Technology In Control

Technology is so crazy sometimes. I sat down one day and thought about how I got so used to using a small hand held phone. From this thought I began thinking about how I actually think that we all have been remediated ourselves to fit our present culture. Growing up in this society of technology dramatically advancing every few months has changed the way our brains think. Bolter and Grusin write "This is not to say that our identity is fully determined by media, but rather that we employ media as vehicles for defining both personal and cultural identity" (231). For example, cell phones have defined our younger generations a great deal. Just turn on any television station and wait for another kid begging their mom and dad for a phone so they can keep in touch with their friends. This "need" for human connection actually takes away from the human experience. The child is in fact distancing themselves from their friends at a young age because they will be "texting" their friends rather than hanging out with them.
Bolter and Grusin go on to write that "Clothing and jewelry treat the body as a medium in the sense that the body becomes the material ground that carries or bears expressive decoration; such decoration appears to respect the boundary between the body and the world" (237). I believe that this concept can also be applied to that of cell phone, internet and video game technology. Our society has become so dependent on technology and it makes sense that it has become a consuming thing in our lives.