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Hippie Squared: screen screen everywhere a screen
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a blogumn by Jeff Rogers
screen screen everywhere a screen. a screen with somebody yapping at you. it used to be that the consolation of having to go to certain places where you knew you’d have to wait awhile for something—the doctor’s office, getting your car repaired—was at least you could get a little reading in. you could bring a good book and park yourself in a chair and have a little peace, just let your spirit loose a little, let it expand and heave a long inner sigh.
now it seems there’s always a tv going. there’s always a screen with somebody yapping at you. now it takes a conscious effort to push that away and cling to your reading, cling to the self-management of the pace of your thoughts. there’s a tyranny of time and attention wielded by the yapping screen. it clocks you at its rhythm, it jams your brain waves with its signal, it wrenches you from your inner track.
as gas prices increased and it took longer to fill the pump I took to carrying a section of newspaper with me, leaning against the car and letting the gas flow and reading a few paragraphs of a news story. now even there, perched above the self-serve gas pumps—a damn fascist screen, sqauking ads and news. sure, I want the news, but folded in my hand it moves at my pace. I can scan a few lines and catalog the information, sift it, weigh it and slot it. consider it. even at the damn gas pump there will be no respite nor refuge in this brave new world of the omnipresent screen.
getting you car fixed, used to be you could count on knocking out a few chapters of something, ripping a real chunk out of it. it might be an hour or three. it felt like for that blessed period you had an excuse for dropping out of the mix and landing in a field of time all your own. it didn’t have to be comfortable. a hard chair and a bad cup of coffee were just fine. but now, with the tv yawking, and a bank of chairs with decent cushions, I still can’t get comfortable. It’s like I’m sitting on bed of spikes with a cloud of bees buzzing in my ears. I have to get up and walk around, go find a coffee shop. if it’s coffee bean and tea leaf, guess what–there’s usually a screen. at least they often turn the sound off. but it’s still there, isn’t it?
screen screen everywhere a screen.
This is interesting, Jeff b/c I feel the exact opposite. I love the constant hustle and bustle of the city and I feel that screens are part of that. I love watching news while pumping my gas as I'm not a big fan of this activity, so I feel that I might as well be entertained as opposed to zoning out. I also love tvs in hotel bathrooms and reading news on my phone.
More screens, I say — it makes me feel like we're living in the future.
This is interesting, Jeff b/c I feel the exact opposite. I love the constant hustle and bustle of the city and I feel that screens are part of that. I love watching news while pumping my gas as I'm not a big fan of this activity, so I feel that I might as well be entertained as opposed to zoning out. I also love tvs in hotel bathrooms and reading news on my phone.
More screens, I say — it makes me feel like we're living in the future.
Hey Jeff,
There's nothing more annoying as when you go to lunch or dinner with someone and they stare past you because they're distracted by the TV. On the flipside, I'm with Ernessa, I love the city and all of the hustle and bustle, but there's a trade off of harmony with that of din. Din can be good, if you're in the mood for it (i'm in the mood for it 80% of the time). As far as the future goes, that's an interesting point. Watching TV while filling up the tank isn't very futuristic. But the iPhone with a bluetooth earpiece, that's one step away from Star Trek's Communicator Broach. (or we could go the other way with screens from 12 Monkeys, Blade Runner, or Brazil).
I'm waiting for the cool screens from Minority Report that will be everywhere.
Now that's a future I can get behind.
Cheers.
Hey Jeff,
There's nothing more annoying as when you go to lunch or dinner with someone and they stare past you because they're distracted by the TV. On the flipside, I'm with Ernessa, I love the city and all of the hustle and bustle, but there's a trade off of harmony with that of din. Din can be good, if you're in the mood for it (i'm in the mood for it 80% of the time). As far as the future goes, that's an interesting point. Watching TV while filling up the tank isn't very futuristic. But the iPhone with a bluetooth earpiece, that's one step away from Star Trek's Communicator Broach. (or we could go the other way with screens from 12 Monkeys, Blade Runner, or Brazil).
I'm waiting for the cool screens from Minority Report that will be everywhere.
Now that's a future I can get behind.
Cheers.
The world does make it tough for a junkie to give up her TV! I too, miss those times in the grocery store line, waiting on jury duty or for your car to be tuned up, when you could go all introspective and listen to your own voice. Next thing you know, there will be screens put up in all the meadows or by the rivers!
The world does make it tough for a junkie to give up her TV! I too, miss those times in the grocery store line, waiting on jury duty or for your car to be tuned up, when you could go all introspective and listen to your own voice. Next thing you know, there will be screens put up in all the meadows or by the rivers!
I'm a TV junkie too but wow, did it really irritate me on my last trip in 3 different airports. the noise would not stop!!!! plus, you couldn't hear announcements because of the blaring CNN headlines (repetitive in excess after 10 minutes. OK! I GOT THE NEWS!!!)….annoying.
I'm a TV junkie too but wow, did it really irritate me on my last trip in 3 different airports. the noise would not stop!!!! plus, you couldn't hear announcements because of the blaring CNN headlines (repetitive in excess after 10 minutes. OK! I GOT THE NEWS!!!)….annoying.
I love TV just as much as the next guy, but this is less about TV and more about them being EVERYWHERE. You couldn't escape them even if you wanted to. I mean, even our BILLBOARDS are TVs these days and I have to wonder if its safe to be watching them while driving….
I love TV just as much as the next guy, but this is less about TV and more about them being EVERYWHERE. You couldn't escape them even if you wanted to. I mean, even our BILLBOARDS are TVs these days and I have to wonder if its safe to be watching them while driving….
I'm surprised that no one has brought up how all these screens make it seem more and more like "1984" all the time.
The problem with all these screens is that everyone goes all slack-jawed when around them. Whether it's in a restaurant or at a party, as soon as there's a screen on, people lose their ability to hold an actual face-to-face conversation. It SUCKS.
I want to second you on this point. While I stand by adoring having screens everywhere, I feel that they should in large part be ignored when you're in human company. My relatives take calls, watch TV, and check their email during one-on-one conversations and that drives me CRAZY. And many of my friends will type on their bbs while talking to me face-to-face, which I think is rude but seems to be accepted here in LA. I'm grateful for screens, but I think people should treat is as an either or. Either you're with a person and ignoring your screens or you're with your screens and not trying to engage other humans in conversation at the same time.
I have to admit, I've texted in front of other people, but I try to keep it on topic. As in, I'll be texting the person that everyone in the group I'm in at that particular moment is talking trash about. ;)
I'm surprised that no one has brought up how all these screens make it seem more and more like "1984" all the time.
The problem with all these screens is that everyone goes all slack-jawed when around them. Whether it's in a restaurant or at a party, as soon as there's a screen on, people lose their ability to hold an actual face-to-face conversation. It SUCKS.
I want to second you on this point. While I stand by adoring having screens everywhere, I feel that they should in large part be ignored when you're in human company. My relatives take calls, watch TV, and check their email during one-on-one conversations and that drives me CRAZY. And many of my friends will type on their bbs while talking to me face-to-face, which I think is rude but seems to be accepted here in LA. I'm grateful for screens, but I think people should treat is as an either or. Either you're with a person and ignoring your screens or you're with your screens and not trying to engage other humans in conversation at the same time.
I have to admit, I've texted in front of other people, but I try to keep it on topic. As in, I'll be texting the person that everyone in the group I'm in at that particular moment is talking trash about. ;)
I'm going to tie this up with my comment about Brazil, 12 Monkeys, 1984 and Ernessa's great Scrabble keyboard blogumn (digress much?).
Check this out. http://www.creativepro.com/blog/scanning-around-w…
One last thing. Take a moment to think about 100 years ago and then 100 years into the future. Take into account Moore's law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law, and you can pretty much predict that TV screens will seem like an antique novelty and the fact that we're only a few steps away from a film that you can put down that is a screen http://www.oled-info.com/introductionSoon any wall, anywhere will be a tv screen. So Jeff, you might as well gouge your eyes out now, it's only gonna get worse. You could just move to the country. (But beware of skywriting airplanes).
Seencrest out.
I'm going to tie this up with my comment about Brazil, 12 Monkeys, 1984 and Ernessa's great Scrabble keyboard blogumn (digress much?).
Check this out. http://www.creativepro.com/blog/scanning-around-w…
One last thing. Take a moment to think about 100 years ago and then 100 years into the future. Take into account Moore's law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law, and you can pretty much predict that TV screens will seem like an antique novelty and the fact that we're only a few steps away from a film that you can put down that is a screen http://www.oled-info.com/introductionSoon any wall, anywhere will be a tv screen. So Jeff, you might as well gouge your eyes out now, it's only gonna get worse. You could just move to the country. (But beware of skywriting airplanes).
Seencrest out.
That's exactly it–listening to your own internal voice. That's why it feels fascist–someone is trying to talk over your internal voice and drown it out with theirs–which is inevitably trying to sell something.
I'm with you, Jeff. I just flew Jet Blue and had to repeatedly turn the TV off. They seem to reset the system every so often and the default is "on"…same is true for cabs in NYC.
When/if they put TVs in the subway trains, I will go bananas!
That's exactly it–listening to your own internal voice. That's why it feels fascist–someone is trying to talk over your internal voice and drown it out with theirs–which is inevitably trying to sell something.
I'm with you, Jeff. I just flew Jet Blue and had to repeatedly turn the TV off. They seem to reset the system every so often and the default is "on"…same is true for cabs in NYC.
When/if they put TVs in the subway trains, I will go bananas!
Cabs now! Egads.
Cabs now! Egads.
Wow, what an intriguing debate. I think a lot of it is generational–and I think that while the old truism was that every 20 years was a new generation, I think cultural change has accelerated now to the point that it's more like every five years.
I think my old fogeyness is showing in my abhorrence of the screens. My brain was not so multi-media trained as folks just a little younger than me. I have a hard time tuning out a screen. That's why I consider it such an imposition. It's like my attention is being raped. It's like how non-smokers feel about second hand smoke. In a doctor's office, the TV is being imposed on me. It's that old thing about how your freedom ends at the tip of my nose. But TV is one of those things that knows no spatial boundaries.
By the same token, when I'm watching TV or a movie at home, I hate talking over it. I don't mind talking. The rule in my house is if you want to discuss what's happening on the screen, you use the pause key. When I'm watching, I'm watching it all. It's someone's art. I'm watching the faces of the actors, listening to the subtleties of dialogue, the music, etc. I don't want my attention divided. And when I'm talking, I don't want to feel pulled away from the conversation by the TV in the background.
Ernessa's younger so her brain has been conditioned to more multimedia than mine. But not so much as the folks even younger who seem to be able to type on their bbs's and carry on a conversation without feeling rude or divided. I find that insufferable. To them it's normal. I find TV in doctor's offices insufferable. To Ernessa it's normal, and she can just tune it out.
I too love the hustle and bustle of the city. But I think if you go to a doctor's office in a small town you'll find a TV screen. That's different to me. In a doctor's office I like to watch the parade of people, see what they're wearing, listen to their conversations, try to suss out the different relationships. Appreciate the diversity. That's hustle and bustle of the city to me. And that's my TV in the doctor's office; but I can choose to turn my attention to it or turn it to a book. An actual TV screen there feels to me like someone trying to shove their reality down my throat. I resent it.
Interesting that Diabla mentions 1984; I mentioned Brave New World. It does feel dystopian to me.
Wow, what an intriguing debate. I think a lot of it is generational–and I think that while the old truism was that every 20 years was a new generation, I think cultural change has accelerated now to the point that it's more like every five years.
I think my old fogeyness is showing in my abhorrence of the screens. My brain was not so multi-media trained as folks just a little younger than me. I have a hard time tuning out a screen. That's why I consider it such an imposition. It's like my attention is being raped. It's like how non-smokers feel about second hand smoke. In a doctor's office, the TV is being imposed on me. It's that old thing about how your freedom ends at the tip of my nose. But TV is one of those things that knows no spatial boundaries.
By the same token, when I'm watching TV or a movie at home, I hate talking over it. I don't mind talking. The rule in my house is if you want to discuss what's happening on the screen, you use the pause key. When I'm watching, I'm watching it all. It's someone's art. I'm watching the faces of the actors, listening to the subtleties of dialogue, the music, etc. I don't want my attention divided. And when I'm talking, I don't want to feel pulled away from the conversation by the TV in the background.
Ernessa's younger so her brain has been conditioned to more multimedia than mine. But not so much as the folks even younger who seem to be able to type on their bbs's and carry on a conversation without feeling rude or divided. I find that insufferable. To them it's normal. I find TV in doctor's offices insufferable. To Ernessa it's normal, and she can just tune it out.
I too love the hustle and bustle of the city. But I think if you go to a doctor's office in a small town you'll find a TV screen. That's different to me. In a doctor's office I like to watch the parade of people, see what they're wearing, listen to their conversations, try to suss out the different relationships. Appreciate the diversity. That's hustle and bustle of the city to me. And that's my TV in the doctor's office; but I can choose to turn my attention to it or turn it to a book. An actual TV screen there feels to me like someone trying to shove their reality down my throat. I resent it.
Interesting that Diabla mentions 1984; I mentioned Brave New World. It does feel dystopian to me.