tech rocks

“ET, phone home”? Try “ET, text home.” And we may not have spaceships
that whip whatever we most desire out of thin air a la “Hitchhiker’s Guide to
the Galaxy,” but phones booths are definitely out of style. And when lightning
strikes, let’s all just hope it’s not attracted to your wireless connection....
by amanda younger • design by kelly giles • photos by danielle verilli

REMEMBER WHEN Lite-Brites were the coolest new dwindling enrollment.

gadgets money could buy? “Computer science was a really hot major in the
What about when watching a VHS was much cooler 1980s and ‘90s, but then there was a big drop nation-
than reciting the ABCs and DVD wasn’t even in our wide,” said Steve Weiss, a professor in the department
home entertainment vocabulary? of computer science. “It was a hard major that got you a
But with technology advancing to unforeseen good job. Then it just became a hard major.”
heights and becoming a substantial part of everyday However, Weiss explained that enrollment has once
communication and interaction, it comes as little sur- again begun to increase and that, despite statistics and
prise that educational institutions around the nation are figures, technology on campus and throughout society
jumping on the technological bandwagon. in general is an important aspect of daily life.
“Since 1982, technology has become increasingly Figures show that the technology industry has
more important in a student’s education,” said John become a multi-million dollar business, impacting virtu-
Gorsuch, director of the Ram Shop. ally every American household.
With the help of Fred Brooks, a pioneer in computer In fact, more than 22 million adults in the United
science, UNC-Chapel Hill established its computer States currently own iPods, while the number of Ameri-
science department in 1964. The department considers cans who own computers is even more staggering at 70
itself the second freestanding, Ph.D.-offering computer million households, or 62 percent of the population,
science department in the nation. as reported by the 2003 U.S. Census Bureau. This is a
Though the department initially attracted much nearly sevenfold-increase from 1984, when computer
attention, time took its toll, and both the dot-com bust use seemed like a luxury reserved for a segment of the
of the 1990s and fears of job outsourcing took prece- population.
dence in the minds of prospective majors, resulting in Though the 1990s were certainly characterized by

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 un-digitized, most realize that such a transformation has
become necessary in society.
“I believe American life has become way too
dependent on technology nowadays,” said Early Yu, a
sophomore computer science major from Cary. “For
me personally, every time I get in my car and realize I
don’t have my iPod, I run up to my room and get it. I
wouldn’t know what I would do without my cell phone,
laptop and car.”
Whether with open arms or through gritted teeth,
not all have been so quick to embrace digitization in
their daily lives.
Much to the dismay of many native Chapel Hillians,
the town council last year decided to reject a proposal
by council member Laurin Easthom that would have
provided for the establishment of a committee to inves-
tigate making Wi-Fi technology available throughout
Chapel Hill.
Though viewed as somewhat of a setback to technol-
ogy enthusiasts, businesses in and around Chapel Hill
have slowly begun to incorporate wireless Internet con-
nections and other technology into their establishments
to provide an added convenience for customers, many
of whom rely heavily on their ability to check e-mail or
to surf the Internet for information.
Four Corners, Jack Sprat and Panera Bread all offer
customers the chance to utilize wireless technology.
While these establishments have chosen to embrace

the technological and Internet boom (and subsequent

bust), it still remains an amazing feat that society has be-
come a virtual playground for the technologically savvy
and that daily life can now be measured in gigabytes and
RPMs.
College students in particular seem to be bombarded
by an endless stream of new technology, as thousands of
campuses now have wireless Internet access and require
students to have laptops on which they can check Web
sites and where databases assign homework and admin-
ister exams.
“The University is behind the curve in terms of facili-
ties; it’s all because of money,” Weiss said. “I think the
[Carolina Computing Initiative] was a dramatic, bold
and positive move.”
Gorsuch pinpointed 1999, the year CCI was intro-
duced on campus, as a watershed moment for both the
Ram Shop and the University.
He said that there were originally hopes that approxi-
mately one-third of all incoming freshmen that year
would jump on board with the plan. However, officials
were pleased by a more than 50 percent participation
rate that year alone.
The Ram Shop, one of the oldest college computer
stores in the United States, has grown substantially over
the past two decades, expanding to three locations on
campus. In May 2007, the Ram Shop hopes to open a
full-service computer department in Student Stores.
While the topic of computer innovation prompts
some to retreat to a sense of nostalgia, a longing for a
time when daily life seemed much more personal and

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 these new options, some staples of Chapel Hill and changes in technology are found in something that most
Carrboro have opted to remain more traditional and take for granted: making a simple phone call.
have said they have not felt pressure to compete with While the land line, handset method of calling is
the latest technology. probably the quintessential image to come to mind
Schoolkids Records on Franklin Street is one such when a person thinks about making a phone call, it is
example. Employee Katie Underwood said that the the cellular phone that has become the dominant facili-
business doesn’t feel the need to carry the latest MP3 tator in this type of communication.
innovations among its inventory. “The cellular phone has taken a fair amount of busi-
“We really haven’t felt any pressure…people still ness and traffic from the handset,” Streck said. “They
come here because we have the latest stuff,” she said. have gradually been pushing to being digital from the
While Schoolkids Records continues to be a hotspot handset for the last five or seven years.”
on Franklin Street and a popular destination for UNC- In fact, Streck explained that in a recent survey con-
CH music lovers, such places are less and less common ducted by the university, the students’ top technological
as students seem increasingly enthralled by MP3 tech- concern was cellular omnipresence throughout campus,
nology. particularly in buildings.
The Apple products, particularly iPods, carried Such concerns have prompted officials to examine a
by Student Stores attest to this desire for the latest wide range of solutions or models that can be followed
technology and the convenience these items provide to ensure that the campus is able to function in an ever-
to students. In 2005, the university ranked in the top changing, increasingly technological world.
10 colleges for iPods sales, selling approximately 1,600 Regardless of the context in which a person is speak-
units. ing about technology, be it cellular phones, the Internet
Nevertheless, while the notion of technology often or iPods, it is undeniable that innovation in this field
prompts students to think of retrieving assignments via has changed the landscape of both social interaction and
Blackboard, checking e-mail, scanning Facebook.com our everyday experiences as students, as exemplified by
for the latest news or listening to music, it is cellular Weiss’ brief, yet profound statement.
phones and telephone communication in general that “We don’t say ‘Do you have e-mail?,’ We say ‘What’s
seem to be both the greatest concern for students and
the area of most rapid change among officials.
your e-mail?’”
&
John Streck, ITS assistant vice chancellor for tele-
communications, explained that some of the greatest

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