To my surprise, I've actually enjoyed our last couple of conversations in class. My favorite thing that we've talked about was communication. All the conversation we had about our new forms of communication was funny. I wasn't surprised when more than half of the class said they text more than they talk on the phone. Most peoples minutes don't start until 9pm so they prefer texting during the day over talking on the phone and wasting minutes. I myself am an advocate of texting, because I enjoy texting people during class when I'm bored.
Western Union being established in 1851 wasn't suprising to me, but what was is the fact that they denied buying the patent for the telephone from Alexander Graham Bell. I know whoever was in charge and actually denied the offer is rolling in their grave. Western Union would be unstoppable right now if they had taken that deal! I guess Bell & his associates got the last laugh since they started what is now one of the biggest phone coverage provider in America [AT&T].
My favorite form of communication is social networking. Everyday more people are hopping on the internet and creating new pages to help keep them in contact with all their friends and family. Twitter, Facebook, Instant Messaging and Skype are infectious and I see them sticking around for long time. I mean, who needs the phone when you can talk to someone in a different country for free via the internet. Communication has really come a long way, and with the creation of new IP address and even more modern technology we will have more and more ways to keep in-touch and in-sync.
Communication has come along way from what it used to be. I remember back in high school when noone ever texted becasue the plans for that were to expsensive, if you look at everyone today thats really all that people do especially in class. Blackberry even has its own way of messaging through bbm, it really amazes me to see how things have really changed in just a few years.
ReplyDeleteEverything moves too quickly. There's an interesting concept developed by Ray Kurzweil that we "digital native", i.e. people born around the time the computer proliferated, will die off in mass numbers due to an inability to cope with technological progress. In consideration to the concept that our parents likely had black and white television around our contemporary age, how much stranger will our past look from the future?
ReplyDeleteYou're right, these days hardly anyone worries about making long distance phone calls because you can talk on Skype over the phone over face to face. It is so nice how easy it is to keep in touch with people far away, especially since coming to college when a lot of my high school friends are at different schools. I also think it's hilarious that AT&T ended up buying Western Union.
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend and I are in a long distance relationship (don't worry, there is a point to this...), and for the first two and a half years we could only talk on the phone after 9pm because of his plan. This is the reason I started texting. Then, I found texting useful for telling multiple people the same information, such as cancelling a dance rehearsal on short notice. To me, this is more useful than email because people do not always check email right away but always have their phone with them. I think people can learn from the past (with AT&T and Western Union) that anything that makes communication easier is worth going for. I think that is why social networking sites are so popular. It makes communication easier, especially for keeping in touch with old friends and family members. It is also a great way to know what is going on with others without actually getting on the phone and talking to them or sending them a message.
ReplyDeleteI find this post funny because I remember when I first received my contract cell phone plan in the 9th grade. I didn't even know how to text but I kept receiving them. Now that's all I do is text. I will not purchase a phone without a full keyboard. So yea I text more than I talk, it's definitely convenient (especially if you don't feel like being bothered).
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the little survey we did of how many people text and how often. Just yesterday I noticed on the news that texting while driving is completely outlawed effective immediately, which I also agree with. I can't even believe that people would even try to do this while driving. I am guilty of reading a text on my way home, but never answering it unless I call the person. Anyway, back to the subject. Social networking is a useful tool to people and businesses alike. I was surprised when I heard that we are running out of IP addresses. I'm sure we'll see more social networking in the future.
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