Prompt: Thinking of digital media as tools, how have they affected our culture? Postman says the tools “become the culture.” Do you agree? Why or why not? Think of a comparable invention today that changed society and explore its potential impact.
I agree with Postman. Our digital tools have become our culture. In today's age it is unusual to know someone that doesn't have some form of digital footprint. So unusual that those people will most likely receive a strange look after that admission
I like to consider myself a bit of a throw-back. I rarely use social media. I still buy physical books, CDs (though I rip them into MP3s), and the newspaper still gets delivered to my door. But the draw of digital is undeniable. As I sit typing this there no CD playing to produce the music I am listening to. Rather the tracks are pulled from the ether and I have nigh unlimited choices of what to listen to. Classical guitar I got it, new alternative metal well I got that too. All via a little app on a phone (Amazon Prime music service via iPhone). No more digging through dusty bins of CDs for me. No more ripping, no more concerns of running out of computer memory. I don't even have to know the whole name of the band or artist I want to listen to. An obvious must for those CD bin dives of the past. No now I can type in what I think I'm looking for directly into the app search box. That's how I found the aforementioned classical guitar. I typed into the search box on the app instrumental guitar and about five recommendations popped up. Through a quick trial of those five I found what I wanted for my reading soundtrack for the next hour.
The streaming service like this app is where I think the biggest impact comes from. Now and even more so in the future media will be consumed on demand. We already have DVRs, Netflix, and a slew of websites dedicated to streaming movies, music, television and news that's updated to the second. I think this trend will continue and I believe streaming, on-demand media will eventually be the only way to consume media.I In 20-30 years maybe even sooner that broadcast TV network will go the way of VHS. I don't think the studios of these networks will go away just the delivery system.
I can see it now - 20 years from now - a family gathers on a couch in front of the warming glow of a television and chooses a movie to watch on Netflix or maybe a compilation of silly cat videos via YouTube. Now that's entertainment
