Media Technology

Internet
Media technology is becoming the norm in today’s society. The one that sticks out the most to me is the internet. It is amazing that almost every household has a computer, regardless of the financial situation. I found at this website (http://webliminal.com/essentials/eoc-rtfs/ch03.htm) that, “Communication is the most popular use of the Internet, with email topping the list of all the technologies used” (Web Essentials, 2000). A large amount of people use emailing as a main form of communication. From children emailing their grandparents about Christmas to teenagers and adults regardless of ethnicity, age range, or gender using it for personal and professional purposes, the internet is everywhere. You can also research information, communicate through blogs, and many other beneficial acts. I use the internet all the time. I use it for school, recreation (youtube.com, facebook.com, etc.), and research (atlantafilmcommunity.com, southerncasting.com, etc.). I have never been what one would call internet savvy. Growing up I rarely used the internet. I do not think I started using it until I was about thirteen and it was never for anything productive. Around sixteen I used it to blog on livejournal.com. I did not really use it for school until college and then the whole world opened up to me. I realized that this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Now I use the internet all the time and feel off when I have not been on at least once a day. This can be unnerving because it can be scary to be so dependent on technology but at the same time liberating because you are more aware of what is going on in the world and have access to incredible amounts of information.

Cell Phones
Next on my list is the cell phone. Joe Goertz states, “In 1843, a skilled, analytical chemist named Michael Farady began exhaustive research to find a space that could conduct electricity. He told of his findings, and these advances of 19th century science and technology have had an incalculable effect on the development of today's cellular phone.” (Goertz, 2006). I am twenty-three years old and received my first cell phone when I was fifteen. I had to buy minutes before I could use it and had to be careful that I did not run over on time. My nine year old cousin has a cell phone… and it is nicer than mine. His family is comfortable but by no means wealthy. There are family plans, unlimited minutes, roll over minutes, etc. It is convenient and fairly affordable to have a cell phone. Every one in my household has a cell phone and we have no land line. We use our cell phones for everything. We use it for directions, conference calls, keeping in touch, to say we are going to be late. The audience is pretty much everyone except for people who have sworn off technology or for my dad who like “being disconnected”. Though it has always been strange to me that he refuses to get a cell phone, I can also understand where he is coming from. I text all the time and it can be a bit overwhelming to be constantly plugged into the world. Sometimes I just will not answer my phone even though I like the person calling because I do not feel like communicating. Sometimes it is good and healthy to be unplugged from the world. For a while I realized I was allowing my cell phone to control me. No matter what was going on if I received a text I would jump across the room to check it out. I try not to do that anymore because I would prefer to have the power instead of it having power over me.

Computer Games
Computer games are also a form of new media. People who play games a lot might be seen as nerds and geeks. In a culture with Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Twilight fanatics, computer games fly along the same line of what I once heard called “nerdome”. Not knocking it in any way because I also enjoy some of these subcultures, but this is definitely the connotation. In actuality though, computer games can be a great way to communicate. I learned at this website (http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Computer_Games_-_Education) that, “While there is a lot of controversy surrounding computer games and their negative impact on society, research suggests that computer games can actually be educative, beneficial and help in children’s learning and development” (M/Cyclopedia, 2004). People interested in WoW (World of Warcraft) and other similar games have formed a subculture filled with cyber interaction. I have talked to some people who play games like this one and it really is an entirely other world. Children through adults play and I am sure gain a lot of communication and teamwork skills along the way. You have to coordinate, strategize, and multitask. In a way these games are teaching people to have the world at their fingertips. It is instant gratification in a simple and convenient little package sitting on your desk or lap. We are becoming spoiled by immediacy. I get frustrated when my computer is slow and then I realize that I have definitely been born in a generation that craves and expects instant gratification.

Websites
The last media technology I would like to talk about is the website. Websites are used for advertisements, informing, and other forms of relaying information. A lot of websites are interactive. If you would like to have a question answered there is usually an area to contact someone who can help you. An example of an interactive website would be music websites. With smaller artists, such as Devin Townsend, you can even message back and forth which helps appease fan bases. These websites in particular accommodate to certain fan bases but websites cater to anyone who is a consumer, who uses the internet to research on decisions, etc. Websites make it easier to navigate on the internet. If there were no websites it would be just a jumble of information. They break information into different pages that can be easily navigated and more understandable. There are certain websites I go to everyday. One in particular is hotmail.com. I have two different email addresses. One I use for school and recreation and the other I use for everything acting related. When I go to these sites I login without even thinking about what I am doing. It is second nature to me because I have been doing it for years. I never sit back and consider how different it would be if websites did not exist and the internet was this chaotic stream of random information. This is something that is definitely taken for granted which is why I am happy we have been asked to discuss media technology. It has made me think about how intricate and complex all these technologies are that we use every single day.

References
Goertz, Joe (2006). The Origin of the Cell Phone. Articlesbase.
http://www.articlesbase.com/cell-phones-articles/the-origin-of-the-cell-phone-63578.html.
(2000). Communication on the Internet. Internet Web Essentials.
http://webliminal.com/essentials/eoc-rtfs/ch03.htm.
(2004) Computer Games- Education. M/Cyclopedia.
http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Computer_Games_-_Education.