Paper outline (turned out to be a rough draft)

Today we are consumed with moderate pieces of digitization so much that we forget what is happening in the real world. You cannot go anywhere with out seeing someone who is using a piece of technology. Everyone always seems to be connected with invisible strings that keep their devices on them. These strings will get more dominant where everyone will be walking around with them and be entangled. These entanglements will snare us and the funny thing about it will be that it will all seem normal, no one will know the difference between the liberty of being free and the feeling of being ensnared.

In the media today there are some messages on our near distant future. Wall-E is an animated film about a robot who helps Americans see how technology has effected them. The people who live on this ship have become lazy and do nothing because there are robots that do everything for them. They have a screen in front of their face and do nothing but stare at it. They pay no attention to the outside world. Even the older generations know nothing of what is outside of their screens. During the movie Eve was sent to earth to find signs of life. When she brought it back to the captain he did not know what she had brought. He had to learn from the computer what earth was and what the plant was. Having been in space for so long everyone forgot that earth existed and that there was other things outside in space. The captain did not even know how to read. Everything was always verbally told to him or just on his computer screen. Even today most people hardly do anything active and go out side just to walk and stare at the sky. The most anyone would do being active is to (can talk about wii) play video games and even those have you starring at a screen being passive. There are some who go for walks and runs but they also bring their ipods or phones with them as they go. It is very hard to get away from technology. Even though they are thinking its nice to be outside, they are interlinked with their digital device which creates a thin veil over their perception of the real world. 

During his visit on the ship Wall-E interacted with two people and helped show them that there was something else outside their screen. Having grown up on the ship all they do is sit in chairs that enable them not to walk and that's how they become fat. There are also cups with food in it so they take the work out of chewing and all you have to do is sip. When Wall-E interrupted them, they took a look around them and the woman exclaimed "wow we have a swimming pool". With out the screen both people developed an interpersonal relationship with each other. With the screen everything was fake, there was never any face to face encounters and it was merely role play.
Even today we have started to create these fake relationships and made up personalities. Everyone going on Facebook and role playing games online have created this self of them that they show to the world. Through these networks they have fake conversations that hold no real meaning and it is the same with most of the people they be-friend on line.

Feed can be considered a form of art which reflects the world and also shows us where the hammer is to change our ways. Feed is also an allegory of our lives though he is more drastic in our relationship with technology. In the book, they have the "feed' on 24/7 and it is never off. But when the hacker messed up their systems, they were so lost with out the feed. They didnt know what to do with themselves and when they got it back it was like they had regained their other half. Even toady people cannot be seen with out having at least one piece of technology on them at all times. Though today since people do not have technology physically and mentally connected with them that if there were to be a black out or they lost their digital devices it would not be the end of the world. This is because we are still connected with the outside world, even though it is very little. The people in feed had their own little bubbles in which they lived their lives not caring about anyone else or what was happening in other places. Today it is much the same. People watch the news but other then that they do not seem to care about what is happening outside their mental bubble.

Growing up with technology has made the younger generations more lazy and perhaps not all together stupid but close to it. In the book though Violet, is the only one who sees how the feed is effecting everyone and she is the only one that cares about the world outside of the feed and their own little bubbles. She express her opinions to Titus and says " Because of the Feed, we're raising a nation of idiots" (feed, 113). Though after expressing her views and opinions everyone thinks she is crazy and weird for having different opinions. In National Wildlife magazine it talks about the new oxford dictionary for children. It has been brought to light that the "new dictionary no longer defines more then 30 nature words, including 'dandelion,' 'otter,' 'acorn' and 'beaver'. In their place are words such as 'mp3 player', 'blog' and 'cut and paste'". Even today children are learning more about the digital world rather then the natural world. The magazine argues that if these words are kept out of the dictionary and the kids never learn these words then it will be harder for them to connect to the planet and will not see any point to care for it.

Getting the feed later on in her life then everyone else helped Violet understand the world. This also made her less perceptible to the feed and the corporations trying to control them, "They're also waiting to make you want things. Everything we've grown up with- the stories on the feed, the games, all that- it's all streamlining our personalities so we're easier to sell to" (feed, 97). Even today this goes on and no one catches it. Everyday we are "attacked" with ads and posters for new consumer products and after seeing it a lot people get it into their minds that it is what they want and they must have it. This also goes for what the stars do. If some famous person goes walking around with an ipod or a specific clothing line, soon everyone will want to be like them because "its cool" and its what the famous people are doing. "They try to figure out who you are, and to make you conform to one of their types for easy marketing" (feed, 97). Even though Violet says this she has a feed herself. She gave into the corporate media and got a feed, her dad even gave her one because he felt that since everyone had one, he did not want her to be left out of the times. Society made it hard for anyone to live with out a feed and her father cracked and bought her on. But it did not change her. Even though she was chained down with digitization she was able to loosen those ties Even today it is odd to hear that someone does not have a cell phone or an ipod/mp3 player.

During class we ventured out into the street to ask strangers what they thought about the digital world. The first guy who we talked to was walking his dog and listening to his ipod. When asked how many hours he spends listening to his ipod, he replied "50% of time I'm listening to music, I match my mood to my music". Though he does not know if technology is a bad thing. But he does acknowledge that the world revolves around technology and that it is "beyond anyones control". Society today makes it hard for someone not to live with out a piece of technology. The rest of the people interviewed gave the same responses that had little thought put into their answers. Technology is a good thing and for the better part of their day they are on their phones and computers. When asked most said they could go a day without technology but I bet have not even tried. Its easy to say that they will do something but not follow through with it. There was one women who we interviewed and she said that technology shows great improvement and there are a lot of positive effects. Though at the same time she was saying how it was bad for us. That "people have become too lazy" and everyone is "moving to technology", following the flow of teh digital world. She said that "she does not hate it but needs it". Most of the time peoples jobs bring technology into our lives. And people are unable to work with out it. She said she would limit her son from using to much technology "because he could be outside spending time doing other things, though he often sees me on the computer and wants to go on too".