by Lindsey Grutchfield; photos by Michael Jermyn
Haley Grey, grade 12
The Bridge: What is your preferred method of communication?
Haley Grey: Probably phone calls. Yeah. If I need to get in touch with somebody really fast, then a phone call is the best way to go.
The Bridge: What is your favorite personal device and why?
Haley Grey: My iPhone because I can bring it everywhere, it has most of the things I need in it and it has most of my information in it, so any time I need to access anything it’s right there.
The Bridge: When was the last time you read a book? What was it?
Haley Grey: I actually read The Stranger (by Albert Camus) this week. That was for a class.
The Bridge: Given the chance, do you prefer reading things on a computer or on paper?
Haley Grey: I would say I would rather read books on paper, but shorter things like articles, like news sources, I would rather read on a computer, it’s just better organized that way.
The Bridge: What impact do you think the advent of the digital age has had on the world around you?
Haley Grey: I don’t know, that’s a hard question. So many things … it has changed a lot of the way we handle things, especially like communication, like getting in touch with people is a lot easier than it used to be and its a lot more casual because of that. If I want to get in touch with someone I can shoot them a quick text, rather than going to their house or having a nice talk with their parents before they get on the phone. But in a way its also desensitized us because everythings become more casual, in the sense that communications and interactions with people are less personal.
The Bridge: What do you feel are the positive and negative impacts of digital technology?
Haley Grey: Negative—definitely that it’s made people kind of forget the impact that they can have with talking to someone or communicating with somebody, because it’s so much easier. It doesn’t mean as much. And people are so distracted by it that it sort of takes them away from their lives, as cliche as that sounds. People are a lot more afraid, or not afraid but unwilling, to go out and live their lives when they can just stay in and check Facebook. Positive – it’s way easier to get in touch with people and it’s opened up a lot more opportunities. I guess an example for me would be that I recently made a Tumblr page of my photography and I’ve been able to get in touch with professional photographers from California and all over. We talk about our work and share thoughts on the other’s work, and I couldn’t do that without technology.
The Bridge: What do you think the future holds for our society in terms of how we interact with each other and with technology?
Haley Grey: I actually think that technology in the real world is actually kind of merging into the same thing as personal interaction. I think that it’s becoming a lot more merged and that it’s a positive thing.
Asa Wagner, grade 11
The Bridge: What is your preferred method of communication?
Asa Wagner: I like to text, because I can do it any time, any place. It’s incredibly convenient.
The Bridge: What is your favorite personal device and why?
Asa Wagner: My PC laptop computer, because of the versatility and transportability of the laptop, and the power of the PC. I like how I can do school work and play games on it.
The Bridge: When was the last time you read a book? What was it?
Asa Wagner: I read The Great Gatsby about a week ago—for class. I rarely read for pleasure nowadays. I prefer computer games after school to relax, then when I’m done I have homework to do, so I can’t.
The Bridge: Given the chance, do you prefer reading things on a computer or on paper?
Asa Wagner: It depends what the thing is that I’m reading. I’d rather read a legit book on paper, but when it comes to articles I prefer digitized, because digital media is easier to use, often smaller if I’m using my iPhone. So I can read it easily anywhere. But I like holding the paper in my hand when I’m reading a story. It feels more real.
The Bridge: What impact do you think the advent of the digital age has had on the world around you?
Asa Wagner: It has made the world faster paced, information travels more faster and more freely, so things can get done faster. It has also created new and wonderful distractions for us. I think general life is more fun. It’s easier to access entertainment, even while working someone can be listening to music in their earbuds. The effect is huge, but I believe it is mostly positive.
The Bridge: What do you feel are the positive and negative impacts of digital technology?
Asa Wagner: It’s positive that information is more freely available, it travels faster, communication is faster, there is ease of access to education and related resources. The free web is a great thing. And I like computer games. The mind-numbing aspects of social media are negative, and said information can be false, because anybody can put stuff up. It can be false or stupid or pointless or all three.
The Bridge: What do you think the future holds for our society in terms of how we interact with each other and with technology?
Asa Wagner: I believe that technology will become increasingly more integral in our society, eventually leading up to and surpassing AI robots. One potential path for future technology is that we will start to lose important human connections, but I don’t believe that will happen. We will get better at communicating with people we can’t physically connect with, making our world a more friendly place.
Kaia Garland, grade 10
The Bridge: What is your preferred method of communication?
Kaia Garland: That would be my laptop or iPod, because it’s faster to send messages on. People respond a lot faster than email, when you have to wait sometimes like two or three days before they see it. You also don’t always have enough service to call but you do have service to send a quick text.
The Bridge: What is your favorite personal device and why?
Kaia Garland: Definitely the iPod touch, because there are a lot of great apps you can download. You can watch videos, take pictures and videos and save them to your computer. Its very convenient because its an all-in-one kind of device.
The Bridge: When was the last time you read a book? What was it?
Kaia Garland: I read every single day. Last night I read a book called Virals (written by Kathy Reichs). It’s about these kids that break into a lab and steal a puppy that’s trapped in a cage, that a guy put there to experiment on with this canine parvovirus. Then, things get crazy.
The Bridge: Given the chance, do you prefer reading things on a computer or on paper?
Kaia Garland: I prefer reading on paper because if you read it on a computer or cell phone, you might not have enough wifi or your computer might die. It’s easier to mark your spot on paper, definitely paper.
The Bridge: What impact do you think the advent of the digital age has had on the world around you?
Kaia Garland: A lot. When I first got my iPod touch, I started reading books on it. For reading books on the iPod, you have to swipe the page from left to right to turn the page, so when I started reading books on paper I tried to swipe it like that, which definitely messed me up a little bit. I’ve noticed that happens a lot with people who start reading on a touch screen.
The Bridge: What do you feel are the positive and negative impacts of digital technology?
Kaia Garland: The positive impacts are that you can look things up a lot faster, you get a lot more results than going to the library and looking it up in a book, and you can take a screenshot and send it to someone without having to give them the whole book. Information access. Negatively, I think we’re losing skills; people don’t always know how to look something up in an index or glossary anymore.
The Bridge: What do you think the future holds for our society in terms of how we interact with each other and with technology?
Kaia Garland: It’s going to be a lot more advanced, definitely, and its going to become a lot faster. There’s going to be a lot more electronic gadgets. Eventually they’re probably going to come up with technology that’s more advanced than anything. There’s already something that can connect your computer to the T.V. and technology for self driving cars. What haven’t they invented yet? Hovercraft, I guess.
Omeed Fallahi, grade 9
The Bridge: What is your preferred method of communication?
Omeed Fallahi: Email!
The Bridge: What is your favorite personal device and why?
Omeed Fallahi: My favorite personal device would have to be my iPhone, because it is powerful, compact, and very useful.
The Bridge: When was the last time you read a book? What was it?
Omeed Fallahi: The last time a read a book was in October, and the book was titled Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.
The Bridge: Given the chance, do you prefer reading things on a computer or on paper? Omeed Fallahi: Personally, I prefer reading on paper, as it has a more genuine feel. Also, I feel that holding the book and turning the pages is a valuable part of the reading experience, which is lost when reading using electronic devices.
The Bridge: What impact do you think the advent of the digital age has had on the world around you?
Omeed Fallahi: The advent of the digital age has had many impacts on our world today. It has made many things in life easier and more convenient, and has advanced our society in many different areas.
The Bridge: What do you feel are the positive and negative impacts of digital technology?
Omeed Fallahi: Some positive impacts of technology include convenience, fast access to information, and easy communication. Some negatives include the dependence on these forms of technology in our lives, making we humans less flexible to change.
The Bridge: What do you think the future holds for our society in terms of how we interact with each other and with technology?
Omeed Fallahi: In the future, interaction will become easier and easier by use of technology. Some may believe that this is a bad thing, as it impacts our communication skills in real world situations. However, overall I believe that in the future technology will continue to advance, and communicating will be easier.
