Today I had the pleasure of attending a presentation by Alan Levine, VP and CTO of the New Media Consortium (of which Baylor recently became a member). Alan gave a lovely presentation over the basics of what the NMC is all about and the tools it provides to its members, which were all, of course, very impressive. I especially enjoyed the demo of the NMC presence on Second Life, something I have yet to investigate myself.

I’m new at this whole technology thing. I’m still figuring out this blogging stuff, RSS feeds, drupal vs. wordpress, web 2.0, and twitter (plus a whole lot more). I have to say, the learning curve has been a little tough at times, but for the most part, I’ve been enjoying it quite a lot. The NMC presentation today got me thinking about the ever-expanding role that technology plays in our lives, and the possible outcomes of that.

I have to admit that in the past, I’ve been fairly resistant to, or at least wary of, technological advancements. I didn’t get a cell phone until my junior year of college, I don’t like texting, I generally don’t shop online, and I don’t have GPS in my car. I think the main issue for me is a matter of privacy. I resisted cell phones for a long time because I don’t like the idea that I’m supposed to be available to anyone at any time. I want my time to be my own and I want to at least have the option of being “off the grid.” I feel like people feel so entitled to getting a hold of others that when I screen my calls (come on, we all do it, right?…right?) I run the risk of offending people. I want to retain my right to turn off my phone for a day – to be unavailable – but it seems that’s becoming more and more taboo as our personal phones/computing devices become more and more permanently attached to our hands.

That being said, I feel like the NMC has the right idea about the use of new technology. Their website is clearly geared towards the sharing of information and ideas, one of the most profound benefits of the technological age we are now in. It struck me as being very non-invasive, which made me much more comfortable with the idea of something like Second Life. I was very impressed by the way their site functioned to bring people and their ideas closer, not isolate individuals in a sterile or impersonal virtual environment. I think I may have started to see the light.