Why Read From Books Any More?

By: Daniel Harris

Once upon a time, you sat in a circle with other children while your teacher read an intriguing story from a book. Or you laid tuck under your covers as a loved one read you a bed time story from your favorite book. At times you were very eager to flip through the pages just to find out what happened next or even to take a look at the colorful illustrations or the pop out pictures.  Controlling the book in your hands was fun and had a sense that the story was yours and when you got to the end, you lived happily ever after too.

In today's day and age, technology has evolved beyond our imagination.  You do not have to read from books physically no more.  There are media tablets that has taken over the hard and paper backs.  A simple download and a swift movement of your fingers, you can put children to sleep as if you have the actual book in your hands.

These media tablets are so easy to use, children can pick them up and use them themselves.  This takes away from one on one time with the other person reading to the children.  Also, this takes away your chance on teaching children how to read yourself.  The technology is so advanced, that they can do all the reading and learning themselves.  At least there will not be any more stomping your toe into the bookcase, where as though you can simply store hundreds of books on to a small hand held device.

A Second Life vs. The First Life

Submitted by Mirra Watkins


Imagine a world of “infinite possibilities.”  A world that has a flourishing economy that will never go under.  Your entire life is completely controlled by you.  Type of business, education, income, gender, employment, race, body, mate — it is all decided by you.  A tad bit enticing it sounds, does it not?  Such a wondrous and perfect life is so easily attainable in the online virtual world known as Second Life.

For those who are not familiar with it, Second Life is a more interactive and elaborate way of Facebooking while indulging in one’s fantasies that people enjoy or admire in TV, books, or films.  Create your own avatar and be whoever and wherever you wish to be in “a life without boundaries” where “the sky is hardly the limit.”  Though it sounds like a fun way of escapism, Second Life (and other programs like it: Sims and IMVU) has become harmful to our society.  It has contributed to the isolation of people from the real world, hindering users from real-life interactions within our society.

In D. Stanley Eitzen’s “The Atrophy of Social Life,” he discusses how some types of social advancement has led to a downfall in social interaction.  One social advancement that he touches on is technology and how it has led many to social isolation.  In connection with Second Life, the virtual world has caused many to isolate themselves from society.  No doubt about it, Eitzen was making a valid point.

Second Life has led many users to spend over 20 hours a week engaging in a false life.  Twenty to forty hours a week (according to The Wall Street Journal) are dedicated to sitting at home, cooped up in a room, gazing at a screen, interacting with other avatars with false identities.  Would you not say that was socially isolating oneself?  Some Second Life users might claim that it’s not, that they are still interacting and socializing…just with other users.  However, take a closer look.

Are Second Life users engaging in “face-to-face interaction,” where real connections between people are genuinely formed?  Eitzen mentioned that "we are becoming an autistic society" because we are "communicating electronically without really connecting."  There is a greater level of intimacy and meaning in a relationship amongst two people in real life who know each other’s true selves than two avatars that are little to nothing like the real individuals behind the computer screen. Therefore, Second Life users are actually socially isolating themselves for they are not having "face-to-face interactions" that form real connections and relationships.  Look at the picture below, it only represents one kind of relationship (dating) people can have, but generally speaking which type of relationship would be more meaningful to you or give you a greater sense of connection, the virtual one (left) or the real-life one (right)?

I have read many accounts from Second Life users who have become or previously were addicts to the virtual world.  Some users gradually started ignoring the real people and responsibilities of their first life in order to spend more time on Second Life.  As Eitzen said, “The more time people spend online, the less they can spare for real life relationships with family and friends,” and forming new meaningful, real-life relationships.  Many users claimed Second Life was interfering with work, friends, school, family, and love.  They skipped out on social outings and spending quality time with family and friends.  They avoided doing homework or work at the office.  Alone in their house for hours, they shunned the outside world in exchange for playing in a virtual world where people could fabricate their looks and lives.  Eventually, “second life became [their] first life.”  Therein lies, why Second Life users should be cautious so that their virtual world does not isolate and alienate them from the real world and their real-life relationships.

I do understand we all have our hobbies and things that we like to indulge in to escape from reality.  There’s nothing wrong with interacting or socializing on Second Life.  But just like any other hobby, it is wrong to indulge too much time into a leisure activity that causes you to isolate yourself from society.  When a person finds himself spending more time in Second Life with virtual friends than hanging out with his friends and family or not trying to meet just as many new people in the real world as he made in a virtual world, now is the time for reevaluation.  Finding a balance between Second Life and interactions in real life will help many people refrain from becoming socially isolated.

No More Face-to-Face

Keith Miller


Over the past couple of years, face-to-face communication has really disappeared.  This can all be thanks to technology.  With the Internet, our phones and other types of technology we can have a conversation without even looking at the person.  Communication is key to so many things in life and technology is helping but also hurting society and having the ability to communicate face-to-face.

Internet has brought us so many ways to communicate online.  Probably the oldest way is by e-mail which is still very popular and very important in this society today.  From e-mail came instant messaging which was the ICQ and AOL.  As the years went on it lead to social networks such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.  All of these different ways of communication share a common purpose and that is to be able to have a conversation with someone else without even moving from your computer.  With enhancing technology every day we are now able to web chat online whether its Skype or ooVoo with anyone from around the world.  When going shopping for clothes or food you use to see the same people all the time shopping too.  Thanks to Internet we don't even need to leave the house to get food or clothing which then eliminates us from have face-to-face conversations with fellow shoppers.

If you don't have a cell phone then your living in another world.  Cell phones have become so popular and so advanced that depending on what type of phone you have it is basically a computer.  Phones were made just so we can talk, now there is a lot more things you can do besides talk.  Every phone has texting which can be unlimited, every phone can e-mail so now you don't always have to be on the computer, and now recently phones such as the IPhone have web cams on them so you can have FaceTime with someone.  But is it really having a conversation face-to-face?  Between this FaceTime and regular web cams for the computer, this could be a good start to being able to use technology and also being able to communicate face-to-face.

Communicating face-to-face has defiantly dropped over the years thanks to technology.  But in the direction it is heading, in my perspective, I believe that people will communicate more often face-to-face using technology such as a web cam whether its on your phone or computer.

A New Look Into Technology

By: Chaz Fudge, III

                       Technology has new look into things mainly because now a variety of gadets have new ways

into connecting to social media. Like as apple pc's, ipads and tablets can be used to connect to what an

indivdual wants rather if it's facebook, twitter, skype or words with friends for entertainment to kill time on

train ride home from work etc. Poilce headquaters has the ability to tap in phone conversations now because

of new inhanced technology that they've recived over years, since makers of the product gotten smart to

make life smart and easy for not only for business wise also elderly as well. They devloped the emergancy

button press for the distressed elderly when they're in trouble and help is sent electronicly directly to the

headquaters for a dispatcher to send out the poilce to aid them. That's the beauty of technolgy today it can

save lifes anywhere and help ease troubles of physically enabled indivduals.
            
                Elmentary schools, middle schools and even high schools are now doing lessons on ipads and

tablets to capture attention of students and bring in fun with eduactional process with it. Teachers find it

easier and fun for students to learn then to be used to old method to write and talk all day long in front of

class which could be boring at times lol at times but its good thing that teachnology is fun for all ages and

good way to interact. Moreover, ipods and mp3's in such has inhanced greatly due to the fact the new

technology has many ways into unlocking music to higher level.

                  The media's network has been named largest social pool in America and it's beginning to become

nation wide. Facebook began becoming an nation wide social network for American's whose  relatives aren't


in U.S. can be in contact on via facebook ,and video chat. Twitter as well, howevery it's not as big as

facebook and can do variety things to be interactive in media its more of a journal blog of what your doing in

life whatnot. Media and technology helps the social society communcate with one another without this the

world will be dull and hard to deal with one another.

Technology Overload

Submitted by Ashleigh Niemiec

The general public is facing a technology overload everywhere we go. We carry our cellphones everywhere, people carry their computers, iPods, just to name a few. Now we might have to subjected to computer screens on our shopping carts. Can you image going shopping and as we go up and down the aisles different manufacturers would advertise their products on the computer screen attached to our shopping cart. Even if we can turn off our cart, we would have to listen to other carts on the same aisle. Other problems would be pushing the cart with a computer attached to the underside of the cart, the screen would limit how we load and unload the cart. If we damage the computer screen we could be liable for it.

This type of marketing is targeting the food shopper in the family which is usually the female head of the household. This type of targeting is feminist. You would not find this type of marketing on shopping carts in home improvement stores, advertising tools and such for the male head of the household. This type of marketing is not fair if they are only targeting females. This is also targeting the children who are with their parents, making them ask for the products that they see on the computer screen making Mom buy more than she was planning too.

When is enough, we need to stop all the advertising everywhere we go, we are subjected to it on television, spam on our computers, junk mail, and advertising in our newspapers and magazines. When do we get a say when enough is enough. What is next commercials in our cars as we drive down the highways advertising the stores that we pass. It would be very disturbing when we are driving, worse than texting. We need to take a stand before this gets out of hand.

Is Technology pushing us farther away?

Submitted by : David Wagner

Socially Interactive technologies such as text messaging, instant messaging and chatting online through websites such as Facebook are very popular among children and adult's these days. Using these technologies may negatively effect our offline social and friendship networks. Are social networks effecting the way we communicate  and socialize with others for the worse?

In my eyes i think so, because communicating with others over a text message (and or Facebook messages or some other form of instant messaging), there is a peace of humanity that is not there. The whole intimacy of face to face interaction is what is missing. Human's are social creature, we need a good amount of real social interaction in our lives to keep us happy and sane. Technology has brought us together in one aspect, but in the other is further isolating us from one another. When i was a child, if i wanted to talk to my friends i either had 2 choices, i either called up them up over the phone or I saw them in person. At the time, no one had computers or internet ( or cell phones) back then to rapidly send one emotionally devoid block of text one after the other.

ya know, you might be missing the world around you...

Social Networking has given us a chance to communicate with others we never even met before! Like back when Myspace was hitting big back in around 2006, it seemed that everyone had a page, it was insanely popular among teenagers.  I remember the Myspace days, back when i would get a bunch of random friend requests from strangers i never even knew, all because i might've "looked cool" or had a really neat HTML layout on my page that attracted others.  In reality, I did a lot of communicating with people who are complete strangers to me. Though in my mind i felt that i was connecting with all these different people, but in reality that is far from the truth.

I have a semi-embarrassing anecdote about meeting someone on Myspace that really illustrates my point of how online social networking can effect us in negative ways. One day, a girl randomly added me on Myspace who i thought was attractive. We both commented and instant messaged each other for months straight. We decided that we should meet up one day at a mall and hang out. I went up to the mall by myself and she went with her friend. ( this is someone who I've never spoken to on the phone or anything, all of our contact has just been through instant messaging). I approached her at the mall and said hello, and she said hi back. But there was an intense awkwardness surrounding the whole situation. I mean, I've talked to her for months and spent countless hours communicating with her through instant messages, but when i met her, it felt as if i randomly went up to stranger and started talking to her. The whole experience was generally uncomfortable and she kept texting her friends during it( Perhaps most of her social interactions were from behind a computer screen, maybe that could explain her awkwardness?) .  Basically my point is that sure, i was communicating with her, but at the end of the day, it didn't help me really form a good social bond with her in the long run.

In conclusion, technology like text messaging and online social networks are an amazing thing, but I feel that they are best used sparingly. I have a close circle of friends that i see regularly, I communicate with them through texting and social networks, but i also make the effort to see them in person to enforce our social bonds, which is much more important.  The video below pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter.

"technology can't ever be human"

Technology Running Circle around us

Submitted by Fred Dukes Technology has put a major impact on the way people live life. Technology has become such a apart of our life its like we cant live with out it. For example when walking down the street 9 out of every 10 people you see are either on there cell phones texting or with headphones in there listening to somebody tell them whats wrong with the world. And at home with the social networking and new ways to communicate its almost like the only way people can interact with one another a lot of people suffer with not being able to hold face to face conversations with people because there not use to expressing there feelings through verbal communication. Peolpe have lost site on how to live life because for as long as you take to look at your phone or listen to your music you miss out on hearing the beautiful sound of nature or the communication and dialouge that is going on around to

FUTURE, FASTER, AND FACETIME

Submitted By Shanea Hannibal

Let’s admit it people, no matter how young or old, we are addicted to the mass production of new cellular devices thrown in our face every day! This is the future and beyond for media and technology of the world. We just love the feel of a touch screen, the rapidly fast progress of connects with via Internet, messaging, downloading, and who doesn’t love Wi-Fi. Just looking at those advertisements like the commercials, billboards, and the biggest yet- seeing other people carry their high-tech phones just gives you the urge to go out and buy one for yourself, whether it’s an IPhone, Blackberry, Samsung, HTC, or Motorola Droid. 

 

These phones supply us with everything we need in one little package. How much better could life get. The fact of the matter is, do we really give this any thought? I mean do we really need this much information at our every touch with just a tap of the finger. What good is it to pick up a book Books when we can buy them on our phones, who needs to actual sit and watch a movie with friends I can buy it on my phone and multi-task, who needs to go all the way to Home Depot for flash lights, I get it on my phone! They supply use with so much today we don’t need to utilize other resources.

This creates social isolation as well. We as people get so lost in all with what technology offers and what it allows us to do that we overlook everything else around us. I mean seriously, text message and picture mail use to be the huge diversion to our lifestyles but now it’s more than that. You have people flying you e-mails, IMs, notifications from your social networks (Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter), video-chatting and do we ignore them- I think not. Why is it so important for us to be socially involved (but really nonsocial) over something so materialistic. If you drop your cell phone and it breaks- which happens often, you have no choice to wait for a new phone to ship out about a week later- unless you have insurance. The fact of the matter is what will you do? Go days without talking to anyone or physically go out your way to pick up a house phone or even better take a walk or ride to see the person and actually hold a human-like conversation with them. 

 

The fact of the matter is that we can’t lose ourselves within the social skills we obtained from the young age of infants. Do we really want our next generation to grow up only learning the language of computer-cell phone dialogue; LOL, OMG, TTYL, WTF, and etc. Technology is making headway everyday (oh yes, there are scientists discussing about 8G speed at this very moment) do we really want to become the victims of new advancements, when the only added feature is a slight more storage space and a unusual color and shape to look fresh.

Koyannisqatsi-Life Out of Balance

Submitted by Kevin McTague

History shows us that advances in technology has greatly influenced social life today in vastly different ways.  Some advances helped our way of life improve yet some have destroyed what we know.  This film shows just that how technology has influenced society. Koyannisqatsi, from the Hopi language meaning Life Out of Balance, is a film like no other. It was made in 1978 by Godfrey Reggio.  It has no story, no dialogue, and no characters.  It is a film of just images with music. The images show very different landscapes and how technology has destroyed it or not.

The short trailer is linked below
Do watch it it may change you perspective on the world

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PirH8PADDgQ

In the film we see cities and rural landscapes and each for different reasons.  Shot in most tine lapse the viewer can see just how out of balance life is.  From the dizzying views of NYC and LA to the hauntingly barren deserts landscapes..These image juxtapositions show how technology has not seeped everywhere just yet and those non urban areas there is no ounce of it.  This can be a huge difference in how the social life in each area is greatly varying.

This film truly changed my persecptive on life and how we live it. I hope it does the same for you. 

Sometimes we can be Mean.........

   Submitted by Allen Bradford        

       Video games are at the forefront of technology and media.  The ever growing industry attracts people of all ages all around the world.  Companies like Microsoft and Sony have integrated the internet more and more through their online services of Xbox Live and the Playstation Network respectively.  The highest concentration of gamers online is concentrated in the Northeast of North America. Me being an avid gamer I am a member of both services so I connect to people of all ages from different backgrounds. Being from a major metropolis on the east coast, there has been a disturbing trend that has becoming more problematic.  A letter I read in a magazine has pointed this trend out and the writer was correct.  We can not help ourselves when it comes to teasing our competition that is not like us.

            A perfect game to use as an example is Call of Duty: Black Ops.  This is a hardcore shooting game which allows you to go online and take the fight to other people.  Microsoft and Sony allow you to use microphone headsets to take the experience further and talk to everyone you are playing with.  In the letter I read the guy was from the south and talks about how his southern accent is constantly made fun of, but at least Americans understand him.  Reading this had me thinking about all the small kids I have made fun of for playing this mature rated game with their high pitched cries and squeals.  Also, foreigners from all of Europe and Asia are constantly being harassed about their accent, they way they talk, even their slow internet connection.

            I can’t help to think, “Damn, I’m guilty”, because I even have my moments, especially when I lose.  The fact that the letter I read was published in a major gaming magazine means that this has really become a problem.  In all honesty, it is wrong because I hear it every time I start to play and no one can like that.  It takes away from the fun experience of the game.  There is a difference between clean trash talk and harassment of others because of their culture. We as gamers here on the east coast need to learn to be more respectful toward others around the world so we can increase our player base and invite more friendly competition.

The Downfall of the Book, and How It Affects Our Society

Submitted by Marjorie Bartell

    It's official, every Border's bookstore in the US closed this month for good.  After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February of this year, and then not being able to make up the money by a July deadline, the company made the decision to close all 399 US stores.

    It's not just Border's, although they are the most extreme case.  More than 1,000 bookstores in US have closed from 2000 to 2007 (source).  So what could be a possible reason for the slow decline in business to bookstores and bookstores themselves?  The biggest suspect we could look at it is the rise of the Ebook reader.

    The Ebook reader is made by many different companies.  The one you may hear about the most, through the heavy marketing they have done, is the Amazon Kindle (pictured on the right).  Sales for the standard black and white displays for Ebook readers are expected to reach 25-30 millions units this year (source).

    Libraries in several places in the US are now starting to make their books available through Ebook readers, making their library selections ready to browse and download online.  Some schools are starting to make the switch from standard textbooks to Ebook textbooks.

    So what kind of effects can this new technology have on our society and our every day life?  Bookstores have always been a great place to find a good book, listen to book readings from your favorite author, or meet other people that may be interested in the same books as you are.  With this establishment slowly fading away, it creates another wall of isolation in our society.  Most of us do our shopping online, and there are many other factors that keep us from the every day chances we have make face to face social connections.  We will no longer even have to say hello to the mail man who may have delivered us the book, or the librarian when we need to find a book in the library.

   However, reading books in general is quite an isolating habit in the first place.  Ebook readers just makes the delivery and where we buy/rent them, much more isolating.  There really isn't much we as a society can do to change this, making books electronic really does just make sense.  My parents are a perfect example of this, the amount of money, time, and space they could save by using Ebook Readers could be astronomical.  My father in particular goes through library books like they're candy!  

    The only worry is the library, the book stores, what will happen to them?  Will every one be able to even afford ebook readers?  Maybe our libraries will be replaced with ebook rental places!  Only time will tell.  Until that time, enjoy not having piles of books lying around anymore if you can afford it, but don't forget to find ways to involve others!  At least talk to people about the lovely books you're reading.  Bring your ebook readers outside!

Media's Impact on Social Norms

Submitted by: Gregory Fowler

“It Gets Better” is an internet-based project founded by syndicated columnist Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller.  The focus of the project is suicide prevention among gay teens who are bullied.  Originally intended as a Youtube channel in response to the suicide of Billy Lucas, the It Gets Better Project has grown to over 20,000 videos of adults from all sexual orientations encouraging youths that life does get better.  Its website features endorsements from numerous celebrities, nonprofit organizations, corporations, universities, and most recently, major league baseball teams.



The teams that have made videos for the project include the Tampa Bay Rays, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and the Philadelphia Phillies.

At first, I was surprised that not all of the teams in Major League Baseball had made videos for the project.  However, it seems that the individual teams are deciding to make these videos, not MLB as an organization.  Interestingly, different teams use different language in their PSA.  In addressing the issue, some teams use the acronym LGBT, whereas others use the words, “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender“. Why this difference in language?   

I did some research into the home cities of the teams who made the PSAs.  It seemed to me that any correlation between teams that endorsed the video and those who didn’t could be solved by the looking at the social geography of their home cities.  This was not the case.  I couldn’t find any correlation between the teams that made the videos and the size of gay populations in those cities that might indicate new target markets.  Nor could I find a correlation with teams that have falling attendance rates, or any other economic strategies aimed at generating more income.  Also, it doesn’t seem that teams that have a smaller fan bases are attempting to look at new nationwide demographics either.

After exhausting my ideas about why certain teams would endorse the It Gets Better Project, I was reminded of the discussion of social norms.  Social norms are the rules that a group uses to define appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.  Specifically, in the case of these videos, the perception of social norms and how they are influenced through media is what I found interesting.  These athletes’ personal beliefs surrounding sexuality become, in a way, social issues by virtue of their prominent positions and status as role models, as well as speaking as a united team.  This is particularly true if we can rule out obvious economic interests in gaining new fans.

The It Gets Better Project is, by itself, an example of how technology takes personal issues of sexuality and presents them in a social context.  The rate at which the project is expanding shows how effectively media transforms these individuals’ stories from personal issues into public discussions, where broad social norms regarding sexuality have the potential to be greatly influenced.  This influence comes not only by the celebrities and organizations that have endorsed the project, but from the depersonalization of private issues from the people uploading their stories.


 

Who runs the world?

Submitted by: Maurice C.

Media and Technology as we see it runs the world that we live in. We live in a society that revolves around both of these. It's not a day that goes by  that we are not seeing things from media television or being provided through technology. Technology has evolved so enormous that it truly shuns people away from their social norms by which Intels , face-to- face interactions with ones family and friends. This take over has disabled us as people to have direct connections with our loved ones and  stating that we sadly lack. The evolution of Technology has replaced the ideas of having to actually leave your home to see a movie through to such things as "Netflix", and many online outsourced sites where you can obtain televisions shows of the past and of the present. Through this evolving legacy movie rental stores such as " Blockbusters" and "Hollywood videos" have gone out of business due too evolving technology. Technology has caused an isolation amongst people, people are overtly consumed in technology and what it has to offer. As i can recall, "I've never lived in a time where people text messaged as much as they talked." What amazes me is the social networks in which we are ever so bonded to."Facebook", "Myspace", "Twitter" has taken over our airways and continuing to surface.


We must realize that everything is being converted into digital technology, channels and so forth. Any and every thing you need and want is being provided through via internet. It's becoming a technology world order. Let me ask you this, "What ever happened to social meetings?" Nowadays all you have to do is simply go on the internet to one these multi-million dollar social networks.We are becoming this technological world and it is consumes lots of us. Moreover, technology consumes our education, so furthermore you don't have  to sit in a class room and interact with classmates and your teachers, you can simply take classes from home while being  isolated  from socializing. We are getting lost in this technological world. 

Then we also have media. Media is  another outsource where people can find media television appealing because it focuses on any and everything all around us in our everyday lives. One can turn the television to  news stations or entertainment stations and get updates of celebrities, athletes, entertainers,etc. All these are publicized through media by way of television. It appears that no one is safe from the media. Media and Technology runs hand and hand , you can't have one without the other. At the current times we live in media and technology  highhandedly is 95 percent if not more of  our entertainment.

Too Much Technology

Submitted by Umajah E.

Through out the century technology has played a major part in how people  interact with each other. Technology has evolved in so many ways. DVD players have replaced VCR, "Netflix" has replaced going to the movies, and social networks have replaced face-to-face interaction. People are barely talking on the phone or meeting up with friends. Everything is being done online. Technology is consuming us all and we are becoming lost. It's everywhere and some individuals think it is becoming too much.

 Everyone is becoming connected through the Internet. Shopping,banking, dating, and even college is being done online. People are beginning to feel safer and more secure in the comfort of their own homes. Families and friend no longer meet up or call each other to catch up. They now use "Facebook", "Twitter", cell phones and "YouTube" to stay connected. Everyone stays home to watch TV or search the web instead of going out. Cell phones are now equipped with a "Face time" feature that lets consumers see the person they are talking to on the phone. Teenagers find this to be much easier. Teens are the main individuals that are influenced by the media. Every company and advertiser puts up advertisements all over the Internet. When teens see various ads over and over again they start to feel as though they are connected or a part of that company. Social networking is starting to be too much now. Many people are becoming bored with all this social networking. It is very overwhelming. I honestly think society will not be able to survive without the Internet.

  The Internet is a great and resourceful place, but we need some time away from it.We spend up to eight hours of our day staring at computer screens, and during the remaining sixteen hours of the day we constantly on our phones. We eat, walk, and even use the bathroom all while sending text messages or updating our statuses on social networks. We do too much on our phones and computers. When will enough be enough.