the media and our attention spans

One of the things I found interesting in the article is the explanation of how Sesame Street came to be. It came from the Lyndon Johnson presidency(maybe my favorite president). I think it's interesting that teachers began to blame Sesmae Street for kids misbehaving badly in their classrooms. However, a quote at towards the end of the article made me think about it a different way. It says: "It makes sense that the teachers whose role was threatened by the television version of education would fear this powerful rival." (594) Perhaps teachers just felt threatened by this new program since the article mentions that there has been no evidence to support there claims. At first, it would be easy to assume that teachers should be able to tell if there is a change in their students. However, it may have been them just jumping to conclusions.

The article doesn't really say if televsion shortens a person's attention span. It does have a quote from a well-known movie director who began his career in television. Sydney Pollock explains: "In television, you are always fighting for the viewer's attention." (592) However, that may just be because of the form of telesvion. There are commercial breaks and most programs are only half-an-hour long. I used to think that there was no question that television shortens a person's attention span but it does teach kids a lot of things so I'm not sure which is more important. This article also mentions that there is no evidence to support the idea that televsion shortens a person's attention span so my conclusions may have been hasty and unfounded.

cyberspace

I think it's really strange and weird that people wil use the Internet to make up stories about their lives. The lady who made up the girl who had Lukemia must have had a brain disorder of some kind. Even if, she was just a pathological liar I think that its sill a brain disorder. I just think it's strange that she let it go that far. She even let people mourn her death like she was a real person. This makes it easy for someone to lose trust in cyberspace. It makes you question what is real and whether that person you have been talking to is even the person you think you are talking to. This makes cyberspace a scary place for some people.

The article concentrates on the people who were victims of this lady's hoax. It shows how some people really have no choice but to believe the people they encounter in cyberspace. It makes a person accountable for believing the lies he or she is told.

nomadic power and cultural resistance

One of the things I got from the article is the fact that many people thought that technology would help inmcrease the freedom people have. It has actually taken an opposite turn. Corporations are teh ones who seem to benefit the most from the advances in technology. Our country is democratic but we live in a country that is based on capitalism. This makes it difficult for people to use technology to their advantage since the people who have money are the ones that are in charge of the decisions. This means that big corporations are benefiting the most. It was believed that since we live in a democratic country technoplogy woudl help people advance their lives more. All it has really done, according to the article is allowed corporations to use technology to make more money.

The article also asks what the purpose is of the new technology in media that is being created. Should we to use this new technology as a way to create a virtual world that lies outside our everyday lives? Or should the new technology be used only to report things that are tangible? This is an intersting question since it seems to serve both functions. I am not sure which is more important, escapism or realism.

According to the article, the Interent is creating Nomadic power among people. This means that no one has any real claim to power in cyberspace and power can be gained by virtually anyone. This is causing a panic in some people who are worried that power will fall into the wrong hands.