The "new" way of communication in today's day and age has changed in many ways and in such a short time. Nowadays, “[anyone] [has] a wider variety of options for communicating with their peers than was available 15 years ago” (Conti-Ramsden & Durkin et al., 2010, p. 197). In addition, with digital technologies such as cell phones and the Internet, communication is now widely accessible and also very popular with many people; mainly with adolescents. But older generations are beginning to adapt and learn how to use this technology; meaning, that it's slowly eliminating the old “messenger delivery method” (Conti-Ramsden & Durkin et al., 2010, p. 197). For instance, the old way of communication was sending letters and or post/general card via. the mail system (or “snail mail”), which took time to reach the receiver. Now with digital technology, we can now receive a message instantly. Now “[…] messages [can] travel faster than a messenger” (McLuhan, 1995, p.89). According to a survey conducted by
CTIA & Harris Interactive (2008),
[...] over 2,000 teenagers in the United States revealed that 80% of teens, or approximately 17 million young
people, have a cell phone. The figures are very similar for teenagers in the United Kingdom: Approximately 90%
of adolescents own a cell phone; 96% of these use SMS (short messaging services), and 1 in 10 spends more
than 45 minutes a day using it” (as cited in Conti-Ramsden & Durkin et al., 2010, p. 197).
As Nicholas Negropnte said, in time, “we will find that we are talking as much or more with machines than we are with humans. What seems to trouble people most is their own self-conscious about talking to inanimate objects” (as cited in Postman, 1999, p. 41). We are becoming so attached to our technology that people are starting to feel that if they leave their homes without their cell phones, it's as if they're leaving without their clothes on (Conti-Ramsden & Durkin et al., 2010).
As this new technology gets invented and communication changes, we as a society change. “As technology advances, it reverses the characteristics of every situation again and again. The age of automation is going to be the age of "do it yourself” (Rajendra, 2014, p. 1). In the nineteenth century, the following invention was produced and is now being seen as something that is wrecking our culture as we know it:
telegraphy, photography, the rotary press, the telephone, the typewriter, the phonograph, the transatlantic cable,
the electric light, movies, the locomotive, rockets, the steamboat, the x-ray, the revolver, and the stethoscope, not
to mention canned food, the penny press, the modern magazine, the advertising agency, the modern
bureaucracy, and even (although some dispute it) the safety pin“ (Postman, 1999, p. 39).
CTIA & Harris Interactive (2008),
[...] over 2,000 teenagers in the United States revealed that 80% of teens, or approximately 17 million young
people, have a cell phone. The figures are very similar for teenagers in the United Kingdom: Approximately 90%
of adolescents own a cell phone; 96% of these use SMS (short messaging services), and 1 in 10 spends more
than 45 minutes a day using it” (as cited in Conti-Ramsden & Durkin et al., 2010, p. 197).
As Nicholas Negropnte said, in time, “we will find that we are talking as much or more with machines than we are with humans. What seems to trouble people most is their own self-conscious about talking to inanimate objects” (as cited in Postman, 1999, p. 41). We are becoming so attached to our technology that people are starting to feel that if they leave their homes without their cell phones, it's as if they're leaving without their clothes on (Conti-Ramsden & Durkin et al., 2010).
As this new technology gets invented and communication changes, we as a society change. “As technology advances, it reverses the characteristics of every situation again and again. The age of automation is going to be the age of "do it yourself” (Rajendra, 2014, p. 1). In the nineteenth century, the following invention was produced and is now being seen as something that is wrecking our culture as we know it:
telegraphy, photography, the rotary press, the telephone, the typewriter, the phonograph, the transatlantic cable,
the electric light, movies, the locomotive, rockets, the steamboat, the x-ray, the revolver, and the stethoscope, not
to mention canned food, the penny press, the modern magazine, the advertising agency, the modern
bureaucracy, and even (although some dispute it) the safety pin“ (Postman, 1999, p. 39).