<!–[if !mso]> <! st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } –>
Technology: the lubrication of life today. Not just any technology: specifically computers and wireless gadgets. We never have to be alone. We share our ideas and read others accumulating knowledge faster and more efficiently than any other society before us could. We take our laptops everywhere. You no longer need to drive to a store to apply for a job. You don’t have to use notebooks to take notes. Wherever you are all you need to connect is a computer.
The first computer ever built couldn’t fit into a single room. It was slow and buggy. Today we computers are light, less than three pounds including the battery. This makes computer on the go a possibility, our culture today makes it necessary. If you have not bought a laptop and are in college you are at a distinct disadvantage. These are the tools of the future they will continue to shape and form the way we live. Computers may change size, shape or interface but the more we use them the more we need them.
The laptop looks oddly similar to a clam. It has an outer shell that protects it. The casing is plain the Asus logo branded on the top in silver lettering. The body color is entirely black with chrome accents. It is made of plastic and is small. A sheet of printer paper nearly covers the top of the machine. It is just shy of one inch deep when folded. It weighs little more two and a half pounds. The laptop is rectangular with rounded corners. There are slats in the sides and bottom. On the side there are many holes. On the left side there is a rectangular hole for the usb and a square hole for the lan cable. There are also two holes neighboring these on the other side of the slats near the front. One is colored pink, the other green. On the right side there are 4 holes. The two in the middle match the usb port. On the opposing side. On one side of these there is a slot which is occupied by a sliver of plastic with the letters “SD” branded onto its face. On the other side of the rectangles is a trapezoid trapping an array of tiny holes, 15 to be exact.
This clam of sorts goes from simple to complex when it is opened. The hinges seem a bit sticky. The top fully opens a few degrees shy of a half revolution. One side is covered in tiny little squares. Each has a symbol; on it some have two or three. The space between them resembles a map of city blocks that do not align. There is a shiny bar with a small groove in the middle closest to the user. Above this is a sunken rectangle that seems out of place beside the raised set of squares, but is an important tool for interfacing with the computer. There is one elongated rectangle above this; it is trapped with the other keys that make up the keyboard but is obviously different and larger. These three are the odd ones out; they sit below the rectangle filled with the squares and are free from symbols.
The side beyond the hinge is dark, when turned on this dark panel comes alive with color. It has a sunken face with a half inch boarder surrounding it. Although black this panel has a much different feel from the rest of the object. Above this sunken face is a silver rectangle with a dot in the center. This is the camera; the letters beside it denote that it is 1.3 mega-pixels. To the left of this is a tiny hole, home to a microphone, with a symbol etched beside it. There are four rubbery black dots at the top of the panel evenly spaced to help protect the screen from cracking when closed. They are incongruous with the smooth feel of the object. On the hinge that creates a clear separation of these halves is a single button. It has a symbol similar to a circle with a line coming from its center. This line intersects the edge of the circle at the very top continuing just slightly then stopping.
This artifact invokes many emotions when someone fist comes in contact with it. Many people do not realize that my laptop is a laptop. The signature plastic feel and look of the object is a dead giveaway that this is hi-tech. we have grown so accustomed to technology that it all looks so similar. From televisions to laptops to phones we borrow the same sleek design. As culture shifts so does design.
This object is designed to invoke a feeling individuality, class and style. Until very recently all computers were beige. Today, however, we can find any color laptop, even ones with art infused into the design to give you than individualistic feel. Our culture today demands that you conform to non-conformity. We are the pinnacle of capitalist ideals. Each person works only to succeed for themselves. Each of us can wear whatever we want and bleed our fashion, style and sense of self into everyday objects to broadcast who we are. Rarely will a company market just two colors, white and black in this case, to their customer. This in itself, however, creates individuality. The computer, being simple by design, makes a statement against the overcomplification of design by the cooperate power in America.
This laptop’s most important attributes have nothing to do with its color. The laptop is extremely small, one of the smallest on the market today. Its size is its most defining feature. This laptop takes the idea that we can always be connected to a whole new level. Being the fraction the size and weight of many other laptops adds to the practicality of computing on the go. No matter where I am I can pull out my laptop and connect instantly to the world around me. Being a fully functional laptop in these dimensions makes this computer capable of running applications on the go that a phone could not. Why do we enjoy this idea of mobility? We cannot stand to be disconnected. That is what all mobile technology represents. We invented a mail system to carry notes to one another. After that we designed phones, email, instant messaging, car phones, cell phones and texting. We as humans are evolving towards a global community, just like thousands of years ago.
In the very beginning of history we were all connected and very intimate as a species. As we grew farther and farther apart we still held onto that feeling of community by creating tribes, cities, states, and nations. Now we are progressing towards a society where we can all connect again. We can see it in the way we design new technology. My laptop has a built in camera and microphone above the screen. This allows me to see who I am talking to, before I couldn’t put a face with culman13, now I feel I know him. We can now have a face to face conversation with anyone. Gone are the days when you bump into someone new on the streets, now you meet in communities in a realm other than the physical. You are not bound by the region you live in. You can travel the globe as easily as you can walk next door to meet your neighbor. We like to feel connected, but like to remain anonymous. We have gleaned what we liked about our culture in the past, community, and blended it with our culture today, individualism and anonymity. We are still in transition, soon we won’t know who our neighbor is or the name of the market owner down the street, yet we will remain completely connected to one another.
As we grow and shift as a race we will find ways to fill our desires whilst sloughing off unwanted attributes in our culture. We choose to be individuals to the point of prettifying our tools. We have successfully figured out how to design our environment around ourselves but have lacked the technology to design our own culture individually. Today we have created the tools to create our own place. To get there we only need to connect to the internet. With the shrinking of technology that is happening everyday we will be able to connect from anywhere in the world to our home, our friends and humanity as a whole.
