Internet... On the School Bus

As technological advances continue to affect the American society on a daily basis, I find myself questioning whether or not they are furthering our society or hindering it. I read an article recently that discussed how some school buses in Arizona have chosen to install wireless internet access so students can access the internet on their way to and from school. And I couldn't help but ask myself, is this necessary?

For students on living in the Vail School District, commuting to school can take up to an hour. But lucky for them, if they have a laptop, time flies. Anything they can do on the internet, they can now do on the school bus.


Sterling Pratz, the CEO of Autonet, says, "People went from connecting their homes to connecting their handsets. And now they're moving into the next evolution of connecting things. And vehicles are the next logical step."


Maybe it's naive of me to think this, but I don't see this as necessary or extremely logical. When I used to take the bus, I would just talk to friends. I guess being able to access the internet could be a useful way to maximize good use of time, but I doubt that students use their computers to play games more than to finish homework. But regardless of how they choose to use the laptops, it seems that human relationships are continuously become less important as a result of new technologies, and to me, establishing personal relationships is really important. As technology advances, will making social connections and friendships continue to demean? How will this change America in the future? Do you think these changes will be positive or negative?