Professor Kubasta
Paper #2
02/08/2015
The Causes of Technology/Paper #2 The first article “How a Demon iPad Stole My Summer Vacation” by Doyle McManus I found to be a mirrored image of what most average family vacations probably are like. I agree with most of the viewpoints McManus points out in his article. The biggest one being the disruption technology has caused in the family. Family time is nothing like it used to be, not only on vacations but also in the household. Like McManus points out, family time spent together used to consist of outdoor activities, games, and long moralizing-loving conversations. Now family time is not spent without the use of continuous electronics throughout the day and night. This consisting of but not being limited to; homework assignments being completed electronically, TV’s, video games, computers, and the biggest one cell phones. On cell phones you are not only just able to make phone calls and texts, but you now have the unlimited ability to access all of these items listed above on one device no matter your location. This enabling us in my opinion to become lazy and also decrease the use of our brains. We can use the phone to think for us and get any information we need instead of the using other resources. I think the improper use of social networking has also aided towards adding negativity in our society. Another viewpoint the author pointed out was that we have cellphone towers located everywhere. In my opinion this also contributes to a good thing. I have to agree that this allows us to be able to call the police, fire rescue, and ambulance in case of an emergent situation. Another thing that came to mind for me that McManus did not point out in his article was the use of cellphone towers as tracking devices. One way this is used is when there is a missing person’s case. The person’s cellphone links off of the cellphone towers and is used as a locater, giving the location of the cellphone. Which in turn allows the police and investigators to locate the person or their whereabouts. The statement of envy on the neighbor that was pointed out I found to be a very interesting viewpoint made my McManus. Although all of these amazing technological advances have been made we still have the right of prochoice. We can choose when and how much to use them. I personally would rather make the choice of spending the old kind of family quality time (games, outdoor activities, and long moralizing conversations) with my family. Rather than warping my brain with the unnecessary destructions of the improper uses of technology. The second article “Attention Alert: A Study on