Internet....pure MAGIC I tell you!
Once upon a time the only way to send and receive news or gossip was via a quill, parchment and a animal (whether it be a owl or horse depended upon Harry Potter or the King of England) but now-a-days... its instant, quick, non-messy and well...convienient.
Where it use to be mail, a mail box, a postie and a letter box...now stands the computer, a email account and a mouse.
Where there use to phone calls on landlines, theres now mobiles, with txt messaging and mobile internet connections 24/7 just incase you need to check the weather...
And lastly...where there use to me MSN via a hotmail account....now stands FACEBOOK and the new addition of FACBOOK CHAT!!! which seems to be very popular according to word on the streets..
THe internet has replaced the common difficulties in life and replaced it with convienience...No longer do students need to sit in a library researching...information now comes to them through a computer screen.
As Creed (2003, p.194) states, “For the world is now, more than ever before, directly ‘around us’”, it is only a computer screen away. The world being that is....THE WORLD WIDE WEB!!!
The internet has to be the most practical invention by far in the last 20years or so...It has come a long way from its origins, even from dial-up to wireless is a huge transformation, allowing the user easy access, at the speed of lightening. The internet has not only opened up the doors of instant access to friends and family globally. It has opened the doors for business's to run and advertise online, for communities to form with common interests, for the average joe to pay bills and organise his life with the few clicks of a mouse, for university students to gain instant access to knowledge...in bountiful supply and well...basically the internet allows one to do almost anything....right down to playing a game of chess...with a gentleman in europe!
If someone from the 16th century were to come back today, they would swear it was magic...but for our generation, its just common practise these days....we all have computers or laptops in our rooms, its the first thing we do in teh morning and the last thing we do at night. Checking social networks, bank accounts and emails is part of our daily routine, so for generation y....its nothing to be valued, until you lose it...
Speakin as somone who has lived without the internet at the begininning of a semester, I truely learnt the value of the internet in the comfort of my own home. You lose connectivity, conveinience, control....and its not pleasureable....I do not recommend it.
So there it is, my philosophical thought for the night. The Internet is magic, its part of our lives and allows us to live at ease, knowing we can just flick a laptop open or push a button and have the world at our fingertips....where ever we may be!
Reference
Creed, B. 2003. The Global Self and the New Reality. In Media Matrix: Sexing the new reality. Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin
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2 comments:
Elaine,
Eureka, you have perfectly encapsulated the notion of convergence; and at the same time exposed the true link that the current generation has with the process. As a 21-year-old I am one of the first native internet users, while yes I can still remember the early days and beforehand, I too am symbiotically linked to the internet. Hartley (2002, 39) also believes that the internet stands at the centre argument of convergence, stating that convergence is in-fact the “integration of telephony, computing and media... [with] businesses, markets and the social interactions associated with them”. So as the internet becomes more intrinsic in our lives, and therefore much more ubiquitous, it is also becoming part of our culture which I think is what you primarily hint at throughout the blog. Terry Flew (2005) recognises that technology is fast becoming part of cultural forms. As we have moved from the quill to the keyboard and mouse we simply viewed these new physical tools and artefacts as innovative ways to access and produce culturally significant content. Therefore as we adapt to new technologies we readily accept them into our lives. Flew (2005) also says that technology (as hardware and innovation) has no significance in our lives without software or content. So as the internet now carries the vast myriad of content, which was once delivered by an equally vast array of old technologies and mediums, it has become both culturally significant and necessary to our lives. How did we ever do without it?
Hartley, J. 2002. Communication, Cultural and Media Studies. London: Routledge.
Flew, T. 2005. New Media: An introduction. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Also of interest may be the following blog, on Schtolle.com, which takes the concepts a little bit further:
The Notion of Convergence: The Relationship Between New Media Technologies and Participatory Culture.
It can be accessed at:
http://schtolle.com/blog/?p=36
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