Is it too late to unplug me doc? Are the changes permanent?

Can I just start by saying that I called it with my last post title. ("always connected, always 'plugged-in" pg. 113). I am sort of joking with my post title this time. I don't dislike the convenience of being so close to my cultural objects and technology. However, it does make me wonder what am I getting with it under the table that I am not realizing. It makes you almost feel like what my title suggests. That is: Should I be afraid of what is happening and should I try to preempt by opting-out? Anyway, now that I got that diatribe of fear out of the way, there is no doubt in my mind that with technology becoming an extension of our individual selves, and senses, that our relationship to cultural objects is changing. For example, in my lifetime I have been able to see how my relationship to music has changed. Music is a large part of my life so noting the differences for me,  I believe, will be transparent.

When I was a kid,  chances to experience music were very limited. For the most part if I wanted to hear a song I had to turn on my dad's radio which was static-y at best. Then, I remember listening to tapes ( you know the kind that could throw up its contents and you had to wind it back in with a pencil or something). I also can remember being so happy when cd players came out. But I never could have imagined how I experience music today. Namely, I can listen to music wherever I am since it is all on my phone and the quality is so clear it is like I am sitting in the studio.

In a similar vein, I am now able to store thousands and thousands of songs in my phone and carry them with me everywhere (a luxury I couldn't have imagined when I was toting around my 12-15 song cd's). As a result I am able to listen to music far more often and music plays a much more active role in my thought patterns and perceptions of the world. Also, since all the songs are in a digital format and not a physical format I can easily suggest the music I love to my friends and they can listen to it immediately via youtube, spotify, etc.

To use a another cultural object to highlight the changes in experiencing, storing, and sharing of those objects—I can't help but think of people. My ability to experience connections with other people has both shrunk and grown because of digital means. First, it has shrunk because the quality of interactions that I have with the majority of people I know has decreased. At the same time, the number of people I am able to connect with is far greater.  However, the state of communication with people has become a dangerous forum because of digital storing. Now, every time I write something to someone I have to consider what I say because I know that my words can be saved forever and used against me. This brings me to my last point. It is a scary thought to know that what I say can be shared with just about anybody. Not only what I say but who I am, at least my digital identity, can be shared with everybody. for me this digital identity is one of the main changes that digital interactions has created. My relationship to other people in digital interactions has caused me to see people as a picture and a list of qualities and interests. People are not as much of an emotional connection now as a compartmentalized identity. Wow that last sentence was deep/scary/self-revelatory to write.