Where do you see the various mass media in 20 years? 50 years? Describe that world to us and explain why it looks the way it does.
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Where do you see the various mass media in 20 years? 50 years? Describe that world to us and explain why it looks the way it does.
The Haveman Chronicle (Summer) Powered by WordPress
Max Magazine Theme was created by
In the future I predict a mass convergence of all forms of mass media. We already can see examples of this in todays society. With things like newspapers and magazines offering digital versions, it is very possible print media will become completely obsolete in the near future. Print media is not the only thing, however, I see becoming part of the internet.
With inventions like Netflix and Amazon prime, television is becoming an internet based form of entertainment. People with netflix typically aren’t spending much time watching regular broadcast TV, so for them cable becomes obsolete. Now that netflix is offered on many modern gaming consoles there is even more availability and less need for cable TV. Another recent invention is the smart TV. A TV that allows the user to brows the Web using a remote and voice commands. If proved to be affordable and useful that may eliminate the need for home computers. These inventions leave only the Smart TV and gaming consoles as necessary media outlets. Is it not possible that if these two were combined, every home in the country would only require one device for all their media related needs?
I do believe that cable television could potentially become obsolete. I think that they could move their broadcasts to the internet, however, to save the stations a little bit: have an online news station. Do you think this would be a positive decision or is it a bad idea? Is convergence in general a good or bad thing do you think?
I think all the various manufacturers like that we need many different devices right now. It means more money for them. I predict it will be some time before an all inclusive device is affordable to the public.
Oh man, what a topic. From the 1940’s to the 1980’s, there were definitely some major advancements in technology (i.e., color television, introduction of the internet, the micro-processing chip) but that growth is nothing compared to the last 35 years. Within that time-frame alone, we have seen the usefulness of the internet expand beyond belief, music become a compressible file, satellites able to take pictures with incredible clarity, heads-up dashboard displays in cars – the list goes on. So I would argue, and many probably agree, that the rate of technological advances is exponential. So for me to guess what media will be like in the next 20-50 years is like guessing how many stars there are in the sky. Yet, I’ll throw out an idea. I assume that media will become “personally massive.” Things like Google Glass already allow you to search things, take pictures, and record all from a heads up display that no one else can see. So instead of using to a platform that “everyone goes to” like the television at the local coffee joint or library, mass media will be accessed by platforms that individuals use, tailored specifically to their every whim.
I feel that we’ll have to redefine the media. With the rate of convergence between essentially every medium, we’re going to have to re-categorize them. Is television still television if it’s shown on a computer or a handheld device? Is a television set a TV or a computer monitor if one is surfing the internet through their game console? Where are the boundaries? I think that as time goes on this is going to be a problem that we will have to address. I think people will become less socially available. I know that personally, I find it way easier to talk about serious things through texts or over Facebook because I don’t have to deal with the in the moment reactions of the other person. The advancement of technology has allowed me to do so. I’m afraid for my [future] children, honestly (and this could potentially be in the 20 years away spectrum). If technology keeps advancing and creating ways to stay in contact with people who are not in your presence (which in and of itself is not a bad thing), where will our ability to hold strong and successful interpersonal relationships go? Will we still have the “people skills” that I feel are slowly slipping away? I also think that hard copies of books and newspapers will become obsolete, even though I think that they carry so much importance and value. It makes me sad that future generations potentially will rather play a multiperson interactive computer game, while listening to music on their phone, and talking with people over headsets than spend some time reading a hard copy of a book, spending time with family, building friendships, and helping out the community. I also predict that eyesight will decline. Personally, I have really bad eyes but I know that computer screens and cell phone screens can take a big toll on anybody’s eyes.
One possibility that I would hate to see come true is the future presented in Wall e. The humans are incapable, relying on robots to help them survive. They are obese, lazy, and pampered. Technology is so personalized that it can do almost everything for you. I think there is a line that should be drawn when it comes to personalizing technology; its great to have the convenience but doesn’t it take away a little bit of the value from our lives? For example, I have a really powerful calculator. It can basically solve any math problem for me, and all I have to do is know how to enter the equation properly. I’ve always been skilled with math, but this calculator made me lazy. I probably wouldn’t have gotten so good of grades without it, and I feel kind of bad about it. There is value in actually doing something for yourself instead of letting technology do it for you.
I’m not sure how to avoid the dismal future that I’ve discussed, but it’s almost pointless to point all of this out unless I plan on doing something about it. The future is a precarious thing, and nobody can know for sure what it holds. If we want the best possible world for future generations, we need to take a step back and make individual (which add up) decisions on how we implement technology and the media in our lives.
Just as you were jaded by the calculator, the laptop put an end to my creative writing. It was supposed to make writing easier, but all it did was distract me and leave me with writers block. I have decided that I can’t live without the computer, so my writing suffers, but I continue to try and get used to it.
I do believe that one day soon we will have one device that operates everything from room temperature to coffee pot to broadcast channel, but it won’t be something we share with the household. Each individual will have computer chips implanted in the body and viewing screens will be holographic, maybe even reflected only on the inside of your eyes (so no one else can see).
I think this would be the final straw in the segregation process that is over taking us. Media feeds us the “us and them”mentality that has us thinking that people who are not like you, are dangerous and should be avoided and criticized loudly.
It’s happening now; people shutting out the real world in favor of a virtual one. Suicide rates are at an all time high, and I think it has a lot to do with how messy and complicated the real world seems after living so much of a virtual one. But life is messy and very complicated some times, but that is how we grow. Media sells us the squeaky-clean version and when we don’t measure up, we feel a failure, and head back to the game that makes us heroes..
I don’t know where I will be in 20 years, but I sincerely hope that it is not part of the matrix. More awareness is needed in order to transform all of this technology into something that will truly help mankind. Left in the hands of the giants, its a bleak future for all.
I agree. I also see the potential for a total disconnect among society for the future. It puts me in mind of “Wall-E,” where the generations of people on the spaceship had never physically interacted with one another, only through the mass media. The good news is that movies like this one makes us aware of what the consequences can be if we let media and technology run our lives.
In 20 years, I see the “smart†media, of phones, tablets, T.V.s and toys, totally consuming individual lives, more so than today. It is an easy thing nowadays to become addicted to the various capabilities and applications of smart devices, and I for see a future when the addiction becomes the norm for everyday life. Talking and carrying on a conversation on the phone would no longer exist, replaced by text and email messages, and video calls. The language of today would be converted to chat and text acronyms, with people saying, “LOL,†instead of actually laughing out loud. Video games would become more interactive, with all games played with players’ full simulation in the graphics.
This futuristic world would propel a newer one 30 years later, with a total assimilation of people’s lives with a Star Trek/Jetsons-esque kind of living. Every imaginable chore, task, job, entertainment, and interaction with another person would be at either a touch, or a thought. As the technologies of today become faster and smaller, the capabilities of what can and will be done are limitless. Did you forget to lock your house? A mental image sent to the wireless chip in your body will lock that door right up. Do you have to tell your mom you forgot your homework? Mentally call her and leave a message with her brain messaging system. Would the new video game consoles become just a pad on the ground, projecting you into the game’s plot and setting, become the new kind of first-person perspective?
Old technology always begets new technology, always with the idea of how to make it better. In 50 years, the technology present at that time only be recreated and rethought into something even more innovative. Limitless possibilities.
The future can hold a lot of surprises for us, but I don’t see any real big surprises in mass media in the next 20 or 50 years. I think that newspaper companies will still exist, maybe not exactly how they are today, but news will always need a medium. I think that movie rental stores will stop existing within the next 10 or 15 years, maybe even sooner. They are already becoming a thing of the past and are rapidly disappearing. The internet will continue to grow with its reach around the world and more people will connect than ever before. Technology will advance just like it has in the past, maybe not at the same rate, but it will advance. I believe that bookstores will dwindle in numbers, but the large chains will stay around. People will always want their paperback and hardback books to read. We already have amazing technology at our fingertips today, so how crazy will it be in the future? Only time will tell…..
I don’t really know if mass media will be all that different in the future. Trends might have changed by then but I think that there will still be news, media, music. The only thing i believe will change will be the method of delivery. How will our mass media will be delivered to the people? will anyone read anymore? will the information just be implanted daily to our minds; uploaded somehow?