My story of being a consumer of digital media is a brief one. Aside from having a limited amount of time due to work, school, and family, I was born well before the arrival of the internet and cell phone. Growing up without easy access to the world and the ability to seek any type of information, watch any type of show, or read any type of book right at the touch of my fingertips may seem odd now; however, it was my way of life for almost thirty years. Even now, at age 54, I am amazed at how much technology has changed virtually every aspect of my life and things which seemed as if their only place was featured on The Jetson’s cartoon show are now reality. After graduating school, I moved into my first apartment and, with the launch of MTV in 1981, had my first encounter with music videos. I will never, as long as I live, be able to forget watching Joan Jett and the Blackhearts belting out I Love Rock and Roll or watching the J. Geils Band sing about their blood ran cold when they saw their angel in Centerfold. Who in their right mind could ever forget David Lee Roth when he fronted for Van Halen in the video of the song Jump? My friends and I were fascinated with MTV and it was on at my apartment whenever I was home. Around the same time period, I briefly worked at Southwestern Bell as an information (411) operator and I recall using some type of database to look up phone numbers for people who called. Although I did not work there for very long, that was my
The use of technology has catalyzed society into an era that is increasingly interconnected yet impersonal at the same time. Despite technology’s endless list of assets, many fail to acknowledge its shortcomings when mentioning what is lost as a result of using it. Although in “Great to Watch” by Maggie Nelson, she is not afraid to share her skepticism of technology, as well as the role it plays in desensitizing individuals on a day-to-day basis. The internet is an invaluable resource to many because it is a public domain for sharing ideas, opinions, and knowledge that any and everyone can have access to. In a sense, it does not restrict what someone may see or do, and this can either be a good thing or a bad thing. The booming use of new media
With the advent of information technology, the ways different aspects of life work and operate have changed a great deal. Media has always had a great influence in molding the culture of a society. There was a point of time when television and radio were invented and when computer was invented and there was little connection between the two. Time then travelled fast then through the age of cassettes, records, VCDs, DVDs, flash drive and then the internet. Media also started to go satellite on a massive scale and there came a point of time when media and digital communication systems became closely integrated with one another, opening the dimensions to digital media.
Advances in technology has altered the world as we know it, and it can only progress farther. Through the minds of many intelligent and devoted individuals across time technology has developed into a twenty first century deity. A young child one hundred years ago could never envision a world like ours today, ruled by ones and zeros. The media has affected us in ways that we can’t even comprehend and will continue to steadily provide humans with a faster and faster flow of information for years to come. But what is the cost to have all of the information you can imagine at your fingertips? The exponential increase in information that we process in all forms of media is affecting the way that we live by making society more alienated.
Most of us assume emerging economic, political and climate changes will be remodeled by the emerging technology we have today. We are sure YouTube, streaming, and video on-demand will be the wave of the future and change our lives for the better; giving us more money, free time, and control of our lives. Our well-oiled lives in the Tech Age are incompatible with our grandfather's blue collar days scratching out a living turning wrenches at the local garage. We’re at the top of our technological game.
In her recent book Updating to Remain the Same: Habitual New Media, Wendy Hui Kyong Chun looks at how modern technological innovations force us to adopt new habits. She claims that technology has become more habitual than advanced and that its users are no longer bargaining on tech’s emancipatory qualities, rather it has become something that is part of our everyday lives that is often overlooked. Chun’s writings made me think a lot about technologies role in my life. I am huge advocate for becoming less preoccupied with our devices (first/last thing we see in a day) but I am not critical of others who are dependent on technology simply because I do not know what their needs are. It primarily comes down to the way I choose to go about my life
Over this past decade or so, people all around the globe have been granted with greater advancements in technology. From cellphones we can talk to, to 3-Dimensional televisions, we are able to pretty much do anything thanks to these high-tech products. But, should we really be grateful for these easy-to-use devices, or are they taking over the lives of millions? In the articles written by Michael Malone and Daniel Burrus, we receive an inside look on whether todays modern, wired, Web world is, or is not, benefitting society. Although both authors held pretty neutral views on the subject itself, Malone’s support towards the negative effect of technology definitely lures readers into
Our world gets more digital every day. Nearly everyone has a smartphone and a computer. Even more people have a TV and if people do they are in contact with the digital world everyday.
Firstly, I noticed how much media speeds up our everyday lives. Essentially everyone is multitasking; it is a way of life in our society. I noticed multitasking at its finest when I went to the library later that day. People are researching online, writing papers, Facebook stalking, instant messaging and listening to their iPods all instantaneously. The instant access to everything has formed our culture. I find myself running on autopilot when it comes to using media. It took the full 24 hour fast for me to realize how dependent I really am on media to make it though the day. The stress I was feeling without the security of my phone or ability to communicate whenever I wanted to left me feeling helpless. Media not only speeds up daily activities, but it has given
What effect does modern digital technology have on individuals who rely on it heavily in their everyday lives? Innovations such as video games, internet search engines, and online databases receive great praise as well as great criticism depending on who answers this question. Nicholas Carr and Steven Johnson have both written pieces stating their opinions on technology’s effect on the human brain. Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” explains how accessing information quickly and easily through search engines like Google negatively alters the way people seek and read information and think. Johnson’s book “Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter” covers the positive attributes of digital technology, video games in particular. He explains how video games are intellectually stimulating and help develop complex skills. Digital technology has interesting effects on the different processes of our mind.
Technology has made resources readily available twenty four hours a day seven days a week. It has enabled me to become the ultimate consumer; I used to go to the mall as a form of therapy that served to uplift my spirits, now I shop because I need something to occupy me of the “extra” time I have in my hands and because I can do it in the comfort of my pajamas. Amazon Prime has been my ultimate weakness and has destroyed my bank account and my sleep cycle among other things.
As I sit here and recall my last nineteen long years on this planet and my various interactions with different mediums of technology, it has become very obvious to me that I, like most people where I am from, have had really no major interactions with technology compared to others in my age group. I sit in coffee joints at night and watch people become more introverted than a turtle, ducking into their little shells of technological safety. They look at you through their faux, so-call trendy DKNY knock-off glasses, dressed in their Abercrombie clothes, hiding behind nothing but the glow of a laptop or in the corner talking to someone on their cell phones which just happens to match what they are
The worth of media is a very controversial topic. Media has given us the ability to do things in new and creative ways such as how we learn and accomplish our everyday tasks. However, we do not always know how to interpurate this information. The technology available today is constantly impacting and influencing society in tremendous ways. Many of the impacts that are accocated with media are addressed in negative ways, but can be seen from a positive perspective as well. In the current generation, media and its influences can be found everywhere. These influences widely impact today’s adolescents and maturing teenagers because they are still developing into adults. Medias purpose is not only to inform us, but to allow us to mold ourselves in how we want to be perceived online. Also, it allows us easy access to unbelievable amounts of information. Living in an era known as the “information age” is riveting, but what are we suppose to do with all of this new technology and information?
The utmost, overriding facet of our society has been placed in our hands, perched on a stand, and then plugged into a socket: modern technology. Today, individuals without up to date technology are christened anomalies that are late to the ‘smart era’ of smartphones, smartwatches, and smart televisions. In Is Google Making Us Stupid? by Nicholas Carr, and Be a Gamer, Save the World by Jane McGonigal, it is made comprehensible that, as a society, we have begun to intertwine ourselves in the tangles of our electronics, which we cannot seem to relinquish. Our generation has been advancing with technology nonstop to the point where a new gadget is practically released daily. Recently, the latest technological fixation that has rapidly spread like wildfire is video streaming: whether it be video-on-demand or live, it has concurrently seized and fashioned jobs, as well as intermixed communities and individuals alike.
In today’s world it is a requirement to be digitally literate in order to be able to function in a capacity that enables one to be more successful whether it is at home, school, at our jobs or even looking for a job. Over the last few decades our environment has evolved into a digital environment. Being or becoming digitally literate is essential in being successful in this digital environment. Almost everything we do today requires some sort of digital knowledge or literacy. From surfing the internet to searching for a job to being able to perform our jobs, we are required to have some sort of digital
As asked by the English alternative rock band Muse in their famous song “Screenager,” “Who’s so phoney and always surrounded?” This song perfectly depicts the effects of technology on America. People are engulfed by different types of technology everywhere they go and even carry around technology such as phones, laptops, and iPods. These items may seem like a blessing, but they are potentially dividing America. Every day, eight to eighteen-year-olds watch four and a half hours of TV, listen to two and a half hours of music, use the computer for an hour and a half, and spend two and a half hours on their cell phones, two hours for texting and one half hour for talking. This adds up to eleven hours dedicated on the media per day (Crawford).