Media, or more generally modern technology, is – here comes the funny word – ubiquitous. Meaning, technology is everywhere you look. As well as – which is not exactly the same – touching the most different parts of our daily life. So it’s rather an important topic.
People dealing with me, sometimes get the impression I do not like modern media or technology. This is dead wrong. I love technology, I work with it every day. I work with it to earn my money and I work with it heavily in private. I own not only “normal” computers, but also multiple raspberrys and umpteen arduinos – and I use them. I do 3D, Video Mapping, I use the kinect in my projects, I work as a media technician and consultant for museums – I am a fanboy on modern technology. And I am absolutely aware about how much technology improves our daily life.
I am not blindly pro-technology, though, meaning that I do not believe in the use of technology as an end in itself. If technology is used in a rampant or uninspired way, I might notice it. If technology has the potential to make our life worse, be it now or in the future, I might notice it. And I also might just leave friends behind in the restaurant, because they preferred talked to Siri to talking to me. Call me strict…
Probably I am more aware of those things, because I am really into the topic.
I also think, that every new technology leads to a new need of skill – or awareness. And it’s not easy to follow the development, considering the actual speed. This brings problems. I am sometimes speechless, on just how thoughtless people use modern technology.
As I think this is an important topic, I decided to re-set up this blog, which is – like technology – refering to very different parts of daily life.
- Some articles might concern everyday people, using smartphones or ordering online. As we all use technology, I think we should know more about the topic than we do – and be much more aware of the consequences than we actually are.
- Some articles are focused rather on decision makers, consultants and workers involved in creating something – as their job will involve questions about technology, like how much and in which way. For planning (and decisions) we here need a basic toolset of judging the pros and cons of media, the consequences we face when deciding one or another way, the basic idea what media is and what it could be if we used it another way and – maybe most important – the question how the use of technology changes our project and if it will be changed to the better at all.
It might seem difficult to evaluate and judge media, but in the end it is some basic rules that apply to media as to everything else. So let’s try to loose fear, let’s drop mysticism. Let’s just think and talk about technology and media (both modern technology-driven and classical). And get a bit closer to be able to deal with it in a mature way. - There will also be examples about bad use of media and technology. This is not meant to discourage anyone using media but rather to learn. I like to give samples and thus help in developing the skill to evaluate and judge technology and it’s use – in everyday life and in projects of any kind. We do desperately need this skill..