Technology can actually be a double-edged sword. Its advantages are indisputable; however, its disadvantages simultaneously deteriorate the whole picture. Arguments have been raised from both advocates and their opponents for decades, and it will not presently come to a consensus. In the three articles “Someone to Watch Over Me (on a Google Map)” by Theodora Stites, “Hell is Other iPods: The Aural Loneliness of the Long-Distance Shuffler” by Caspar Melville, and “Caught in the Web: More People Say Heavy Internet Use Is Disrupting Their Lives, and Medical Experts Are Paying Attention” by January W. Payne, three authors share their notions about how various types of technology affect their users; nevertheless, their perspectives differ.
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While Payne and Stites touch on the mass media and its communities, Melville analyzes the personalized media and mentions the iPod as a prominent representative. The main statement in his article “Hell Is Other iPods: The Aural Loneliness of the Long-Distance Shuffler” is that the iPod promotes the incohesive tendency among the community: “In an age of atomization and social fragmentation it reinforces solipsism and places the individual and that dreaded value of ‘choice’ at the heart of experience . . .” (Melville 221). Melville believes that personalized media provides people the tool to block out reality and sink into the personal realm, which not only does it reduce communication but also kills the heart of music experience which is discovering and sharing. Similarly to Stites, Melville addresses the awkward communicating situations where, consequently, “. . . It [the iPod] encourages people to ‘tune out’ while they’re occupying social space with others, as if others were mere irritations . . .” ( Melville 222). Nevertheless, different from Stites, who suggests consuming online resources to avoid these situations and regain social experience, Melville concludes that these alternatives may cause the consequence of “the possibility of actually communicating is gone for good” (223). Payne consents to Melville’s opinion when she shows how the deep interference of the …show more content…
Notwithstanding, in opposition to Stites and Melville, Payne includes distinguishing evidence from different sources to demonstrate how the Internet changes people’s daily habits and causes addiction. Payne, in addition, provides readers with various statistics on Internet obsession, which possibly contains Stites’s case, and concludes that it isolates these people from the outside environment (Payne 456), which Melville names as an act of “reinforces solipsism” (221). As an illustration of the impact of excessive Internet use, she cites Ivan K. Goldberg’s remark, “ There’s no question that there are people who are seriously in trouble because of the fact that they’re overdoing their Internet involvement” (qtd. in Payne 456), and Goldberg also addresses this issue as a mental disorder rather than a regular addiction (Payne 456). Moreover, Payne illustrates that individuals attempt to engage more in online social networks and abandon genuine connections in reality; it says, “Survey participants reported that an hour spent online reduced face time with family members by nearly 24 minutes . . .” (qtd. in Payne 457). Furthermore, Payne pays attention to the online game segment, which contains the
While Payne and Stites touch on the mass media and its communities, Melville analyzes the personalized media and mentions the iPod as a prominent representative. The main statement in his article “Hell Is Other iPods: The Aural Loneliness of the Long-Distance Shuffler” is that the iPod promotes the incohesive tendency among the community: “In an age of atomization and social fragmentation it reinforces solipsism and places the individual and that dreaded value of ‘choice’ at the heart of experience . . .” (Melville 221). Melville believes that personalized media provides people the tool to block out reality and sink into the personal realm, which not only does it reduce communication but also kills the heart of music experience which is discovering and sharing. Similarly to Stites, Melville addresses the awkward communicating situations where, consequently, “. . . It [the iPod] encourages people to ‘tune out’ while they’re occupying social space with others, as if others were mere irritations . . .” ( Melville 222). Nevertheless, different from Stites, who suggests consuming online resources to avoid these situations and regain social experience, Melville concludes that these alternatives may cause the consequence of “the possibility of actually communicating is gone for good” (223). Payne consents to Melville’s opinion when she shows how the deep interference of the …show more content…
Notwithstanding, in opposition to Stites and Melville, Payne includes distinguishing evidence from different sources to demonstrate how the Internet changes people’s daily habits and causes addiction. Payne, in addition, provides readers with various statistics on Internet obsession, which possibly contains Stites’s case, and concludes that it isolates these people from the outside environment (Payne 456), which Melville names as an act of “reinforces solipsism” (221). As an illustration of the impact of excessive Internet use, she cites Ivan K. Goldberg’s remark, “ There’s no question that there are people who are seriously in trouble because of the fact that they’re overdoing their Internet involvement” (qtd. in Payne 456), and Goldberg also addresses this issue as a mental disorder rather than a regular addiction (Payne 456). Moreover, Payne illustrates that individuals attempt to engage more in online social networks and abandon genuine connections in reality; it says, “Survey participants reported that an hour spent online reduced face time with family members by nearly 24 minutes . . .” (qtd. in Payne 457). Furthermore, Payne pays attention to the online game segment, which contains the