I am fascinated by apps.  My newest one:  the Dragon app–it lets you dictate your texts and emails to your iPhone.  Here are the feelings I experienced while dictating my first message to my iPhone: awkward, frustrated, amazed and embarrassed.  Why?  Because in order for the app to understand me, I had to annunciate my words more than I naturally would.  This affected my message…how can I joke around while also hoping that the Dragon will hear me?  The Dragon became my audience…yet he/she/it is but a stranger to me…and I didn’t quite feel comfortable talking to it.  This leads me to wonder how the mediums we use to communicate affect what we communicate and how.  Do I write differently when typing versus using a pen?  I’ve heard English professors argue that yes, that is the case.  Do I speak differently to a friend on video chat versus in person or on the phone?  How do these changes in turn change US, our relationships, or grades, our effectiveness….