The New Digital Era

Welcome to the new life, as we know it. The days of eating dinner as a family, talking about how our day went is long gone. Now families eat on the go and speak to each other by cell phone or text messaging. Are we losing the face to face conversations, will we end up like the Disney movie Wall-E and hide behind a computer screen with avatars to represent what we want to look like. Even though, a lot has changed with technology we need to come back to reality and realize that all the digital gadgets are not here to run our lives. Like texting to a friend right next to you, come on are we getting that lazy to talk? Even though, the digital revolution has changed the way we live our lives. However, are we willing to fully change and accept it?

Here, Alison Gopnik states in “Diagnosing the digital revolution: why it’s so hard to tell whether it’s really changed us: Some technologies really have reshaped our lives, minds, and societies.” (Gopnik 41) At my age when growing up cellphones were not even a thought. GPS was some high tech gadget the government was developing, and movies took over a year or two to reach VHS. Now today cellphones are in everyone’s pocket or hand of every age group. GPS now comes built into our phones while movies are on demand and in our pockets before we now it. How about TV’s over twenty years ago we had to push a button on a box to get those extra few channels to now 60” wide by 1” think LED smart TV’s with Wi-Fi and internet mounted to our walls. Who need to buy a newspaper anymore turn on the TV and browse the net for updates or like me have your phone tell you the weather and current news event as you wake up.

Yesterday we had parties, meetings, and just plain went out to meet people. However today we sit behind a keyboard and screen then pretend to act how we are afraid to act in the real world. It is a lot easier to make someone think you are someone different then you are when he or she are not looking right at you. Anymore, we make up these make believe worlds online just like Alison Gopnik says “might lose themselves in imaginary worlds like Second life.” (Gopnik 42) However, this is where we are letting the digital world run our lives. We need to escape from the imaginary worlds and get back to reality. Otherwise, we will end up alone in a room and having something else live for us. Just like Alison writes about Sherry Turkle’s new book “In her Alone Together she focuses on two developments, social robots and internet communications (texting, Second life, e-mail, Facebook).” (Gopnik 41) This title states it loud and clear. Eventhough, we might be together in the same room or place we are alone in the sense that we are buried into our digital devices reading, texting, watching something. But is this healthy, what has happened to spending quality time with an actual person?

Businesses are finally realizing that this digital era is here and they need to adjust if they are willing to succeed. Gianvito Lanzolla and Jamie Anderson state in “The digital revolution is over. Long Live the Digital revolution: Publishers were associated with paper and printing technologies, music companies with vinyl disc or magnetic tape technologies, camera producers with chemistry and physics. In the past, telephones were used to make telephone calls, portable stereos were used to play cassettes and one could not use a radio to show pictures or make a telephone call.” (Lanzolla and Anderson 2)

Therfore, businesses have realized that some products are just no longer wanted or needed. Who would want to buy a cassette deck when a MP3 can be put on a cell phone and get a much better sound quality while only having to carry around one device without a bunch of tapes. Now we just download all our favorite songs and play instantly a single song or a mix based on mood without having to spend hours making a mixed tape. Just a comsumers need to realize they need to join into the revolution if they want to keep moving forward. This is how businesses are thinking and they are out there to be ontop with that next new and better yet smaller in size item. And yes we have been taught that we will need it for what ever reason.

Inconclusion the digital era has drastically changed our lives some for the better and some not so much. However, This digital era is not going anywhere but deeper into our lives. We need to learn to embrace the technology yet learn how to live a normal life as our parents once did.

Works Cited

Gopnik, Alison. “Diagnosing the Digital Revolution: Why It’s So Hard to Tell Whether It’s Really Changing Us.” George, Diana and John Trimbur. Reading Culture Context for Critical Reading and Writing. 2012. 40-44. Print. Lanzolla, Gianvito and Jamie Anderson. “The Digital Revolution is over. Long Live the Digital Revolution!” “Digital transformation”, Business Strategy Review 19, no 2 (2008): 4. Print.