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September 2 2013 - Labor Day

9/2/2013

8 Comments

 
Tomorrow is the start of the semester here in New Jersey at Rutgers. 

These next four months will be by far the longest time I've spent in the United States in 28 years, since I moved to Italy in 1985. I've been here two weeks now and it’s clear that a lot has changed since 1985 but despite globalization it is striking how far ahead of Italy the U.S. is with the spread of information technology.  The other day I looked on the web for auto insurance and partially filled out two forms for quotes, leaving them unfinished, before going out to do some shopping. When I got home I had two voice mail messages from insurance companies asking me if I needed any help filling out the forms. Nothing like that has ever happened to anyone I know in Italy. 

There have been countless other examples of the omnipresence of IT over the past two weeks. But plenty of IT doesn’t necessarily mean plenty of I. Not once in the past two weeks have I seen or heard a news story about Italy and several well-informed and sophisticated people have asked me the name of the current prime minister or if a photo I’d sent them by email was actually Silvio Berlusconi. All the data zipping around seems to block out more information than it brings in.
8 Comments
Ian Swift link
9/2/2013 10:40:06 am

Welcome home, Dave. I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.

-HAL 9000

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Ian Swift
9/2/2013 10:41:08 am

Good luck tomorrow, unk. I am sure they'll love you.

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grreg conti
9/2/2013 11:07:49 am

Thanks, neph - I'll let you know.
Who the hell is Dave?

Ian Swift link
9/2/2013 11:12:48 am

It was a reference to the advent of the IT culture in which we currently live:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwBmPiOmEGQ

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liz
9/2/2013 11:24:29 am

Lucky for you that Italian IT has not invaded your personal space to the extent that IT has in this country! But I'm sure it's coming.

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karensky
9/2/2013 12:13:50 pm

Your final sentence says it all. And, a lot of what passes for "news" is just rewrites or bizarre castings of the news.

Have a great first day of classes. I know that you will have a wonderful semester.

Reply
greg
9/2/2013 10:43:47 pm

See http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/opinion/bruni-traveling-without-seeing.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130903&_r=0

Frank Bruni's column today.

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letizia
9/3/2013 12:41:02 am

ciao greg,
good luck and enjoy these four months away from PG, which will now be much more depressing!

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    Gregory Conti. Translator. Teaches at University of Perugia and University of Rochester in Arezzo. Lives in Perugia, Italy.

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