Cell phone half life

About 2 years ago I got my first cell phone. I was happy and excited because now, finally I would be able to join in with my friends in the world of instant and continuous connectivity. I exchanged numbers with my friends and was always kept up to date and whatever was going on. However soon after this honeymoon period with my phone set in the realization of what it was actually doing. The phone was my portal to my social life. It mediated where I was and when I would be going there. When I had it with me I always felt like at any moment I could get a text message and then I would be off to another party. However this did not last, I found I was simply chitchatting with people on my phone instead of going to hangout with them. Not only that, but people expected me to be at their beck and call because I had my cell phone; it became and expectation that I would answer no matter where I was. I was no longer the one they were trying to get in touch with; they wanted to get in touch with my phone. The phrase: “I sent you a text message” became the common excuse for not being informed and a series of daily messages consisting of basically the same format and questions became as sorry excuse for a relationship. This was amplified when text messaging became the preferred means of communication by my employer. Suddenly my phone mediated my entire life and I was perilous to do anything about it. I was finally rescued from this stated of phone tag friendships and orders accompanied by emoticons when I came to university. In residence I was finally able to have face to face real conversations with people when I wanted to talk to them and my phone is now collecting dust on my desk.

The Story of Stuff

I saw this a few months ago and thought it was great; I hope you do to.

"New" Heat

Perceived obsolescence is a technique used by marketers in order to make you think you need their product, when in fact you do not. This definition makes it sound a little shadier than it really is, allow me to elaborate. A good example to illustrate is cell phones. As you know each year we see at least a few new cell phone deigns being released, and they often have minor and trivial “upgrades” from their predecessors. Yet people still buy them, even if their last phone still works fine. This is a textbook case of perceived obsolesce. Now we are all guilty or committing a purchase for no other reason than perceived obsolescence at one time or another, I myself have four very fresh pairs of basketball shoes at home – one for each season over the past four years – that only had one thing wrong with them that made me think I needed to replace them: they were last seasons shoes. Why is this is such an effective marketing technique? Well that sound easy right: because people want to be cool and, if the marketing company does there job right, that is exactly what they make you think you will be if you have their product and vice-versa. But let me put forth a question you may not have asked yourself before: why do people want to be cool? It seems like a question that needs no answer, however it is one we must if we want to understand why it is so seemingly easy for marketers to make use believe we need their product when we have a perfectly good one at home. It is the human need to be loved and accepted, cliché I know but none the less true, and what is being cool if not being loved and accepted by everyone. Yes, advertisers are praying upon our want and need for love, picking apart our self-esteem so we will buy their product. We as a society are being bullied by ourselves and don’t even realize it, while they profit form our tortured self-perpetuating state. It seems like an unfixable problem, one that stems form the very core of human nature and is reinforced by our society to a degree that only a massive change in thinking by all would even begin to correct. If you have ever had an in-depth philosophical conversation about the world’s problems you know they can all be fixed on paper, but not without change human nature. However you can win little battles, if you remember to say to yourself: “do I really need this?” and every once and a while you may just listen. Making a little difference is always enough, because without it there can never be any change.

Bombarding the Ego

Much of modern advertising is meant to instill a feeling of perceived obsolescence in the viewer. The most popular way to do this when marketing to men ages 18-35 is by perpetuating stereotypes of the role of men and women that are many decades outdated. This is illustrated in a Durex condom advertisement I found offensive on many levels. The ad is as follows:

Picture from: random-good-stuff.com

Lets start with the most obvious way this ad flaunts its political incorrectness: the issue of Women’s rights. The way this woman is portrayed, she is nothing more than a mouth. She has no identity; she is simply a sexual object that can be abused in the pursuit of male pleasure. In fact it seems as though Durex is encouraging it: they are implying that since you are a “real” man with your large “appendage” you have the right to. That brings me to my next point: they are playing on male inadequacy. They are telling men that if they are not in need of their product – i.e. they don’t have a ten-inch penis – they have less worth as a person. What this ad is basically trying to tell me as a man is that I need to abuse women with my “manly powers” or else I am not worthy of being called a man. What they are also telling me, thought this ad, is that I might attain that image if I buy their product. That is not the most disturbing part about this ad however: the most disturbing part is that we consider this message, as a society, acceptable. We allow ads like this to run all the time, in every aspect of the media we take in, without any comment other that: ‘that’s funny”. Not only that, but bringing up the negative messages in this ad is considered taboo. That somehow it is okay because t is meant as a joke. We are meant to passively sit back while we are bombarded with cleverly hidden prejudice. This is brainwashing, plan and simply. It desensitizes you to blatant bigotry, continually pushing the envelope further and further, until the day when they can run an ad that say: your cock will put her in her place, if you are a real man and real men buy Durex.” and when that day comes I will buy a boat, find a deserted island and weep for the potential the human race once showed. Think I am being to extreme? I am only sending my message on the same level as Durex and other advertisers. There is one difference: I am appealing to your reason, not your ego. Yes, your reason, and your ability to think critically about the world you are in. Everyone needs to start using his or hers in regards to media so we might finally do away with the stereotypical thinking. In fact that is one of they ways in which scientists define secant life: the awareness of their place in the world and their ability to adapt to it. What do you say: are you a secant human or an ameba.

Work cited
random-good-stuff.com/2007/07/23/durex-xxl-condoms/, Durex XXL Condoms, Chris Mendes, July 23rd, 2007, October 4, 2008

Carrying a Torch for Media

The first thing I think of when I hear the term mass media is uncool, then uninspired and sellout. Why do these word come to mind? It is most likely because I have very great appreciation for things that are “underground”. In the world of media underground anything mass-produced get no respect and everything is limited or hard to find. However, I feel this may be a little short sighted when looking at the term mass media. I seem to be far more focused on the mass part than the media: which is unquestionably the more important aspect, or at least should be. I am now thinking that if the media is good, it really has no bearing on my appreciation of it whether or not everyone in the entire world has the same access as me. A good example is the most recent Batman movie: I personally loved it and I had not see it until it was one of the highest grossing films ever. You see I believe I simply look for quality and originality in the media I enjoy. So my focus on things outside the main stream is not any kind of snobbery: that is simply where the most original ideas are. Now lets think about my original definition for a moment because although I decided it was not adequate, it maybe nonetheless true. When we examine much of current media on a deeper level we find it hollow of meaning or that the meaning is in fact appalling. In other words it has no relevant substance that makes us reflect on our environment or ourselves (or at least that is not its intention). This is not because the people producing this media are necessarily so uninspired or bigoted; on the contrary they are in fact very intelligent. The problem is in the question “how do we make something everyone is going to like?” because how do we know what people like? By what they have liked in the past or what we assume they like. When you take that question and answer it that way all you will end up with are generalizations and clichés. Perhaps a better answer would be to make something really good and let those who can appreciate it do so. Unfortunately this is not the best business model and that is what main stream mass media is: a business. However there is hope, as Walter Benjamin Said in The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction: ”Thus, the distinction between author and public is about to lose its basic character. The difference becomes merely functional; it may vary from case to case. At any moment the reader is ready to turn into a writer.” (Benjamin, 9) This has been amplified by a million since Benjamin wrote it. As you all know everyone with an Internet connection can write for a mass audience. The most immediate example of this is what you are currently reading. These writings, movies, songs etc. that are posted by independent artist, who only wish to make their art and have people see it, is so much more genuine and the only thing the viewer must decide on is if it is good or not. The only way you are going to have a massive audience see your work is if it is good enough for people to talk about it and show their friends. This means the only currency in this world is creativity and insight. Perhaps that is a model we should all adopt.

Work Cited

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. 1935. October 1, 2008