Digital Age
Written August 23, 2003
Do you live in a digital age? I do.
I talk to people all over the world nightly, but I haven't met my next door neighbor... yet.
 
I have 11 phone numbers to reach my family of 4.
 
My computer monitor sits on top of a dusty VCR that sits on top of a DVD/SVCD/VCD player that sits next to a THX Surround Sound receiver that has a dusty TV on top of it. All of which sit between a set of 5 surround sound speakers and a 12" subwoofer at the foot of my bed.
 
I wake up at 4 am to get a glass of water and check my email on the way back to bed.
 
If I leave home without my cell phone, which I didn't have for the first 22 years of my life, it causes a mild panic and I must turn around and go get it.
 
Cleaning up my apartment means throwing away the empty cups of coffee and take-out bags.
 
I got in-school-suspention for making the opening homepage on all of my highschool's library computers a joke about one of our teachers, Mr. Cox. :o My dad was called on Saturday to send me to the school because no one knew how to change them back.
 
If I get disconnected from the net, I have a painful sinking feeling in my chest as if I just pulled the plug on a loved one.
 
By the end of my freshman year in college I had been webmaster for 3 different college websites. One of which while I was in highschool.
 
I turn my head sideways to smile. =)
 
As I'm typing this I have 3 glowing monitors and 4 quartz displays in front of me. They show me various info including but not limited to: duration of the current DVD, the time (military and standard), the DVD sound encoding, current weather, up-to-the-minute news, who's on AOL, ICQ, Yahoo!, and MSN, what wi-fi networks are in range, which ones are encrypted, and imagery from the next 4 unpublished issues of Elle magazine.
 
I can figure out a way to check my email from almost anywhere.
 
I havn't owned a printer in 5 years and will probably not own a printer ever again.
 
Where my dad used to carry a sketchbook, I carry a powerbook.
 
A flock of birds could nest in the web of cables and wires under my desk.
 
My computer knows if I am home based on the proximity of my cell phone.
 
If I want to save money to buy a new piece of equipment, I just don't eat as much.
 
Walking across midtown Manhattan this morning I realized I was carrying over 70 gigs of hard drive storage space.
 
I own and listen to new cutting edge music everywhere I go, but I havn't purchased an album in over 6 years. I don't own a tape player, a walkman or a portable CD player.
 
I have motherboards instead of baseball cards in my closet.
 
I've had people twice my age look over my shoulder to watch what I'm doing, and ask me over and over, How did you do that?
 
When I turn out the lights in my bedroom. I see 27 LED's. 5 of them blink, sometimes 6 depending on what I'm downloading.
 
My friends watch Primetime TV for fun; I download and install FreeBSD.
 
If my Dad's cable modem goes out, I'm the first person he calls. Even though I live a thousand miles away.
 
I have 4 different ways to transfer files between computers in my bedroom, 2 of them are wireless.
 
Yeah, I'm in the digital age. I guess I'm a nerd too.