Abstract-High Tech Trash

Think about all of the technology that we throw away. Where is all of our old computers, VCRs, cassettes, CDs, and iPods going. According to the article High-Tech Trash by Chris Carroll, all of our "old" technology goes to landfills to places all over the world including places like Ghana. Some of these machines that get thrown away are burned which produces toxins that are released into the atmosphere and even go into the water. This poses a problem to people all over the world. In order to help prevent future problems from these disposed materials, the EU is trying to go green. Carroll states, "Recently a new EU directive encourages "green design" of electronics, setting limits for allowable levels of lead, mercury, fire retardants, and other substances" (Technology). Setting limits on what can be disposed and how much of it can greatly help reduce the amount of waste that is entering into our environment.

small object, LARGE SUBJECT

Today, the average American's life revolves around the iPod. There are so many applications are made for the iPod that can keep you busy for hours on end. Every time a new song is released, everyone scrambles to download that song onto his or her iPod. Not only are college students using iPods. Everyone is using them. Starting from children who are seven years old, going to adults who are in their fifties.

Everything we do involves the iPod. Almost everyone I know has one. It is almost impossible to go a single day without seeing or hearing about thing tiny machine we can fit in the palm of our hands. I notice while walking from class to class, not one person can walk alone without their iPod in their hand. There are so many accessories available for your iPod that it is almost impossible to get board with it. But, amazingly enough, we still do. Why does our society always want the newer and better things? I have to admit, myself that I bought an iPod Touch before my "old" iPod was even broken. In fact, my "old" iPod still looked brand new. Craving the new technology helped push me into buying a newer and frankly more expensive object. Our lives have been consumed into thinking we always need new things. We have become very materialistic within the past decade.

Thinking about all of the advertisements used to sell iPods, I find it amazing how many different places you can find an iPod. Apple has advertisements in all of the right places: on giant billboards, on commercials, on pop-ups on the computer, facebook, myspace, and magazines. It is ubiquitous. Producing that much advertisent, is bound to make people buy their product. We are surrounded by it constantly. Is it really a bad thing though? It has the potential to be bad. We as consumers have to be cautious about how we are spending our money.

American consumers buy so many materials that we do not really need, we can call ourselves a very greedy society. Advertisers know how hard it is for Amercians to resist a brand spankin' new shiny object.

Analysis: Is Google Making Us Stupid

Google is lessening the amount of reading that is being done by people all over the country. Nicholas Carr gives an example of himself that states, " . . . my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages [of reading]. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do." People are so used to accessing information instantly through the Internet that they lose concentration and become bored when trying to read an article. Carr supports the idea of everything is at the click of a button when he says, "Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes." This quote proves the fact that the amount of time that is needed to research something has been extremely cut down.

While writing this article, Is Google Making Us Stupid?, Nicholas Carr also assumes that other people are being affected in a negative way because of the Internet. Carr even states, "I'm not the only one [who is having trouble reading]." Here we can see that Carr assumes that other people are having problems with reading that are using the Internet more and more.

Is Google Making Us Stupid Response

After reading the article, I do believe that Google along with other search engines have a negative effect on our lives. The Internet has become so fast and efficient that it is so easy to look up a desired fact with the click of a button. The way the article is bashing the Internet I feel is a little harsh. I do not believe that the decrease in the amount of time a person can focus is only affected by the Internet and is not happening as fast as they make it seem. I feel that with all of the technology used today everything is just getting better and faster. Take cell phones for example. People can send hundreds of text messages a day to other people. All of this texting is very quick and to the point. After someone sends a text, they can do something else on the side while they are waiting for a response. Going back to the Internet making us stupid. I do feel that the negative effects of the Internet are bad even though I would never give up my computer so I can have more focus when I read. All though school I never enjoyed reading. I always found it difficult to concentrate and understand what I had just read. To be honest, it was hard for me to even get through this article and understand the important details that were being discussed. But how can I tell if it is difficult for me to read because I spend so much time on the computer surfing the internet. Maybe I'm just not a reader. I find myself more of a math and science person anyway so how can I ever really find out if the Internet is bad for me. I feel that rather than looking at the negatives of the Internet. We should look at the positives. The Internet shortens down our time that we have to research something by so much. All of the information that we want to find up can be found on the computer. Why spend hours looking for a book in the library when we can find exactly what we are looking for in just a few minutes. Although some people do take the Internet to an extreme when doing a research project, the Internet should not be completely bashed. Now that I think about it I feel that the Internet can even make us smarter because we have everything so readily available to us. I know that if I want to find something out I would rather type in into Google or Yahoo then go to my public library and read about it. It takes too much time. Today everything is quick. Especially if you live in New York. New Yorkers always like to do things fast. I feel that with the technology that we have today and the technology that is going to come out in the future we should take advantage of it. Technology is only trying to make things easier for us. I believe that maybe within the next 20 years, books will be completely gone and everything will be looked at on the Internet. I mean if you think about it, everyone nowadays owns a computer. I know in my house we have four computers. One laptop for each of my family members, and then a regular computer that stays in our house. I can't think of anyone in this day and age that does not own a computer. I think that having the Internet around should not be as bad as the article makes it seem. We should embrace the amazing technology that we have today and not bash it. So all in all, after thinking about the positives and negatives of Google and the Internet I do not believe that it is making us stupid.