Radio in the New Age Essay -- Writing Cyberculture Technology Essays

Radio in the New Age The essay is a popular form for writers to express their ideas. It can be found in many sources: newspapers, magazines, and journals. The essay is no longer limited to these mediums, and as communication technology develops, the essay has extended into new arenas. What was once an exclusively paper-and-ink technology is now available over the airwaves and through the phone lines. The essay has found its way to new formats through the radio and internet. We were once readers, but have now become listeners and spectators through the cyberculture revolution. The term "cyberspace" was invented by writer William Gibson to describe the interconnection of society and its technology (Tribble 162). Cyberculture implies a computer-literate segment of society. Our American culture relies heavily on the automobile industry, fast food, instant communication, and the movie industry, yet not all of these aspects of our culture make up cyberspace. Cyberculture narrows its definition to cover only those aspects of technology that instantly connect person to person or person to machine via other machines. This includes telephone, satellite, television, radio, and internet systems and allows us to uplink, download, tune in, channel surf, surf the web, dial up, and ring nearly anything, anywhere, and anyone at anytime. Steven Johnson, in his article "Links", considers two attitudes toward interactions with this technology. Comparing channel surfing to web surfing, Johnson views TV surfing as a passive act requiring only that the viewer accept what is bei ng shown. Web surfing, however, is a n interactive process that allows for inquiries and searches along a line of interest (Johnson 196-7). Similar to TV viewing, listenin... ..., a print version of the broadcast, ready for purchase or to download. The sound quality is significantly worse than the original, and sounds like the radio has de-evolved fifty years. Our advances in technology have, unpredictably, given us a sound experience of the radio medium when it was king of the airwaves. Our new is old again. Works Cited Birkerts, Sven. "Into the Electronic Millennium." Writing Material. Ed. Tribble, Evelyn B. and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman Publishers, 2003: 62-73. Johnson, Steven. "Links." Writing Material. Ed. Tribble, Evelyn B. and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman Publishers, 2003: 195-212. Tribble, Evelyn B. and Anne Trubek, ed. Writing Material. New York: Longman Publishers, 2003. National Public Radio. www.npr.org/ This American Life. www.thislife.org/ All Songs Considered. www.npr.org/programs/asc/index.html