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Impacts of modern technology in society
Impacts of modern technology in society
Impacts of modern technology in society
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Historically, as humans evolve so do their technologies. Accordingly, with each new technology, new conflicts and issues arise within societies due to the advancement. Moreover, as humans are traditionally repetitive beings, culture and technologies tend to be repetitive as well. An important theme across culture is how technology repeatedly changes society and with each societal change; the technology conforms or adapts to the needs of the new society.
One important technology that has influenced America is the camera. With the advent of the camera in 1839, photography began transforming not only the art world but also the American culture itself. David Crowley and Paul Heyer, editors of Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society state, "One of the key elements prefacing the transition to twentieth century society and culture was a new awareness of people, places and things fostered by photography.” (134). In essence, photography transformed our culture by allowing the public to have access to imagery not previously seen in the public realm.
Accordingly, as more people have access to cameras more visual rhetoric is broadcast across the country. An example of this is the sinking of the Titanic. Because of cameras and photojournalism, the public was able to see actual photographs depicting the aftermath of a catastrophe. Preceding the camera, such imagery did not exist. Importantly, photography began to evoke emotions from the public, ultimately desensitizing them to catastrophes.
In addition to desensitizing the culture to catastrophes, the camera is a significant technology that allows people to record everyday life. Previously, one commissioned a painter or artist to create an image to represent an aspect of one’...
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...e advent of technology like the camera individuals and society will change. In turn, the societal changes will cause a need for new technology.
Works Cited
Burnett, Robert, and P. David. Marshall. "The Look of the Web." Web Theory an Introduction. London: Routledge, 2003. 81-104. Books.google.com. 2003. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. http://books.google.com/books?id=SqZOzP2J1nwC&lpg=PA81&dq=Burnett%20and%20Marshall,%20%22The%20Look%20of%20the%20Web%22&pg=PA81#v=onepage&q&f=false
Crowley, D. J., and Paul Heyer. "Image Technologies and the Emergence of Mass Society." Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society. Sixth ed. Boston: Pearson Allyn & Bacon, 2007. 133-82. Print.
Warschauer, Mark. "Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide." Firstmonday.org. 01 July 2001. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/967/888
Schoener, Steven E. "The Digital Revolution." Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. Last modified May 5, 2004. http://web.archive.org/web/20081007132355/http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/recording/digital.html.
Working thesis: The advancements in technology have caused the social norms of society to adapt to its rapid change, by becoming captivated to its simple access; which is effecting the way we communicate and act.
...el through time and show newer generations of the events of the past and the rich history of a particular country. With the use of all the technology over the years, photography has now become a major part of everyday life and the photographer behind the camera.
Susan Sontag’s essay on how photography has limited people’s understanding of the world contains many interesting points that can be agreeable while at the same time having few that I tend to disagree with. Photography can be good and bad; it can open our minds up to new cultures and experiences through its imagery. However, at the same time it can limit our understanding of the world around us and of the world around the image it is portraying.
The purpose of Robert J. Samuelson’s article “Debunking the Digital Divide” is to explain that the popular political slogan “digital divide” is not as true as many people have been lead to believe. The digital divide is a theory that suggests that the advancement of technology will create an even larger gap between the “rich” and the “poor”. The ability/inability to afford a computer will increase income inequality between the technology “haves” and “have nots”. In his article, Samuelson states that, “this argument is either untrue or widely exaggerated”, and for many different reasons. However, wages statics and the widening of the wage gap give economist reasons to speculate. Samuelson makes two main points in his article and examines a study
“American Media History is the story of a nation. It is the story of events in the long battle to disseminate information, entertainment, and opinion in society. It is the story of the men and women whose inventions, ideas, and struggles helped shape the nation and its media system.”(Fellow) The evolution of media has influenced countless societal and cultural changes leading to the present day. But it didn’t get this far over night. It is estimated to have begun more than 30,000 years ago through the process of cave painting. (Crewe) Following cave painting, came the invention of books being printed on blocks “The Diamond Sutra”, the Gutenberg printing press, newspapers in 1640, photographs, the radio in 1894, television, and recently computers; which lead all the way to modern day social media. Through the hard work of multiple inventors the media was able to reach where it is today. It has changed the way people communicate with each other, mostly for the better.“ The way people experience the meaning, how they perceive the world and communicate with each other, and how they distinguish the past and identify the future.” (Gitelman) Or as we know it as: a new way of communicating information from person to person.
As seen in paintings of battle scenes and portraits of wealthy Renaissance aristocracy, people have always strived to preserve and document their existence. The creation of photography was merely the logical continuum of human nature’s innate desire to preserve the past, as well as a necessary reaction to a world in a stage of dramatic and irreversible change. It is not a coincidence that photography arose in major industrial cities towards the end of the nineteenth century.
...an take better photographs, even while daily activities. Now when people go on walks, they can bring their camera and take pictures of the beauty around them. The deer with her fawns eating the meadow grass, a bench in a park, or a picture of the orange, luminous sunset. The beauty is all around, people just have to go out and snap the picture.
Furthermore, meanings behind or found in photographs can be determined by cultural definition and are manifestations of interest. Looking at the Fukushima disaster, overwhelming sense of loss and anger among those who were affected can view the images differently than those who had not experienced the disaster or weren’t as affected as others. Figueroa looks at Toshiya Watanabe’s photo book, 18 months. Born and raised in the Fukushima Prefecture, residents of the town he was born in had to evacuate and the town was declared off-limits. The images in his photo book presented a before and after of the town, how the town changed three
In summary, the Digital Divide is real and has placed a severe gap between certain groups of people in the American culture. The Land of Opportunity is not necessarily made available to all. In her CNet article, Sonia Arrison (2002), provides a unique perspective as to the reason behind the gap. “The digital divide is not a crisis, and it is certainly not the civil liberties issue of the 21st century. The real issues are the sorry state of education and the push to raise the taxes that affect lower income families most” (Arrison, 2002). Arrison states that if the Government could improve the education in the American schools and stop luxury taxes on so many services, the Digital Divide could easily be narrowed. By narrowing the divide, more families could afford Internet if so desired, and students could have access to a better education.
Photojournalism plays a critical role in the way we capture and understand the reality of a particular moment in time. As a way of documenting history, the ability to create meaning through images contributes to a transparent media through exacting the truth of a moment. By capturing the surreal world and presenting it in a narrative that is relatable to its audience, allows the image to create a fair and accurate representation of reality.
Human culture and technology are continually co-evolving in a dynamic relationship. All technologies (See Note 1) develop in a particular cultural context as the result of changing needs or constraints. But once developed, a technology changes the culture that gave it birth. When a technology spreads to another culture, the cultural context affects the speed or way in which the technology is adopted and how it is used. The diffusion of technologies to other cultures changes those other cultures as well. The changes in culture that one technology creates may then influence the development of another or different technology.
Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Will Smart Phones Eliminate the Digital Divide?" The Journal (1 Feb. 2011).
The author's point of view was to inform the reader of the technology change and how everyone will be affected by this change in every social aspect. I thought this chapter was helpful because it informed me of the past, and I realize we came a long way as far as technology is concern.
Photography has created an outlet for the masses to story tell. It has a way of speaking without words like most art forms and is a manner of expression in itself. To eradicate photography from humans would be equivalent to taking away a limb from humankind. Our society has grown an immense amount of dependency on it. Photography has become almost a daily menial task such as brushing your teeth; where we must take pictures of the things we deem important or equally unimportant, even more so with the invention of social media outlets such as Instagram and Snapchat, where photography is the main source of communication between people who use them. Susan Sontag offers the basis of what taking pictures can undertake in both our daily lives and moments that are not part of our daily lives, such as travel. Traveling to places where one is not accustomed can flare pent up anxiety. A way to subdue that anxiety could be through taking pictures, since it’s the only factor that we have total control over in a space where we don’t have much, or, any control of our surrounding environment. On the other hand, taking photos can also be a tool of power in the same sense as it allows for it to be a defense against anxiety. With the camera in our hands, we have the power to decide who, what, where, when, and why we take a picture. This in turn also gives the person who took the picture power over those who later analyze the photos, letting them decide the meaning of the photo individually, despite the intended or true meaning.