My Laptop Is My Life

It is really hard to believe how much time I spend on my laptop and how much I depend on my laptop. Today, for example, I’ve used my laptop non-stop since the moment I woke up. I have probably used at least 8 hours of today working on my laptop.

There are so many reasons why I use my laptop. I use it for school. The main form of communication between Guelph-Humber and myself is through my laptop and the internet. To select our classes, pay tuition, hand in assignments, receive additional information from lectures, get news, obtain my class schedule, get my grades, obtain important forms and documents, etc. Our whole university career depends on the fact that everyone has access to a computer.

I use my laptop for work. I communicate with co-workers, prepare schedules, design ads, prepare work plans, organize meetings, etc. Companies today would not be able to succeed without the help of a computer.

I also use my laptop for leisure. On this one machine, I can listen to music, watch television, watch movies, play video games, communicate with friends, organize and edit photos, etc.

The list of what you can do on a laptop is endless and new innovations everyday continue to expand this list. I have become so attached to my laptop that I feel like something is missing when I do not have it. Everyday before I go to school, I wake up and pack my laptop in my bag. The days that I forget my laptop I feel like I have lost something and therefore, I can’t get anything done. Do I really rely on my laptop that much?

Marshall McLuhan states that “technology is an extension of our own bodies” (www.columbia.edu). For example, a knife is an extension of a hand. Therefore, my laptop is an extension of my brain. We remain dependent on these technologies and therefore we rely on them to live our everyday lives.

Computers are a huge part of today’s culture. If I asked someone a few years ago, “Do you have an e-mail?” or “Did you see that video on Youtube?” or “Add me on Facebook”, you would have no idea what I was talking about. However, today 76% of the American population own a computer. All of these people would easily understand what I was saying.

My laptop is a huge part of my life and clearly I rely on it to function everyday. I would not be able to accomplish the tasks that are involved in my school or workplace without it. If I rely on this technology so much then all I can say is, thank God I have a battery for it if the power goes out!


Work Cited

The Playboy Interview. March 1969. Columbia University. 6 Oct. 2008.
[http://www.columbia.edu/~log2/mediablogs/McLuhanPBinterview.htm]

Media Literacy

(www.foothilltech.org)

In today’s world, we are constantly swarmed with messages. The radio, television, newspapers, magazines, music, movies, etc are all filled with advertisements whose main goal is to grab our attention. Advertisements surround our everyday life. It is nearly impossible to go through a whole day without seeing an advertisement. From the minute you turn on the radio, walk in a store, or even walk down the street, messages are everywhere.

That is why we have something called media literacy. With so many ads attacking us each day, media literacy helps us distinguish what is important. It gives us the ability to filter through the messages that are trying to sell us a product and trying to give us information. New public relations and marketing techniques are making it harder and harder to decipher the real messages hidden in the media.

There are so many messages that lay beyond the advertisements that we endure each day. Everything that we see in the media has been put there for a purpose. Media literacy allows us to distinguish the motives that are behind the media and decode the messages that may not always be clearly visible.

Media literacy is particularly important to teach in our schools. Children spend huge amounts of time on the computer, watching television, etc. They must learn how to recognize and evaluate the messages that are being sent to them.

We don’t believe everything that we hear in the media thanks to media literacy. I apply the practices of media literacy to the messages that I am faced with everyday. I know that, even though the news is full of violence and war, I am still relatively safe. When I watch a movie, I can distinguish between what is real and what is fake. I know that when I get an ad on a website that says I have won a free trip, the reality is that I probably have not. Without media literacy, we would believe everything that the media throws at us.

Media literacy is the only thing that can keep us sane in the media filled world we live in.

Advertisements

(www.underconsideration.com)

In May 2005, American burger chain Carl’s Jr. introduced a new television commercial to promote their fast food restaurants. The commercial features “Paris Hilton in a skin-tight swimsuit soaping up a Bentley and crawling all over it before taking a big bite out of the burger” (www.money.cnn.com). Groups, such as the Parents Television Council, instantly took action and criticized the commercial for being “soft-core porn” and “hard to steer away from children.” This ad is a brilliant example of how sex sells in the media.

The scary part is that today’s children are being exposed to these types of advertisements “The average American child may view as many as 40,000 television commercials every year. Young children are not able to distinguish between commercials and TV programs. They do not recognize that commercials are trying to sell something” (www.mediafamily.org). Children at a young age should not be subjected to these commercials and messages.

It is also extremely worrisome how Carl’s Jr. responded to the feedback from its commercial. In a message to the Parents Television Council, the CEO of Carl’s Jr. commented that, “the group needs to "get a life." This isn't Janet Jackson -- there is no nipple in this. There is no nudity, there is no sex acts -- it's a beautiful model in a swimsuit washing a car"(www.money.cnn.com). The company is obviously insensitive to the views that they express in their commercials. Carl’s Jr. completely ignored the fact that this commercial is degrading towards women and is too offensive for children to watch on television. It seems that their main objective is to sell their product, with little regard as to whom it may offend in the process.

Commercials, like this one, should not be allowed on television. There should be stricter rules for companies who create commercials to ensure that it is appropriate for the audience it is targeting and viewing the commercial.

Work Cited

Children and Advertising. 08 July 2002. National Institute on Media and the Family. 6 Oct.
2008. [http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_childadv.shtml]
No apologies for sexy Paris Hilton ad. 1 June 2005. CNN Business News. 6 Oct. 2008.
[http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/24/news/newsmakers/carls_ad/]

Mass Media

(www.rochester.edu)

How do I understand the term “mass media?” A quick look at a dictionary explains that mass media is “any of the means of communication, as television or newspapers, that reach very large numbers of people” (www.dictionary.com). Therefore, mass media is any medium that is used to send a message to a large number of people. Newspapers, television, movies, books, radio, movies, are just a few of the forms within mass media.

Mass media began with the invention of the printing press. As Marshall McLuhan explains, “The printing press, by spreading mass-produced books and printed matter across Europe, turned the vernacular regional languages of the day into uniform closed systems of national languages--just another variant of what we call mass media--and gave birth to the entire concept of nationalism” (www.columbia.edu). The printing press allowed for mass production of information. It began the growth of mass media because it was the first invention that was able to send a message to a large amount of people.

Mass media is extremely important and useful because we are constantly surrounded by the media. “The television in the living room, the newspaper on the doorstep, the radio in the car, the computer at work, and the fliers in the mailbox are just a few of the media channels daily delivering advertisements, news, opinion, music, are all forms of mass communication that surrounds us everyday” (www.beyondintractability.org).There are millions of events that take place in the world each day. We can only experience a small number of the events that are happening therefore, we rely on mass media to learn about the events that surround our world. Without mass media, we would know very little of the events that are happening beyond the events that take place in our daily lives.

Mass media also allows us to be a part of a global village. Marshall McLuhan explained, “the basic thing to remember about the electric media is that they inexorably transform every sense ratio and thus recondition and restructure all our values and institutions. The overhauling of our traditional political system is only one manifestation of the retribalizing process wrought by the electric media, which is turning the planet into a global village” (www.columbia.edu). Through mass media, our world is connected. We can instantly send information and receive information. I can instantly connect with a relative in Germany through e-mail, the internet, phone, fax, etc. Mass media is continuously expanding with new inventions and innovations and therefore, our global village will also continue to grow and expand.

Mass media can be defined many different ways and it is a term that is constantly being studied. However, I believe that mass media is any medium that is used to communicate a message which contributes to the idea that we are all part of a global village.



Work Cited

Mass Medium. 2005. Dictionary.com. 6 Oct. 2008.
[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mass%20media]

The Playboy Interview. March 1969. Columbia University. 6 Oct. 2008.
[http://www.columbia.edu/~log2/mediablogs/McLuhanPBinterview.htm]

Mass Media. March 2005. University of Colorado. 6 Oct. 2008.
[http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/mass_communication/]