At least so I hope. Yup, I have some paranoia issues.
Signing off for now,
Damien Simpson
Okay so far this really feels like I am typing an e-mail, so nothing that special.
I am using an alias so that if I publish something that I later regret (akin to sticking my foot in my mouth, a rather common occurence to those who know me), I have decided to use the name of Damien Simpson. This makes it easy for me to remember and yet distant enough from my real name so that anyone doing an internet search for me will not come across this blog. At least so I hope. Yup, I have some paranoia issues.
Signing off for now,
Damien Simpson
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