Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
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ZbigniewZaleski
WhenIstayedasecondtimeatUCLAasFulbrightscholarin1991-93the
stepforwardincomputerizationwasenormousanduponmyreturntoLublin,
thelocalacademicswerefullyawareofcomputertechnologyandtheInternetas
awonderfullyvaluableinstrumentfortheiractivities.Andnowin2010,notonly
academicsbutindeedeveryoneappreciatestherevolutionaryprogressandpo-
tentialofinformationtechnology.E-mail,Skype,Internet,YouTube,Facebook,
Wikipedia,statisticalanalysis,books,journalsarticles,blogs(textwritingby
severalauthors),datingwebsites,realestateforum–tomentionbutafewofthe
waysofusingit.Isittoomuch?Yesandno.Thequestionisdifficulttoanswer.
TooMuchtoChoose
Duetotheunlimitedchoicecomparabletotheasupermarketwhereonemay
havetroubleinchoosingasinglesortofproductfrommany,theInternetuser
canbeoverwhelmedwithallthatisofferedthroughthecomputerscreen.What
tolookat?Whattoread?Sometimesthenightgetstooshort.Self-disciplineis
notthateasywhenoneisinterestedinmanythingsandallofthemareaccessible
attheclickofamouse.Ever-improvingcomputertechnologyhasabigimpact
andmakesthechoicemoredifficult.Animportantaspectistime(seeZimbardo
&Boyd,2009).Thedayhasonly24hours,whereastheever-presentofferfrom
thescreengetsricherandricher.Onegetsimpatientwaitingforachosensiteto
load.Themachinehastobeasquickaslightning,sowechangeforbetterand
bettercomputersalmosteveryyear.TheirrelativelycheapcostmakestheInter-
netcommonplace.Butareweabletocopewiththistechnological“invasion”?
Selectiveusageisprobablytheonlyreasonablestrategy,butthetemptation
tolookmoreandmoreisstrong;weoftensubdueandsurrendertothema-
chine.Therearestillevenindividualswhoreject(!)computersbuttheyare
seenasabnormal.Whatissoalluringthatwecannottearawayfromthescreen?
Oneoftheaspectisthefacilityofaccesstosourcesofinformation,filmsor
instruction,advice,newsandweather.Tewholeworldisathandatanytimeof
24/7hoursatthetouchofabuttonwhencomfortablysittinginanarmchairat
homeorintheoffice.Youdonotneedtotravel500kmtogotoaRodStewart
concert,hewillsingtoyouwhicheversongyouindicateone.g.Youtube.In-
steadofdrivingacrossabigcitytolookatanapartmentyouwanttobuy/rent,
youseeitininternetforum.Timeissavedthroughexcludingthoseonedislikes
atfirstsight.Surelythishelpssaveourprecioustime.Tofindawife/husband,
asimilarstrategycanbefruitful.Onlineretailcanalsobeaprofessionformany.
Theaforementionedusagesarelesspsychologicallyproblematic.Theproblem
