Royal Purple

Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: photos submitted LaBarbera uses his laptop for the smaller things, like recording a maui sunset. Joe is never far from his laptop

The party was just winding down in my Cottage street apartment homecoming weekend in the fall of 1983 when I noticed someone leaning against our six-foot ceramic floor lamp to avoid losing his balance after a night of celebrating. I thought, "That's interesting, using a lamp for support instead of illumination."

Today's technology is like that lamp. Its benefits are determined solely by the user. My apartment back then had little heat and even less hot water. My roommates and I did have a television and it was hooked up to this new thing called "cable."
It was then we discovered a brand new channel called MTV. We had never seen anything like it. It was revolutionizing college life. Parents and teachers said it was infringing on our education, the way text messaging and aimless web surfing does today. How could you head for class when JJ Jackson was debuting the new "Thriller" video? Cable was new technology and we soaked it up.

I reflect back because technology is best thought of in historical context. MTV and cable were the benchmarks for change and technology around campus in 1983. It was exciting because we were coming off an era where we played records on a record player and watched a black-and-white TV that typically got only 3 channels.

We didn't all have personal computers, cell phones, answering machines, remote controls or microwave popcorn. We did have typewriters and dial telephones that were physically attached to the wall.
Fast-forward 24 years to 2007. I return to Grad school and can't believe my first day in the classroom. My instructor doesn't write on a blackboard, he gives a PowerPoint. I follow along on my MacBookPro and tap notes as we go. I access D2L and the Web wirelessly from my desk. My instructor even puts the presentation and class notes online before class. WOW! Learning is so much easier these days. This was like Jetson's technology, not even on the radar back in 1983.

What? It's no big deal to you? So what? Then why aren't you using it?

I wouldn't think of being in class today without my laptop. I can't imagine taking notes without it. I can change fonts and highlight important portions of my notes, rearrange them and print my own test reviews. I can access a Web site in class that helps me understand a theory, clip and paste the URL right in my notes and refer to it when I study.

Continued...

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