Jon Barnes, a friend and former classmate of mine produced a great piece of video on his final project for his Grad class called McLuhan Wear. It is about surviving technology and inspired by a guy who died in 1980, but said things like "With telephone and TV it is not so much the message as the sender that is 'sent.'" and "Today each of us lives several hundred years in a decade." Jon's video challenges so many areas that our culture needs to be challenged. It is healthy to constantly question our use of technology, and clearly we've failed as a culture so far.
Generation X and Y (or whatever they're called) need to be aware of these issues more than ever before. We need to understand the place of privacy in a digital world. We need to know what information anyone can already know about us easily, or even think they know about us. We need to know that "indiscretions of youth" that once may have passed unnoticed can haunt us later. The political candidates of 2040 will have new challenges of distinguishing themselves from what they said about issue N when they were 17 on MySpace.
Resolution for Surviving the Future from Jon Barnes on Vimeo.
Thinking of Elizabeth's current and future relationship with technology can be a bit overwhelming. What are toys teaching her? She has a VTech notebook that she's using while sitting beside me. It's pretty cute and she seems to be having fun emulating me. She has a TMX Cookie Monster that rolls around the floor laughing when you push a button. She has been so enamored with our phones that she has been given a few play phones. She also has lots of books, wooden blocks and other non-tech toys. Clearly each of these toys teach something.
How can I protect her from learning ideas like "Technology can be my friend" from an interactive/robotic cookie monster. Or later, "My value is based in the information I know", which I think is where our individual identity is shifting. That is opposed to value being in what we do. We balance and combine interactions with things with interactions with us and when the weather permits we spend time outside walking the beautiful parks of Allentown. We limit TV time in lieu of time with us. What other ways does one raise a child to grow up human rather than an accessory to consumerism and technology? What lessons have we learned from previous generations that grew up with radio and television? I'll refrain from answering my own question any further in hopes of some good responses from you.
Thanks Josiah.
That was very interesting.
Where to begin? I grew up without the internet but welcomed personal computing at a young-ish age. That was when you told the PC what to do, not expect it to do everything for you. (C64)
My son, turns eight this month, had mouse dexterity at the age of two. Has run the "tivo" since he was five. And thinks "video chat" with someone 3,000 miles away is "everyday" normal. He's had his own .com since jump and if we're away from home, he can let himself into the house (while visiting grandparents) with the keypad door lock.
BUT.. now with privacy being all that it is (ain't).. I no longer update his .com and my family photo galleries are private. Lately we've spent more time reading books than watching TV and we try our best to get outside as much as possible. Even to the point of bundling up at 7:00p, turning on the flood lights and the whole family plays outside in the snow until its his bedtime. (were in Maine mind you)
With only "fifteen" or so "friends" in my FaceBook account, I already know more about these people than I think they'd want most people to know. The social networks are viral. It doesn't take long before everyone knows "everything" about you.
And gadgets don't make you happy (if they did, i'd be the happiest guy on the block). We do need to stop buying every new thing that comes out and "do for ourselves".
Thankfully there isn't a "widget" to push that makes the bed and cleans the room.. because I think my son would save his allowance money for it. I want him to do more for himself and not rely on tech for the everyday things.
Thanks for the article/video... now I'll post this to this blog and "everyone" will know my personal thoughts on the matter [smirk]