Sunday, April 29, 2012

I HATE it when...


          The computer has completely revolutionized the society we live in today.  I remember pretty early in Elementary school I had to have pictures for a project and my dad had to look them up for me because I didn’t know how to “google”.  But by 6th grade I spent more time playing SIMS than I did actually interacting with those around me.  My generation has grown up right along side the invention of DVD’s, CD’s, and high quality computer games and we have totally embraced all of it.  It seems like today there is a media for everybody no matter what you are into.  The constant invention of new things, the bettering of what was once “top of the line”, this attitude is what fuels our society to keep buying and keep grabbing at new media.  Apple, a company that sold 17.07 million iphones in the September Quarter with a revenue of $28.27 billion, has capitalized on this constant need for more better than any other company I know. (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/10/18Apple-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-Results.html)    
            There is always something new at Apple, the iphone or mac laptop you are holding will never stay the most high tech device for long.  This constant updating and reaching for what we don’t have has made our view on technology of today a space bias.  My MacBook Pro computer is 2 years old and it runs on an old program, is without facetime, and is larger/less eco friendly than every MacBook Pro sitting in the Apple store’s today.  In only 2 years!  Space bias, including rapid social change and media that is less durable, has become Apple’s specialty.  Their marketing of new products reaches millions of people over long distances; however, almost instantly once a huge audience has been reached they turn around and the iphone 4 they just bought is lame compared to the iphone 4S.  It’s enough to make you crazy always reaching for the best, getting it, and then within a year you are right back where you started and have to reach again.

I HATE it when:

I HATE it when I walk into the Apple store and a 12 year old is getting a new computer.  SERIOUSLY?  You’re 12, you do not need a machine like that for 6th grade.  I’m judging your parents for spoiling you and resenting my own parents because they obviously don’t love me as much as your parents must love you. 

I HATE it when I sit down at my computer to relax and do what I want for 30 minutes and I look up and it’s been 2 hours.  Where did my time go?  What have I really been doing?  What have I actually accomplished???  It’s as if the media of today forces you to suffer from space bias because the rapid social change is something you have to keep up with so you update yourself on your brand new computer which is now old news because you just spent 2 hours reading about and shopping for the cool new computer you wont be able to afford until the newer new computer comes out because then the current new computer will go on sale… I’m out of breath just typing that sentence.  It’s a cruel bias to live by.

I HATE it when I see media that used to be classic having to change to keep up with our constant need for updates.  For example, the poor radio has been forced to do nothing but music since TV made it possible to watch entertainment instead of just listen.  Now, with the invention of computers, the Internet and Pandora, radio had to take out all its commercials and provide XM radio just to keep up and still entice people to listen.  What happened to the imagination you used to use when listening to a scary story?  Sometimes, in our hurry to make things better, we forget about the positive attributes of the old stuff.

            In conclusion, space bias of media relates very closely to computers and the constant need to update in our society is supported by the crazy people at Apple.  Steve Jobs set up the marketing of his products perfectly to fit into the type of society suffering from space bias we are today.  It’s an up-to-date world out there and everybody is just trying to keep up.    

  

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