Friday, April 30, 2010

BEHOLD THE NEW MEDIA MAN!

Behold -- the new 21st C Media Man!

Media man (and woman) was born in the 20th C with the advent of radio, film and television. For millions of years largely singular and isolated, now the human species had 24/7 access to sounds and images from around the world. What had once taken months or days to hear about or to see for yourself, now poured across our sensorium in great gluts of music, entertainment, news and propaganda. We became destined to never be alone again.

What distinguished this Niagara of media in the 20th C was its uniformity. Audiences heard and saw the same things at the same time. And so, when Jack Benny told a joke or when Orson Wells reported the invasion of Martians or when Marilyn Monroe's skirt blew open, it was a universally shared experience.

For better or worse, that era has now come to a crashing Internet end...!

Here in the 21st C, almost everyone carries the whole world around with them on their desk or in the palm of their hand. To be accessed whenever, wherever and however we wish. There is little that is uniform now about what we experience, because now we choose what we will experience, where in our privacy we will do so, and when we find it convenient for our whims and schedules.

The thoughtless will report this as simply a matter of supreme technological convenience. The thoughtful will ponder some of its unintended consequences. Taken collectively -- this freedom of choice coupled with this gluttony of choices -- new Media Man exists inside his own private bubble of life. As secure as any president surrounded by legions of Secret Service, Media Man is now king of all he surveys. With a wave of his sceptered keypad, he can call up or dismiss virtually anything in his vast domain. An update from Bombay, a theatre in London, a game in San Francisco, a congressional hearing in Washington, a protest website, a conspiracy theory rant -- all is now at his digitalized fingertips.

Perhaps this description of Media Man sounds a little like God. Well, yes, it does. And thus what is meant by "unintended consequences." Exactly how ready is any of us to be God...?



2 comments:

  1. Perhap the appreciation of ones thoughts is one of the unintended consequences ... I appreciate your thoughts Jack ... and a gift given unasked brings blessings back to the giver in manifest ways ... may this weekend be a restful and kind one for you and those you have near.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Now that good wish just in itself made FB worth something today

    ReplyDelete