@starlingpreston
As I went about my day without my smart phone and laptop, I now realize how dependent I am upon them. First I had no way to contact my boyfriend at all. Seeing as he doesn’t have a phone, our communication is strictly based through Facebook and school. Without my laptop we wouldn’t be able to socialize and interact unless it was in person. This correlated with Monroe’s “access divide”, where my frequency of my home computer was halted (9).
Secondly, my homework was affected. Seeing as I have an online class, my ability to access, complete, and submit my homework was halted. Furthermore, my contact with the professor is through email, so any chance I had of explaining myself was void. My dependency upon technology for school and work emphasizes Monroe’s “economic opportunity divide” where “my experience for taking a course online” was severely effected (9). In order to have figured out my homework I would have had to look up WSU’s number in a print version of Dex, call from a pay phone, and ask for my professor’s number.
Those who do not have access to a laptop or cell phone would not be able to complete an online class. They would have to commute to a public library or do their work at the university. Furthermore, they would have to do it when these establishments are open to the public. Looking up information would all have to be done by looking through a newspaper, phone book, or having access to a public library.