I Had an iPod in 4th Grade

Today I do not consider myself to be very involved with the tech community. I typically hear about new products from friends who follow the industry more closely. However, that was not always the case. I was, in technical terms, an early adapter of the iPod. I bought an iPod in 2006, when I was in the 4th grade. I only every bought that iPod however, I never "upgraded" to the newer models or anything like that. I was content with my Nano until my parents bought me an iPhone when I was a Junior in High School.

But what happened between then and now? If anything, I listened to more music as I got older and actually use technology more now than I did then. It's not like I don't like technology, I think it just boils down to me not caring enough about having the "newest and best" when my current devive fulfils my needs sufficiently. This creed was true with iPods, as they were simpler technology with less uses, but as we move in the direction of more advanced devices capable of more things, I am not so sure that my stance will remain. After all, what am I supposed to do when my whole office one day has Google Glass and I don't?

I am slightly apprehensive of a future like this. Where reality and technology fuse in such a way where we associate one with the other so closely. I think that is a dangerous game to play. As my last blog pointed out, it is one thing for adults to adapt technology, but it is an entirely difference thing to have children grow up relying on it. Adults have outside knowledge, they have experiences and the ability to see from different perspectives. Children on the other hand are limited in their understanding of the world, they are cloistered intentionally to protect them, but technology has a way of making protecting them harder as they can use it to access things they shouldn't.

All this being said, it is still safe to say that I have not been disenfranchised from technology all together, but I have become more aware of it's potential negative influence. I would no longer consider myself to be an early adapter, but perhaps now even a late adapter or even lagger. That's not to say that in the future I may revert back to my 6th grade fascination with technology, but today, I could do will less of it.