In the article, From Birth to Backlash, Rushkoff had a plethora of valid points. In todays society technological advancements are taking over and effecting other sources of media. As time passes each year the internet has more ways of communicating and downloading files. The internet went through a drastic change from being used as a simple source of communication to an effect on commerce.
The program AOL (America Online) is a perfect example of Rushkoff's argument. Years ago, America Online was used by millions of people all over the world. This service provided people with everything they needed, various ways of communication, webpages, and profiles. People who used this service had to pay a certain amount each month to be able to use these utilities. AOL was the main form of communication however, in todays society it's not. There are various ways of communicating with others across the world using different services, such as AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) and other programs like Internet Explorer, which lets you surf the web and look up anything. All of these services are free. There is no fee needed to go on a website, talk to your friend across the world or even create your own blog. Yet, there is a major downfall to these programs. There are many pop ups and advertisements that are influencing many web users. Instead of paying for internet, now people search on the world wide web to buy products online. Overall, internet has become a much larger complexity reaching out to much more then it was originally designed for. It let the internet become a hands on where people can create many things for themselves. Just like Rushkoff said,"These people don’t simply surf the Web. They are now empowered to create it."
Another point: Having these services for free exposes people to a variety of different media and economical advancements. There can be advantages and disadvantages to this. For example, when people paid for AOL there were more parental controls therefore, children could not see obscene things. Having everything free, exposes children to inappropriate things.
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2 comments:
I think your blog was great. I agree with you and Rushkoff. The internet used to be a form of communication but now it is so much more! Its absolutely amazing the kinds of things you can do now-a-days. Purchasing things online and creating a new world where you're connected to people all over the world and you may not even know them is so cool! I agree with what Rushkoff said about people not only surfing the web but creating it. Web-users DO create their own content based on their own personal interests. This blogger website would have never crossed my mind before this class but now I'm involved in an online community and can create my own web page for others to view! The fact that the internet wasn't originally designed for this use kinda contradicts Postman's side. I know he said that technology is inherently bias and that certain technology can't be predicted for future usage. The internet and its many uses are kinda an example of this too.
I agree with Cara but I also think that AOL is an outdated example. I believe that AOL used to be a very popular program among family and teens in order to access news and communicate with friends but now a days without paying these types of services are considered to be ammature and available to the public without extra fees. For example, people of all ages communicate and access news through myspace and facebook, even google, everything is available to the public for free. It is interesting to see the way in which the internet community has grown over just the past few years.
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