When selecting an artifact that demonstrates my own experience with the dominant media of our society, I decided to think of my typical daily routine in order to decide which medium has the most cultural significance in my life. Upon doing so, I quickly realized that my iPhone plays a dominant role in nearly all aspects of my life. After being woken by the alarm feature on my phone, I quickly check the weather, scores from the previous nights baseball games, and local news all from my phone. Throughout the day I send and receive event reminders, text messages, and emails from the same device. Sometimes I even trade stock from my phone in the middle of the day. At night, I plug headphones into my phone and listen to music while I visit the gym. As you can clearly see, I rely on my phone for a variety of functions.
Thinking back to the reading, Chapter One specifically, my understanding of the world around me would be completely different without my cell phone. If I were to go without my cell phone, I would be forced to find different methods of communication, such as written and spoken (methods I admittedly do not use enough). Additionally, my source of information from the world around me would be gone and I would have to seek alternative methods of gaining this information. The cultural significance of my iPhone is colossal, as the phone constitutes so many intellectual manifestations. My extensive daily use of the device proves how vital it is to keeping me in sync with the rest of the world. It would be very hard for me to function without a form of communication or news of the outside world, and my iPhone is what I primarily use for both. It is almost scary for me to think of my reliance on my phone and how hard my life would be without it. The culture that my cell phone has given me is one of instant communication and gratification. I am so used to receiving news instantly that if I ever had to rely on written mail through the Post Office, I would go crazy due to impatience. As a society we are progressing further with mass media almost daily, and I am not alone in my reliance on instant gratification.
Great post. I can relate to this addiction because I am also very attached to my blackberry.
ReplyDeleteI like this post for a couple of reasons. The first is that like Felipe said I can relate to this because I have become addicted to my blackberry. Before I had my blackberry I did not have a smart phone and I saw that a lot of my friends were using their phones for a variety of reasons. Needless to say once I got a smart phone I noticed everything it did and I quickly became attached to it.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty amazing how in the last two or three years, people have stopped asking for directions or giving them. If you don't have a phone with Google Maps or a GPS, everyone has access to Google Maps online or Mapquest. It's going to get pretty crazy in the next couple of years once ARM chips wind up in refrigerators, toasters and probably sheets of paper down the road. Our children will wonder why our ovens couldn't do self-diagnoses and automatically go online to order parts, schedule a service visit and automatically pay for the repair.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right in your comment about our pursuit of "instant communication and gratification." Technologies change our expectations for how 'instant' something has to be. Recently I've been impacted by friends and wanted desperately to get an iphone, but my contract don't let me do so until next Jan. So I have to WAIT... it is painful i can tell you, and it's been only 2 weeks since I decided to wait and it feels like foreever:) I guess I have to envision a premodern world where there's nothing like iphones so I can stay content about my life.
ReplyDeleteNice post.
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