KCB201- Entertaining 'I' Generation

Entertaining ‘I’ Generation

The radio would be switched on in the main living room and the entire family, including friends and relatives would crowd around the radio, or should I say wireless, and be entertained for hours. In this digital age the once unified social intake of media is long gone. Today, all media is consumed in an exclusive setting. Dr Leong (2010) explains that it’s not the technology that is the hit, but it’s what is circulating around it. And it’s those things that determine our social acceptability. Looking at this ‘I’ generation, it’s not hard to see that we are all living on planet iPod. Levy (2006, p. 21) observes how music on one’s iPod affects status. He goes on to say that, ‘it is the portability of the iPod that comes from exposing an iPod screen to an observer making the otherwise private device a potential broadcaster of one’s taste.’ Our musical selection, thought to be for personal enjoyment is potentially more important than gender or geography and allows us to be read like a book. McLuhan (1965, p. 8) sums up this new media phenomenon into ‘the medium is the message’. It is not the machine, but what we do with the machine that is the message. Remember new media is more than just entertainment; it is an extension of ourselves!

Laura Seuntjens (n6908799)

Reference List:

Dr Leong, S. (2010). KCB201 New media 1: Information and Knowledge [Lecture Notes]. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_60765_1%26url%3D

Levy, S. (2006). The perfect thing: how the iPod shuffles commerce, culture and coolness. [Electronic format] In S. Levy (Ed.), Identity (pp. 21–41). New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from Queensland University of Technology Course Materials Database.

McLuhan, M. (1965). Understanding media: The extensions of man. [Electronic format] In M. McLuhan (Ed.), The medium is the message (pp. 7-21). New York: McGraw Hill. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from Queensland University of Technology Course Materials Database.