Marty Mcfly: Back To The Future

The Information Age, also known as the Digital/Tech Revolution is the third major revolution in the history of human civilization. This period in history is filled with modern technology that has advanced humanity in some form through a new-found ease in information sharing. Whether it’s through computers, cell phones, cable, digital photography, or another form of technology this season of time is continuing to have a major impact on the way individuals share with one another. The different aspects that make up this current period of time are quite extensive. From what influenced the creation of this revolution to what has been affected by the Information Age are all important in understanding what the Digital/Tech Revolution is.

The themes pioneered by the hero’s initiation pattern in Greek mythology have become ubiquitous over time, and still remain a staple in Hollywood cinema (Lecture, 5/4). Despite the drastic shift in time and cultural norms, these themes and motifs related to what it means to be a hero are still prominent within Back to the Future’s (Zemeckis, 1985) main protagonist, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox). While the end of his quest does not necessarily deem him a king, he discovers something considered infinitely more powerful in 1980’s America, a sense of identity and a willingness to embrace what the future holds. Despite Marty McFly’s questionable fashion sense and wise-cracking nature, he is an ideal hero, immediately comparable to Homeric heroes

Since the launch of the Internet as a global communication network and the boom in communication technologies, our world has been overwhelmed by a new phenomenon – digital divide. It has gradually turned into a major, constantly growing world issue, threatening to further increase the gap between advanced and developing countries. Yet, is digital divide really an unprecedented occurrence or a natural and unavoidable trend? “Divide” is certainly a word whose meaning could be traced back to the mere dawn of human history. It goes even deeper – to human nature itself: to sex and racial differentiation, to unequal physical and mental powers, to different

In her call to action, The People’s Platform; Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age, Astra Taylor addresses underlying social and economic forces of the internet and differential perspectives towards it. Taylor discusses the new internet in which content is king and, people are now the product, this is called Web 2.0. She discusses this topic from a couple viewpoints; those who would believe that the internet is truly the new people’s platform and that it is the golden age of sharing and collaboration, called the Techno-optimists. The counterparts of this interpretation of the internet are what she calls the Techno-Skeptics, who have a similar mindset in that of Nicholas Carr, an author about technology in the modern age, with the

In the world that Back To The Future takes place in is very interesting but is extremely flawed. The 1989 classic Back To The Future, Marty Mcfly traveled to 2015 to see incredible things. In the film, Mary Mcfly, hacks and exploits different technology. Our Tech has a lot of similarities. The tech that people own is compromised just like the tech in Back To The Future.

The new era of technology led to major developments in the evolution of mass media, worldwide. In our society, we originally communicated orally before the Internet and wireless devices existed. Individuals relied on traditional forms of mass media, such as the television, radio, newspapers, and magazines, to attain knowledge of the outside world. Thereafter, the development of new forms mass media evolved, and we were introduced to the Internet and other wireless communication devices such as IPads and tablets, smart phones and social media sites. Regardless of the rise and fall in popularity of certain forms of mass media, the evolution of mass media influenced the American culture greatly.

Let’s face it -- we all buy and use the latest tech without thinking about the consequences. After all, when the new iPhone is released, who’s going to think about its effect on the environment and humans? But while technology has been beneficial to our lives, we should be cautious about the consequences of using technology and advancing it beyond what we can understand.

Nicholas Carr’s “How technology created a global village -- and put us all at each other’s throats”, conveys the message that technology was contrived to join people together, but all it is doing is disjointing them. Conversely, a dark place was shaped online, over the years, and there is no sign of the situation resolving.

Neil Postman deeply believed that the medium inevitably gives off a strong hold on the messages that it communicates. A medium as Postman explains to the reader, is to technology as the mind is to the brain. In this sense technology is viewed as a mechanism. The medium is viewed as the social and intelligent world made by the mechanism. Postman argues that the formation of public discourse even if that form is mainly obtained through the technology of newspapers, books, etc. or electronically through television or the radio, will impact the ideas that we perceive and formulate daily.

In the article Affects of Media on Society, it states “In the last 50 years the media influence has grown rapidly with the technology.” It started with all the ways information was relayed to us by mail, telegraph and new computer technology. We need to give it some credit because it has taken great steps in advancements in the medical field and other forms of technology. The internet has made many things in our life much simpler at work, at home and in education.

Techno-optimist or techno-pessimist? That is the question. Technology throughout time has no doubt changed our way of life. Travelling to destinations quicker, curing new diseases, or figuring out how to cease a wide famine are examples of how technology has made advances over time. The solutions that scientists create spark a tool that others cannot live without. But what if these technologies bring out negative effects rather than their desired purpose? Sometimes, innovators create new inventions that bring unintended consequences. It could range from less communication face to face, side effects from new medicines, or pollute the earth’s atmosphere.

Technology has made great advances on a global scale, especially within the last half century. Works of fiction and informational texts have addressed the numerous uses of modern innovation. These technological advances have the potential to make one’s personal life better, but could be detrimental to the world as a whole.

“The medium is the message,” uttered by the late media scholar and theorist Marshall McLuhan, and they have been revered and dissected ever since they were spoken. There has been several different interpretations on the premise of McLuhan’s words, and the meaning behind them. The best way to start unraveling his theory, is to get a general understanding of the terms used in his famous quote. In McLuhan’s own words, a medium is simply “an extension of ourselves.” Simply put the medium personifies or enhances what we as humans cannot do on our own. In a mass media perspective this means the use of technology including radio, television, and the Internet to project our thoughts, feelings, and senses (Frederman) . Finally, it is important to

Throughout this essay I will be discussing how the digital age has transformed society in many ways. The digital age also known as the information age, is the evolution of technology in daily life and social organizations have led to the fact that the modernization of information and communication processes has become the driving force of social evolution.” This is a time period in which we live in now where Internet and email are available; this is an example of the digital age. The Information Age is the idea that access to and the control of information is the defining characteristic of this current era in human civilization.

Certain media theorists such as Sherry Turkle do an incredible job on studying these properties of technology and their bearing on us, but sometimes seem to dwell on the negative side of the analysis. In short some of these media theorists do astonishing work studying the impact socially that using and communicating through modern technology has, but then takes a negative stance due to their archaic understanding of what is capable with these technologies. We have come so far in the past years in advancing humanity and its natural predicaments while being heavily reliant on technology to communicate. Not noting that advancement is pessimistic and