jordan muck

I was thinking last night on the way back from the 618 show about how much time I spend online.  It’s crazy how much the computer has taken over in the last couple of years.

Let me show you what I mean.

• We don’t have cable, therefore I watch all of my favorite television shows online.  Online picture quality has gone up a lot in the last couple of years making it easier to watch television.  This helps  a multitasker like me “stay tuned” because I have two monitors.  One monitor has a show going on while I can work on something else on the other screen.
• Baseball is now completely online at mlb.com.  For the 2008 season I bought the MLB ticket.  Being a big Chicago Cubs fan and living in St. Louis means that the cubs are not broadcasted in our area.  MLB helps me keep track of the cubbies all year round whenever I want.  With the ticket you can watch any game live or even check out yesterdays, the day before yesterday, or any previous game for that matter if you missed it.  You can even watch last years seasons!  As a bonus, you can listen online if your internet connection is slow or you just want the audio and play fantasy baseball for free.
• Amazon, Ebay, and other shopping sites take care of ever having to step into a mall.
• With the massive amount of books I have I can log on and get them at fetchbook.info for way cheaper than the cover price.   I have never bought a book for Barnes and Nobel or Boarders prices.
• AIM, facebook, and e-mail have eliminated need for a phone.  I can log online and chat with my buddies whenever I want to let them know something or just to send a message letting them know I’m here.  It’s amazing how many meetings get set up now through e-mail and chatting services.
• Google is the new gateway drug.  Everything from calenders, documents, and powerpoints can now be stored and posted online eliminating the use of paper.  Google has a reader that sends me posts from blogs I read so that I don’t have to go to their site and check if my friends posted something new.   I can also customize my google homepage with everything that I’m interested.  To give you an example, my homepage on google right now is set up so that I get all the baseball scores, my blog reader, a calender, the weather, news, and my to do list.  These features are all online and waiting for me at any computer I log on to.

There are so many other things the internet is being used for.  Countless amount of tasks are done everyday online.  I didn’t even add bonuses like itunes, blogging, driving directions, weather, bibles, commentaries, study helps, church services, podcasts, and other ways I use the net that I don’t even think of because it’s so common.

The one thing I keep thinking about is how can I use my computer less?  How can I get away from the technology?  How can I connect with people outside of a screen?  Are we doomed to spend our lives behind a screen?

What do you think?

-Jordan