Author: ianwilliams13

Could cellular devices be considered an addiction….

There are advertisements for Androids and Iphones everywhere I go, and no matter what I do. I was listening to Pandora on my computer and all of a sudden my music stops in the middle of the song and starts to play an advertisement for the Iphone about how it can make life better in every way. I myself own an Android and even those are advertised the same way, in one commercial i saw on TV was a comparison of how life is like without one, an extremely poor man with a sign that said “will work for Android”, and then what it was like with one, and a very dignified looking man with an expensive suit talking on his Android and looking extremely happy. The style of this is so tacky, but genius at the same time, this is because many people will see this as it is which is a dumb commercial just asking for people to spend more money on a different looking version of the phone they already have. However others see it as a chance to have the top of the line devices and sub consciously, maybe it will help make their life better in one way or another. It seems like there are more and more people falling for this everyday and its ridiculous. Cellular devices are now almost a necessity just because of the advantages they give you in many aspects, but many people tend to be so dependent on them it seems to mirror a drug addiction. I have myself seen teenagers and even grown adults that flip out if they lose their phone even if their is a new version out that they don’t have. It imitates a drug addict and it is sickening, it mind as well be a disease!     


How do you identify yourself as a consumer? How might you need to change your consumer behavior, and why? #

I identify myself as an average consumer, I may not know it and deny it but being asked this question, I kind of am. For the most part I like whatever celebrities like and what my peers like and most people do not want to admit that because everyone wants to be original and pretend like everything is our own. However that’s really funny because most people follow the trends in society when it comes to clothes, technology, style, and many things after that. Even such things as food like McDonald’s and other fast foods knowing how bad they are for you, but it doesn’t matter because it’s almost as if obesity is completely accepted in our society today. As for myself, I am that way in a lot of senses when it comes to my clothing because I have to have that Nike Swoosh or that Air Jordan symbol when I could get the exact same thing without that symbol. Even technology I got to have the top of the line cell phone and lap top when I could save money and get all the same usage out of something less expensive. I am an everyday consumer that buys things that are needed or unnecessary and it causes me to go broke, for example, whenever I go to Walmart and I see something minuscule like a pair of Hello Kitty slippers I have to get them to be the funny guy in the dorm. I need to change as a consumer by getting exactly what I want because it’s what I want. Also not to fall into what society feeds me when it comes to “necessities”, get what I need and every now and again go out and just spend some money on something unnecessary because it can be fun at times. I need to be my own financial adviser and watch what consume in all senses and whether or not I actually need it.  


Define communication in the 21st century. What does it mean to “learn how to write”?

Communication in the 21st century is unique and in a category all on its own. In the past years and even centuries everything was verbal, written on paper, or written on something that could be delivered to a certain person. Now, it consists of texting, social networks, and everything else that doesn’t consist of actually having to be face to face with another human being. I know that I get so much criticism from my aunts and uncles about how I never actually talk to my friends but I’m always on my phone, but to me, my whole adolescence consisted of social networking and phones. When I was younger those things weren’t accessible but I learned once I got them that this was how my generation was going to be. I feel like it has somewhat of a negative effect on our face to face communication which might hurt us in the work place or certain situations in life, but this is how most of us were raised. To “learn how to write” really means “learn how to type/text”, because for the most part, even in school, actually writing isn’t really there anymore. In class the amount to kids that are on their computers or tablets as opposed to actually writing notes and such down is increasing every year. I feel like we learn to write the alphabet and then after that it’s straight into a technological age and it’s possible it could stay that way for a long time, as long as our knowledge about technology and the interest in technology, social medias, and phones is increasing.