Blog #2 - Old vs. New

Nathan Gillispie

Old vs. New

In the past several decades, the world has undergone rapid growth in technological advancements. The quick improvements in technology have altered how we function and operate in society. No longer are we constrained to the bonds of limited information, slow mobility, and delayed communication. The assistance of modern technology has improved our daily lives in numerous ways. Technology allows for improved living conditions, enhancements in the medical field, more productive and efficient work, increased entertainment features, and much more. 

Technology has expanded our options with how we choose to interact in the world around us. The most notable benefit of modern technology is the act of media communication towards individuals. The transition from “old” forms of media to “new” media is an interesting concept and ever-changing. I plan on exploring generational media technology with a critical theory approach to the history of communication (Fuchs, 2017). It’s worth investigating the quick transition between old and new forms of media communication as it has occurred within one generation's time.  To truly understand the differences between “old” and “new” media, I interviewed someone who had the opportunity to live through both periods. The lucky candidate that was interviewed for this process was my neighbor, Mr. Rabil (age 68). Once I made the topic apparent to him, he was ready to give account to his experiences of media technology growing up.

The first topic Mr. Rabil addressed, in regards to the transition of media technology, was the Instant access to gathering a wide variety of information. This was not something that was common during his younger days; the main sources of news media were limited and restricted. He discussed how the radio became his main source of news and entertainment for him growing up. Mr. Rabil and his family would gather around the living room and listen to popular songs on broadcast or local news stations. Radios were also seen as a source of mobile media because he could listen to his favorite stations while driving his car. Later, when his family could afford their first TV, it was a “turn of the century” invention.

Television now became the predominant source of media attraction and it felt much more engaging than the radio. Mr. Rabil noted that TV growing up for him was nothing like it is today. There was no streaming, recording, rewinding, or pausing broadcast channels. Shows would come on air at specific times in the day and once the segment was over that was it. Mr. Rabil remembers being at the mercy of the broadcasting hours and if he wasn’t home during the 6pm local news or the 7pm world news he would miss it. He commented on the limited number of channels there were and how each of them had different broadcasting schedules. If you didn’t know the times your favorite shows came on, it was too bad for you. Nowadays, everything seems to be at the touch of a button thanks to Tim O’Reilly’s concept of web 2.0 (Fuchs, 2017). If he wants to know what’s going on in the world, there’s an app for that. If he wants to know the weather conditions in the area, there’s an app for that too. If he wanted to learn how to bake a lemon meringue pie, he was sure there was an app for that as well. The convenience of having a device in your pocket capable of instantly accessing numerous amounts of information in a second still boggled his mind.

Mr. Rabil’s second account of a specific change in media technology occurred in the phone communication industry. During Mr. Rabil’s time as a young adult, he had no means of quick and easy communication on the go. When Mr. Rabil needed to make a call, he had to be at home sitting next to the corded dial-up phone hoping the receiver would pick up on the other end. Sending letters in the mail was a normal occurrence and was how he would stay in touch with distant relatives and friends. It was a slow style of communication but certainly got the job done and allowed for longer more captivating messages that entailed weekly, sometimes monthly, affairs. Once payphones started appearing around his town and work area it became a game-changer.

The ability to contact people via telephone without being at a place of residents was a captivating experience. Payphones came with a few caveats such as waiting in lines, paying for each dial, sanitation issues, and call quality; however, these small disadvantages were often overlooked due to the convenience of calling people in public environments. Mr. Rabil reflected on the extensive transformation of phone communication throughout his generation. Walkie-Talkies were a thing of the past with how quick technology started moving and adapting. By the time Mr. Rabil got his first hand-held phone, the payphone industry was nearly shutting down and being unsupported by AT&T. As mesmerizing as this new cellphone was to him, Mr. Rabil seemed to be more astonished as to how fast the technology and means for communication changed. Payphone calls switched to cellphone calls, mailing letters switched to emails, dial-up phone conversations were now voicemails and text messages. Mr. Rabil is still wrapping his mind around video-call services that are now widely used today. The rapid advancements in media communication seem to be moving far too fast for Mr. Rabil to keep up with. 

One final significant change Mr. Rabil recalls from comparing “old media” to “new media” was the ability to personalize media content. He insisted that it’s a luxury being able to pick and choose which shows to watch, music to listen to, and games to play. That wasn’t something that was possible when he was growing up. There were limited amounts of TV broadcasts to sift through and only a few music genres to pick from. Ads in the newspaper were generic and radio stations lacked diverse content. Today everything seems to be so personalized, right down to the type of underwear you should be buying. 

You now customize your music, shows, news, and any other preferences you have. Ads are catered toward your interests and there are millions of shows, music, and movies to view instantly. No longer would you have to sort between newspapers for job postings; all that information was readily online and filtered through specific search terms. Mapping was now personalized and essential with navigation applications compared to older methods of drawings and charts. Even forms of gaming entertainment were personalized as he now has the choice to download crossword or Sudoku puzzles and pinball games. This experience was much different for him growing up, waiting for the daily paper to arrive to work on puzzles or driving to the nearest fast-mart to play arcade games. Anything and everything you want, at the touch of a button, was something Mr. Rabil could not get over.

Upon concluding my interview with Mr. Rabil, it was made apparent that we obviously had completely different childhoods growing up. He primarily lived in an age of limited technology and I was born during a time of rapid technological advancements. Mr. Rabil agrees that modern-day technology has provided many benefits in media communication and would hate to live without it now. Despite his new-found love for current media technology, he was not disheartened with the lack of media technology he lived through. He was accustomed to older ways of living and as advancements in technology continued he adapted. 

Mr. Rabil reminisced on the old broadcasting channels of television with daily news segments from Walter Cronkite and Peter Jennings reporting on CBS and ABC news. He implied that broadcasting back in his time was not what it was today. New media lost a personal aspect of connecting people in a living room; tuning in on hour specials as if the news host was part of the family. Much of what Mr. Rabil said was predictable but there were a few things he pointed out that took me by surprise. I knew that current-day media was more advanced, seamless, and integrated into our lives than it was several decades ago; however, I never considered connecting the dots in how that affected older generations. The short supply and limited number of older media content created a sense of sentimental feeling and value toward its viewers. A nostalgic experience of media that brought back a time of personal connection with its audience compared to today’s addictive connection. The relationship Mr. Rabil had with older media technology seems like something that has been left in the past. The personal connections and attachments toward limited TV broadcasters and programs have been shattered by the “new age” of unlimited and boundless content that floods the internet today. This is nothing that I have drawn concern towards however, it remains an interesting reflection on the changing times in media technology.

Reference:

Fuchs, Christian. Social Media a Critical Introduction. Sage, 2017.

Saunders, Julian. “Top 5 Big Ideas of 2018.” Aurora Magazine, 12 Jan. 2019, aurora.dawn.com/news/1143358.

“Walter Cronkite.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 31 Oct. 2019, www.biography.com/media-figure/walter-cronkite.