Sometimes, it’s simply amazing to hear the old, tired voices from the past talk about the changes that have come, and how it leads to losing touch with some old, unknown thing that grounds us to our past. We have seen it, through the centuries, with every technological advancement. When it was surmised that we were made sick by germs instead of an imbalance of elements or demon possession, no one screamed louder in objection than the old doctors. When explorers pointed west across the seas, and said the round Earth would carry on and not end, they said those explorers were mad.
In the information age, every step forward in our technology has been greeted with shouts and boos, mostly from those who are stuck in the technology of the past, complaining that this new technology removes some sort of spirit or soul from communication. Even those who pioneered the “new” technologies of their day 50 or 60 years ago make it seem that somehow the texting, tweeting, Facebooking, Pinteresting generation has lost something in the exchange of ease of communication. But maybe, they’ve found something instead.
Wireless Telegraph, 1915. - NationalGeographic
There was a time where the stalwarts decried the death of the letter at the hand of the short-form telegraph (which used to charge by the letter). There were those who believed that the moving picture would be the end of live theater, and kill the art and artistry of performing to crowd. Some people reading this may even be old enough to remember their parent’s laments that rock & roll, along with Elvis and The Beatles, would be the death of “good” music. In each of these cases, while the older generation cried about all that had been lost, the younger generation saw a new way to communicate, either literally or artistically, within the world given to them.
Instagram
Instagram is as much an art as any other form of photography. Just because the filters and focus are in the camera’s software, and not hardware, doesn’t mean the artist’s eye hasn’t found something beautiful, and photographed it as they’d like to see and remember it. As stodgier voices complain about words being shortened, abbreviated, and made up in texting and tweeting, they should remember that every generation has produced slang, and found ways of shortening and abbreviating words and terms for convenience and ease. If it seems strange today, that is only because never before has communications technology grown so quickly, spread so rapidly, and become so readily available in human history.
This doesn’t spell the end for the old standbys, necessarily. The pendulum always swings back, and what was old will be new again. The Elks Club hasn’t been burnt down to make room for a Google + hangout, but social media is here to stay, and grow, and change our lives in a myriad of ways yet to come.
Source:http://ronntorossian.blogspot.com/2013/07/too-much-new-media-5wpr-ceo-ronn.html
In the information age, every step forward in our technology has been greeted with shouts and boos, mostly from those who are stuck in the technology of the past, complaining that this new technology removes some sort of spirit or soul from communication. Even those who pioneered the “new” technologies of their day 50 or 60 years ago make it seem that somehow the texting, tweeting, Facebooking, Pinteresting generation has lost something in the exchange of ease of communication. But maybe, they’ve found something instead.
Wireless Telegraph, 1915. - NationalGeographic
There was a time where the stalwarts decried the death of the letter at the hand of the short-form telegraph (which used to charge by the letter). There were those who believed that the moving picture would be the end of live theater, and kill the art and artistry of performing to crowd. Some people reading this may even be old enough to remember their parent’s laments that rock & roll, along with Elvis and The Beatles, would be the death of “good” music. In each of these cases, while the older generation cried about all that had been lost, the younger generation saw a new way to communicate, either literally or artistically, within the world given to them.
Instagram is as much an art as any other form of photography. Just because the filters and focus are in the camera’s software, and not hardware, doesn’t mean the artist’s eye hasn’t found something beautiful, and photographed it as they’d like to see and remember it. As stodgier voices complain about words being shortened, abbreviated, and made up in texting and tweeting, they should remember that every generation has produced slang, and found ways of shortening and abbreviating words and terms for convenience and ease. If it seems strange today, that is only because never before has communications technology grown so quickly, spread so rapidly, and become so readily available in human history.
This doesn’t spell the end for the old standbys, necessarily. The pendulum always swings back, and what was old will be new again. The Elks Club hasn’t been burnt down to make room for a Google + hangout, but social media is here to stay, and grow, and change our lives in a myriad of ways yet to come.
Source:http://ronntorossian.blogspot.com/2013/07/too-much-new-media-5wpr-ceo-ronn.html
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