Technology Literacy Narrative

Technology Literacy Narrative Collin Davis

Throughout my life leading up to this point, technology has been something that has always been around. Although it has clearly advanced much more in recent years than during my childhood, technology has always had a role in my life and I believe it has helped shaped the direction my life is going. After all, my area of focus is heavily based on computer, software, and other technological hardware usage, such as cameras and microphones.

School Games

I chose to use this image of this computer in kind of an ironic way. The computers that I used in school were always way outdated and could only perform the most basic of functions. I wanted to use a picture that sort of poked fun at how old the computers were at my school that I learned on. This picture is the oldest looking one that I could find, and I thought it would add a bit of humorous undertones to this portion of my narrative.

Image Source

My journey with technology really began in school using monitored old desktop computers to learn fractions and my multiplication tables. Getting to play simple games that incorporated learning somehow became the highlight of the day. If we got lucky, the teacher would sometimes give us some time at the end of class to play the school-approved stock games that came on the computers, such as pinball and minesweeper. This was my first consistent exposure to video games.

Nintendo 64

Play Gif

This gif is from a video of a young kid opening up a Nintendo 64 on what appears to be Christmas day. The pure excitement and joy is not only humorous, but pretty accurately describes my feelings every time I got to sit down and play 64. I thought a gif was perfect here because it has more emotion and feeling than just a picture. The motion helps to add another layer if depth to what would otherwise be a stale image.

As it would turn out, video games quickly became a daily obsession for me. During middle school I can remember waiting all day just to get home and play something. My earliest memory of real console based video games was playing the Nintendo 64, mostly the games Starfox and Super Smash Brothers. I never actually owned the console but my mom used to take me down to Blockbuster video and rent one along with a game (usually Smash Brothers) My friends and I used to meet up at one of our houses after school once a week to have a small Smash Brothers tournament. I made a lot of friends because of that game and it’s actually something I still play today, just on the Gamecube now.

ipod Touch

Play Video

This is a screenshot from an old apple ipod commercial that I am using to describe my interactions with my first iPod. I felt that this commercial really embodies the spirit that iPods were always about, being able to take your music everywhere and enjoy it like you're alone. This is very representative of how it felt for me to finally be able to have all of my music and some entertainment with me. My iPod touch was a game changer in my life, and I feel that this video captures the feeling you have when listening to your favorite songs, as I did with my old iPod. I felt that a video was perfect for this example because it has not only motion but sound as well, which is obviously a crucial part of the iPod experience.

Image Source

As I got older, my interests started to shift a little bit. I started to become more and more interested in music and spent less time with video games. One of the biggest factor in this change was getting an iPod Touch for my birthday one year. This was my first experience with a high capacity MP3 player. This came during an important time in my life when music was really influencing my day to day activities and even the way I dressed. With the iPod I was finally able to take all of my music with me everywhere I went and actually share it with my friends. Also, this was the beginning of mobile gaming for me. With all the apps and games on the app store I could play games whenever I got bored. Having never really had a portable gaming system growing up, this was a new experience for me and helped spark my interest in video games once again.

xbox 360

I chose this meme for the Xbox 360 portion of my narrative for a couple reasons. One, its Dave Grohl, arguable one of the most iconic, talented and creative musicians of the modern era, and two, it ties in with my obsession with Rock Band that led to my real drumming career. Dave Grohl is someone I’ve always looked up to. He went from Nirvana to creating the Foo Fighters and his work ethic is unparalleled. As I drew inspiration from Rock Band and started playing drums for real, I would always try to emulate Dave Grohl in Nirvana. I felt a meme was necessary because he’s a pretty humorous guy and the meme is a perfect representation of his sense of humor. I think it works for this part of my narrative because of the persona connections to him, as well as the inspiration that came from playing his songs in Rock Band

I can remember going down to GameStop on the very day that the Xbox 360 came out and waiting in line just to be one of the first people to get one. I was so stoked to go home and play the living shit out of Halo 3 (which I did). However, the real impact from the Xbox 360 came when I got the game Guitar Hero and later, more importantly, Rock Band. This was the point where I realized I could enjoy two of my favorite things on the same platform, music and video games. I started to realize that I had pretty good rhythm and could play all of the songs in the game on drums on expert difficulty. I don't know how exactly I figured it out, but I asked my parents if I could start taking drum lessons. 3 years of lessons and the purchase of a drum set later, drumming quickly became a passion of mine, and still is today. As ridiculous as it sounds, I would have never found this interest had it not been for Rock Band.

Ableton

Song Sample Link

This is the cover art for a new single that I am working on right now. I wanted to include this song in my narrative because its a sort of conclusion to my story of how technology has shaped and impacted my life. All of the tech that I have used has lead to my passion for producing music. I went from and iPod, to rock band, to real drums, to production. None of that would have been possible without the technology that I had available to me. I chose to use a song for this part of the narrative because it is a way to actually hear my own personal take on making music, as well as to see how far I have come. I look at it as a way to tie the story up.

After drumming for quite some time, my interest began to shift from metal/punk to electronic music such as dubstep and trap music. I found many of my favorite elements of music in dubstep, but it also combined my love of technology since it is made on DAW’s or Digital Audio Workstations. EDM artists are not only DJ’s but sound engineers, composers, mixers, and post production experts. I wanted to be able to become as well rounded as many of my favorite artists. I purchased a program called Ableton and began learning everything I could about music production. After much trial and tribulation, I finally began to compose my own music. This lead to DJ’ing (which required more technology) and finally releasing my songs on soundcloud. It is crazy to me how much technology has influenced one of the largest aspects of my life, music, and lead me to creating my own music using more technology than I could've ever predicted.

Appreciate

Credits:

Created with images by EsaRiutta - "lg easy smart cochlea" • kevin dooley - "School bus" • compujeramey - "Nintendo" • rudolf_schuba - "iPod" • InspiredImages - "x box console joypad" • Robert Gourley - "Ableton Live"

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