Abstract

Chris Carroll's article "High-tech Trash" focuses on the danger of our society's increasing amount of "e-waste". Besides damage to the environment, people salvaging old electronic parts are being exposed to harmful chemicals. Because of many governments' stances on e-waste disposal a lot of trash ends up being sent to other countries in Asia and Africa for salvaging and resale. Carroll writes, "The result of the federal hands-off policy is that the greater part of e-waste sent to domestic recyclers is shunted overseas". And that "It is next to impossible to gauge how much e-waste is still being smuggled into China, diverted to other parts of Asia, or—increasingly—dumped in West African countries like Ghana, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast".

Of the various reasons he gives for why e-waste is dangerous the most apparent is the health risk by exposure to carcinogens. As salvagers burn wire and break tubes they are exposed to very harmful chemicals but they often need the money that can be brought in by recycling old electronics. Many legit recycling plants are unable to compete with the cheap prices of the salvage groups in overseas countries. We are not taking enough responsibility for our waste. Also, modern electronics and computers are outdated so quickly we are constantly creating an exponential amount of e-waste.

Carroll makes certain assumptions that the readers are part of the throw away society of electronics. He expects readers to be shocked at the harmful effects old electronics have on other human beings besides just environmental factors. Carroll wants to point out these problems so that readers can try and make a difference.

small object, LARGE SUBJECT

The existence of iPods in our culture illustrates our love for technology, isolation, and of course music. We love to bring our music library with us everywhere simply because we can. We want to be able to shut the world out and retreat to the comfort zone of our favorite songs as we walk down the street.
iPod promotions use catchy music, bright colors, and trendy concepts to get people to buy new versions of something they already have. Although most iPods do the same thing there are countless incarnations of them from mini to nano to classic to shuffle to touch. Sometimes the only difference I can find between models is the shape. But because they are a new piece of technology we have to have them.
Personally I get the most use out of my iPod when running. I like that depending on the song I can relax and use running as something theraputic or use the music to pump me up to run harder. I also like that the music can shut me out of my surroundings. It let's me concentrate more on myself and the way my body is responding to the run.
The manufacturers of the iPod assume Americans will continue to expand their music library and be interested in new gadgets. Apple's costomers will continue to want to brag about having the newest bit of technology when really the iPod they have now is probably sufficient.

How Do I Write An Abstract?

The controlling idea of Nicholas Carr's article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" is that as new forms of technology and media are developed they change the way we think, read and write. Google puts a great wealth of information at our fingertips which makes us lazy and incapable of reading a lengthy book for information. Carr sums up this argument with the following metaphor: "Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski". Before Google he had to slowly search through books the way a scuba diver slowly takes in their surroundings under water. But now he skips over them without being able to take in the details, the way Jet Skis move too fast over the surface to get a clear view of what's underneath. He also says the net is "chipping away at [his] capacity for concentration and contemplation".

Besides Google and the internet dumbing people down he also feels that writing implements influence the way we form our thoughts. Carr cites Nietzsche's switch to using a typewriter to prove this point. After making the switch Nietzshce's writing became more terse than usual, the same way modern changes in communication associated with the internet make us prefer to read and write in shorter increments. Concerns about switches in media date all the way back to the invention of the printing press when many people believed it would bring about the end of society.

In the article, Carr assumes that the readers are educated, and have familiarity with Google, even if they themselves do not use it extensively themselves. He also assumes that many readers may be in the same boat as him, that is to say, are also having trouble concentrating on reading the more time they spend online.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

I think reading "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" by Nicholas Carr has ruined any chance of me reading a book ever again. For a year or so I've been sort of subconsciously aware of this phenomenon taking place in my mind, I found it harder and harder to just sit and read for hours on end. Now that the article has brought this to my attention it's all I can think about. As interested as I was in the article, I couldn't bring myself to read the whole thing straight through, I had to stop and take a break a few pages before the end and write this down. Again, about a page from the end I stopped to get a drink, not so much because I was thirsty but because I was looking for something to do that wasn't reading.
On a more analytical note, I think the title of the article is a bit misleading. To me it's not so much that Google and its quest to streamline the way we access information is making us stupid, it's the internet itself and the culture surrounding the internet that's doing it. More than that, it's most modern forms of communication that are contributing to the phenomenon. Services like text messaging and Twitter that limit the number of characters we can send train us to be as brief as possible in our writing, and to expect everything we read to be equally as brief. But that's not the case with books, newspapers, and almost any other form of printed media. I definitely feel that growing up during this time period of web browsing and surfing I've been effected mentally. As I've grown up it's been harder and harder for me to concentrate on reading the more comfortable I've grown with the internet. At least now I know why.