The black leather bag I choose for the assignment was purchased 30 years ago when I was on a backpacking trip in Switzerland. I was in high school and the text technologies contained in it were quite different than today. I didn’t often carry textbooks or binders home but it would always have some CD’s and my discman along with snacks for the school day.
As I moved into University, I carried several notebooks and pens for writing notes in class by hand. My papers were written on a Brother word processing typewriter with a screen that allowed you to view about a paragraph of typing at a time. It was too heavy and cumbersome to carry to and from class and as such, the only evidence of a digital literacy would have been the printed off papers ready to be submitted.
Moving forward 15 years and my bag transformed once more as I became a stay at home mom to 4 boys. It was filled with diapers, wipes, books and an array of baby toys to keep them entertained when we went out. As they grew the books became less of a focus and my bag carried their hand held devices (LeapFrog, Nintendo DS and iPads).
Today, it holds the basic things I use each day at work. I live in the northern most city in North America so I need to carry hand lotion and after the “best summer ever” in Alberta, a spray bottle of sanitizer. As a online teacher, my laptop goes to school and back home with me daily. Due to the long hours spent on the screen I always have a set of reading glasses. There is notebook among the items as I continue to use both paper and digital writing spaces. I use the paper to write notes during meetings and make lists of things I need to get done. My discman has long been replaced by my smartphone and I always have a set of headphones with me to listen to music. The smartphone keeps me connected to my kids and gives me flexibility to work away from my desk if needed.
A daily need for work is my keycard. It not only identifies me as staff but it scans digital information to allow me into the building in the morning. The last item in my bag is a book that all the staff were given at the start of the school year by my principal that we will discuss at staff meetings. The title, “Burnout, Burnout, Burnout”, seems more ironic than anything considering how chaotic the school year has started out.
If an archaeologist examined my bag they would see a balance between print and digital literacies. As the digital technology has overtaken much of my time, that is not an accurate representation of my day to day life and the use of each type of text is far from equal.
maurice broschart
September 19, 2021 — 1:43 pm
Hello DeeDee, nice to see you in a course with me again 🙂
I too commented on how my teenage bag would have had a discman and CD’s. I have always been a big consumer of music and as a kid I would spend my savings on CDs to add to my collection (now in my storage unit unfortunately). What do you think about the accessibility of music today? Can you imagine in the 90’s, if someone were to tell you that one day soon, we could use a phone to listen to background music and tell us exactly who the artist was, what the song was called and how to instantly add it to a digital library? Has the concept of an “album” died?
Personally, an album for me was the oeuvre that included many storytellers in the creation of an art piece… not just the producers and sound engineers involved in the recording, but also the stylists, photographers, and visual artists involved in the aesthetic packaging of the album. There was a sensory/kinaesthetic experience behind going to A&B Sound, Sam the Record Man, HMV and buying a CD, then opening it up to see if the CD had a cool design on it, reading through the liner notes to finally found at what they were saying in a part of a song (!), and bizarrely enough, smelling the booklet (they had similar yet different scents).
DeeDee Perrott
September 22, 2021 — 12:32 pm
Hi Maurice!
I totally ran out of words but had a entire section written about CD liner notes! I do really miss having the images, lyrics and stories that artist would include with the music. It is interesting how vinyl has made such a resurgence lately and I think the kinesthetic experience is a huge reason why. My 16 year old has quite a collection and has them hanging all over the walls of his room. It is an experience to put a record on the turntable and read over the liner notes. I think that is why there are many artists that are issuing their new music on vinyl and keeping the concept of the album alive. I can’t count the hours that I used to do that with CDs in my youth and totally relate to the experience of going to the record store. I grew up in the country so it was always a special treat to hit the big city and have a chance to go buy new music.
Using a streaming site, where the music is sent to you based on a algorithm has introduced me to some new artists I may not have been aware of but there are many downsides to the experience. The biggest for me is how little the artists make. I listen to a lot of independent musicians and without live music are having huge struggles surviving the last 18 months.
maurice broschart
September 23, 2021 — 1:10 pm
The Spotify algorithms are scary… yet amazing. I actually create fun francophone music playlists for my students and they are easy to make because there is always a list of ten recommended songs at the bottom of the list. You can even refresh if you don’t like those first offerings.
I love how your son enjoys LPs -those were a huge part of my childhood and my initial experience with music. I can clearly remember my mom’s Beatles and Motown albums. I vividly remember listening to a Salt-N-Pepa cassette tape in 1990 as well and remember my first CD, Alanis’ Jagged Little Pill. I was lucky enough to experience three modalities of the tangible music experience.
On the topic of artists and their fight for royalties from streaming giants, Taylor Swift has been vocal about her qualms:
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/taylor-swift-is-getting-friendly-with-spotify-ahead-of-her-new-album-lover-times-have-changed/
Unfortunately for most artists, making a living without being exploited has always been a challenge in the industry. Before streaming issues, artists had contractural issues like TLC having sold 10 million copies of their second album, yet having to declare bankruptcy since their record companies drained their earnings.
MICHAELMCDOWALL
November 22, 2021 — 10:18 pm
Bonjour DeeDee,
I think what stood out to me the most about you post was not so much the items within the bag, but how many iterations that your bag has gone through in 30 years. From being a travel bag in Europe, to school bag for university, to a mom bag anything from diapers to Nintendos, and now teacher bag … that leather bag must have some stories to tell!
I also like your reflection about the different types of technology that bag has seen and held over the years from CD players, to notebooks and pens, and laptop computers. It makes me reflect on some of the different types of technologies that my own previous bags have held, which is something I didn’t mention within my own assignment.
Sadly, I had to retire my old backpack a couple of years ago, as the wear and tear finally caught up with it. It too had seen man different types of technologies including CD players, MP3 players, DVD players, a leapfrog entertainment system for my daughter, along with a cell phone, and perhaps the odd alcoholic beverage or two as well!
Thinking about my new bag, I wonder what types of technology it will hold over the next twenty plus years? Where will the future take us? Or will the changes simply come through the ever-changing mobile devices which we already can’t do without?
Merci,
Mike McD