Someone with access to my computer could create a virtual model of me. It would be easy to plot my searches, track my inquiries and create mathematical models based on the frequency and repetition of my visits to various sites. Researchers would identify patterns. They would discover that I like food, words and clothes. They would notice that I shop carefully, eschewing an item because it costs the same as another item because one site has free shipping, whereas, the other doesn’t. They would conclude that I have a lot of free time on my hands, which would be an inaccurate conclusion since I use my computer to project myself and to participate more widely in the world. They might conclude, inaccurately, that I travel extensively because I research travel expenses, hotels, airfare, buses, and trains frequently. I do this for information sake, for my children, and for my occasional trip. They would discover my penchant for education and my preoccupation for online college courses and books. I never tire with what is available online. For free! They might be curious at my trips to international museums, to discover that, randomly, I read in French or that I like to look at Youtube videos sometimes. It would be evident from my iTunes minutes logged that I love music. The fact that I am running out of storage space for photographs speaks to my passion for photography. The overwhelming amount of storage space is used to store documents. Thousands of pages that I have dated and written lead a trail to my heart. My computer is an electronic journal of my days, a gatekeeper to the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment