As I am sitting here writing this post, the TV is on behind me. The internet and the opportunity to visit pointless websites, as well as getting on instant messenger to “chat” are right at my fingertips. My cell phone is also right beside me just in case someone important calls, and iTunes is calling for me to download new songs. So although “Amusing Ourselves To Death” relates to our lives today as much as it did in 1985, there are so many more distractions now more than 20 years later, than just television.
TV is becoming even more relevant and accessible through these other forms of media. You can now watch certain TV shows on the internet, can download them from iTunes, and can buy the DVD’s to watch your favorite episodes over and over again. Page 92 of “Amusing Ourselves to Death” says that “Television is our culture’s principal mode of knowing about itself.” This is true because it is so much easier to watch something then to take the time to read about it, although sometimes seeing something on TV encourages us to read more about it. Also, how many times do we refer to things that we saw on TV as opposed to a book or newspaper that we read?
Because of the electronic media that is so prevalent all around us, we don’t pay too much attention to books and newspapers. Television still is one of the primary means of communication for the culture that we live in today. We watch the news instead of reading the newspaper, and we even get caught up in dramas and sitcoms on TV and think that what happens on these shows is really how life is. We are receiving a skewed view of reality. This is especially being reinforced by all of the supposed “reality” TV shows.
The internet is also extremely relevant and important in the way we communicate today. It may even be more popular than the TV in terms of being used as a means of communication and showing the changing culture that we live in today. I would like to read a book that Neil Postman writes about the internet and everything surrounding it.
2 comments:
I agree that the internet throws a weird loop into how we watch TV. It would be interesting to read a book by Postman about the internet. I definately agree with the quote about television being our way to learn about ourselves, but much like you said, the internet is almost becoming a better place to find out about our culture; everything that's on TV is there now, too.
I liked how you touched on all the forms of media readily available to us at every moment. It's true that media has changed since Postman wrote "Amusing Ourselves to Death," but like you said, TV is still dominating the spectrum because TV shows are available through all sorts of media sources. I don't really see TV "dying" out any time soon, if at all, but I think television will have to adapt with the growing surge of the Internet. I also would be interested in learning what Postman would have to say about the Internet today.
Post a Comment