On page 84 Neil Postman describes television as a technology and a medium with a clever comparison. "We might say that a technology is to a medium as the brain is to the mind." Postman describes this analogy by stating that like the brain, the television set is a physical object in that it has it's limits in space but also in its technological capabilities. However, Postman connects the mind to the medium that the television creates. The social, political and economic context in which the television created was the ''mind" of how it was used.
Postman goes on throughout his book to label television as a medium entirely built for entertainment. Even educational shows are presented in a way in which they are entertaining. Postman remarks on the consequences this medium has had on America's social-intellectual culture but in our day and age we have far greater the number of physical technology than in Postman's time. Now in our society we virtually have at least one computer (usually more) in every home, along with personal devices like mp3 players and cell phones. By seeing Postman's analysis of the television as a technology and a medium what does our society face. How does the computer and mobile device affect our society as a technology and a medium? Postman states that the television was not compatible with literature and that television was more likely an extension of photography and the telegraph. Then is the computer and cell phone an extension of the television or are they completely different mediums working on their own?
Saying that computers, cell phones and such are completely different extensions working on their own to deviate us from literature is a reasonable statement considering that they too distract us from it. Then again, they are not only extra extensions. I've noticed that many people today are shifting from the use of a television to a computer. Everything you see on a TV is now available on a computer, and at your demand. Televisions are slowly becoming obsolete, or with some even being able to connect to the internet and do other things that a computer does, are becoming computers themselves.
ReplyDeleteThis generation now is surrounded by so much technology whether its computers, televisions or cell phones. All these new technological devices work in different ways and have different extensions but in the end connect. In our generation technology is advancing so quickly you can have television on your phone or computer. Even having your phone on your computer. Amazing how technology connects but advancing to peoples satisfactions is what it comes to. People are so in tuned with speed and technology they want more and more.
ReplyDeleteMobile devices allow us to connect with one and another where ever we are, the more connectivity between people the more devices are used. These extensions are working on there own but all have the same conclusion. They all work in the same environment and evolve as another diminishes or as one consumes another for our efficiency.