Maybe I'm getting old. Or maybe I am a technology snob. Whatever I may be, I just don't understand why anyone would need (or want) an iPad. If you want one that bad, then go buy an iPhone. It does everything an iPad does, plus you get an extra bonus: a phone!

Each student in our class last week got to play with an iPad. I had never used one before, so I was looking forward to it. Maybe it was because there were no downloaded apps on this one (because it belonged to the university), but I after I played with it for about an hour, I became bored. My boredom with it could be chalked up to my sometimes lack of patience with things, but I still don't see why anyone would need one. I guess no body really needs a laptop either though, and here I am typing this blog on a laptop...

I think if I owned an iPad I would struggle with when to use it. I'm just sitting around browsing Facebook, should I put my laptop away and get out my iPad? But now I need to get going on that 20-page paper I have to write, do I put away my iPad now and get out my laptop? (iPad's do not have Microsoft Word.) Uh oh, I encountered a Web site with Flash. (iPad's do not load Flash pages.) Now I have to put away my iPad and get out my laptop. I'm going for a road trip to California, which do I bring? I digress...

iPad's also do not have a USB port or a disc drive. You can use the keyboards on them, but my guess would be not too many people would want to write anything more than a short e-mail on them. Because iPad's do not have many essential items for some people there are many download-able apps — many for a fee. Apple also has gadgets you can purchase such as a stand you can plug the iPad into so you can attach a keyboard, or adaptable plugs for a USB port. When iPad's are already around $600, who would want to spend more money on gadgets? I also know that there's basically an app for everything. But, like I said before, I'd rather just get an iPhone and load that with apps.

I know I'm being cynical, but sorry Apple, I'm not impressed. I would rather have a device that has everything an iPad has, plus a phone for less money. I know it's smaller, but with my 25-year-old eyes, it doesn't matter.

Until Apple develops (maybe it already has) an iPad with a USB port, Microsoft Word and able to download Flash, I'm not buying one.

Job searching has reached a whole new level. Even in the short three years since I graduated from undergrad, trying to stand out when applying to a job as changed vastly. I'm not sure if it's due to the economic recession and the more than 100 people applying to nearly every job, or if it's because of the way social media has taken off in the past few years. It's probably a little of both.

Laura Gainor, a young professional social media strategist for Comet Branding in Milwaukee spoke to our class last week about the way in which she was hired a few months ago. Moving from Charlotte, North Carolina to Milwaukee with her husband, she knew she need to do something extraordinary to sand out amongst a talented crowd of people who already lived in Milwaukee. She used video sharing, slide show sharing and social media (mostly Twitter) to market herself and tell her story. She kept emphasizing about what she could offer the company, not the other way around.

I kept going back and forth about what I would think about this if I were the company. Would I think it was creepy and that this girl was insane and desperate? Or would I think it was innovative and a smart way to differentiate from the other candidates? I think the type of position she was applying for (social media strategist) made what she did seem creative — any other position and she might have seemed nuts.

If Laura had simply e-mailed her resume to Comet Branding, my guess is that she probably wouldn't have gotten the job. Or, what if she put herself out there like that and still didn't get the job?

When I was in college it was all about making your resume stand out from others; about highlighting your experiences. In some ways, I think it's still about that, but just with using different forms of media. We no longer have to have just a paper or electronic resume. We have to have a Web site at minimum, and it probably wouldn't hurt to have a Twitter, Facebook, LinkdIn and slideshare either. (Slideshare is a slideshow like PowerPoint on a sharable Web site. You can link your slideshare to social media Webs sites.)

I wonder if this new way of applying for jobs is just a fad. In 10 years when and if we are out of the recession, will applying to jobs will be the same? Or, since it might be less competitive, will we go back to simply e-mailing a job a resume? I guess time will tell.

Isn’t it ironic how technology has done both good and bad things for our health? It seems like not a day goes by I don’t hear about childhood obesity due to video games, but yet I also rarely go a day without seeing a runner using an iPod, or someone’s Facebook status that says they accomplished running five miles, or signed up to run a 10K, half marathon, etc.

Maybe it’s just me because I am a runner and I seek information on health and fitness, but it seems like there are plenty of ways technology helps in becoming physically fit and in how to eat well. It seems like within the past few years there have been several advances in technology that have tried to combat the obesity problem. There shouldn’t be a problem for someone wanting to get in shape, although the individual has to do the information seeking themselves.

There are probably thousands of Web sites available with exercise tips and healthy recipes. Some Web sites I’ve seen allow you to track your eating and exercise habits online, or have a training schedule to print out. If you simply Google half marathon training tips or 5K training tips for beginners, hundreds of Web sites appear. There are also tips on what to eat to avoid cramps, what to do for blisters or shin splints, what to wear for comfort, etc. A few Web sites (such as active.com) are also available to help find races and physical activities in a specific area.

Other gadgets, such as the iPod, or Nike Plus make it easier to enjoy the time spent exercising. Nike Plus is a chip designed to go in special Nike shoes. It tracks things like calories burned, mile pace and time, and lets you upload the information to your iPod or computer. I love the idea, but I hate Nike shoes so I’ve never tried it. I’m hoping Asics will develop something similar soon.

To me, the iPod puts me in the jamming-out-to-music zone and sometimes helps me run the extra mile. My fiancé uses his while he’s running to listen to pathology lectures for med school. It also helps me in the winter when I use a treadmill to rid the boredom. Speaking of treadmills, who would have thought they would become so fancy? They now have ones with built in TVs and head phone plugs so you can listen to your own show without bothering the person next to you. They also count calories, monitor your heart rate and of course track your speed and distance for you. Yet another way technology has advance in an attempt to make us healthier.

I can’t mention technology and fitness without mentioning the Wii. I wondered how successful they were going to be when they first came out. I questioned it until I tried it, but now I understand what the craze is all about. But I still wonder if it’s just a fad.

Somehow still, with all of this technology to help us become healthy, the United States is still the fattest country in the world.

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to see The Social Network. Overall, I thought the movie was just fair. It's worth seeing, but if it wasn't a class assignment I probably would have just waited until it came out on DVD. If you haven't seen it yet, you might not want to read the rest of this. Following are the reasons why I thought it is was just so-so.

Mark Zuckerberg's character. For one, I'm not sure if was an accurate portrayal of the creator of Facebook. Even if it was, his character drove me nuts. Maybe that's how the producers meant it, I'm not sure. Although funny at times, he seemed rather socially awkward and nearly heartless. The end showed me he did have a small heart, and that Justin Timberlake's character Shawn Parker, the creator of Napster, was the one behind the heartless decisions. I thought Zuckerberg was into Facebook only for the business and not to make friends. I guess maybe that's what it takes to be the youngest billionaire in the world. I just didn't realize that he was like that.

I also thought the movie made college girls look like drunk idiots most of the time, with the exception of his ex girlfriend. Most scenes with girls showed them dressed suggestively, drunk, and/or having one nights stands. The girls (such as the Standford girl) were mostly portrayed as stupid sluts. I was in college, and I can tell you that not all college girls are like that.

Justin Timberlake as the Napster guy. The guy is a singer, not an actor.

I'm not sure how accurate the movie was. Some scenes showed the characters possibly texting, or at least reading e-mails on their phones. I am only a year younger than Zuckerberg, and I don't remember technology being that advanced at that time. Although maybe it was and I just didn't realize it.

Even though I found I didn't like a few aspects of the movie, I did actually like parts of it, and I learned a lot from it. For example, I had no idea the law suits that arose from Zuckerberg's creation of Facebook. I remember hearing that he may have stole the idea, but I never knew anything else. I also never knew exactly what writing code for Facebook entailed. According to the movie, Zuckerberg spent the better part of his college career writing code. He would spend hours and hours and a time writing it. How boring and tedious that sounds. I also learned that if a person tries to "make it big," it's not going to be easy.

I would like to know Zuckerberg's take on the movie. The only comments I know he said is, "I just wished that nobody made a movie of me while I was still alive." Is it accurate?

In class last week we listened to guest speaker Philip Nowak, who is a social media analyst for Delver.com, which was spearheaded by Sears. His career path reminded me of the way social media works — he didn't find his job, it found him. It's amazing to me that we even have social media analysts and that they find stuff to do for 40 hours or more per week. But we do.

Philip was a fascinating speaker. One topic he talked about was recent development of the Facebook Open Graph. I honestly didn't even know until his lecture what it was called, but I knew what it was. Perhaps you've heard of it too, but just don't know it.

Have you ever gone to a Web site such as Pandora, YouTube, or even the NHL? If you've seen a Facebook logo asking you to "like" a certain NHL team (go Red Wings!!) then you know what an open graph is. It's a way for companies to gain more interest, which will likely turn into more profit.

This is amazing to me. Last spring, to create the open graph, Facebook gave away their code. When I first heard that, I wondered why in the world Facebook would do that. But with more than 400 million users on Facebook, it's the exact opposite. Because of the Facebook Open Graph, Facebook itself can now have more costumers. And here I thought keeping "recipes" like that a secret was a good thing.

Now someone doesn't have to go to Facebook to "like" something, they can simply go to the company's site. That might even get a non-Facebook user to join. Smart move, Mark Zuckerberg (president and CEO of Facebook).

I think social media has turned into something no one thought it would. It's not the fad a lot of people once thought it was. If a business doesn't have a Facebook page now, they are considered out of the loop. If a person doesn't have a Facebook profile, people might wonder what planet they're from. Five years ago who would have thought there would be jobs for social media analysts? Five years from now, will these positions still exist?

I wonder what is next for Facebook. If they (and other social media sites) have come this far, I wonder what will happen, say, 10 years down the road.

One thing is for sure. I wish I had the same thoughts Mark Zuckerberg had just five years ago.

For more information on Facebook Open Graph, visit
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20003053-36.html.