Benjamin
Gabe Nazario
Professor
Cacoilo
Convergence - Fall 2014
November
24, 2014
Post #4:
Media Will Take Over The World
(Media - Google Images)
Digital media and technology have
become some of the most important topics of our era. Everything and anything
can be digitized nowadays. Whether it be a newspaper, an old film photograph,
or even a college textbook, everything has started to shift to the digital
space. We see this in almost every profession as well. Whether it is gaming,
politics, sports, or even the medical field, they are all using digital
technology one way or another. So the question is what is next for digital
media and technology? Every year we see it grow to new heights, but if we fast-forward
20 or 30 years what type of digital space will we live in? Seeing how much
technology means to us now must mean that it will be of even greater importance
in the next few decades. In my opinion digital technology has not completely
taken over yet, but in the near future it will.
(Self Driving Cars - Google Images)
Eric Pfanner of the New York Times wrote an
article speaking about the future of media in general. He paints an interesting
picture based in the timespan of 2020-2030. He talks about cars that drive
themselves, holographic technology, and just how far the digital media can go
in his eyes. He states in his article that, “the convergence of digital media
and technology, under way since the dawn of the Internet, will accelerate.
Distinctions between old and new media will fade; most media will be digital.
Mobile devices, already the preferred media and Internet platform for many
people, will continue to proliferate. We may wear them on our bodies or weave
them into our clothing” (Pfanner 1). So in his studies he sees media as
something that will almost become apart of us rather than something we use. I
could see this being a possibility in the future of convergence. Most people
would say in our current era we have media and technology but it isn’t a part
of us. Yet we all have phones that almost never leave our person, many people,
especially media professionals have tablets or laptops that most of their work
days are spent on, and even when we want to just be entertained we still go to
media like movies or video games to get pleasure. So yes, these items aren’t
physically a part of us, but it seems like we are emotionally and mentally
attached to media in general. Which gives a clear sign that if we had the
option of making these items physically attached to our clothing, like in
Pfanner’s example or physically attached to our car windshield we would allow
it.
(Example of new item everyone purchases)
One of the main reasons that I believe
that media technology is going to take over in the future is because our
generation thrives over new technology. Whenever we see a new phone or tablet
come out there is always millions of people purchasing them, even if they have
an item that is only a year old. This is because we are a fast pace generation.
Steven Johnson speaks about this somewhat in his article, “The Sleeper Curve.”
He talks about how our generation likes to be challenged and the media is doing
that. He states, “The mind likes to be challenged; there’s real pleasure to be
found in solving puzzles, detecting patterns or unpacking a complex narrative
system” (Johnson 2). Johnson article shows me that the media professionals are
not going to settle with the basic form of media we have today, they are going
to keep on growing and challenging themselves until they find a way to make
media something that cannot be lived without.
(Baby on iPad - Google Images)
Some people
will argue that the idea of media and technology basically taking over the way
we live life is impossible. Since people think the old ways are always better,
like a classroom setting in the school system. Some people may think this will
never change, but once media grows to a certain point it will take over the
school system and much more. Professionals will see that, “interactive media
can present information in a way that encourages users to learn and explore”
(Palvik 161). This is something that many classes do not have, they are not
interactive. Once we find out that interactive media can actually help children
learn quicker the switch will be made. I think the video game world can be seen
as a great example of this. The newest generation of children nowadays
automatically is exposed to technology. A great number of children that are
younger than 5 are already understanding the interface of an iPad or an iPhone.
This is beyond the school system, this is interactive media. Most of these
children play games on these media devices, but what if these games were turned
into educational tools. Video game content is often borrowed freely from
movies, television shows, and other areas of pop culture; this demonstrates
convergence in action (Palvik 171). If video games already borrow content from
other forms of media why can’t it borrow content from the school system? This
is an idea that can be a new level of convergence and be pursued in the future
once media is more high tech. 
(Tony Stark - Possible Future Technology)
We can approach
this future using our past experiences. We see that media has been on the rise
for quite sometime now. We also see that media has been integrated with several
fields of study. We see that we used to have push keys on our phones and now we
have touch screens. So what’s next? Perhaps, holographs, voice controlled
systems, or maybe a media system similar to everyone’s favorite marvel super
hero, Iron Man. The answer cannot be pinpointed, but it can be presumed. That
is why I believe that digital media and technology are going to our run
everything else in our era and it will eventually take control of all factors
of life. Whether it be driving, the school system, reading, or playing sports,
it will all have media and technology integrated in it some way some how. I
think the only way to get in the game would be to stay on top of media
knowledge as a whole. We can’t fall behind as a generation, we must stay in
tune with technology, and eventually it will be all that professionals are
looking for. Students who know and understand media, we need to be those
students, we need to make sure we see the convergence of media as a whole
before it even occurs.
Works Cited
Johnson, Steven. "The Sleeper Curve." Everything
Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter.
New York: Riverhead, 2005. N. page. Web.
Pavlik, John V., and Shawn McIntosh. Converging Media.
Fourth ed. New York, NY: Oxford UP, 2014. Print.
Pfanner, Eric. "Peering Into the Future of Media." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 14 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
Benjamin G. Nazario
Professor Cacoilo
Convergence - Fall 2014
November 24, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment