Technology changes fast. Your brand spanking new computer will be archaic in less than one year. To have the newest iPod, you would have to buy one about every six months, on average. But the high turnover rate of technology also means that life-changing breakthroughs are just around the corner.
As I go about my sad day-to-day existence, I have noticed a few opportunities where a little technology would go a long way toward improving our standard of living as college students.
Doing laundry is the bane of my existence. I try to put it off for as long as I can. Unfortunately, this only results in recycling smelly clothes, overflowing hampers and glares from strangers in FoCo. One of the reasons I avoid doing my laundry is because it seems that every time I go down to the basement, the machines are occupied. It's like I have to camp down there just to get an open machine.
When I do get lucky enough to find an open machine, I will run into the other major problem with doing laundry: forgetting you are doing laundry. I have left my clothes in the machine for hours at a time, only to remember much later on, only to find them thrown onto a table.
I see a simple solution to this annoying problem that affects almost everyone: a networked laundry room. Imagine being able to check from your computer if there are any open machines, and if there are not, how much time is left on the occupied ones (or how much time is left on your machine). With such a system, you could even set up automated blitz notifications to tell you when your laundry is done.
The technology for all of this already exists, so it would only need to be implemented. I believe the saved time and frustration of a networked laundry system would be more than worth the money to replace the laundry machines.
Problem number two: Recently, I purchased over $500 worth of textbooks from Wheelock. However, the hit my wallet took was nothing compared to the wallop my back took when I tried to lug all these books back to my dorm. My back is crying out for the eBook.
New eBook readers, like the Sony Reader, have electronic ink screens that look like paper documents. Aside from the environmental benefit of saving trees, eBooks provide added features such as the ability to look up a word directly on screen (no more keeping a dictionary next to my classics reading).
While I do admit that some "feel" is lost without actual pages to turn, being able to highlight, bookmark, and take notes helps alleviate this. Taking digital notes has the added benefit of being easier to search through later on. An added feature that the Sony Reader specifically has is Wi-Fi. This allows the possibility of downloading and reading PDFs straight from Blackboard without having to print out the 200+ pages on, say, late Republican Rome.
The best part of going digital is that one eBook reader can hold hundreds if not thousands of books. Backpacks everywhere would be much lighter and less congested. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure bookstores would still charge a king's ransom for eBooks even though eBooks eliminate publishing costs and as much need for shelf space.
Hopefully someday, we will see these solutions improve the lives of college students across our great nation. Until then, all I can do is complain about it.
