1) Read parts 1 & 2 of the book FEED. We will discuss your initial ideas, reactions and questions in class. You will blog your analysis of the book with provided prompts the following week.
2) Media Memoir: Blog a 5 paragraph reflection (a paragraph has a minimum of 5 sentences) on your childhood experience with media. How did your family use media when you were growing up? Focus on one or two mediums, i.e. television, radio, books, music, computer, newspapers, etc. This is a reflective piece, written in the first person, and is intimate, descriptive, and detailed.
3) Read and respond to the New York Times article, "The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s". What stood out for you? How do you relate the piece to your own life? How does this affect your vision of education or society? (5 sentences minimum)
4) Watch and respond to the Michael Wesch YT video, "The Machine is Us/ing Us" What stood out for you? How do you relate the piece to your own life? How does this affect your vision of education or society? (5 sentences minimum)
5) And don't forget to introduce yourself at our first "welcome/who are you?" blog post!
I felt that the New York times article, "The Children of Cyberspace" was kind of scary. Its crazy how quickly technology has taken over our lives. I can't imagine not being able to have the internet at my findertips. I don't really remember waht is was like to not have a cell phone and I didnt even get one until I graduated high school. I am 25 and i feel much less adequate than my 18 year oldvlittle sister when it comes to technology. The times are changing. We have just adapted so quickly that I think we have forgotten what it was like to live simplistically without technology. We expect equiptment to do things for us and often times get upset when we can't. I know I am definetly at fault for this.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how much the internet is a world of its own. The internet has changed so much since its beginning. It was once a gateway to information and global communication, but now its also a one of the biggest tools for advertising, most of which is free. The end really struck me when it was talking about the machine using us and being us (the name of the article). It dawned on me that we are the technology. We have formed what it is but at the same time the internet has also formed us. We have come to rely on it, almost as if its a drug.
ReplyDeleteMemoir
ReplyDeleteI was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, tucked way up in the top left hand corner of North America. Although I lived in the city, we were very isolated from the rest of the country. When I lived there the city was very spread out. Being a city of 300,000 we had most of what other cities had to offer; shopping, grocery stores, movie theatres and arcades. Most of what I knew was not different from that of most other children throughout the United States, but there was one thing that stood out to me; the culture.
The culture almost acted as a part of the media. Most commercials on TV had to do with some part of Inuit culture, such as totem poles, Inuit clothing, whales etc. In fact, one of the biggest celebrations each year is Fur Rendezvous which is the start of the Ididarod. It is a week long event with a variety of activities such as snow sculpting, native dance demonstrations, and a native market for anyone to purchase items made from seal skin and caribou.
I really think that media shapes us and the media that was shown to me through this culture definitely helped mold me into who I am today. I do have Native American blood, however, my parents don't practice Native American beliefs, but growing up in an area rich in its own culture has led me to appreciate our differences. Now as I have gotten older I have been able to further research other cultures very easily via the internet. While I know longer live in Alaska, I am able to purchase Native products through the internet, which is something that would have never crossed my mind when I was younger.
I first got the internet when I was 12 years old. I knew a little bit about computers from taking classes in grade school, however, the internet was a whole new exciting concept. I remember sitting at my computer for hours listening to music from my favorite artists. The concepts I was able to research seemed endless. And they are endless. In fact now I think they are so endless that I almost get bored. Often times I sit down at a computer and after I check my e-mail and facebook I draw a blank. It's as if I have too many options I am unable to limit myself.
While I can't imagine not having the internet and it has played a huge role in my college career (I am sure no one can deny that. What would we have done without it?) I have started to drift away from the internet and many other sources of media/technology. I have realized that as much as it has shaped my life and changed our society in a tremendous way, I don't need it as much as I once thought. TV now contains too many reality shows and endless amounts of commercials, the internet shows too many pop-up ads(using it might ruin your computer forever), and the radio never seems to play music!!! The media has taken over. Everything is media now. You can't get away from it, which is exactly why I am taking this class. I want to understand it in a way that feels less harmful and perhaps maybe even appreciate it a little.
Media Memoir
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in my family, the television was rarely on. We had one, but unlike everyone I knew, no channels. Despite occasional resentment or embarrassment at my family’s lack of this basic medium, I have come to support their decision. With few exceptions, I see little value in television, but that doesn’t mean I don’t find myself watching it sometimes. Trips to Grandma’s always included the chance to get some time with cable. Though I enjoyed the opportunity to watch TV, there was always a sense of relief to get home and away from its grasp.
I’ve always liked to watch a good movie or show, but I find commercials to be extremely annoying. I sometimes find myself watching the stupid ads, drawn to the screen by a force that seems unavoidable. The stupidity of the commercials that I find myself watching also works to remind me that whatever show I might be watching isn’t worth much either. I remember, however, sometimes feeling out of the loop at school. Kids would quote lines from last night’s show, often a program I had never even seen.
On a quite possibly related note, I’ve always enjoyed reading. I remember one summer in elementary school trying to out-read all the other summer reading participants. I can’t really grasp how someone can make such a sweeping statement, that they “don’t like to read”. On the other hand, I may be a hypocrite for generally saying that I don’t like television. Though you can watch a movie made about a book, reading the books always seems like time better spent. Reading a book is somehow less passive, more involved.
I give books credit for helping me with developing the ability to focus well and give me a huge advantage in school. While many kids get slowed down by their lack of reading skills, my reading experience made school easy. Lack of TV was also a substantial benefit to my education. No shows to watch after a busy day meant there was still time for homework to get done or a chapter to be read. By high school, the lack of television calling me to sit and watch became something I started to appreciate.
I think it’s also important to address my most recent encounters with TV. At college, my roommate has a TV in our room. I find it to be a distraction, but I’m learning how to avoid the draw of the screen. Most of the time if the TV’s on, I just have to go somewhere quiet to get anything accomplished. The TV seems like a good way to relax once in a while, but more often it seems to just waste my time. Usually, there’s something else I’d rather being doing than staring at a screen.
Responses
ReplyDeleteThe video clearly demonstrated how fast everything is changing in society. During the video, I strongly felt the need to slow everything down somehow. It clearly showed that now we are all part of this vast “machine”. I’m not really sure what to think about the implications of this quickly changing society. There are definitely benefits to the internet and other media advances, but do they outweigh the negatives and will they in the future? What I fear is a society consumed with technology, living primarily a virtual life, rather than a meaningful and real life. I don’t want find myself living in a world like that.
For me, the article clarifies the kinds of implications of quickly evolving technology and culture. The issues of short generation gaps, constant connectivity, lack of privacy, etc. all ring alarm bells in my head. I see myself as somewhere in the middle of all this change, looking forward to the technological advances in the future, but perhaps even more so, fearing impending problems. What is most concerning to me from this article is the growing inability of people to live without constantly accessible technology. People already seem excessively consumed with technology. What if it keeps getting worse?
New York Times Article:
ReplyDeleteI believe this article is very correct in its predictions. Our ideals and values are not able to catch up to the material culture fast enough. As a result we are beginning to have gaps within generations instead of just across generations. One of the many parts of this article that stood out for me was a statement made by Dr. Rosen, which stated that the newest generations, unlike their older peers, will expect an instant response from everyone they communicate with, and won’t have the patience for anything less.” I believe this is already starting to happen. I’ve noticed with my younger sister than when she sends me a text message, she expects one right back. I personally view text messages more like emails instead of a substitute for conversation, so I will not respond immediately. I will then proceed to get six more text messages asking me the same question, where am, I and why haven’t I responded. It’s the same way with her friends. If she receives a text, it’s as if she is programmed to immediately respond; anything that gets in the way of that response will be injured. Now obviously this is a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea. I feel that future generations will need instant responses in every aspect of life, and at the same time, social life as we know it today, will be quite different. The article also made reference to the fact that virtual socializing with online friends may end up being more satisfying than being with actual friends. This phenomenon may already be slowly happening. People would rather carry out a text message war than just pick up the phone and talk. It’s just one more step that helps to widen the gap between and among generations.
Video:
ReplyDeleteThe video was really interesting, and really made me think. We are using a machine that is using us that we are using. It’s quite the cycle. And I’m not sure it’s the kind of cycle we were meant to handle. In nature, things that weren’t meant to be are eventually fixed. If a plant has a disease, it may die and return to the soil. If our machine gets a disease, what will happen to us humans who are so dependant on what we have created? In a world where everything is becoming faster, quicker, and more compact, are we going to be able to see through all the smog to fix a problem should one arise? Or will our machine have spun completely out of our control by that point? There is so much out there on the internet. Like the video said, who is going to organize all of that information? Nobody really controls the information on the internet. Does this make it an autonomous unit? I’m all for progress and new invention and technology, but at the same time, I’m also for seeing and enjoying the simple things in life, finding meaning and purpose in the world in which we live. Can we as humans juggle both concepts? Our world is moving at such a fast pace I don’t know that our values and beliefs can run fast enough. I only hope they can catch up. I don’t want to end up living in a world dominated by the machine we are progressively creating.
Memoir:
ReplyDeleteI lived in a condo in Bradford, MA until I was about seven. We had a small TV that took residence on the counter in our kitchen. It was one of those small, yet oddly bulky TV’s with the rabbit ear antennas. To my recollection, the only shows we had were the news and Bugs Bunny on Saturday mornings for a half an hour. Other than that, I didn’t watch much TV at a young age. I had to play outside because according to my parents the TV didn’t work any other time. The only commercials I saw at a young age were those that aired during Bugs Bunny. My siblings and I were allowed to watch a movie when we visited my grandmother, on Saturday night as long as we all agreed on which movie, and when the babysitter came. But that was the extent of our TV. Right before first grade started, we moved into the house I live now. Along with all the other new things that happened, new house, school, friends, we got a new television. But we were not allowed to watch TV on school days; we could only watch it on the weekends before my parents got up. My brother, sister, and I would wake up at six in the morning to watch cartoons like Bugs Bunny, and the Road Runner before Mom and Dad got up around eight. Other than Saturday and Sunday morning, we didn’t really think about TV. There was entirely too much fun to be had outside. When it rained, we either read, books, played games, or took all of the blankets and chairs in the house and made a fortress in the living room. Mom really liked that…
I remember in fifth grade one of my friends got a TV for her room for her birthday. It seemed odd to me. According to my upbringing, TV’s were not in bedrooms. She used to get in trouble for staying up late watching TV in her room. I used to get in trouble for staying up until three with a flashlight and a book under my covers. Just one more page always turned out to be one more chapter and then just till the end of the book. I would hear footsteps coming down the hallway to see if I was asleep. I would throw the book and flashlight on the ground, close my eyes really quick and pretend to be asleep. I don’t know if it was my heart beating so fast that gave it away or what, but they always knew I wasn’t actually sleeping. Although, it was sort of a fool-proof system. As a parent, how do you get mad at a child for reading?
We used to go to the library and sign up for the reading program. There was a chart that you had to write down which books you read. For every column that was full of book titles you got a raffle ticket that you got to put in for a free trash bag full of books. I remember I won it one year. It was like Christmas in the middle of the summer!
When I reached middle school I had to bring current events for homework. My Dad had a science magazine that he got once a month. I used to cut articles out of that magazine instead of the newspaper. The newspaper was just too difficult to operate. Once I found my article, my Mom insisted that I put the newspaper back the way it supposed to go. Piling up the sheets of paper on the coffee table was not an acceptable alternative. So I quickly figured out that if I used the magazine it was easier and much more interesting to read. The only problem was when my Dad opened up the magazine to try and read it.
I still have a love for reading. My experiences, or lack thereof with TV when I was younger have shaped my view of other things such as reading. I much prefer it to TV. I’m not saying that I don’t watch TV, because I do. It’s just that books are not constantly interrupted with annoying commercials for something you could care less about. Books are not on for half an hour with 15 minutes of commercials. Furthermore, TV today is full of all kinds of pointless shows that do nothing for your mind. There is practically a reality show for every aspect of life. If you think about it, who really wants to sit down and watch someone else live a life that is supposedly reality, even though most of it is scripted anyway?
New York Times Article
ReplyDeleteIt stood out to me how the author thought that it was possible that her daughter would not know what a book was but only a Kindle. I think it is naïve to think that children will not know how the world works now but will only understand the technology that they are currently using. For example, I was not alive in the 1950s but I understand and comprehend the technology that was around, i.e. using a ironing board iron to straighten hair instead of a hair-straightening iron. Just because a certain generation does not use the technology used by the generation before them does not mean they will have no idea about the history of it. I have an iPod but I know what a stereo looks like and how it works.
I noticed, also, that another part of the article I could really relate to. I notice my classmates demanding that our grades be returned to us within days to a week all the time. Nobody I know has patience for other humans. However, one thing I also noticed is that the article did not mention how it goes both ways. Our teachers expect us to read hundreds of pages of text book material in a matter of days but do not think that our papers should be graded within two weeks. I think in terms of education both our professors and the students are expecting faster and better responses. I think this raises some problems because of the fact that students are starting to lose respect for professors who do not respond to e-mails promptly and do not return papers within a week. I think when level of respect correlates with how fast your professor responded to your e-mail, the education system is heading in a bad direction.
Video
ReplyDeleteThroughout the video, what stood out to me the most was excitement. I couldn’t help but feel excitement for our ability to do. Both of my parents work with computers so I have been around pages of code, script, and have been watching web pages get created my whole life. This video brought that all together for me; I am always fascinated by the amount of things we can accomplish on the web. The end of the video, however, is what made the most impact for me. I had never really wondered about how the web was impacting our identity and authorship for our ideas. This concept got me thinking about what we publish. In many articles today, one finds more citations than original text. Is the web reducing the amount of original and authentic thought that we have?
I think that society could be going in a bad direction is this idea is really true. If the web is allowing us to see millions of thoughts and places all at once, is it taking away our ability to think and dream authentically? If indeed it is, that is a shame. It would be sad to see individuality get swept up in a pile of web text.
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ReplyDeleteMemoir
ReplyDeleteEver since I can remember we have had computers in our home. Both my parents needed a computer for their job so we always had a least one in the house as I was growing up. My parents also were continuously updating their computers throughout the 90’s, which meant that as early as age 6 I had my own desktop computer. This provided endless opportunities. In first grade, I was playing Solitaire just as much as any office junkie. I also learned the wonders of Hearts and Minesweeper. By age 7 I was playing first person shooter games such as Doom and racing my dad with games such as Monster Truck Madness.
Later on in my education the computer became essential to my success. Around 4th grade my dad was showing me how to put together and build computers (this was one of his favorite hobbies). I was doing all of my homework on the computer, due to the fact that my parents said it looked more professional, and I was able to download and search the web for just about anything. I can remember my dad teaching me how to use the MSN search engine to find out things and later on he gathered my mom and me around the computer to show us the wonder of Google. My dad was one of the first people in his office to use Google hence why I always knew of the most current technology on the web.
The only other media I got a lot of experience around when I was younger was the radio. My entire life my parents have been listening to the radio. My mom first introduced me to the cassette tape when I was around 4. My mom had a cassette of the Judds, which I grew very fond of when I was a little child. My parents also had a cassette player in their cars which I loved because there were no commercials on a tape player. Later one both my parents got new cars that had CD players. When I was around ten I started experimenting with the recording device on the radio we had. I asked for blank tapes from my parents and made recordings of my favorite songs off the radio.
As I became more technologically developed I reverted back to the computer for my musical needs. In no time I had ditched the tapes and the radio and was downloading music off the web to make CDs. I learned what it meant to burn music on to a CD. This was great because I didn’t have to push fast forward anymore, everything was faster and easier. I was in 6th grade when I developed a full blown collection of burned CDs. My dad had a CD label maker so I could even fully decorate each one of my CDs with a meaningful background in order to distinguish between them.
I guess I would have to say that technology has really shaped my life so far but I don’t really have any complaints. I have always been able to do the things I love such as learn, listen to music, and play games faster and easier than I could a year ago. I think it is really exciting, I’m always looking for something new and fun to do at lightning speed and so far technology has not let me down. Even today, instead of making CDs I have an iPod and instead of playing video games on my computer I can play them on a Play station or an Xbox. I feel as though my childhood taught me a lot about to use media and technology but because of fast passed society I am always learning something new.
Media Memoir
ReplyDeleteMy childhood experiences with media have been varied, to say the least. I grew up watching my dad glued to the television after he came home from work. As I remember, his usual schedule was the 6:00 news, Cheers (and later, Frasier) at 7, and (without fail) Seinfeld at 7:30. At the same time, both him and my mom were pretty restrictive on what I was allowed to watch. I wasn't allowed to watch the Simpsons until I was maybe 13 or 14, and even then, it was with much reluctance on my mother's part. Such a restrictive view on television has certainly affected my current thoughts regarding TV.
I became computer-literate at a young age, however, due to my mom using a computer for much of her work (grant-writing, email, etc.). I had a computer of my own by the time I was in 5th or 6th grade. Along with this privilege came certain conditions, however. The only computer games I was allowed to play were at least vaguely educational, including Math Blasters, the Oregon Trail, and the like. As I grew older, I became interested in the capabilities of the internet, and started a blog (to fuel my stereotypical teenage angst), taught myself basic HTML language, and developed a certain affection for webcomics.
Videogames were completely unheard of in my household. As an only child, my parents strongly encouraged me to go outside and play with the neighbors rather than sit inside. I have many memories of going to my nextdoor neighbor's house to play with his N64, thinking that it was the greatest thing in the world. I didn't get my own videogame system (apart from the old-school gameboy that was reserved for airplane rides only) until I bought a PS2 with my own money from my Bar Mitzvah. By that point, however, I had already found other means of entertainment, including pleasure reading, the aforementioned blogging, and outdoors adventures such as hiking and camping. In fact,
after owning my PS2 for 4 or 5 years, I found that I was using it more to watch movies than play games on it, and sold it to my parents so they wouldn't have to get a new DVD player.
Around the time I entered college, I began to have a latent distrust of most of the media that was being pushed on the public by big media conglomerates. I rarely watched television (my two favorite shows, Monty Python's Flying Circus and Arrested Development, were no longer being broadcast), I completely rejected mainstream music in favor of a more DIY, "screw the record labels" punk-ethic sound (influenced by the fact that many of my friends were in punk bands in the Cincinnati scene), and was getting my information about current events from alternate sources. Eventoday, my three most reliable news sources are DemocracyNow.org, InfoshopNews, and IndyMedia.
At the same time, I am still definitely a part of my generation's sweep into the technological age. I have an iPod, I have a cell phone, I am still very much computer-literate (though I do not own a computer of my own here at school), and I am addicted to Facebook. While I cannot say that I reject the heavy amounts of media that infiltrate every aspect of our lives, I certainly have much hesitancy in subscribing to all of it. I think that a large part of my opinions regarding technology and media stem from my parents regulations about my exposure as a child. I feel that there are certainly benefits to having such a wealth of resources at our fingertips, but in the larger picture, I question what it means for our civilization. Are we losing touch of the things that are really important, like meaningful face-to-face dialogue? I'd like to say that I'm an aspiring primitivist, but media is a hard addiction to break.
The Machine is Us/ing Us
ReplyDeleteIn response to this video, my first response is one of fear. One might say it feeds into my fear of a mechanically-dominated dystopia where the lines between what is real and what is virtual are increasingly blurred. As I mentioned in my media memoir, I taught myself basic HTML in highschool as a way to entertain myself and my own creativity. To see the technology age progress at such a fast pace is worrisome because the things I was teaching myself only 5 or 6 years ago are now entirely obsolete. Copyright infringement, privacy, and net neutrality have become governmental issues, showing just how widespread and influential the internet has become. In less than a decade, I could easily see us replacing the more traditional deities that we each worship (or choose not to worship) with a more technologically-based conglomerate of media businesses, advertising companies, and of course, the almighty INTERNET.
The Children of Cyberspace
My response to the article is very similar to that of the movie. We live in a world where technology is moving way too fast for us to keep up. Not to be a doomsayer, but it truly appears as if we are deliberately trying to run ourselves into the ground with a barrage of new technologies coming out every second. Of course, looking at this from the lens which I have trained myself in, I can recognize the extreme profitability in this planned obsolescence, where people feel the need to have the newest and bestest technology on the market. As a result, the iPods made 2 years ago are completely inadequate, and everyone needs to have a touch screen phone. One of the things this article mentioned that really scared me was the comment about younger generations' lack of concern regarding privacy. There may come a point when people don't realize how necessary "alone time" is for the human psyche. That truly scares me.
The Children of Cyberspace
ReplyDeleteI have recently given much thought to this problem of ever-increasing generation gaps because of technology. It truly is scary to reflect on the many new technologies that will have been created by the time our generation has children of our own. This doesn't even account for how fast new technologies are also going out of style not even a year after they come out. New phones have to be faster and smarter than ones that have just been introduced. Where are we putting the only phones, cars, and other things that are no longer up to our standards? Right back in the ground, where they will never decompose and biodegrade. This relates not only to my life but to every single other person, because this is what our world is turning into.
The Machine is Us/ing Us
The thing that stood out for me in the youtube vid was that everything said was completely true. The internet, some argue, has already replaced any other source of information as the leader in IT. I admit that I use the internet way too often, but there will soon be no other way to get your information. I guess it's just the way things are going to work from now on. I took a class on web design, and it was surprising to see how many students had never heard of html format, nevermind that the whole internet was once created using this format. People were dumbfounded when they created a website using the modern format of button clicking and then found out how extensive the html equivalent would have been.
Growing up I was engaged in all sorts of media, usually from influence brought by my parents. The most constant and influential form of media bestowed upon me by my parents is listening to music. My father would listen to music constantly so the living room stereo would always be going and I would always ask questions. My dad would always tell stories of musicians and the careers of his favorite bands. When I stumbled across VH1 and MTV I had another source to get my musical information. Before then, I probably knew more about Mozart, Jerry Garcia, and Peter Gabriel than most ten year olds. I played all my dad’s collections as they were transferred from record to tape to compact disks. In the age of mp3 I had developed my own collection. Listening to the radio was not as common as playing records but my parents did have National Public Radio on quite a bit. I have memories of listening to Garrison Keillor and lounging by the fireplace every Sunday late afternoon.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting because I barely watch any television these days but I definitely watched a lot growing up. Since going away to ski school and after three years at UVM I have never owned a television or had the desire to watch. Sports is about the only thing I go out of my way for to get to a television. At a very young age my sister and I were always watching children’s programming on PBS. We then went through a cartoon phase, and watched more adult shows. After about 12 years old though most of the television I watched was sports related. Sports-center was on constantly, and it did not matter if I had already watched the half hour morning segment twice.
Like television almost, my introduction to reading the newspaper came because my interest in sports. Every morning since I was ten years old I would browse through the sports section and look at the box score for every game. It is amazing how much that has changed, now I can get updates for scores as I write this. ESPN is available live to subscribers, UVM wireless has such a subscription. Through high school my parents always encouraged me to read the New York Times which they bought twice a week Even if it meant reading the headlines and looking at the pictures I always made sure to look through.
I feel as though parents have the most influence as to what media experience their child has or does not have. For me my parents were fairly restrictive at a young age only exposing my sister and I to certain television programming. Any advertisement that was interesting to me was explained. I was never blocked off to media as a child but I was always monitored as to what I watched or listened to. I think this allowed for more freedom later in my childhood and adolescence. I would consider my media experience diverse and educational never getting caught into doing too much of one thing.
What stood out for me the most in the New York Times article is the actual gap between generations and their technology. I completely agree that my generation is linked to the internet and anyone born in the 90's is the "i-generation" Personally the article explained my position spot on I e-mail and talk on the phone a lot more than I chat online or text. As for children growing up there is no question technology is changing the way humans will precieve the world. The scary thing to me or the one aspect that worries me is children's disconnect with nature or just playing outside and whether or not it hurts society.
ReplyDeleteThe video does not scare me as much as the article. Unless obsession ensues and people are surfing the web canstantly I do not think computers are taking over our minds. There are certainly cautions to take when posting or tagging text or images but the ethical dilemma is not that serious. The web and text is going through a constant evolution ever since its beginning. There is definitely a dizzy effect from the video so much language (html) and input goes into the web.
I grew up in Burlington, VT on Booth Street with three other siblings in a fairly small house. We had one TV in the basement that received four channels: CBS, ABC, PBS, and FOX. On top of that my parents felt very strongly that my younger sister and I only watch 30 minutes of Television daily. Our one show that we watched was wishbone on PBS which was more or less a fun educational channel for young children. I still feel that this tight monitoring of my TV privileges has severely boosted my social skills that I have developed up to the present.
ReplyDeleteI think the most important form of media in my life has always been NPR (National Public Radio). Ever since I can remember my parents always have listened to NPR while they are in the car going to work in the morning. If NPR wasn’t on than it was Vermont Public Radio. Now I was never a strong candidate to sit down and watch the news when I had some free time. When the radio was tuned to NPR every morning while I was being driven to school it was difficult to tune it out and eventually it just became part of my morning routine. I received my daily dose of international news every morning between 7:30 and 8. Music would’ve been nicer to listen to however each morning I learned a little bit more about what was going on in the world. The ease it takes to press the power button to allow knowledge to flow unblocked into your brain made it a regular part of my life.
As I grew up I was very active and three sports throughout the year: Soccer, Ski Racing, and Tennis. It was difficult for both of my parents to be at my sister and I ‘s events at the same time and then the video camcorder was modified made smaller so that not just news stations but any average joe could record something then watch it later by hooking it up to the television. This advancement sparked a whole wave of video recording that is still sky rocketing today and in our family it made a big difference. My Dad wanted to come to more of my games so that he could use his video camera. The camera also provided us with great memories which we still have today stored on several different VHS’s. Our family was brought closer together by this invention.
Despite using video camera’s my family was fairly old fashioned when it came to technology. My parents read books instead of watch TV at night and would rather read the newspaper then going online and reading articles. There are certain aspects of the new age of media that we have adopted but for the most part my parents have ignored them. My Mother recently bought a blackberry and returned it within a week because she hated it so much. I remember her saying “I just want to make a phone call. I don’t need to call the Moon.” Her portrayal of the new age is somewhat scary and she doesn’t seem to know how to approach it.
I have done my best to embrace each new form of media and it has made my life easier but only because everyone else is getting on board. The old ways of communication simply aren’t good enough anymore. Why call and have a personal conversation with someone when you you can email them. After reading the New York Times article The Children of Cyberspace I realized that there is a lot to gained from their point of view. My family is very close to one another because they have not necessarily embraced the constant new wave of portrayed media but we may just be better off. I see a lot of families divided but not by personal dilemmas but by technology. We were an extremely social family growing up and I am very happy for it. That is my experience with the media.
Responses:
ReplyDeleteAfter watching Cyberspace I had mixed feelings however for the most part it left an ominous impression on me. I think its scary how fast human society cycles through new technology simply using it as median between two inventions. The concept of the machine being us is a reality that is horrifying to face. The machine is us and we are the machine but all this means is that we have been so caught up in the race to the new media peak that we have forgotten our old ways and customs that enabled humans to survive forever.
The article although not quite as hard to follow sent a far deeper message to me than the video. After reading about the kids staying in at night I thought back to my senior year of high school and thought to myself: "what if on friday night instead of going out and hanging out with friends, I sat by my computer with a soda and bowl of ice cream and talked on skype. This thought quickly reminded me of why I embrace media advancement but at the sametime am wary of it because it has the ability to warp you into being dependant on technology and not having developed social skills.
Media Memoir
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in a small Vermont town isolated me from several types of media that most people have, for example: we only recieved two tv stations from just the antenna and didn’t want to buy satellite, the closest movie theater was 25 minutes away, computers were not around for a long time and when they were we had dial up until about 2 years ago, and cell phone service only became available about 4 years ago. The one media that was only a 2 minute walk from my house was the town library and growing up, even till today, I spent a lot of time there.
The earliest memory I had of the library was going to story hour while I was really little. I remember sitting on the giant comfy rug and looking at the giant stuffed animals that looked like animals from Where the Wild Things Are, while listening to the librarian. I would go each week and pick out books with the coolest pictures in them and then go home and have my parents read me them to me every night, times were good.
As I got into fourth grade my next major library use occurred. By fourth grade I could read most books and was also watching movies. This was when my movies based on books and vice versa started. The first book I remember reading that a movie was based off of was The Wizard of Oz. Luckily, it was an amazing book and I read all the other books in his series (I believe there were about six). This book and movie path did not stop there; I started reading all the Star Wars novels that were invented off the movies and then the Lord of the Rings series. These books were more suspenseful and engaging than the movies, but I didn’t branch out as much as I should’ve.
During high school the library became a place where I would update myself with the world. I would go in every Monday and do community service. After I was done filing cards and putting books on shelves I would read the magazines like Time and Newsweek. These were new things to me and kept me connected to the world, but was also nicer than opening up a newspaper or turning on the TV. I would also then go to the computer and go on Google news and look up the news articles there. I slowly have shifted away from the big book reader I was, to a more worldly reader. Each is good, but now I only read books about half of what I used to.
The library and books have been a huge part of my life and libraries are one of my favorite places. I love to go exploring in UVM’s giant library! During my first semester I would spend one of my gaps between classes in the library. I always got so distracted just walking to a table because a book would jump out at me and I felt I had to look at it quickly. I don’t believe there is a much more solid form of entertainment and knowledge than books and even though I am an environmentalist, I hate the idea of a Kindle. I like to flip through pages and have everything there. Even if books are losing a place in the world, I hopefully can rely on the library to still have much more than I could ever read.
New York Times Article:
ReplyDeleteI was in shock by how little kids look at technology and pick up on some of our adult habits. I do not like the idea of a kid seeing a Kindle and thinking it the same as a book, but after thinking about it I am not surprised. I was just shocked to think about childhood development and how technology is effecting it. I never remembered any technology growing up as a child, but I can easily see the differences in use of technology between people just a few years apart from me. I like to call more than text, but I find a lot of people my age prefer texting more. I also have noticed high schooler’s text much more than even people my age. I try not to multitask but to focus on one thing. I believe even though my generation is better at multitasking doesn’t mean it is as productive. When my parents do work all they have in front of them is their work, no cell phone, computer, tv on, or even music. I believe their work habits are more efficient and I try really hard to not have Facebook on while I am studying. I believe everyone is trying to be too many places at once and relying too much on technology to solve their problems; I sense this will be the problem for education and society. Instead of going out into the real world and tackling all of ones problems many students call home for advice instead of learning by doing. I remember my Mom saying she would only call home about once a month during college and her mother would answer “be quick, this is long distance.” So, it had to be important. I know knowledge will be held in the pockets of many people of the next generation (and many current ones too), but I hope that there are at least a few people keeping phones out of their pockets because in the end, one will not die if a call is not instantly picked up or a text is not responded to.
Video Response:
Wow, I did not quite realize how much we play a part in all this organization of data and how easily accessible it has been made for us. It is quite a complicated process of code, but everything can be brought to easy access. I definitely feel that even though I hate this idea of everything being right at the tips of my fingers, I do like computers. I can access all this knowledge that we have put up and the linear text is nice. It is no longer hard to understand one’s handwriting or look at pictures and I really like this part of technology. I am scared about how our future generations will learn using technology. They will never have to search for information apart from typing it into Google and hands on learning will decline because of access to online videos, however with the internet does come updated and newer information, which will keep our education progressing. One will have to be careful of privacy and what they put up because that stuff takes a while to truly go away. Society currently doesn’t always realize that stuff they put online may be viewed by future employers or anyone who simply looks up one’s name. It is a tough battle to fight, but I will be careful about what I put up and let the rest of society do what they feel like.
Memoir
ReplyDeleteThere aren't too many people in the modern world who grew up without a TV, but I'm proud to say I was one of the children who didn't have one. At first, when I would hear about the countless shows my classmates and friends tuned in to, I grew red with envy. I then turned to my parents and began barraging them with requests to get a TV with cable. But that dream was short-lived, because TV apparently would rot my brain.. As I came to realize, there were other ways of being entertained. It's funny now that I think back that I didn't realize how much information was conveyed through TV back then.
I began using the internet as an alternative to TV for information and entertainment. I'm glad that I began to understand it at a younger age than most because I was privileged enough to have a computer very early on. I now knew where my parents got the latest social, political, and environmental news. They also listened to National Public Radio, but I found that too boring at the time to concentrate on. It's sad that the radio has almost disappeared from everyone's daily routine.
A bunch of other kids I knew while growing up all had TV's in their rooms, where they could watch shows or play video games. This was completely foreign to me, as my parents wouldn't even give time to my requests for a family TV. However, I got the chance to read a lot, which in retrospect turned out to be more guiding than TV ever could. It surprises me that there are still adults in the US who cannot read. Reading became a nighttime activity for me just as TV would be for any other child.
I remember going to the library and looking for interesting books for hours. Nowadays, with TV and internet, most people don't even have a library card. Going to the movies was a great way to overcome my TV dilemma, and it was also one of the best social aspects of my life for many years. Being from a rural town meant that other than close friends, you only saw other kids during school, and occasionally at the movies.
Reading the newspaper is something I have always wished I got into when I was younger. My parents always kept papers around the house, but world news didn't interest me back then, as I would rather be outside playing like any other kid. Papers are sadly going the route of the radio as well in the world of technology. Instead of buying a 25 cent paper, we can just check our SmartPhones for any current events, stocks, and countless other things the papers used to cover exclusively. I hope that in the years to come, the now secondhand news sources can still hang in there, because even though they might not be needed, it will be nice to think back to a time when they were.
Media Memoir
ReplyDeleteI am not a technologically-closeted hippie child, but neither do I own the latest gadgets or a very fast computer. Growing up this middle-way was reinforced by my parents. I wasn’t allowed to plant myself in front of a TV and our house contained a basement converted into a library. But my Grandfather’s passion for film, and his writings about it, kept a healthy library of VHS tapes in our living room. However, not being the strongest reader when I was younger left television as my primary source of news and the outside world.
However, as I grew older I started to find things odd. The laugh track was my biggest foe; to this day I like very few shows that still use this technique. The laugh track wasn’t something that existed in real life and that sharp contrast bothered me. In addition commercials were annoying to no end, as they still are, I hate being pestered for my money.
To fill this information void I sought out books, and as time went on, the internet as well. To be fair I still enjoy films and I still watch TV shows, just rarely on a TV, the wide availability of streaming sites is absolutely one of my favorite parts of the internet, aside from the vast communication and global sharing of information of course. I’ve also witnessed a commercialization of the internet that is still going on today. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I am very wary of people who feel they absolutely have to protect their intellectual property at the expense of the majority.
The internet has penetrated our lives so quickly and thoroughly that the “grab-as-much-as-you-can” policy could have serious ramifications down the road if massive consolidations of copyrighted and patented material occur. Basically, I support the right of the masses and I don’t think it has to be at anyone’s expense. Things like Creative Commons are opening up amazing worlds in terms of information sharing.
Media is everywhere, but I believe the internet has great potential to replace television with a less mind-numbing substitute and I find it extremely exciting that we are able to be here as it happens. I hope for a distribution of knowledge to any that request it and I sincerely hope that the web holds the key to it
Video Reaction
ReplyDeleteI wrote my media memoir before I saw the video, so the way it lined up with what I think was eerie. With everyone in the world connected our similarities as well as our differences are highlighted, It allows simultaneous comparisons. But, hopefully as a species and as a planet we'll be able to move forward. But I think that is the only way we can, together.
Article Reaction
I found this article pretty dead-on. My younger brother got a cellphone much earlier than I did and I wouldn't be surprised if he got his own computer before college. When I was younger and was first introduced to the concept of a generation I thought it was too long. I originally thought generations were separated by only four years, and it looks like trends are heading in exactly that direction.
Media Memoir:
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, I have vivid memories of using media in my everyday life. I remember my parents being very free with all technology and media, and never really limited our use of it. Whether it was playing games on the computer, listening to music, or watching TV, my family never limited our time. This has carried onto my life today, my brother has every game system, my dad always has the latest blackberry, and my mom can never be seen off the computer or cell phone. I would like to consider myself fortunate to have had all the liberty of using these various forms of technology, but I hate what it has done to me today.
One of my first memories of the use of media was our family’s first “cell phone”. Back in the mid 90’s, I remember having a HUGE phone in our car, which was used for “emergencies”. Over winter break my dad was talking about this phone, and said he paid over $1000 to have it installed in the car. This was one of the first cell phones, yet it was mounted into the car and cost a fortune to use. My dad bought it for the safety of my mom while driving around in Connecticut, but it was barely ever used for phone calls.
I remember this phone being used to play “Mary Had A little Lamb” by dialing 321 over and over again. My mom founds this musical tactic as a way to make my sister and I quiet while waiting in the car. We always enjoyed having my mom play songs on the phone, and that was all that phone was ever really used for. Thinking back, it is so funny to see how our first cell phone compares to the cell phones used today. Phones today are significantly smaller, cost less, and are able to do so much more.
Along with musical numbers being played on cell phones, another form of entertainment as a child was TV. Like most children, my siblings and I were awed by the many different programs on TV while growing up. I remember family movie nights and watching TV shows all together to bond. I remember everyday before elementary school watching “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch” and thinking they were the best things to ever happen. I hate that I grew up around so much technology, and it is hard to imagine that in the future children will be more dependent on technology than I was.
It seems that everything is electronic now, and in order to do anything, it relates back to technology. Seeing that I was growing up in the start of the technological era, it is crazy to think how the future will be and how it will rely on technology even more than we do now. Many would argue that technology is a bad thing and is taking over our lives, but many would disagree and think that technology is the best thing that ever happened to us. I personally think we rely way too much on technology but seeing the way things are now, it will only keep growing.
Responses:
ReplyDeleteNY Times Response:
I really enjoyed this article and every point that it had to make, but I did find it scary. Referring a kindle to a book will be the way of the future, which is so sad. Seeing that everything is electronic, it will make our future completely different than when we grew up. I like to think about how in ten years or so when I have children, they will be growing up completely different than how I did. They won’t have books to learn to read in, they will simply need to go on a computer or play a video game in order to achieve this goal that took people my age and older so long. It makes me sad to think that everything and everybody are so dependant on technology, and it makes me wonder if children nowadays are getting the same education that I got by having to read through books and books in order to get an education.
Video Response:
Back when my family first got a computer, I remember it being huge, and taking forever to do anything. Internet was used through dial-up and cost alot of money. Its crazy how much the computer and Internet technology has expanded. My mom still talks about her first job and using a typewriter and having to be so careful of what she wrote and watching every little mistake she could make. Nowadays, we have spell check and typing up things takes no time at all. To see how much this technology has grown can only make you wonder how it will be in the future. Seeing that my iphone is basically a computer in itself, it makes me scared to think how small computers will be in the years to come. Schools use computers and Internet for everything, and many require you to use them for many, if not all things. The dependence of Internet and computers is continually growing, and at this rate people’s dependency can grow along with it.
The old fake-wood-sided television sat high on a shelf in the entryway of our home. On the rare occasions it was turned on the picture was fuzzy and the golf channel and local news held little interest. I spent the majority of my childhood outside, since neither of my parents worked full time my days were filled with mini-adventures, nature-focused vacations and activities, leaving little room for television. As a child the single educational computer game I had was reserved for rainy days. Using a computer was not a part of my daily life until high school.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up I read all the time, everything from short childrens books to the classics and the local paper. Specifically our local paper, my mother would sip her tea with the paper every morning so it was only natural that I read it too. I was almost never exposed to advertisements unless it was those in the paper which were mostly for local restaurants, small retailers and possibly ski areas.
As a child the lack of mass media influence in my life seemed normal, hardly any of my friends were heavily influenced by media. However I eventually attended a boarding school with students from all over the world. Many of these students were from more urban and suburban areas and far more interested in media and popular culture than anyone from my small Vermont town.
For some time I found myself sucked into this consumption oriented and media dominated culture I had never previously experienced. I was concerned about celebrities I had never met, about purchasing the latest thing, and making sure I updated my facebook status, concerns that would have never crossed my mind before. I am grateful that this short phase of my life ended.
After a few years of this I suddenly realized that I rarely went hiking anymore, I had hardly been skiing all season, and hadn’t read a book outside of class in months. I realized that I had been so concerned with media and the messages sent through mass media that I was hardly doing any of the things I loved. This realization made me consider how media affected me, and how it affects and changes everyone around me.
NY Times Article:
The New York Times article looks at the mini-generation gaps formed by the increased rate of technological change. Commonly used technology has become so integrated in our everyday life that the changes can drastically alter childrens perceptions and expectations. For example young children now seem to be learning that distance is almost irrelevant to communication and that all communication should be practically instantaneous. I find it both scary and interesting to consider how much more we communicate through technology rather than face to face. I am not sure, but it seems there must eventually be some social or emotional effects from this lack of real connection during our communication.
The Machine Is Us/ing Us:
I found the video very fascinating on many levels. To begin with I never have really understood how websites are created and seeing this prompted me to look into it. The video left me with a sense of unease at first so I watched it again. The idea of the machine using us is a scary thought which left me with a sense of impending doom. However as I thought about it more I realized that since we are the machine and we control the machine we have simply given each individual more power.
Media Memoir
ReplyDeleteAs a child growing up in the USA, I had access to more media that most children around the world. I had a television, books, and internet access in my home, and my parents got the newspaper on most days. For the most part, though, my family didn’t encourage me to expand my worldview with the media. Television and the internet were just an easy way to keep my brother and I entertained when the weather was bad, or we were sick. Whenever I complained about being bored, my Mom would rave about how lucky we were to have a computer and TV, because “when she was a kid, they played outside”.
I find it a bit depressing that our culture has become so obsessed with our gadgets. It bothers me to see children glued to the TV, as if the rest of the world doesn’t exist when Blue’s Clue’s is playing. Even TV has become primitive with the advancement of the internet. YouTube.com and other websites allow people to watch television and movies on the computer, thereby further entrancing the masses. As an ecologically mindful individual, I have to question whether technology is a help or a hindrance to the environmental movement.
In many ways, however, the media has changed my life. When I was thirteen years old, I was researching animal rights on the internet for an opinion paper. At that point, I was exposed to a wealth of information on factory farming that I wouldn’t have known about had it not been for organizations like PETA, who posted information and videos online. Too often the evils of society are hidden by mass media like the news and popular magazines. My parents certainly weren’t about to educate me about where meat comes from, because they didn’t really know themselves.
After my enlightenment into the world of factory farms and slaughterhouses, I stopped consuming meat. I have been a vegetarian and advocate for the cause for over six years. Researching vegetarianism led me to educate myself on many other animal rights, as well as environmental issues. To do this, I used the internet, films, books, and journal articles. One of the best parts about modern technology is that a person can use it to spread awareness by sending links to others via text, email, or WebPages like Facebook.
To conclude, my family did not use the media as a way to educate ourselves. However, it was available to me for research. Now that I am older, I have become much more proficient. Often I find myself assisting my parents to understand new technologies, especially their cell phones. At school, if I have something I want to share with them, like a picture, essay I’ve written, or helpful website, I can simply email it to them.
Children of Cyberspace:
ReplyDeleteWhat stood out most about this article was the example of a three year old that had a pet robot hamster, and considered it a real pet. This gadget is not an advancement, but rather a step back in time to when it was acceptable to think of animals as machines, or vice versa in this case. I find it very dangerous to teach a child that a robot is a pet, because it needs no love or caring like a real pet would need in order to thrive. When I was a child, I had real hamsters whom I loved very much, and whom taught me to be gentle and responsible with another being’s life.
As far as the discussion of technology speeding up generation gaps, I can see evidence of such in my own life. For example, my younger cousins are far better at operating any and every piece of technology I can think of. One of my cousins, just ten years old, tried teaching me how to play Sudoku on my own cell phone, but I couldn’t figure it out!
My vision of society is quite skeptical of technological advancements because it seems that the values, skills, interests, and capabilities of each generation are changing faster than is functional. When people talk about Twitter, blackberries, and iThis and iThat, I have basically no idea how to respond. Just to get by, we have to continuously educate ourselves about new technologies. For example, I had never posted a blog until tonight for this assignment, and it took me several minutes to figure it out. I am concerned that generation gaps associated with technology will inhibit collaboration toward common goals.
The Machine is Us/ing Us Video
ReplyDeleteWhat stood out most was when “Teaching the Machine” came up on the screen. I was struck that the word “Machine” was capitalized, as if personified. Turns out, that was the intent because it went on to say that we, the people, are the machine because we create it.
In my own life, I have an exponentially expanding relationship with this machine because I am a member of several websites, whether or not I really would like to be. For example, I have a UVM email and Blackboard account, a Google account for this class’s website, an electronic bank account, and various social networks like Facebook and AIM.
My education in particular depends upon me having access to the internet constantly to check assignments, do research, and communicate via email. I am uncomfortable in the fact that I don’t have a choice. To be very honest, the video was very confusing, a bit scary, and made me a little dizzy.
Music was always a dynamic component of my household growing up. My father was a musician through the 60's and 70's, and my mother a ballerina. So for us music was always a topic of discussion and source for creative release. In the early years I remember sitting on the sofa listening to my dad's records and discussing the brilliance of groups like the Doobie Brothers, YES, and Chicago.
ReplyDeleteThese rock groups are my childhood, my family, and basically define a great part of me. Not only was the layering of sounds something that my sister and I relished, but the album covers themselves were something we marveled at. I remember how my sister and I would go through the records and pick out our favorite covers. I always picked "Court of The Crimson King,"by King Crimson, but YES "Tales of the Topographic Ocean" was a close second.
Album covers made statements of who the band was and where they wanted to take you. In later years during my adolescences tapes became the coveted medium. We made mixed tapes which were, at least for me, a way to convey a message or express who I was. Music did change for me a little bit the older that I got. Pop culture did have some effect on my musical taste, but I think that is all part of growing up and changing.
When your a teenager you don't want to identify too much with your parents. For me I found teen rebellion in listening to Nirvana, and Pearl Jam. My father's musical influence was still there but I wouldn't know that until I became an adult and moved away. This brought music to a whole new level for me. Once out of the nest I began to turn to music to feel comforted and safe. When I missed home I would listen to those old albums and it was like my dad was with me.
When I go home to visit now and the whole family is together I love nothing more than to play some of the old hits. This past Christmas my dad's bestfriend and former band-mate came over and to hear them talk, laugh, and reminisce was the best gift I could have gotten. Music was their lives, and it has shaped who they now are. This I can truly identify with.
-Sarah Heusner
(1)Media Memoir: When I had to sit down and think of my exposure to media as a child, I discovered that a great deal of my media exposure was from my peers rather than my family. I grew up in Darien, CT, about an hour north of NYC, the heart of Fairfield County. I was an only child until I was 8, so the rules were quite different in my development than that of my sisters, in that I was the first child and my parents were just figuring out how they wanted to raise their child.
ReplyDeleteIn my childhood, I was not allowed to watch TV, only the news and only if my parents were already watching. Movies were certainly allowed, and I loved them, and I pushed the boundaries of my parents no movies over PG policy on many occasions (I won a few times). I guess not instead, or because of, but I am sure that in some way the lack of televisions influence in my childhood may have helped me develop my love of reading, and sports. (Also the majority of my friends when I was very young, had parents who refused TV and other influences)
Now my sister is a completely different story. She was born when I was eight, and my parents had already played (rulemeister) to their first child, so Molly got the abbreviated rules of a nearly ten year old child rather than that childhood I had received. As my television restrictions were that of no TV at all other than news, my parents became lenient, now putting on childrens television for Molly, believing that she could be entertained and perhaps learn, while they go their errands done.
Perhaps its the changing the global American psyche from my first years, and my sisters, or perhaps its just a betterment in technology, the ability to reach and span socioeconomic gaps, find supple minds further and further away from home. I did not grow up in the internet age, although I am a slave to its influence in society today, my sister however was a member of the internet age. She was using the internet to talk to people, before my parents even knew we had gotten a router, and it used to show a lot in her daily interactions with people and family, a little reserved, a little awkward.
As I was typing this though, I found that I don't think either of us were molded by media, sure the nature of the human experience is through social connections and in some terms that has become media's MO, but it really is what you are taught at that most important of developmental stages. I feel that my parents did a find job raising us to be social, moral, and understanding people, and although media plays a big role in development these days, its the "harness" you have on what your child filters and what he lets mold him, that makes a difference.
(2) "The Children of Cyberspace": This NYTimes article spoke bluntly on the scientific and future repercussions of this instant media age, as well as the outstanding developmental deviations which future generations may inherit from this technological age. What stood out most for me, was the discussion of the "multitasker," the idea that those not under the age of 20 can multitask up to 7 different technologies, and that for those in their thirties can only handle about 5 and a half. I feel this fact can be connected to a large number of stress and study disorders, like ADHD, and people with panic attacks, the constant flow of instant connection, and the isolation that comes along with social connections through technology, I believe is having a terrifying effect on future generations. I feel that as technology becomes obsolete and the next generation supersedes it, I believe that in this technological climate, certain necessary social functions will be replaced by technologies new instant format, and when you forget the past, the self no longer exists.
ReplyDelete(3) "The Machine is Using Us": the video by Michael Wesch, hints at the idea that the nature of the internet and communications has changed, and that "the machine" or the heart of our connectedness, our channel for interaction in the digital world, has become a tool that learns from our constant interaction with it. Its important I think to understand that what Wesch is in turn defining, is the ways in which this "machine" has to be managed so that in order for it to be appreciated rather than abused, it must be regulated in order to protect the people using it. I found it incredibly interesting, the nature of the development of new forms of structure and definition for the technology of this modern age, and the ways in which development can in turn be a devolution in terms of the nature of the content. It will be fun to see how all facets of technology develop in our lifetime, and its important to understand but also know when to turn it off.
ReplyDeleteVideo:
ReplyDeleteWow. Very powerful ending. I thought it was a great exploration into how far we have come with technology, particularly the internet. The video and the music sort of kept building and creating tension as it went on, moving past HTML and rapidly picking up speed. "We are the web" kept being repeated, which was very powerful and effective. The ending really hit home for me, as I'm sure it did for many viewers. It seems like we have created something that is in turn changing us, creating this dynamic interplay that we rely so heavily upon. Very insightful!
NY Times Article:
ReplyDeleteThis article was both interesting and eye-opening. It really is true. My little brother spends every second he can on his labtop, facebooking or IMing or downloading things. Also, Ihave 2 older siblings and I am sure that I know a lot more than them about using the internet. The children being born today that recognize a robot as a pet or a Kindle as a book are growing up in a world constantly surrounded by interconnected gizmos and gadgets. It is really quite interesting and at the same time somewhat frightening.
New York times article
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how fast technology is progressing. More people get information from around via there own personal computers than any other source. The article claims that the boom in technilogical advancements has led to an increase in generational gaps. For example the child and the in kindle book. By the time she is in elementry school she will know how to browse the internet. In a way the technology that is out requires individuals to have well rounded knowledge on how to opporate the technology.
Video
ReplyDeleteOur generation has using computers ever since we were little. Human lives have simply dependent on machines to survive. So in the end if the machine breaks down in turn does the daily workings of human society. Our technology basically manipulating us to the point that it doesn't really seem natural. Our culture evolves with the technology not with the environment itself.