Reading the online article was really nostalgic because back when the digital music age started i was probably around 6 or 7, same for when the first iPod came out. Back then I didn’t know how big of deal both of these technologies were/going to be. Services such as iTunes/Pandora have to thank Napster for breaking open the digital music era, since people were downloading music illegally all over the place that opened up the door for these digital music services because someone/thing had to step in and create a legitimate online music business, and the rest is history from there. I make music so it was interesting to learn the history of the MP3. As an artist you always want the highest quality sound, everything to me matters whether it’d be hearing a pin drop in the background or the booming bass itself. I never knew MP3 stripped so much information even though this is great for making the file size small it kind of takes out some of the things a music lover like me likes. Which is all those close to quiet sounds. Although you can barely hear these sounds but I love it when I’m listening to music on headphones on full blast and i can hear those little sounds, it adds some spice to the beat/song. But in the end though MP3 is revolutionary so those little sounds is a small price to pay for this amazing compression.

The New York Times reading as well as chapter 1 in the book were great readings. What really fascinated me about both readings was the fact that chapter 1 was sort of echoing the message from the NY Times article which was from almost 33 years ago! The article spoke of how traditional life (TV nights, vacations, outdoor activities, etc) would be different due to teletext and videotex. I’m guessing this teletext and videotex they speak of are our phones/tablets & computers of today. The article said both of these technologies would change the way we gather information & interact with each other. Most of the things in the article came true such as home businesses( “The home will double as a place of employment, with men and women conducting much of their work at the computer terminal.”), social networking sites (“There will be a shift away from conventional workplace and school socialization. Friends, peer groups and alliances will be determined electronically, creating classes of people based on interests and skills rather than age and social class.”) and online shopping (“Home-based shopping will permit consumers to control manufacturing directly, ordering exactly what they need for ”production on demand.””) the article warned that even though these technologies may be useful it could possess negative side effects. Which brings me to chapter 1 in the book, it was reiterating some of the points from the 32 year old article, saying that even though technology has these positives it’s also taking away from our traditional way of living (the way we pass information on from generation to generation). Overall I think the chapter is right, we’re in the middle of an informational/technological revolution and how we as humans proceed with these technologies will greatly impact our future as a society.