Just some thoughts generated from the discussion about immersion in tutorials last week. But I'm not sure if I've gotten the concept of immersion correctly. So here goes...

I think that we're so immersed into technology that we aren't even aware of it. Think of our handphones, so many years ago it was only a tool for communication and only few could afford it. Then it became smaller and more affordable and a lot of working adults started using it for its convenience. But still, pager was the main tool to help you stay connected because the monthly subscription was still cheaper. Then, there was a period of time when husbands/boyfriends (of course those with financial ability) liked to give their spouse/girlfriends a mobile so that they're using the same model and also to allow them to stay constantly connected. But up till now, it's still pretty restricted because people are connected through phone calls only so you still can't reach the other party if he/she is in a meeting or is busy.

Then came sms which is 5cts each (much cheaper compared to air rate) and there's even a few hundred free sms bundled into the plans. The spread of sms seemed to be because parents were giving their children mobile phones (as we know that it's mainly the younger generation using sms extensively). So we started with slight immersion into technology and have moved to now where most people are immersed into it because we spread this immersion ourselves. With sms, we can contact each other anytime of the day. You can even send/reply while you're busy in the washroom (it used to be rude because people can hear that you're busy in the toilet)! This is how immersed we are into the web of connection... amazing ya ;)

Ok... then mobile phones came with games (and now even N-gage) so you were more immersed into the little screen in your pocket. Although nokia had infrared so you could challenge your friend to a game of snake, not many people used it as the connecting ports were placed such that it wasn't user friendly to such a function. Then came camera phones. If you're bored you can shoot anything. Or else you can browse through the old photos. If you're still bored, some phones offer you the function to edit the photos from the phone so you have an additional function to keep you occupied. The same applies to the video cam function of phones.

We also have phones with radio function. Now, we even have music phones with nokia's N91 allowing up to 4GB of memory space to listen to your favourite music while on the move. Think about it... why would phone companies constantly add new functions into a tool which was orignally meant to be for communication? Because we're immersed into this little screen that we can't even let go of it. We will feel so bored w/o these functions to entertain us. Even if you dont own a music phone, most people have a cam phone loaded with games and a mp3 player. Or else some people have their PDA and their head is always bent down looking into the screen working/playing games. We're so immersed into technology that we look for feature packed because we want to own the many things which will continue keep us immersed.

We even have TV mobile on buses to entertain us though the programs are always repeated and only add to noise pollution on the bus. And the screens in MRT stations occasionally showing ads. We seems so immersed that we want to feel the presence of such entertainment, be it public or personal everywhere. We may complain that it's too noisy when we're in the company of friends but we might actually secretly appreciate its presence when you're travelling alone.

This is the extent to which I think we are immersed into technology. However, I thought that this is applicable only to the younger generation who uses technology.