The new phones on the market today are being made specifically with internet browsing in mind. Most service providers are also making internet connectivity a priority in their advertising, promoting the “fastest network.”
Disposable Information
So with the increasing consistency and quality of Internet coverage, and the greater proportion of phones w/ browsing capabilities, cell phone users can now have unlimited access to information via the net. How will this growing availability to information affect our future?
Though I do not have Internet connectivity on my phone, many of my close friends do. When I use their phones to search the Web it’s not for email or directions, it’s to look up answers to odd questions. For instance, on the way to dinner with my boyfriend the other night we began to talk about cheese. We discussed Monterrey Jack and I wondered, (being from Northern California), if Monterey Jack was made in Monterey, California. So of course, I borrowed his phone, looked it up, and sure enough… Monterey Jack is from Monterey!
My point is that for the most part I, personally, use this constant access to the Internet to look up random information for no real purpose other than simple curiosity. My friends also use the Internet for these minor questions. This makes me wonder… is this positive? Do we learn more this way, or do we just have an increasing dependency on this constant flow of information?
It’s possible that people look things up in the moment and then forget them just as quickly. This theory is somewhat in alignment with our society’s need for instant gratification. Look at all the products on the market today that are made to be thrown away… diapers, cameras, even cell phones. Can information become just as disposable? Or is this constant access to Internet activity increasing our long-term knowledge?
What do you think?
