IT was made for you, not you for IT

-inspired by "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." - Mark 2:27

when i left my first job, i didn't know how i would take foregoing the very accessible 8-or-more hours internet connection. what will happen to the songs i'm collecting, the egroups i've joined, the networking sites i'm in? the photo editing tutorials i'm following... aside from of course, work :P

eventually, i was able to get used to just getting online whenever possible and whenever i need it. oh yes, that's a big achievement!

i have and am still learning to teach myself who's really the boss when it comes to dealing with IT. it's not the high-speed connection, it's not the pc with the mighty processor, it's not the high-tech hardware, it's not the most advanced software, it's me.

the major reason why i'm writing this is because i have been observing the misuse of technology, especially by the DIG or Digital Immediate Gratification generation (Vieux, 2003) (ehem.. students :) )

friends, let's not freak out if we've not updated our pages or blogs for the longest time. let's not feel bad if we've not logged on our IMs as long as forever. these are not sins, we can still go to heaven if we have omitted doing these :) go offline if really busy. (i'm really wondering why there is still the busy status) forget about uploading the most recent headshots or photos IF...

... we haven't done our other responsibilities yet (i'm still battling with this especially when i'm doing my research paper. free surfing is really very tempting)

... we are already forgetting the breathing human beings around us.

... we are prioritizing it over the more important things.

i'm not saying that technology is bad. in fact, it is not. cliche as it may be, it really makes life easy. i can't imagine computing the grades manually like what teachers did before when there were no electronic spreadsheets yet. sometimes, i also find it easier to type than to write by hand. it's a blessing because before i can only send letters via the post office to reach distant cousins and friends. also, the internet is a vast repository of knowledge, so why not take advantage of it and surf wisely.

technology is very useful that is why i love IT. my course in college and what i'm taking now in graduate studies is very much in sync with it -- that the field of education can be helped a lot by technology. having spent three years in an IT company has also been very memorable, not only for the work experience but also for the special bond i've shared with my former colleagues (absi- tech friends, i miss you!!) the technika grafika club is really a gift.

for at the end of it all, it's not how many friendly friendster (or multiply or facebook) friends you have, how many emails you've sent, how many videos you've watched or songs you've listened to, how many updates you've done that matters. they are rather the relationships you've established and have really nurtured, the new things you've learned about the whole wide world (another www), the amount of time you've cut in your work because of technology and how it has helped you become more efficient, effective,... better.

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Ref: Vieux, Alex Serge. 2003. Top 10 Trends: Digital Immediate Gratification. Online. http://www.redherring.com. Quoted in Lisa Renard. Teaching the DIG Generation. Educational Leadership, April 2005, 44-47.