The Changes in Technology and Society - Essay Example

Tevevision nowadays seems to decrease in popularity because of the easy availability of modern and way practical tehcnologies. Among them are not only personal home computers but also portable and movable, more comfortable laptops, smartphones and tablets. All the advantages of a simple TV-set can be provided easily by new practical gadgets. The situation seems like the constitution of radio by television which happened quickly in the 1940s and 1950s. Straightforward and unstoppable progress makes not only what people need and even not only what they want. Technological innovations offer consumers fresh and new products and with each model the variety of functions become wider, more organized, comfortable and most of all cheaper. The nature of modern day technological breakthroughs is truly incredible. Internet is in some way repsonsible for the recent situation. It provided people with what today has become neccessity of being in touch with all the world. Internet programms like Skype changed the world of communications and by this the ability to call in any part of a world almost unchargable seems truly spectacular but today it is our reality in which we live (Naughton 2000). Skype and social networks also provided quick connection between earlier disconnected parts of the world like Africa for example. Things like Twitter became very popular because they have given the possibility to express opinions and ideas freely all across the world. Nowadays the majority of celebrities, people of culture, politicians and others use Twitter to connect with their audience. So what can we say about the television in 21st century? It is still used and available almost at every house. But so are computers, tablets, smartphones. Average computer with internet is also available almost everywhere except maybe in some secluded Asian, African or South-American villages. Computers can provide viewers with TV-programms as well as television and consumers can even watch his favourite programms in the subway or during lunch in the city (Meikle, Young 2012). The best advantage of internet television is the fact that viewer by himself decides what to watch and what not to. But TV-sets also have a slight advantage. This advantage is in their size. It is always more comfortable and pleasant to watch favourite movie on a big screen. It is so enjoyable because it looks like viewer is in the cinema though he doesn’t even leave his house. But this advantage is also being taken from TV because modern day computers can be connected to any kind of monitors. A lot for the progress and evolution of old TV from small boxes to modern days enormous flat screens was done by the videogamers. They also are the reason why personal home computer is still alive. That is because videogames just as movies are more comfortable to watch on the big screen. The reason why gamers need personal home computer lies in a fact that laptops don’t have processors of enough power as well as other demanded characteristics. Kids love play games, watch movies or cartoons, be in touch with their friends in social networks etc. If not for their interest in technologies old generation would simply ignore all progressive innovatons (Schramm 1961). Nowadays internet substitutes television more and more each day. The reason for that is the same that explained the end of the Golden Age of Radio during 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. When new technology appears in addition to the functions of the old models it also adds something extra, something new and even older functions become more comfortbale, quick and cheaper. That is the circualtion of progress with which new becomes possible on the basis of something old that becomes more developed, modernized and optimized. A lot in this circualtion depends on the growth of population because with bigger number of people more products are needed. That means that technological innovations is a neccessary tool in a mission to provide progress to all. More people need more things. More products need more resources and because resources are expensive so the key to maximize production is optimization process. Changes in this process influence product itself and to make people buy new product instead ofsticking to old companies add new and attractive abilitites to their products (Briggs, Burke 2009). Unfortunately nine times from ten such changes are only cosmetic and in the new package consumer sees almost identical product. Huge role in this process is played by fashion and people’s urgent and never satisfied need towards something new even if such superficial innovation is in fact an illusion. Newborn generations live in a quickly changing world and their desires become more critical and change every day. Just optimizing the producing process is not enough because new customers must be drawn by something that is new and connects with their unstoppable way of life. If the first TV-set would also be the last produced TV-set and people did not move further in this area sooner or later this TV would be in every house. In this case companies and big technology giants would no longer have the possibility to make their millions. Society and people just like progress of technology can not afford to stop and be still. Such inactivity and static position is not in a nature of a man. Each individual represents all humankind. Every person struggles for something, moves from point A to point B, from point B to the point C and on and on without an ending. That is the nature of things. Always move forward and never look back. Such dynamical growth allowed human to conquer Space, discover and use atomic energy, explore sea and air, cure ilnesses and diseases. This neverending race towards completion will never be complete. That is because desires and possibilitites are not always harmonized and they are more often exist off the balance. Nowadays a lot of discussions are present and their main theme is advantages and disadvatages of technology on a person in a commercialized, capitalized and structurized strictly hiyerarchical society. In society of this type person often want something that he doesn’t need or even want. Neverending desires and unbearable hunger for everything new and unknown disbalanced the demands of a human soul and mind. In a highly technological and mass communicative world full of information it is hard to develop a clear vision of things that surround us as a people with free wil. Such social and moral analysis is needed to justify the demand of masses towards technology and its neverending growth. There is no bad without something good. The main disadvantage that slightly leads to the decrease of the television is bad quality of the TV-shows. Television nowadays is in the midle of crisis because internet that can easily provide anything viewer wants makes it hard to choose and show something in which such viewer will be interested. Nevertheless despite people downloading, buying DVD or watching TV-shows online biggest TV networks still provide shows of a hig quality like Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Sherlock, True Detective and others. All shows like these are of a high quality and it makes television a force which one must consider when talking about television. And of course internet is just a conductor while TV networks has studios to shoot highly qualififed shows. Nevertheless most television products mainly consist of ingredients like trash, rubbish and garbage. Despite decreasing position of television among social and media tools it still has a huge influence on the masses (MacDonald 2009). As an example of a mighty power of television that is used in a bad way we can talk about media politics in coutries like Russia or Iran. In the 2014 year people all around the world became familiar with the terribly awful political propaganda in Russia. Politics and tyranny are not among the topics of our composition but still it is a good example of the huge role of television in a people’s life. A lot of elders in Russia still don’t have an internet access and their connection with the media communications become possible only thanks to television. And what television offers such a viewer? Complete and total control over the facts. And such government monopoly over the media choose facts by themselves and interpret these facts as they want. There are thousands of examples of Russian ridiculous political propaganda. The most shocking about all this is the fact that it works. Situation with television in Iran is even more disastrous because of the religious bigotry and absence of at least some kind of an opposition. Iran is very disturbed about media freedom in light of the Arab Spring. It is well known that chain of revolutions, civil wars and military takeovers that took place in the late 2010 and early 2011 years has started in Twitter. Nowadays neverending progress and quick world of consumption took full charge of the minds, activitites and lives of people. All that is going on serves to progress. New electronic innovations appear every day and TV is no longers the center of the free time family activities. Children that grow up now in a couple decades will no longer watch or even know what the television was and their favourite films, cartoons or shows will no more be scheduled acorrding to the statistics. Just like the radio nowadays exist only for the secluded circle of people so will TV in some time serve only as a nostalgic anachronism along with vinyl players, cassettes, VHS, DVD etc. All that average consumer need will be in a little piece of technology that will take less place that todays iPhones, be cheaper, more reliable and available to everyone. World Web is a mix and a synthesis of everything in the world of information. Access to internet is an access to all than is needed or wanted. Such powerfull, easily available, cheap, interesting and truthfull conductor has all the advatages when compared to national or private TV networks. Along with the extinction of TV newspapers, paper books, discs and cinema will dissapear. It is not only cheaper and takes less resources out of our mother Earth but it is also way more practical and direct.Nowadays the popularity of internet and its huge influence grew so enormous that discussions of the possibility to vote online during political elections presented among the media channels (BBC.com ) World of future Western consumption will be a world with a motto “Everything and Now”. Such concept is not only real but come as an answer to a long expected desire. Of course some parts of the world will still be more poor than others but that doesn’t make a difference. As it was with automobile, telephone, political theories and ideologies, medicince, photography so again undeveloped countries will adopt western innovations despite inability to increase level of life altogether. So what changes in society go along with technological progress? When we talk about interconecction between progress and society we surely step into the sphere of phylosophical, ethical, historical and psychological discussion. To see clearly what happens we must think in an abstract way and dig towards deeper roots of everything that we see around us. First what we must take in consideration is the general feeling of unhappiness and cases of so called existential crisis among the representatives of middle class in the highly developed Western countries. A lot in this phenomenon can be realized with the help of the works of famous writers in the fields of philosophy, psychology and history. Great German psychiatrist Erich Fromm criticized all the basic principles of Western consumptive society. I myself highly honor his position and works. If the total perplexity of Western higly industrial society is taken as a starting point than its neverending struggle for something new and unknown becomes quite clear. Consumptive society basic principle is a desire for something. Desire for everything can not be appeased and no matter how much human ego is fed it is still, unfortunately, never satisfied. Such hunger is explained by the inner vacuum that people try to fill somehow in any way possible. Nevertheless such unhappy situation with society as a subject of civilazation machine still allows some of its members to participate in this spectacle without damage to themselves. Even if such damage to person is done it stays unnoticable and its consequences are not a harm if viewed from different perspectives. By damage I mean total unregulation of basic principles and main moves of human mind. In a less abstracted way it is for example a well discussed issue about human memory which is becoming less trained because of the momentally available sources of information like Wikipedia or something else. It is also foolish concetration on an illusive world of internet which substitutes real life issues for a people addictive to social networks or videogames. Technologies like internet or television are a great exalple of human behaviourial problems and different issues connected to the psychic abilitites of a human mind. A lot in the researching of connection between progress and society depends on the way that new generations think about technologies that surround them. New generations luckily are free from old stereothypes. They are free from racial, national, religious or ideological intolerance. That is done thankfully to the internet which made possible the connection of everybody and everywhere. The main reason of decreasing role of the television is the invention of the internet. The modern situation is in fact similar to the historical decline that happened with radio which only provided sound and then was replaced by the television which also provided a picture. Nowadays TV which provides only TV programms serves more as a giant computer flat screen than television. Such screen is needed for the home entertainment because it provides a good picture for the numerous members of family, friends, guests etc (Clifford ,Gunter 1995). Rotary phone dialing, waiting for your favourite show and inability to use restroom untill the commercials will no longer be the problems of the media consumer. As an addition to my arguments explaining that TV is not dead yet I also want to say a few words about commercials. There are also commercials in the internet but there they are rightfully called Spam which means rubbish, litter, junk. Better possibilitites for commercials are given by TV because existence of TV in its nature depends on commercial advertising between shows and programms. During Super Bowl, Olympics, Championship League or something else huge masses of people all around the world watch television. In such case when a cosumer for example is not home and watches his favourite team plays like he supposed to – in the bar with friends. Of course it is uncomfortbale and foolish to give each person a laptop because more practical choice is to put couple of big TV-sets. Such example and a lot of screens in the subway that show commercials, on the roads and in the buses provide picture for the attention. People who watch such television are obviously without smartphone and Wi-Fi internet connection but even if one does not watch or listen he is still subconsciously affected by the information around himself (Rudin 2011). For such purposes TV networks and commercial companies are united in order to brainwash consumer. And good TV shows and programms are only grains of sand in the ocean of rubbish that is provided by TV and sponsored by advertisment agencies. So it is for the better that new generation that is represented by young and communicative people will no longer be connected to the source of information that so obviously controls activities of people. References Briggs, A., Burke, P. (2009). A Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet. Cambridge: Polity Clifford R. B., Gunter, B. (1995). Television and Children. Chicago: Psychology Press MacDonald, F. J. (2009). One Nation Under Television: The Rise and Decline of Network TV. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Meikle, G., Young, S. (2012). Media Convergence: Networked Digital Media in Everyday Life. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Naughton, J. (2000). A brief history of the future: the origins of the internet. London: Phoenix Rudin, R. (2011). The broadcasting in the 21th century. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Schramm, W. (1961). Television in the Lives of Our Children. New York: Stanford University Press Thompson, J. (1995). The Media and Modernity. Chicago: Polity Press. BBC Com. Retreived from: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32421086 Read More