Even though I've only had it for about a month, and it's original purpose was for school so that I could be "on top" of my work, Billie Jean (yes, that is correct, I have named my laptop. I like to think that she has a personality all her own, and I do refer to "it" as "she") has become an integral part of my life both in and out of school. I turn it on in the morning to check the weather, my emails (all three accounts), my Facebook, and bus schedules so I can get to class on time. Then, once in class, Billie Jean is turned on again to take notes, check online postings for my classes, and - obviously - to check my Facebook. It is used for the same things on my breaks, and then again at home. I have even begun to use it to watch movies, tv shows online (so that I can keep up to date) and take pictures.
Billie Jean has become such a huge part of my life, I almost bring her everywhere with me. She comes to school with me every day, and on the occasional Starbucks trip so I can do my homework while enjoying my Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. And although the reason my parents agreed to buy her for me ( a combined christmas and graduation present), it was so I could do my school work, I use her every single day, without fail. On days when I don't have school, she is mostly a social networking tool all to herself, with the occasional reference to homework.
Overall, now that I have her in my life, I don't think I could ever let her go. She is quite literally like my little white rectangular shadow, and I think I might be technologically starved without her. And yet, before she was given to me, I was perfectly fine not having her. I could use my very very old home computer, take notes by hand, and turn on the TV or open the paper to get the weather report. But now that everything I need is at my fingertips in this beautiful portable device, it's as if none of those things were ever part of my life. Strange, how before you have something it couldn't matter less, but when you get it, and think of taking it away, it couldn't matter more.
2 comments:
this is a great self-reflexive post. you've done well to describe how your laptop structures your daily life. I'm wondering how you might analyze the broader implications of your own observations. if your experience is representative of a larger patterns in the culture at large, what might this mean for the formation of social/power relations?
keep writing,
i.
Rachel, as Ian stated, this IS a great self-reflexive post.
I love that you highlighted the life of all of us. The day you got your laptop (or the day any of us got ours) seemed like a huge turning point, where we now have the freedom to walk around with our online communication course therefor constantly allowing us to stay in tune with our media outputs! they truly become our shadows, as you have stated.
Love Danielle,
a fellow laptop namer.
ps. i don't think anything is truly yours until you give it a personable name. :)
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