Well, would you look at that, just, look at that, another week has flown by faster than most of you can say my last name. We've got a beautiful day today, hardly a cloud in the sky, sure makes you wonder where all the information in the cloud goes when we have no clouds in the sky, doesn't it? Now that's just silly, isn't it? We know that "the cloud" isn't a magical place where information flys up only to come down once you call upon it, right? This week we had Reynold Redekopp speak to the class, a professor from the University of Manitoba, and he talked about why we should love our cells phones more than we do, and discussed the energy that is used by our cellphones, and what the cloud really is (update: not a real cloud, just a lot of storage space using a lot of energy).
A statement that really stood out to me from the presentation is that a google search, done from your phone, uses enough energy, that if it was hooked up a 60-watt bulb it would run that light bulb for 17 seconds! That is shocking to me, because I use Google, and I cannot express this enough, a lot! Do you know how many words I would have googled to make sure I spelled them right just on this blog as a whole? (thank goodness for Grammarly, am I right or am I right?) I most likely have run enough energy writing this blog post, to light up my house for the day, sounds crazy, but think about it, reaaalllly think about it. I'm writing on a Google blogging platform, I have Grammarly running in the background to make it seem like I'm a much better typer than I am, I have my phone beside me sending Snapchats and text messages (iMessages, let's be real, it's the 21st century here folks), refreshing Instagram and Twitter every couple of minutes to "reward" (definitely not procrastinate) the homework that I am doing.
I think it is important to realize how much power we have at the tips of our fingers everywhere we go in this day in age, the amount of energy that is constantly being outputted, even from our small devices like our cell phones.
Just a final note, if your laptop is starting to run hot by the time you get to the end of this week's blog post, just imagine what the cloud must be going through just to keep your pictures of your neighbor's cat that once climbed on your roof.
Very good points Lucas. I haven't read a blog from any of our colleagues about the cloud yet. Like you, I use google and the internet quite a bit. I currently have eight tabs open for both school and personal reasons. Like you, I have my phone right next to me in case someone texts me or I get a notification from one of social media platforms. Prior to Reynolds discussion with our class, I had never even thought about the amount of energy my phone uses when I use the internet and do a google search. I don't believe the general public know about this either. Due to the ongoing pandemic, we rely on technology quite a bit more. I use it for school but also to keep up with my social media and have video chats with my friends. One of the underlying questions that I have is what can be done, if anything to help reduce the energy produced by using the internet? Unfortunately that is not an easy answer that will cause disputes between different groups of people and different fields of work. As educators, we also have an obligation to think more about this, especially as we further implement technology into our classroom.
ReplyDeleteSo incredibly relatable! I had never really put much thought into how much energy my phone and laptop use. Even after hearing Rennie's talk I still will use google to check the spelling or meaning of a word. It is a tough habit to get out of but now that I know more about it I can try and reduce my digital footprint. Love the post, keep it up!
ReplyDeleteWow! You take a very personable approach to writing and relating back to the discussions and info shared by Rennie. It's crazy to think about the amount of energy used by a single person, let alone hundreds of millions and possibly billions of people at one single time! Thanks for your insight Lucas.
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