My eyes are currently very tired from the hours of homework I have on my computer/iPad. In the past week, I’ve must’ve logged onto my iPad a hundred times and my computer a thousand. This may just be me complaining about my privilege, but hey, that’s means I’m checking it, right? Anyway, I noticed something very peculiar about using the iPad for homework. When I had to write something down or annotate a PDF, I had to zoom in. Nothing special right? Well, all of this zooming in has made me forget about the bigger picture.
Before using the iPad, I took notes on paper, as I’m sure everyone did at some point. They weren’t neat notes, and I didn’t use them to study, but whatever. I encoded the information in my head from writing it by hand. Everyone does this, right? Okay. But if you look back at your notes, you can see the big picture, the entire sheet. On the iPad, you can’t do that. You can only see a little square whose borders you have decided and sometimes, you can’t even see the whole page when you zoom out.
So what has this done for me? Well, in some ways, it’s been good. I can focus on one thing at a time, something my little brother’s television programs advocates for. But I can’t step back to see what I’ve created/recorded. I can’t visualize the entire page in my head.
Switching to the iPad hasn’t impacted my grades by a whole lot, but it has impacted my productivity. Fortunately, I’ve still been able to prioritize and get things done, even if it means burdening my family a little bit. I’ve been reading less, and I’m only starting to get back into at least four books a month.
So do yourself a favor. Do what my English teacher likes to mention every once in a while, something to the New York Times has to allude to in every Sunday Review: unplug. I’m trying to do it more often, and it’s helped my eyes. Without your eyes, what could you focus on?
(I apologize for the unexpected hiatus for the past two weeks)
Skies and Clouds 