Digital Past

When we first mentioned the topic of technology and how it has affected our attention span I was torn. Growing up in a generation that has always been surrounded by growing technology that was always changing I had a major bias. I grew up reading books. A lot of books. By the time I was in fourth grade, I had already reached a college reading level and had helped my mother write both of her graduating theses. I never really paid attention to the technology that was surrounding me. I only ever played the games that came on the computer with dial-up internet, such as, Pinball, Solitare, and Minesweeper.  With that said, my journey through making this song was long and hard.

I found myself understanding Carr’s argument and Bush’s essay more and more. After this assignment, I believe both arguments live together. It isn’t as black and white as I once thought. The DAW software is a perfect example of this. See, with all of the different sound clips to choose from I found myself jumping from one idea to another, my attention never fully staying on one plan. I must have started over 10 times because I wanted you to think it sounded cool and philosophical. Not once did I leave the software to look and work on other things. This brings me to Bush’s essay. I found that my attention was so focused on this one project because of the hidden simplicity of it all. Everything was right there. I never had to leave my house to go to the music store to find a sound clip. I didn’t have to race to my piano to get the perfect note. Because everything was in this one program, I was able to stay on task.

In the end, my song represents the journey of my experience with technology and how no matter how complicated and weird it may get, I still return to the basics of my personal upbringing with it.