Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The Information Age

The impetus for today's blog pertains to my mother finally joining facebook. It seems sooner or later everyone becomes apt to seeking apps. To reiterate the words of Marshal McLuhan, "The medium is the message". This was derived from a time which hadn't embraced the corporate lucrativeness of opening the internet to the public. They discovered they could ascertain larger profit margins through people advertising their various ventures to a global network of affluent and capable individuals.
In today's age of real-time connectivity, people are able to communicate instantaneously. Thus this new medium became the idiom of 'time is money'. This doesn't even address the limitless potential of implementing inventory, contact (i.e. interpersonal gambits) discourse, strictly in a business modality. Essentially, we are plugged in and updated as quick as the bit-rate transfer ratio is, depending on one's affluence and habituation.

This was made even more salient yesterday as I spent about 24 hrs with out a cell phone. Research indicates that 99% of the student population have cellphones to enable instantaneous connection to their peers and communication (or other) devices/applications. It was disconcerting and anxiety-arousing as I felt that if someone was trying to communicate with me then there would be a degree of latency and I may fail to comply or reply in a respectable manner of time. This was very different as I've had a phone since my teen years and in general have never been 'offline'. I've been connected to the global network for so long that I take it for granted. This became apparent and emotionally evoking till mid-day when I came to a ob-lah-de ob-lay-dah disposition. Besides, very few things are so essential to available every waking or non-waking hour. Then this subsided as I entered a state of withdrawal and started compulsively checking my email/facebook awaiting an ETA of my phone.

I encourage people who are symbiotically attached to their phones to dare and leave it behind for a day. You'll notice the anxiety in being disconnected from the 'world'. This leads me to my next point. YOU F**King communication enterprises are tyrants who hold your addicts by the clasps of their necks. You overcharge for substandard service (as compared to Eastern Countries) and advocate that we are getting a fair and adequate deal. You try to compensate your overhead by putting all the economic responsibility on the consumer. I demand cheaper rates and less bullsh*t instead of being duped into ransoming my credit and resources for the ability to interact with others via archaic devices. I could care less about having the latest gadget so long as I can SMS, receive and send calls, have some sort of voicemail option. Sure data plans are convenient but this is why I have a netbook. Rant Rumble and Revolt because we are slaves to their corporate agenda.
I believe in open-source, fairly! priced subscriptions for access to copyright declared property (ex. music/films) and even still you can't stop us because we are the people who are resourceful in devising ways to access information. Since the days of Napster, the resourceful individuals have found more innovative (albeit 'illegal') ways to "steal" and distribute digital property. We got a taste of free mediums and are either ignorant or able. Disable, suspend, extradite, sue and review all you want but you wont stop the tidal wave of open-source demand.
Jimi's
- "We want the world and we want it . . . . now?"
- "Are you experienced, or have you ever been experienced?"
- "Break on through" break through the gates of perception and ascend to your destiny.
~that's all for today; keep on rockin' in the fee world you ravaging consumers.

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