For option #2, I decided to do a close reading on my iPhone 4. I have my iPhone on me at all times no matter what the day, and I use it for everything. I use my iPhone to look at the weather in five different places all around the world, to map out my directions to a new place, and to search for the closest restaurant, gas station, mall, movie theater, etc. I use it to read the latest news stories, take an IQ test, make a shopping list, buy new music, and read quotes from famous philosophers. I play Scrabble with friends, check my Facebook, monitor traffic, look up a word in the dictionary, shop online, and learn sign language. I have my own built-in compass, world clock, unit converter, metronome, and tip calculator. Wait, am I still talking about a phone? Well I guess I forgot to mention that I text and call people using this device as well. My point is that this is beyond a phone. This small device has an incredible capacity, and you can do almost anything on it. All of what I mentioned and more is available to you by touching a few icons. With this phone, there pretty much is no limit.
The iPhone has expanded the expectations of the cell phone immensely. Cell phones today have been completely transformed and improved since they were simple contraptions, and their only abilities were to receive and make calls. Phones have changed very much since they were first invented, and the designers and creators of new, innovative phones have clearly outdone themselves. The iPhone and any other phone that has the ability to download apps has a plethora of options for their users to access almost anything via their phones. The capabilities of the iPhone is astounding, and instead of being used for contacting people, the iPhone has turned into a device of unlimited possibilities and a constant connection to the media.
I think the iPhone can relate to McLuhan's article "The Medium Is the Message." The iPhone can be related to one of McLuhan's main arguments and a concept that has been stressed in class, which is the idea that media is always material. In other words, as we talked about in class, the title of his article says it all: the medium is the message. McLuhan argued that the medium is the most important part of the media because how the media is delivered can affect how the audience sees it. I think this is exactly the case with the iPhone. Because images, messages, and information are displayed on the iPhone, versus seeing the same things on a computer, piece of paper, museum, etc., this affects the way owners interpret these things. The small, savvy, sleek design and display of the iPhone gives owners a different perspective than if they saw the same thing through a different medium. The changing technology in phones has allowed easy access to any information you could possibly dream of, all at your fingertips. This new technology has changed the entire idea of phones forever, and for that iPhones will go down in history.
I can definitely relate to your post. I use my iPhone for almost everything. I would also say that the majority of time spent on my iPhone is when using the apps, and not when contacting people. It's interesting how cell phones have gone from just phones to devices that do so many things (this is a good example about how the media changes and our culture shifts). I also agree with how you related the iPhone to McLuhan's articles. It does change your perspective when you see something on the phone versus in its actual setting/context, etc.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do believe that the iphone has started something great such as having more apps, video calling,and paving the way for smart phones, but I personally am not a fan of the iphone, or apple corporation period. Just because it's a name brand and everyone on campus has the iphone or the mac or even the ipad that it makes other feel like or pressured to have the same thing. Now this totally relates to the article on branding and how it has become not just a brand but a lifestyle. Apple products are overrated and too expensive for the average person, not the least to say college students. We are spending too much money on products that are name brand. And I know everyone wants the most current and best electronic devices out there because that's how I am with cellphones
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to this as I have the iPhone 4 myself. It is interesting to see how cell phones are now being made to do so much more than they were orginally made to do. That is, to make a simple phone call while on-the-go. Now, smartphones are being made in attempt to almost fulfill every "need" one wants. One gadget can pretty much do it all. Besides that, the extinction of landline phones has increased dramatically in the last decade showing how cell phones have become "an extention of man", which is also a McLuhan concept. I think, of all the course readings we've done, McLuhan's piece would relate most to this topic of the iPhone 4.
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