Response due Tuesday (11/26) in class
This week we've read about the introduction of new media technologies, specifically the Internet and digital media. There is no shortage of claims about how "revolutionary" new media like these are (whether they actually are revolutionary is another story). We're living through this transition, and it's a transition we'll tell future generations about.
For this week's media exploration assignment, you'll interview someone older than you about the introduction of media and technological innovations that they recall as particularly noteworthy. These can be media innovations, like the introduction of TV, tape cassettes, cell phones, the personal computer, etc. You're also welcome to talk to your interviewee about a non-media technological innovations, like air conditioning, credit cards, birth control, interstate highways, etc.
For your interview, start out by asking your interviewee to recall some of the innovations that they consider particularly noteworthy -- things that changed the way they went about their day-to-day lives. Explain to them that this is for a media history class, but that you're interested in both media and non-media technological innovations. If you need to "jump-start" the conversation with a few examples, check out this timeline innovations from each decade of the 20th Century. Take brief notes about the innovations they consider particularly noteworthy.
From the list of innovations your interviewee just identified, you two should settle on one that you'd like to find out more about (you'll probably hear in your interviewee's voice that there's one innovation they consider particularly interesting). Ask your interviewee what it was like to have this new innovation introduced into their lives. What is his or her first recollections of this new technology? Where and when did they see it, and what was it like to use it for the first time? What were things like before this technological innovation, and how did life change once it was introduced? Ask them to provide specific examples that they recall. Take thorough notes throughout the interview.
Your write-up for this assignment will be in two parts. For the first part of your write-up, you will simply list, by name, the innovations that your interviewee identified as particularly noteworthy. This first part of your write-up should be no more than 1/2 page in length.
Then, for the second part of your write-up, you will focus in on the innovation you and your interviewee discussed in greater depth. Share your interviewees' stories of this innovation's introduction, and explain why this innovation was such a change for them. The second part of your write-up should be no more than 1 page in length.
