Reactions to Digital Nation: Eliza Eddison

My cursory review of the piece has given me three thoughts:

1. I finally understand why people say I talk fast.

2. A comment I made that was not included in the piece is thus: we are not the tricky, deviant generation that figured out how to goof off and not pay attention in class. IMing your neighbor is merely an accelerated and more subtle form of passing notes. While multi-tasking or keeping a laptop in front of you may minimize your productivity, it is unfair to act as if we are getting less out of our education because of our gadgets. If someone doesn't want to pay attention, they don't need a laptop to tune out a lecture.

3. Also: many, many lectures at MIT have no more than one or two laptops open. If the lecture being presented is note-heavy, important and interesting, you will find a hundred #2 pencils flying over paper and only hear the typing of one or two people catching up on e-mail.

I'll react to the rest when I have time to watch it without falling asleep from jetlag-induced fatigue.