4 10 31 https://apdh.oxomeka.org/files/original/3871c7855790088f2d69ffdee2f38d9b.pdf 22a7af1ebc094efcff3a63dafeb8e8ca PDF Text Text 1 Interview with a Basketball Coach About His Experiences with Digital Technologies Archive of Personal Digital History Interview #15 - Pre-1980 Birthdate October 2018 Introduction This is an oral interview with Bill conducted by JJ Halaby, whose goal is to obtain insights into the way Bill uses digital technologies. He is a man in his late 60s from Kentucky and now resides in Oxford, GA. He coaches basketball at Oxford College of Emory University. JJ Halaby is a first-year student at Oxford College of Emory University. He was born outside of Baltimore, Maryland. His major is Business Administration/Management and he aspires to be either a sports agent or a general manager. His goal in this interview is to document generational uses of and relationships with digital technologies at a moment in history when we still have access to those considered “digital natives.” He also seeks to complicate the public’s understanding of the digital natives/immigrant metaphor through a public oral history archive. Transcript JJ Halaby: In this interview, I would like to ask you to take me on a “guided tour” of a digital device that is particularly significant for you and that you use routinely—e.g., your mobile phone, laptop, desktop computer, gaming system, or some other device important to you. If the device enables it, I would like you to review records of your activities during the past month (such as calendar entries, text messages, phone calls, emails, websites, and social-media interactions) and talk to me about the people you interact with, the places you go, and the ways you use media and communication technologies. You can decide what to comment on and what to ignore, and you can decide when to share an example by showing it to me on your device. You should only share examples when you feel comfortable doing so. Also, please don’t share information about anything illegal or information that would compromise the privacy of another person, and please don’t mention the names of other people. When referring to other people, please name them by their role rather than their name: for example, “a co-worker” or “a family member.” Before we begin, do you have any questions?” Bill: Not really, I think I’m good. JH: To start, I’d like to ask you to look through your device to see what records you have of the activities you were involved in during the past month. You might have records of activities in a �2 calendar app, for example, or in a to-do list, in invitations to events through social media, or in a journaling app. Ok I’m doing that JH: Ok, so um, first question, what apps or programs, if any, do you use to plan, coordinate, or record your activities? B: Normally, I use…well certainly I use my Samsung S9. That’s the main device that I use. My back-up is my personal computer, which I think is a Toshiba. So yeah, I use the calendar, the Samsung calendar, and I sync everything into that on my phone. JH: Based on what you see on your device, what are your main activities? And then of those, which are most significant? B: Yea main activities, um, well certainly as a men’s basketball coach here at the school: Practices, meetings, for instance this one-on-one interview. Those things are important. Also family get-togethers. I have three children, six grand-children. We stay pretty busy with that. Uh…worship. I am a member of a local church body here so I’ve got lots of things going on through the church. So yeah, my faith, my family, and here at school are probably the main things I run my activities through. JH: And then are there any important activities not reflected in information on your device? B: That’s a great question. Uh, normally I either plan by putting it in there or I remain flexible and I something comes up, I do go back and put it in either there or in my notes. Which again is the Samsung notes, just to let me know what dates and what took place. For instance, a couple of days ago I had activities with our men’s basketball team and I put in there things I need to know about the van and I took who was in my van, how long the activities lasted… things of that nature. JH: Next section is about people. So, I’d like to ask you to look through your device to see what records you have of the people you were involved in during the past month. For example, you might have records of people you contacted, or who contacted you, in your phone records, your text messages, your emails, your social media interactions, or your video calls (such as Skype or FaceTime). Please provide roles or relationship names (such as mother, father, boss, co-worker) rather than people’s proper names. What apps or programs, if any, do you use to communicate with other people? �3 B: And your right on it, I’ve got a parent that lives near where I was born, she’s elderly, so I get back in touch with her and her family. And of course I communicate with my ball players; usually that’s via text message. That’s what they prefer through my phone. Emails are a big part of professionalism through my job. So communicating with coworkers and colleagues is usually via email. And believe it or not, I do talk on the phone. I receive and/or make phone calls. I like that verbal contact. I do recruiting for this school, so I try to contact the recruits on the phone. I will submit, though, that 8/10 times they will not answer the phone, so I end up having to text so we communicate that way. I did have a thing called messenger, through Facebook. Normally on Facebook I don’t use that to communicate much other then I like something. I try not to be, I’m not very social on there. But I got rid of the messenger because I can do everything I really feel like I need to do though the phone, and through messages, and through email. JH: So basically, you don’t have any apps that you use to communicate with other people other than the stuff that’s already on the phone? B: That’s right. I know about twitter. I know about one of the new stuff, but I don’t really utilize it. But I’m older so… JH: How do you decide which mode of communication to use over another? Do you use particular modes of communication for particular situations? B: I do, I do. I think email, business to business, professional to professional. I think they prefer that. Plus I’ve got a record, it forces me to express myself, and to write things that are punctually correct. Text I sometimes use shortcuts, and that more of a personal nature, maybe between family or friends. So yes I do. JH: And then what important interactions with people are not reflected in the information on your device? B: Well, the conversations that I have. Although, if it is an important conversation, I will make a note of it on my phone. But nine times out of ten if it’s an important conversation, and it’s not of a private nature, I like to have a third person with me to confirm every word. So yeah, that form of communication. JH: Part four is places. So, I’d like to ask you to look through your device to see what records you have of the places you went during the past month. For example, you might have records of places on your calendar, in a mapping application such as Google Maps, in the Location Services data of your phone, in location-based social media such as FourSquare, or in self-tracking apps such as the ones used for fitness. �4 B: I use Google maps, pretty much primarily. And I am big on, whenever I go somewhere, for instance, me and my wife went to a resort in Florida recently. Uh, we went to two restaurants in two or three days, and I am big on doing the reviews, the do them through Google. I am a top producer for reviews. So I do have Google maps that will let me know a footprint of everywhere I’ve been, and what we’ve done, publicly. JH: Do you use any apps or programs to discover new locations? For example, say you are in Florida, are they any apps you use to find a new food place? B: Well usually I would speak into my Google, and ask them “what are the top 5 restaurants within 20 min?” They’ll usually let me know. So that’s kinda what I use, mostly Google. JH: Do you have apps that track your movement, or use location services for them? B: What now? JH: Do you have any apps that track your movement, besides Google maps? B: Yeah I’m sure some of the apps have cookies, where they’ll find out where I’m at and what my location is. And I don’t mind, I do allow that. And I don’t have a lot of apps on my phone, I don’t utilize the play store much. I don’t play games, on my phone. JH: How did you first learn to navigate these different maps? B: When I first bought my new phone, the lady at the Verizon store went over it. She probably took 45 minutes with me, to go over things with me on my phone. It really helped me. And then my head coach here, where I work, has always had a Samsung as well. So he and his son have always been very helpful. JH: What important places or navigational practices are not reflected on your phone? B: Uh… could you give me an example? I think it pretty much tells mileage, exact location, times. JH: Yeah so basically if you have the Google maps on at all times, you wouldn’t have any. B: I wouldn’t have any problem. I think it tells everything on here. JH: Part 5: media. I’d like to ask you to look through your device to see what records you have of the media you used during the past month. For this section, I am interested in social media �5 posts, texts, photos, music, videos, TV shows, movies, and games that you have read, listened to, watched, or played . . . or that you yourself have created and distributed. These could be social media, entertainment media, news media, or any other kind of media or information. You might have records of your media use in your browser history, your Google Search history, your Netflix history, your YouTube history, and in your social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat). B: I use Facebook daily, and so does my wife. We have a joint account. News media, I stay away from the tv news. I use One America News online. Its unbiased, very objective. I like it like that so I can make up my own mind. JH: Yeah. B: Um…I’m trying to think of what else you kinda asked. JH: What about entertainment media like Netflix or things like that B: Oh actually I am looking into this thing called Roku. It comes with my cable, saves me a little bit of money and gives me some access to free movies and family entertainment. I do that. I use YouTube online. And I use Spotify to make playlists. JH: Do you have any examples of media that you produce or alter in any sort of way? B: Well, yea I guess me and my wife do because sometimes we use our cameras and we’ll do maybe a 2 minute with our grandchildren. So yeah we’ve got some thinks that we keep that we will produce and store on our phones. JH: What patterns do you notice in your media use? B: Well, I look at One America News pretty much a number of times during the day. JH: So you don’t look at any other forms of news? B: Uh, I’ve got people that I follow. Like one man I know is an economist, probably in his 70s. I love him, I love what he writes. I don’t think that today’s people like him much, but I do. I think he’s really sharp and he’s got a good handle on things. I mean I could name a number of different people. But yea, I’ve got certain people that I follow. Being a biblical Christian, I like somebody who has more of a legal stance, they pattern themselves. They’re writers and authors. And it’s a diverse group. I’ve got a guy that from India. He’s brilliant. I’ve got a handful of black �6 men, but I don’t think they’re well received by their communities. But they’re really sharp, good guys that really have a handle on life. And I like to watch their videos on YouTube. JH: Tell me about your strategies for storing media. B: Eh… I don’t really store that stuff. I don’t really save it or try to save it. I am, though, really big on saving pictures, so we’ve got a cloud that we store things on. JH: Tell me about any strategies you may have for protecting your privacy with your media usage. B: Well I think that we’ve got an agreement with that cloud through, I wanna say that’s Google. It’s supposed to be protected, I hope it is. JH: And then, in this final section, I’d like you to reflect on your history with the device and apps you have shared with me, focusing on how you learned to use them in the way that you currently do. How did you start using digital technologies? How has your relationship with it changed over time? B: Yeah, I was kinda, being an older fella, forced to do it because that was the way of the world and that was the way it was heading. My big thing was a day-timer, have you ever heard of that? JH: Nah what’s that? B: A day-timer was actually a black ink on white paper calendar that you kept. It was a book that you kept with you to put your appointments in there, phone numbers. You logged everything alphabetically and by date. But it just got so cumbersome. And when they came out with the cellphone and cellular technology, the industry I was previously in, which was contraction, I had my own business, was the best way to communicate with vendors as well as customers. So that kinda drove me that way. I’m really not proficient. There apps on this phone and things I’m sure that would help me and make things easier or better but I’m a dinosaur. I get used to certain things and if it functions and it works then I am not big on changing. Unless someone comes in my life saying “you can do this,” and they show me and help me. It takes me a while to get used to it, that’s about the only way that I can grow. As a matter of fact, I got something today that said “Coach, you’ve got this tweet handle, why don’t you use it?” All I know is what you put out there, they call it the world wide web for a reason and I want to be careful that what comes out of my mouth from my head, I can feel good about it. I’m not the smartest guy, so I usually refrain from doing so. JH: Of the activities you have described so far, which were the most complex for you to learn? �7 B: I don't know if there’s anything complex. Like I said I don’t really do anything that real complex. I actually went to a class today about video conferencing. This is where you actually use your phone and can have a video conference with people on different devices, where everyone can communicate and still see each other. I got the gist of it, but I’ll have to go back another time to figure out how to do it. But I don’t utilize it much s I don’t think there is anything too difficult. JH: Do you feel that you have the digital skills to operate effectively in a professional environment? B: I do. I think I do. I think I could get better at it, but my job doesn’t require a lot so I’m able to deal with it. JH: And same thing for personal context? B: I think that my best gift. I think communicating and listening and getting a feel for people, discerning, and I enjoy verbal one-on-one, I do like that. I think I am proficient enough to know when to text or email. JH: How would you describe someone who is digitally literate? B: Illiterate or literate? JH: Literate. B: I admire them, but I would caution them. Be careful because…I’ll give you an example. When we went to Florida, we went to a restaurant and saw, I think it was two families sit at a table maybe nine feet from us. And they had probably been seated and maybe a minute had gone by, but everyone was sitting there looking at their phones. And the kids ranged from 4 or 5 to 16 maybe with grown-ups as well. Me and my wife said “You know what, they’re away and they’ve got a family outing and still they’re talking to people who aren’t there meanwhile they’re loved ones are right next to them. So you’ve got to be careful about that. Sometimes I think it will weaken our verbal skills, our interpersonal reactions, make us, you know. And you need to use those. Hearing the inflection of your voice lets me know the emotion that behind what you’re saying and a text can’t do that. JH: Yeah in our class we’ve talked about how this generation now is not as good at verbal communication because of the use of technology. �8 B: And yet on the other side, they’re very efficient on a lot of different technology, and that’s good. JH: Would you consider yourself digitally literate? B: Yes, I’d say I’m literate. I use that in the context of if someone were to ask me if I had a literate command of the English language. Can I get by? Can I communicate? Can I buy and sell? And I can, so I think that I’m ok. Yes. JH: Is there anything else you would like me to know? Is there anything that I should’ve asked that I didn’t? B: No I think you were very thorough. It sounds like a good class and I think you did a good job. JH: Thank you. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2018 APDH Interviews-Pre-1980 Birthdates Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview JJ Halaby Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Bill Location The location of the interview Oxford College of Emory University Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Transcript Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 8 pages State/Province of Residence The state or province in which the interviewee currently resides Georgia State/Province of Birth The state or province in which the interviewee was born Kentucky Five-year birth range The five-year range in which the interviewee was born 1956-1960 Nationalities All nationalities reported by the interviewee American Gender Gender identified by the interviewee (female, male, non-binary/third gender) Male Race or ethnicity The interviewee's reported race or ethnicity White Socioeconomic class The interviewee's reported socioeconomic class (working class, middle class, upper middle class, upper class) Middle Main Languages Main languages reported by the interviewee English Occupation Basketball coach Length of digital device access The length of time the interviewee has had access to any digital device (computer, mobile phone, gaming system, etc.) 24 years Coding/markup languages Coding or markup languages with which the interviewee reports familiarity None Device Type Type of device the interviewee chose to be interviewed about. smartphone Device Make and Model The make and model of the device the interviewee chose as particularly significant for them. Samsung S9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with a Basketball Coach About His Experiences with Digital Technologies Description An account of the resource This is an oral interview with Bill conducted by JJ Halaby, whose goal is to obtain insights into the way Bill uses digital technologies. He is a man in his late 60s from Kentucky and now resides in Oxford, GA. He coaches basketball at Oxford College of Emory University. JJ Halaby is a first-year student at Oxford College of Emory University. He was born outside of Baltimore, Maryland. His major is Business Administration/Management and he aspires to be either a sports agent or a general manager. His goal in this interview is to document generational uses of and relationships with digital technologies at a moment in history when we still have access to those considered “digital natives.” He also seeks to complicate the public’s understanding of the digital natives/immigrant metaphor through a public oral history archive.