The past week I've been having a "live-like-a-student-now, so-you-don't-have-to-later" reality check. My "brick" of a phone has died within the blink of an eye, so, I've been phone shopping. Turns out, I am very interested in the fancy Google/Droid/HTC/iPhone marketing scam. I was willing to spend an extra $350/mo. just to maintain an already over priced "mini laptop" that I would throw in my backpack between texts or occasionally call home with.
After further thought, and looking at my diminishing bank account, I realized that I just want the fancy internet phones because they are socially constructed to be the "norm" where I am from, the suburbs. If you don't have an internet phone, you are automatically either poor, out of date, or suffering the repercussions of not having Facebook at your fingertips 24/7. GOD FORBID.
I also came to the conclusion that the new age of 4G phones is a distinct object of the US culture, not the culture of the majority of the globe, or as a small scale example: the University of Minnesota. I began to look around at most of the students here, and realized that none of us are CEO's, Dr's, or famous musicians yet, where, in my opinion, it would be acceptable to pay extra money for GPS, "Apps", and Skype on our phones. I've concluded that most students do not have the fancy phones which also makes them a symbol of our, college student, culture. Because most of us simply don't have them, therefore they symbolize monetary success, or monetary success of your guardian paying for your phone plan.
Lastly, I've broken it down even farther to ask myself, who ever said we all HAD to be connected to each other ALL of the time? In 3rd world countries, where they walk across a desert for example, to talk to their brother, I would anticipate a feeling of resentment when they saw the "rich, technologically advanced, westerners" texting their sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, boyfriends etc. 90% of the time. It's turned our culture into a fast paced, technologically, anti-social (yet advancing), slave to T-mobile, Verizon, Apple.
Nevertheless, I ended up borrowing my sister's old phone, and hopefully someday I can join the 4G network...
I couldn't agree more with you. I will admit that I fall prey to such thing, I currently have a 4G phone, work as an office assistant (hardly anything to be excited about) and in all honesty, living on the expenses of my parents.
ReplyDeleteWhat you say are true but even the University has a role to play in all this. Supporting QR Codes for students who have smart phones so that they may scan the code to directly send them to the allocated information. This tells me two things: If you bypass students who are standing on the Washington Bridge and see them scanning the code, talking about how "cool" it is, often times it'll create a sense of "outcast" for the student who isn't able to do such thing. Secondly, the future plays a big role in all of this. Evidently, to support future technological advances, it makes sense to support our present day technologies to hope for further advancement.
But I completely agree with all you said. Well done