Today’s Media and Technology

Let me begin by saying that Marshall McLuhan’s, The Medium is the Massage, is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. The book brought to attention so many aspects of how our world has changed by the invention and widespread use of ‘electric technology’. I never stopped to think about how the modern family is forced to respond to this technological world. The children of today are being born into a world where they will be able to understand a computer by the age of ten better than their parents. It is really amazing to think of how many ways we use this technology, but what is more amazing is how many ways we do NOT think of it.
My father grew up during the fifties and sixties. While I was (and still am) growing up, he would often talk to me about how drastically technology changed between his adolescence and mine. He would tell me how computers would occupy an entire room when he was in college, and how a trip to the public library was the best way to access information. He was (and still is) amazed at the rate modern technology is evolving. The technologically miraculous world of today is so incredibly different from the world he grew up in. My father grew up in a world where were taught to be a citizen of the United States. Because of all of the new opportunities that are available through today’s technology and the technology of the future, my father taught me to be a citizen of the world.
I never stop to think about how much the Internet alone plays such a vital role in my life. It is my umbilical cord to the world, where I have access to unlimited information as well as open communication to friends, family, school, and work. I was born into a world of such high technological sophistication, that I do not even have to see friends face to face to interact with them. Instead, I can chat with them on Facebook, AIM or XBOX Live. Amazingly, we have created a world where one could go through life without physically meeting anyone.
In specific regards to media in today’s technological era, “First Things First 2000, A Design Manifesto,” makes a very interesting point. Our world has become engrossed in technologically savvy media, so much so that today’s designers are being associated with commercialism. The request the Manifesto makes is that designers should move away from the obsession of consumerism to solve real-life problems, such as global warming, ethnic cleansing and disease control. Honestly, I think there are times where people get so overwhelmed and lost in this new technological era that they forget the more urgent problems of the world. It is too easy to watch the newest funny video on Youtube. Perhaps we need to use this technology in a ways that allow us to solve these problems. There are plenty of ways to ‘get connected’ to the problems. The Internet has a wealth of information on every detail of each problem. I think the people of this generation are more comfortable watching from their desk chair than actually participating. Maybe real-world problem solving will hit mainstream one day, and become the new hip thing to do. I certainly hope that designers will lead the way, and change today’s media from simply accessing the globe, to being the globe.