Monday: Smith pg. 117-134

SUMMARY

This chapter asks the reader to think about exactly what a medium is. We typically look at a medium as what kind of technology we are watching content through, but this chapter aims for the reader to question that idea. It argues that the medium content is viewed through can affect how the audience absorbs/understands it. For example, because television is at home and you can become easily distracted, the content won’t have as much of an effect on you. Mediums have changed through the course of time, from paintings, to radio, to eventually the technology we use today, and the ability to effect someone is directly correlated to the medium’s ability to properly get a message across.

It also addresses how this technology came to be, explaining the invention process and how slow it was. Because things are made and fill the present need, this slows down the process of new technology coming out sooner. We are still to this day technologically advancing and aren’t even aware of it.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLE

When I was in high school, we watched the movie Chicago in my English class on an off day when we had free time. She turned the projector on and of course after about 10 minutes, the entire class was talking and gossiping at an unholy volume. I watched the movie in parts basically, listening the the music and seeing the images, but not taking in any of the plot line. It was a 12th grade English class and I wanted to talk to my friends. I was distracted and my attention was elsewhere.

Later, I went home and watched this movie with my sister on our TV upstairs. The movie was quite eventful, and I went to bed that night continuously thinking about it, unable to sleep.

CONNECTION

As you can see, my environment and the technology in which I was in/used to view the movie greatly affected my understanding of the content. Watching a movie on a projector with a room full of highschoolers is completely different than sitting down with popcorn and your sister in a dark room to view the film on a larger screen.

Mediums can be a quite larger factor than anticipated when looking at media. We have to pay close attention to how we are consuming content, and how much that can affect our own perspectives on it.