Technology Changing Media

There's no doubt that as technology develops media changes. In fact, many media have arisen because of technology and other media are technology. Because most, if not all, media is technologically driven, the actual mediums often change. For instance, television is in many ways the successor to radio. Although radio still exists for music, its use as primary mode of entertainment and news reporting is very different because television has replaced radio for many people for these purposes. However, it is often more interesting to look at specific mediums and how they change and evolve because of technology.

My example for this is again the radio. Due to the rise of the internet and technology, radio has drastically changed. In part, the definition of the radio has changed. The world-wide web has given rise to internet radio. Some may argue that this is not radio at all, but I believe it is. But this is getting off topic. My point is how the internet has changed radio. My media artifact for this week is internet radio such as Last.fm. Most people are more familiar with Pandora, but Last.fm serves my purpose and argument better in this case.

For both examples, technology has greatly changed the way people listen to radio. Internet radio, like these two examples are vastly different from what most people are accustomed to from radio stations. There are three distinct differences which technology has caused.

First, these types of radio have made radio customizable. This is the main attraction of websites like Pandora and Last.fm. Users/ listeners can customize their radio stations to guarantee the music that is played is all to the listeners' liking. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. Whether it be by selecting a preformed station based on genre, entering an artist name to emulate, or a specific song to match, technology drives all of these.

Second, because they are hosted on webpages instead of airwaves, the advertisements can be on the website rather than interrupting the music between songs. Last.fm has no auditory ads, while Pandora has greatly fewer than traditional radio. Without technology of the internet this would not be possible.

The third difference is that it can be accessed anywhere in the world that allows access to the internet. This is in stark contrast to traditional radio which can only be accessed within range of the broadcast. Last.fm allows people to listen to its service anywhere they can access a computer with the internet.

Technology drives much of the change in society. Radio is just one example. In many cases it makes media more interactive, a much cooler media. Previously radio had almost no interaction, but websites like Last.fm and Pandora let people interact with the music, saving preferences, radio stations, and even favorite tracks.

Without technology media would be much slower to evolve, if it could evolve at all. Luckily, technology shows no signs of stopping, making the media world a fascinating social experiment in how much society can alter the way it receives information. Benefiting listeners everywhere, consumers should be grateful that technology enables radio to advance. What will happen to traditional radio is less clear in the long run, but also raises an interesting argument that I will save for another blog post.