1) In my opinion, media is quickly heading toward a future where everything is streaming. Everything will be accessible on the internet - music, movies, tv, news feeds (both video and text). Some areas are already heading that way and I think the move to digital tv last year is hurrying things along. As I mentioned in the tv post, I watch all my tv streaming over the internet. I haven't found myself hindered by my decision to cancel cable, and I certainly haven't watched less tv because of it. If anything, I watch more tv now because I can watch episodes when I have time, not based on when episodes air. As more people get high speed internet, cell phones with internet access, or various other handheld devices and as more cities move to a citywide wifi, more content will be available streaming. A future with easy access to streaming media seems likely and I love it.
2) I am not an early adopter of new gagdets for several reasons:
(1) I am poor.
(2) The first generation of any gagdet is bound to have bugs and issues that will be worked out by the second generation.
(3) I am poor.
(4) Not every new gagdet is worth having. The Kindle, for example is very cool, but limited. New gagdets require extensive research before purchasing to determine if they really are as worthwhile and revolutionary as people initially thought.
I'm not opposed to technology, but I am cautious about spending money on new technology. Take, for example, the iPad. I think the iPad is beautiful. I want one. The day it was unveiled I read everything I could about it, gazed longingly at the pictures of it, and planned a pilgrimage to the Apple store the weekend after it goes on sale (in March) just so I could touch one. Despite all that, I would never buy the first generation iPad. Too many glitches. Too many things that could easily be corrected for the second generation model once Apple gets costumer feedback. (Plus, the second generation is almost always accompanied by a cost cut.)
The second part of this question involves outdated technology. What do I miss the most? I'm not honestly sure. I miss non-digital tv, I think. I miss the VCR. But I only miss those two things because I used them frequently to record tv shows. If I had TiVo or DVR (or didn't just watch online), I wouldn't miss those at all. I know it's odd to say, but I kind of miss CD's. I buy everything on iTunes now, which means no physical CD, no cover art, no song lyrics. I miss my grandparents' 8-track. Not because it was a useful advancement in music technology but because it was fun to play with on vacation. (All they had left to listen to was Elvis!)
(I miss my hair crimper, but I doubt that was what this post was aiming for.)
My favorite media gagdet is the iPod (or the mp3 player, in general). Before the iPod, a vacation would include carefully deciding which CD's to bring for my discman. Inevitably, I would want the CD's I left behind. Now, even with my second or third generation iPod (no video, small storage space, very heavy), I can take 20 gigs of music with me and take up far less space. It's brilliant! It certainly makes my life easier.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment