Assignment 2

The question of technology and how it has shaped us or whether we shape technology and the future of it is the main question at hand. Technology and the evolution of new media has greatly influenced society and culture. To feed off of the comical you tube clip, the two philosopher like men clearly resemble a direction that society has already entered and will continue in the direction. This accurate depiction is quite alarming for the future generations to come. In many cases we get so accustomed to what we are used to, like in the video clip when the gentleman needs to be instructed on how to open a book. From that point it is an enormous step to adapt and learn a new technique.

In today's world, technology has grasped its tentacles around us that it is impossible to escape. We are surrounded by technology inside and outside of the classroom. This particular class "Politics of the Internet" is a perfect example. To even start with the basics from books and pencils, those are examples of the rudimentary forms of technology that we are so accustomed to. Dennis Baron's "From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies" helps to evaluate the various forms of literacy technology. In other words the ways of manipulating text. From the days of the telegraph, that initially was a very much advanced form of communication. From that point technology has transcended greatly throughout the generations as we blog from state of the art computers now. Will there ever be a cap or culmination of all the world's technology? It is hard to know whether we will outlive technology or will it outlive us? At this rate it appears to be outliving us.

As we try to mold our lives based upon new innovations, the reverse effect is happening as well. Paul Levinson's "Digital McLuhan" provides an excellent account of how Marshall McLuhan's work and ideas in combination of Levinson's interpretation have affected society. McLuhan's early thoughts and ideas were commonly discredited because of his lack of support and generalizations. However is insight into where technology was heading is quite fascinating to analyze after the fact. His several works and publications have now gained much recognition for the contributions it has had on the tech boom beginning in the 1980s. McLuhan used his witty metaphors such as the "global village" and "acoustic space." The global village theory allows the village to be a haven of not just the audience, but interaction among the audience. This fast tracks the process to the age of Internet and the "online villager."

The medium or the mode of communication dates back to the transistor radio and first television sets. New Media depends on innovations and the advance of technology. The concept of orality is important to consider as well. How do we process and receive information? How much longer will people or authors for that matter take any time to draft out a publication when it can all be done at the finger tips. This big question will be very interesting to see where it takes us or where the future will take us. At some point life may be completely automated and digitized without having to lift a finger. Almost scary in some respects to think about it!

Back to our first assignment, how does this affect the most basic form of human interaction of being speech. Will "face to face" time even be necessary at all when conducting business? Does that mean people will all be living sedentary lifestyles in which they do not need to leave the privacy of their own homes. I invite any responses and look forward to what others have to say!