Week 2 Reading
In "Technologies of the Third Mediamorphosis" from Mediamorphosis: Understanding New Media by Roger Fidler, the discussion about broadcast media was interesting. As early as 1921, according to Fidler, "Americans were ready for national radio networks that could offer nearly immediate access to news, sports events and entertainment of interest to people in all regions of the country" (p. 92). Also, the author's comparison between how the news of the Lisbon earthquake in 1755 was covered versus how it would have been covered today is quite interesting. The amount of lag time between an event and media coverage 250 years ago is nearly incomprehensible these days.
The timing of the article "As We May Think" seems so outdated reading it in 2006. The discussion about recording time by the use of photography is a novel concept in 1945, but now we have digital cameras and devices that can serve as both a sell phone and camera! Author Vannevar Bush discusses the advancements of science and its contribution to the furthering of knowledge. In 2045, the internet may be even more interactive than it already is -- more blogs, podcasts, personal sites (Facebook, MySpace), etc. The advancement of the internet will keep evolving over time.
"Networks of Remediation" from Remediation: Understanding New Media by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin makes an interesting comparison: those who think the development of new medias, such as the internet, are great for society, while others oppose the advancement of technology. "Enthusiasts for technology such as John Perry Barlow credit the Internet with creating a new culture, while conservative politicians speak as if the Internet itself had called forth a new form of pornography" (p.76).
Discussion questions:
1. Will breaking news stories be revealed to the public even quicker in the upcoming years? Or have we seen the internet as the fastest way to share information?
2. We may think we're living in a technologically advanced world, but what new technologies and science will the future bring?
3. Are new technologies good for society?
posted by The Big Picture @ 12:32 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Nice job, Zach!
I agree that the "As We May Think" article is pretty outdated reading it now. You bring up a good point about hte use of cell phones and how they have multi-fuctions, as well as the use of internet websites like Myspace and Facebook. But isn't it interesting how close the article is to what has actually happened? Granted, the way technology developed is different from what the author wrote about, but it's pretty interesting how close he actually got to accurately describing what it would be like in the future.
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