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Yesterday I shared the story about amazon with you, and today I have just seen this story on the BBC website.

link to story https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-57598341

I found it interesting that most people think the Digital divide affects the young, but how wrong can we be just read the article from the BBC brings it home to you. Digital technology has become a lifeline to the elderly or those suffering from a health condition during this pandemic. I have had to help several pensions with no technical know-how but use zoom and other video calling devices to help them keep in touch with family and friends that otherwise, they could not. I remember getting a phone call from an old friend of mine asking me to pop round because she had lost her internet, and that was her lifeline during lockdown.

So think about some old ones and see if they need help. One old iPad could give them a new lease of life.

Join us for Workshop 2; we will be hosting a live Q & A session to talk about Media Lobotomy Manifesto Saturday 26th 3 pm; please log on to join in; you can join us for a live chat on teams; email [email protected] if you are interested.

Or if you like to just visit our Youtube channel – https://youtu.be/iSNvPHpoVNw

As part of my journey into media lobotomy, I decided to stop wearing my smartwatch, but first, I would record how often I used my watch and phone in a working day. After a week, I could not believe what my results were showing; on an average day, I would look at my watch or phone over 30 times a day. My work collages knew this so much that I found out that if they wanted me, I would not get a phone call but an email as I would always look at the notifications the watch gave me. This was the point I decided it was time for a change.

“Why do we need data to tell us we walked a long way? You know you had from how your legs feel.”

“Have we become a society that relies on data we do not need”

I use to think a smartwatch worked for me because I saw it for what it was: not a life-changing, wholly new sort of utility but rather a supplement to my smartphone — a handy accessory that made it easier for me to keep up with information and take care of basic tasks. Revolutionary? Nope. But convenient? Absolutely: It was a device that let me stay connected without constantly pulling out my phone. I was wrong by removing the smartwatch, and I found out I stopped looking at my phone so much allow myself to look around and take in the world. Next time you are in a shop waiting for your coffee or at the station waiting for a train, take a minute to look up and see how many people are on their phones. It will shock you; the art of talking is fading away and being taken over by the screen.

Since the start of Media Lobotomy, mobile phones and tablets have been a technology that has been hard to find out what can do; if the tech not too old, it is possible to do a clean install and pass out, but the big question is that do you do with the rest of them.

“Buying a new smartphone consumes as much energy as using an existing phone for an entire decade.”
(source)

With this new, ever-evolving world of technology, the average person keeps a mobile phone for 34 months. This hunger for new phones and has aided Consumerism in the social and economic order, in turn, encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts, so the drive to always have the newest technology with the ever-growing operating system makes phones obsolete before their physical time of expiry.

The phone suppliers keep offering more and more features tempting the end-user to get a new phone before reaching its service life.

“1.5 billion Mobile phones manufactured in 2018.”

Over the past, I have used old phones in the artwork. One of the last ones was using the phones as wifi detector to paint wifi patterns allowing you to see the unseen.

Over the next few weeks, I will investigate recycling options and other options as I am doing with the laptops.

Media lobotomy live will be broadcast on YouTube Saturday 19th from 11am

Media lobotomy first started from reading Sean Cubitt, Finite Media; this book leads me to question the following into days society.

The Environmental Implications of Digital Technologies.
How digital media effects environmental degradation.
Over-production and consumption of digital media affect us today.
How the above affected digital rubbish and electronic waste

In this book, Cubitt looks at how the resources of the earth are finite, and it’s not just the fact that we are running out of them but also the fact that for every digital resource made today, the required envy to matin them goes up.

From reading this book, I started to look at my use of technology and how I interact with it daily; I am a high user with a smartwatch and phone on me, and I think all people should think about it their relationship with technology.

Did you know that one search on google uses about as much energy as your body burns in 10 seconds, and around 10% of the worlds total electricity consumption is being used by the internet, according to a recent research report from Swedish KTH.