Technology is Good (1st of 3 part series!)
I was riding up the elevator today, unwillingly listening to one side of a cell phone conversation, and musing about how different people’s lives are because of technology. Here was a student, on her way to class, chatting with her mom about some information she needed to get off her computer and send home. I hate to reveal my advanced age here, but when I was in college, the call home was a once-every-two-weeks event that occurred in the basement of the dorm, via a collect call, over the pay phone—and always at 11:01pm to get the cheap long-distance rates.
Although some people hate cell phones and think technology is going to drive to society straight to hell in a handbasket, I have a much more positive view of technology—which is the one thing keeping me from completing my transformation into a crusty old curmudgeon (woo-hoo, spelled that right on the first try!). Students transitioning to college are clearly having a very different experience in terms of keeping in touch with their families and friends as a result of cell phones, e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging, and of course, blogging. Most of that, I think, is good (although I could do without all the IMing over the wireless internet during class—you know who you are, and yes, we profs do in fact know that you are doing it).
Making my own little contribution to the reign of hi-technocracy, I have invented a new use for the cell phone camera. At least, I’ve never seen anyone else doing this and so far, when I’ve mentioned it to people, no one has heard of anyone else doing it. So, here is my IPO of this very little trick, which will now undoubtedly start sweeping college campuses via the meso-level network (Hedstrom et al., American Journal of Sociology 106(1): 145-172) formed by the people who read this blog.
When I go to the library to find a book (which is becoming more and more rare now that I can depend on Wikipedia for virtually all of my academic writing), I look up the book on the library computer catalog scratch down the call number using one of those little golf pencils and the scraps of paper they have sitting around. But why bother, and why waste the paper, when you’ve got that handy dandy camera phone in your pocket. Just whip it out, snap a shot of the computer screen, and you’re off to the stacks!
I’ll now wait for someone to tell me this is such old news and they’ve been doing this for 5 years. If so, have patience, I have two even better ideas for that cell camera! Tune in tomorrow for part 2.
Categories:
Technology
14 comments:
You really still go to the library for a book? I just go to mine for the nice bathrooms. The real reason for camera phones is probably not suitable to be discussed on a family friendly blog like yours.
I'm not sure what you are saying about what goes on in library bathrooms, but I'm pretty sure my university won't approve.
Better yet, enter the info into a database so that you can start keeping track of these books. This may not work with the numbers on the computer screen, but it will work with the book's bar code (or any other product's bar code for that matter), provided that you are communicating with a system that can read it. So just point the camera at hte bar code and voila. You do need a data plan for this. Microsoft Research's AURA helps with all this.
Three uses of cell phone photo capabilities that I have put into practice (and two of which I've blogged about) are:
1. take pictures of books at book exhibits (but the above idea of capturing the bar code is best)
2. get an image of a wine bottle label if you want to remember it (works well for other products at a store as well)
3. take pictures of business cards
I have nothing against cell phones, in general, for all of the good reasons mentioned here (although I could never be as technologically innovative as Eszter). But I have really resisted having my own cell phone. I just hate the idea of being available by phone anytime anyone wants to contact me. I have an office phone and I have a home phone. But every once in a while I just want to disappear and be completely alone without unnecessary ringings or vibrations.
I have to admit though that cell phones are nice to have when traveling. I lost a cell phone the day before August's trip to Montreal and it turned out to be very inconvenient. Due to air travel problems on the east coast, I got stuck overnight in NYC and for the first time in years had to use a pay phone. It felt so primitive.
I might date myself with this, but my first thought was that the success of the method would depend on the relationship between the (non-controllable?) shutter speed and the monitor sync rate -- but LCD displays wouldn't have the problem. There is an assumption that you're not bringing a computer of your own to the library. Eszter's #2 idea is something I'll have to remember.
I'm with Brayden on not really wanting to be excessively contactable -- at least not by phone. I get a little panicky if I don't have good data access for too long, though.
My camera phone pics are too small and suck, but since coming to ND, I use the "To Do List" program to jot down call numbers. It's pretty handy.
The downside is that I've actually had students use cell phones (particularly texting) to cheat on tests. That doesn't end well for them.
I would also constantly have to deal with students who wouldn't shut off their phones during class. However, once I instituted a policy that if a phone rings, I answer it...the students were more responsible.
Brayden: My solution to a similar ambivalency about cell phones is to have one, but conveniently forget its number. Forgetting is, I've found, remarkably easy to do; in fact, I've had my phone for two years, and I still have to look up the number on the rare occasions that I give it out.
This strategy allows me to still call out, if need be. (Assuming I've remembered to charge my phone and to move it from charger to person, neither of which occur with p=1.) But because very few people have the number, and half of them (hi mom, hi dad) are inexplicably petrified by the thought of dialing a cell phone number, I'm rarely disturbed by it.
i friend of mine uses a real camera to take pictures of tape measure readings when he needs to find furniture of the right size. i suppose cell phone camera is good for that too.
My cousin takes pictures of assignments and notes that teachers write on boards with his camera phone...I thought it was pretty ingenious. Re: accessibility, I carry around a cell phone (used to carry around 2), so that's usually enough for me. I recently bought a new phone and had the opportunity to get one of those phones that have email, internet, and organizer. It just seemed like too much. I'm not THAT important.
Just think, if you had published this idea during the dot.com boom, you'd be a millionaire by now!
I think this is brilliant. I mean, I don't go to libraries for books much, but it has related applications and I never think to use my cel phone camera for it.
P.S. Eszter's business card photographing idea may be even more brilliant.
Wow, you all have some great ideas! I love the bar code, Eszter. I think everything should be bar coded--I can point my phone at it, automatically transmit the data to amazon.com or something, have it charged to my credit card, and have it show up on my porch the next morning--Now that's one-click ordering!
And, dang it, one of you scooped me on part III, but I already wrote it, so you're still going to have to see it...
Heck, keep enjoying the nostalgia. You can still call collect! Just make sure you use a cheap service, like www.800-call4less.com or your family will kick your butt.
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