The Effects of Technology-COMM 203

Vail Marstonhttp-://www.flickr.com/photos/vailmarston/4186268059/

Has technology become so much a part of our lives, that we are influenced by it? This was the question that went through my mind as I read Raymond Williams article, Effects of the Technology and Its Uses. In his article he talks about how technology can influence our society as a cause or effect. Simple enough to explain it is whether the action was a cause from technology or an effect.

Television is a great example of this cause or effect situation. With television, we see violence in the world, political campaigns, advertising and etc. It is a one way street with television, the audience watches the television and gets whatever they see. The biggest thing with television or even radio is that it's so popular for people to do. The great thing about it is anybody can do it, all the public needs to do sit down and just listen and watch. A lot of the programs we see are the bad things other people do. A perfect example would be during election time, we see ads saying one of the presidents wants to raise taxes or has in their previous years. We as a public see this as a bad action, because we don't want higher taxes so right off the bat we have bad vibes for this person. This is a simple example but we see how television can work through seeing and hearing the ad.

Technology is a great tool, but are there people using it to manipulate the general public for them to succeed? The answer is probably yes, but I feel we need to know when to stand up. When I think back in history, all the examples of people revolting against a higher power because of bad treatment. One common theme I see is that people first educate themselves and then take action. I'm not saying that the general public is like this, but I also feel if we continue to get all our information from television or radio that we are on this path of ignorance.

aplumb-http://www.flickr.com/photos/aplumb/121285772/

One of the greatest machines invented in my opinion, is the Gutenberg printing press. When this happen everybody had the opportunity to educate themselves even if it was just reading. I feel since then, people today take their education for granted and wants everything on a silver plate. With all these technologies people might feel they don't need to educate themselves and I see this as a bad sign. I always felt you can't believe everything you see on TV.

We can enjoy the uses of technology, but be mindful of what we see. Technology is a great tool to use to communicate with someone or share ideas. We just have to be careful of our actions because they may viewed in a different way.

article-Raymond Williams Effects of the Technology and Its Uses  out of Kevin Williams A Media Studies Reader