Well, readers, it's happened. I've become a three-screen girl.
Back in college I used to marvel and, I admit, scoff at my friends who had elaborate double-screen desk set-ups with a laptop hooked up to a larger monitor, or a couple of desktop monitors wired together for gaming or programming or design purposes. (Note that I don't remember any of these being set up by girlfriends... just guys.)
But when I started working with social media I had about a week of working on a single screen before I had to dive into double-screen work. Another confession: I don't think I could get by without it. I got used to having, on average, 8 programs open at any given moment; several tabs open within each application; and completely different projects, or different parts of the same project, open on each of my screens (and sometimes multiple windows open side-by-side on one or both of the screens).
On Friday, my supervisor burst out, "That's it! I need a third screen!"
I immediately turned around and said, "I have been thinking the exact same thing for at least a week now."
And on Monday, we came in to find triple-screen set-ups on both of our desks.
And so far this week, I have been using all three. It's terrifyingly easy to get used to. I used my parents' desktop computer for something last week and found myself trying to drag browser tabs onto my nonexistent other screen. Believe it.
J. just got an iPhone last week and ever since then Siri has been the third guest at all of our activities. And just to illustrate how that affects our activities, here is an example of a conversation we might have A.S. (after Siri):
"He's just excited," my friends tell me. "Give it a week."
To be fair, it's putting into perspective my own mobile use. I have caught myself on multiple occasions in the past grabbing my phone when we're out at a restaurant, saying, "Oh! That just reminded me, I need to text Jess about this thing we're doing on Friday. Do you mind?" And of course he always says, "It's okay, go for it, babe." But after I spend half a dinner sending texts I've been meaning to send all day but forgotten, I start feeling really guilty and put away my phone and vow never to send another text from the table ever again... And look up to see J. on his own phone across the table. So it may have been me who opened the door in the first place.
I've done the same thing at work in the past few weeks, and spent more than a few lunch breaks "talking" with my coworkers while really I was catching up frantically on the 7 games of Words With Friends I had going, and never had time within a WiFi-enabled area to actually play. At first I was so gung-ho about this game, because I love Scrabble but never have a chance to play it, and also because it put me in touch in a really cool way with some friends I don't talk to much under other circumstances. But if it takes me out of the moment, is it really worth it?
I LOVE not having cable and internet at home, and while I do switch on my 4G from time to time to check Facebook or email or my bank account or to look up directions to a place I'm going, I like being discouraged from getting stuck online instead of reading books, or going out somewhere, or sitting in the kitchen talking to my roomies. I like the fact that it's impossible for me to walk through the living room and glance at whatever show someone is watching and then look up again four hours later and realize I got completely sucked in to something I don't even remember. I like having to go to bars to watch sports. I like having an excuse not to watch the news, which is always so gory and sensationalist especially on TV. (ABC's 11:00 news is the worst.)
But then, on the other hand, Facebook keeps me in touch with some really good friends who no longer live up the hall. There are people I wouldn't know how to start talking to again, but I still feel connected to them through Instagram. I don't know what I (or all of you) would have done if I didn't write this blog, at least for the first couple of months out of school.
I've also met and stayed in touch with a decent amount of new friends here in Delaware through the internet. My friend Johnny and I primarily email each other, and we met at an event I found through a local writers' group on Facebook. Recently, I commented on a Facebook post of a friend who now works in St. Olaf's alumni office about Oles in Wilmington, and a day or two later got a message from one such Ole now living in Wilmington... Long story short, we've been hanging out at least every other week lately. How would we have found each other without the digital grapevine?
I hope I don't ever get so sucked into my job that I forget how to interact with people face-to-face. I hope I don't ever get so sucked into my smartphone that I forget how to unplug and have an actual conversation. I hope I don't ever lose my ability to leave my phone in my purse while I'm at dinner, and turn it off. I am working on myself first, before I start picketing Siri. I will draw a line between tech times and face time. (Ha, ha, see what I did there?)
But I can't in good faith say I want to cut this stuff out entirely. I hope it keeps getting easier to stay in touch with my farthest-flung friends and my respected classmates and colleagues. And when I say "stay in touch," I'm talking about maintaining meaningful connections. I feel like I'm doing fine on that front; so here's to my fourth and fifth screen of choice: your eyes, dear readers.
Thanks for reading! Now go outside and find someone to say hi to. If you're feeling really old-fashioned, you could even shake hands. Or hug.
Back in college I used to marvel and, I admit, scoff at my friends who had elaborate double-screen desk set-ups with a laptop hooked up to a larger monitor, or a couple of desktop monitors wired together for gaming or programming or design purposes. (Note that I don't remember any of these being set up by girlfriends... just guys.)
But when I started working with social media I had about a week of working on a single screen before I had to dive into double-screen work. Another confession: I don't think I could get by without it. I got used to having, on average, 8 programs open at any given moment; several tabs open within each application; and completely different projects, or different parts of the same project, open on each of my screens (and sometimes multiple windows open side-by-side on one or both of the screens).
On Friday, my supervisor burst out, "That's it! I need a third screen!"
I immediately turned around and said, "I have been thinking the exact same thing for at least a week now."
And on Monday, we came in to find triple-screen set-ups on both of our desks.
And so far this week, I have been using all three. It's terrifyingly easy to get used to. I used my parents' desktop computer for something last week and found myself trying to drag browser tabs onto my nonexistent other screen. Believe it.
J. just got an iPhone last week and ever since then Siri has been the third guest at all of our activities. And just to illustrate how that affects our activities, here is an example of a conversation we might have A.S. (after Siri):
Me: What used to be the Pope's name before he was the pope?Then J. usually watches Siri search the web for the Pope's ex-name, and tells me the answer to my incredibly mundane question, by which time I have moved on to talking about another topic and am put off by being so rudely drawn back to something that is so five minutes ago.
J.: Siri, what was the Pope's name before he became pope?
Siri: I don't know what that is, "the popesname beef ole bee cane pope." Would you like me to search the web for it?
"He's just excited," my friends tell me. "Give it a week."
To be fair, it's putting into perspective my own mobile use. I have caught myself on multiple occasions in the past grabbing my phone when we're out at a restaurant, saying, "Oh! That just reminded me, I need to text Jess about this thing we're doing on Friday. Do you mind?" And of course he always says, "It's okay, go for it, babe." But after I spend half a dinner sending texts I've been meaning to send all day but forgotten, I start feeling really guilty and put away my phone and vow never to send another text from the table ever again... And look up to see J. on his own phone across the table. So it may have been me who opened the door in the first place.
I've done the same thing at work in the past few weeks, and spent more than a few lunch breaks "talking" with my coworkers while really I was catching up frantically on the 7 games of Words With Friends I had going, and never had time within a WiFi-enabled area to actually play. At first I was so gung-ho about this game, because I love Scrabble but never have a chance to play it, and also because it put me in touch in a really cool way with some friends I don't talk to much under other circumstances. But if it takes me out of the moment, is it really worth it?
I LOVE not having cable and internet at home, and while I do switch on my 4G from time to time to check Facebook or email or my bank account or to look up directions to a place I'm going, I like being discouraged from getting stuck online instead of reading books, or going out somewhere, or sitting in the kitchen talking to my roomies. I like the fact that it's impossible for me to walk through the living room and glance at whatever show someone is watching and then look up again four hours later and realize I got completely sucked in to something I don't even remember. I like having to go to bars to watch sports. I like having an excuse not to watch the news, which is always so gory and sensationalist especially on TV. (ABC's 11:00 news is the worst.)
But then, on the other hand, Facebook keeps me in touch with some really good friends who no longer live up the hall. There are people I wouldn't know how to start talking to again, but I still feel connected to them through Instagram. I don't know what I (or all of you) would have done if I didn't write this blog, at least for the first couple of months out of school.
I've also met and stayed in touch with a decent amount of new friends here in Delaware through the internet. My friend Johnny and I primarily email each other, and we met at an event I found through a local writers' group on Facebook. Recently, I commented on a Facebook post of a friend who now works in St. Olaf's alumni office about Oles in Wilmington, and a day or two later got a message from one such Ole now living in Wilmington... Long story short, we've been hanging out at least every other week lately. How would we have found each other without the digital grapevine?
I hope I don't ever get so sucked into my job that I forget how to interact with people face-to-face. I hope I don't ever get so sucked into my smartphone that I forget how to unplug and have an actual conversation. I hope I don't ever lose my ability to leave my phone in my purse while I'm at dinner, and turn it off. I am working on myself first, before I start picketing Siri. I will draw a line between tech times and face time. (Ha, ha, see what I did there?)
But I can't in good faith say I want to cut this stuff out entirely. I hope it keeps getting easier to stay in touch with my farthest-flung friends and my respected classmates and colleagues. And when I say "stay in touch," I'm talking about maintaining meaningful connections. I feel like I'm doing fine on that front; so here's to my fourth and fifth screen of choice: your eyes, dear readers.
Thanks for reading! Now go outside and find someone to say hi to. If you're feeling really old-fashioned, you could even shake hands. Or hug.
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