Petey Cooper swivels to the glowing square on his desk – one of his six open chat windows is dinging. Little Petey chats with his girlfriend in New Zealand and his aunt in New Mexico. He’s also checking amazon.com for a used copy of the “Memento” DVD, burning the new Tori Amos CD and searching the network for the newest episode of “The Simpsons.”

In another age, Peter would have been considered either a god or a geek. But it’s the Information Age and Petey’s just an old-fashioned multitasker.

Doing 14 things at once is common practice. Time to do homework? First chat, check your e-mail, play some Snood, download some MP3s, empty the Recycle Bin, organize your online photo gallery, empty the Recycle Bin, chat some more.

Only four hours later and it’s time for that homework assignment.

Gravitating toward the computer when it comes time to study isn’t really that goofy – in less than five minutes anyone could easily compile a comprehensive list of articles pertaining to nearly any subject.

Mating habits of sloths? Search an online encyclopedia.

Phallic symbolism in Anne Sexton’s poetry? Shoot your browser toward a library of literary journals.

It can all be accessed in a matter of minutes – page after page of resources, references and information. Hour after hour of potential research can be done simply by typing in a few keywords and knowing where to look. Pull the needed information into a word processor, track your progress with an online calendar or project manager and e-mail copies to colleagues and professors if you’re in need of help. It’s the technological perfection of all things related to our intellectual endeavors.

But, hell, there’s important work to be done first – launch AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger. Tetris, e-mail, chat, chat, chat.

Now it’s midnight and time to think about that paper again. Surely the thesis to my paper lies in a forwarded e-mail or a chat window. We’re at a crossroads of technology from which we can walk away either very enlightened or mildly entertained and quite pale. Do we stand to come out of the Information Age enriched people, or attention deficit disorder-riddled, Nintendo-addicted, Web junkies?

The evidence gathered from any dorm floor – amid the blaring sounds of Super Smash Bros. and Quake XVIII – is that we like our attention deficit disorders more than newyorktimes.com. The personal computer is a wicked, sneaky mistress. I’ve lost many a friend to a voluptuous joystick or perfectly curved mouse. Gone are the days of worrying about too much drinking or heavy drug use. Today it’s having too many gigs of MP3s that is Little Petey’s demise.

The advantages of technology are grand. Communication is easier, as e-mail and Instant Messenger slowly replace phone calls home. But there’s something frightening about talking to my friends only via AOL even when they live in the same building. The ding of the chat window replaces their voice; my mental image of their faces transforms into only an emoticon.

The truth is, for all the wonders available on the Web, we’ve become a generation of professional multitaskers and time-wasters. It’s now pass‚ to do one thing at a time. A computer isn’t worth having if it’s not so bogged down it may crash at any minute. And MP3s aren’t worth having if there aren’t hundreds, each robbing its owner of precious minutes spent organizing into dozens of folders.

In the figurative shrinking of our world, the computer doesn’t just suck away time – it steals privacy, too. Computer users can take part in any number of creepy activities, from e-stalking to harassing e-mails to chat room hook ups. While we could use computers to advance our society to an age of enlightenment and true culture, there are those who put the power of the Internet to use in the form of “farm girl action” and “hidden sorority house cameras” Web sites.

Bless technology.

There is a way to actively harness the power of technology to benefit society, and I’m willing to bet the solution does not lie in forwarding e-mail chain letters.

But ADD be damned, we’ve all lost our drive to make the Internet an important resource and have settled for engaging in message board battles and downloading photos of celebrities.

Cavan Reagan is a junior in journalism and mass communication and English from Bellevue, Neb. He is the research assistant for the Daily.