So after being forced to pay $10 to buy a freaking book I would only be required to post on once (hooray, I've upgraded from wasting time to wasting time AND money!) and not knowing if it would have any use hereafter, I have to say I actually like the book. Not enough that it was worth the money, I suppose, but enough that I actually can't complain too much beyond the principle of the issue, and not much for the book itself. In fact, so much did it NOT suck, I've decided to withhold my usual rant about posting on garbage and actually talk about what I liked about this book...because I actually liked a lot of things.
First, the book's design...after pissing and moaning to myself about having to read an entire book of boring text in a matter of a day (since my book only just CAME today) I opened it and was pleasantly surprised. The layout of text was unorthodox enough to keep my attention, and instead of being filled with text it actually contained primarily illustrations, photos, and numerous graphic designs that were left to the judgement of the reader. The sheer randomness, yes purposeful order, of this book caught me off guard and was a breath of fresh air, especially after that last reading where the author tried to sound smart by using a shitload of big words. No, this piece didn't need special words to get its points across--the pictures do the job just as well (of course, when you reach the end, you'll also find on one of th final pages that the author's point is summed up...but I still recommend you read the entire book so you don't miss out on the quality of the substance it carries).
And that main point was how the changes in trends of media have changed the way society and culture interacts with one another...both on a micro and on a macro scale. Books used to be a universal form of medium...the bible is a good example of this. But then the phone, TV, and radio came around, and suddenly cultures and communities became more localized as people's attention's (and therefore, ways of life) became more focused on the micro scale as they became more aware of the current events close to them. Now we have the internet, which has given us both worlds...involvement and awareness on both a micro AND a macro scale! While we are now connected to the entire world (or most of it), we also have more accessible ways of staying up to date with our local communities as well. Facebook and email serve these purposes well, respectively.
I think the biggest thing I took from this book was the point of how different media becomes different extensions of our senses...books are an extension of the eye...the radio is an extension of the ear...the internet could be an extension of the mouth, for sure! It makes me see different media from a whole new perspective. That this book could make me respect digital and electronic media even more, is a great testament to how well it's written--and I have a better way, I think, of making sure I no longer take the information I receive for granted.
No comments:
Post a Comment