Toward an Aesthetic of Transition

I grew up with the unique opportunity of having much older parents than many of my peers.  My dad, newly 78 years old, and my mother, a fresh faced 63, have echoed in my ears their hesitance as media continues to shape and shift and, to many, eat away at the world.  When I transitioned from cassettes to CDs, I was reminded of LPs & eight-track tapes.  When I purchased my first DVD player, I was warned of how my mother spent hundreds on a beta player that is now collecting dust in a room upstairs.

I used to just brush their commentary off and continue to jam out to my portable CD player but now I am seeing their warnings coming somewhat into fruition with eBooks becoming wildly popular and the music sharing age making any physically interchangeable music medium (i.e. cassette tapes or discs) obsolete.  However, it’s increasingly important to me that with each new form or presentation of media, I make a concerted effort to understand it as it relates to what came before it and what it means for the future.  My iPod, at this very moment, sits right across from my record player and stack of LPs I’ve collected since childhood.  I can appreciate the usefulness of the iPod while still finding appreciation for what came before it.

Thorburn and Jenkins do a really great job of dismissing the hysteria of the apocalyptic tendencies populations tend to embrace when new technology is created.  However, instead of dubbing those “crazy” and keeping it moving, the authors go on to explain the many ways that the old and new intertwine and relate to one another with the aim to appease those minds who seem so consumed with the death and destruction of the past.

What’s great to me about the evolution of media and technology is that, above all else, the information or content being transmitted is at the forefront, being subject to the efforts of powerful minds who are determined to find increasingly efficient and powerful ways to continue its transmittance.  Yes, the way we view content may change but thankfully the content is still there, alive and well.

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