Computer distracts students from work
By Justin Manger
This article is a treatment of the widely acknowledged, yet deceptively subtle evils that exist in many of our computers in the forms of "Snood" and "AIM." More specifically, it is about the time they drain out of our lives, and how to, for God's sake, stop the madness!
Snood is a variation of a puzzle game that was popular in arcades in the video game "Stone Age." After playing it on the computer, one can easily see why it was one of the most notorious quarter-guzzlers in history.
The first thought that typically comes into a Snooder's mind before they indulge themselves in their hobby is something along the lines of "Okay, I'll just play for 10-15 minutes, to work this distraction out of me. Then, to work!" How slyly the colorful, amusingly animated blocks enrapture the mind and ensnare the senses. During the first couple of minutes, the thought keeps running through the Snooder's mind that "I can stop playing at any time, no problem."
But alas, after the first couple of color-grouped blocks have been popped, one enters a sort of lackadaisical haze. Your brain's entire focus becomes the elimination of all Snood blocks attached to the ceiling, walls or other blocks. What an unpleasant shock it is to "come to" after the application has been successfully closed, and see that the 8:23 p.m. on your favorite desk/alarm clock has magically turned into 10:55 p.m., or in some cases, even later.
Instant messaging programs, most specifically AOL's Instant Messenger, possess even greater time-siphoning powers. While Snood is a single-player computer game, the fact that instant messenger programs typically offer a one-to-one connection with another human being makes it more difficult to quit such programs.
After all, since so many social situations in high school and college commonly involve awkward group situations, the chance to cut past the typical self-defensive, superficial BS that pervades among the members of such groups to reach a "worthy" individual can be considered nothing less than golden. Quite often, when IM is concerned, we have one of two choices: talk to someone directly, or do something academically productive. Gee, that's a tough decision, isn't it?
How many different scenarios can lead to our distraction? Maybe, through careful espionage and subtlety (or simply dumb luck) you have gotten the IM name of your crush, and used the chat client as a way to break the ice so you didn't look like a complete putz while talking to your Mr. or Ms. "Wow you are really hot/smart/sweet/athletic/HOT."
Through what you perceive as an act of God, you are having a really great conversation with him or her, so let the IMs continue! Or perhaps, more commonly, one of your friends is IMing you, and you two have that heart to heart talk or that endless joke session which you simply cannot stop. Or maybe you're trying to continually shift IM windows to carry on over four conversations at once, the popular person you are.
It's 10:30 p.m., and you have a five page essay due the next day that you, like the irreproachably brilliant human being you are, haven't started. You tell yourself that you either need to have the chats you're having, or that "I'll only be on for 5-10 minutes." And then, all of a sudden, you look up at your clock, and as if it was cursed, it reads 1:27a.m. Where on Earth did the time go?
If you really need to get that important paper done or that ridiculously complicated problem set finished, turn your computer screen off, shut down your computer, and do your work. Take it from the guy who knows - academic productivity and Snood/IM are mutually exclusive. Sad, yes, but true.