Wednesday, January 26, 2011
New Technology is Killing Us.............Or is it?
When reading Baym and Herring both had interesting points but led to some of the same fears and hopes about new technology. The use of technology is supposed to help with improvements in our daily life (Baym 28) knowing now we are in the Information Age. So our society is at a point where it is becoming a digital media because new technology is being made every day. One of the biggest hopes is that society can advance with technology equally and not that society use technology as a crutch through life. Fears came about as technology moved faster five years ago. Baym describes the fear of technology being abused in a harmful way such as privacy, dealing with relationships. Little human to human interaction would come into play is how Herring is looking at it. In chapter two of our textbook (Baym) one feel’s Google is making us stupid and is dumbing us down as human beings. Technology is making humans lose control. These hopes and fears are well-founded just turn on the television and see how technology is shaping our communication. We are becoming technology for example, children play violent video games and the next day go to school and act them out, which later on end up on the news for some outrages thing he/she did. New type of CMC comes faster then we can blink our eyes; Herring describes CMC on the internet as “slouching towards the ordinary” (Herring 27). These are the people that chose not to step outside the box, to call or meet someone (interaction). Instead, making things simple as far as, “I can email or text him/her later.” The web is making things so trouble-free because CMC is moving at a rapid paste.
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"Technology is making humans lose control"---I agree; technology sometimes moves so fast that people haven't figured out the correct way to use a new technology before it is supplanted with even less understood newer technology. Don't get me wrong, I love technology. It's how I make my living. But just because a technology is new, doesn't make it a good technology.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on your last point that people are choosing not to step out of the box anymore. Calling people on the phone has become replaced with sending someone a quick email or text message. I have to admit that i have become that person. Even though it does diminish human interaction, it is easier to multitask by texting with someone than talking to them on the phone. I do, however, share the fear that human to human interaction will soon be nonexistent. I hope we don't all turn into the people from the movie WALL-E. All they do is ride around on the chairs relying on the ship's automated systems and computer screens in front of them without realizing what's happening around them.
ReplyDeleteYes, I definitely agree with you. I notice how people are very weak when it come to ignoring texting or phone usage while handling business.
ReplyDeleteMost places you go today there are signs posted saying no phone usage while at counter!
When you notice that, there is a serious problem.
I read an article that interviewed groups about how they use Google. It was interesting because some young teens have never used a dictionary. They talked about never being lost in a car because they can use Google to get there. It is hard to weigh pros and cons when it comes to the use of automatic, digital infomation. It is such a heavy responsiblity on the user to expand their world without abusing it.
ReplyDeleteThat comment from Niki is actually quite disturbing. It makes you wonder, when the next generation comes around, are they going to laugh at us for sitting in front of a computer?; they might as well just have computers built into their brains and call it a day. (You may think this is crazy, but technological advances are scary)
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