Melissa

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=>>Communication<<= The imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs Who wants to read boring and endless definitions on things that occur in our daily life? *groans* Not me, not even a little bit. Communication is huge in our lives, from the age of telegraphs and radio to the internet and [|MSN], everyone on Earth communicates. The question is— how? I’m going to explore that… What surprised me when I began researching was the endless ways to communicate! It’s pretty overwhelming how many ways we can share information. I can’t even name how many ways there is to communicate, and these days, it can be anywhere in anyway. With portable devices like cell phones, blackberry’s and laptops, the simplest of communication (verbal, words, pictures) can be done even quicker and more conveniently. It was pretty interesting to find that communication began with cave paintings, something non vocal. I guess when you live in such a high tech lifestyle; you think that it is the only way to live. But to me, these ways of communicating through artwork is very practical in a time where there were no languages which to me when I started this research, seemed like the one easiest way to communicate. Even centuries and centuries ago, letters were the practical solution to for informing and passing information. The funny thing is, the only things that I send or get sent to me are birthday cards; it’s like mailing is too slow for our fast and changing society which is sad that something so personal is turning into convenient emails. As the years went by, a brilliant man named [|Thomas Edison] invested possibly the simplest way to communicate; the phone. In my parent’s generation, the phone was a girl’s best friend. Too bad that was replaced with MSN and myspace, a shame really, because I find that verbal communication is personal and caring when responding to arguments or complements. [|Tony Fadell] a name that you wouldn’t know off the top of your head, invented what I consider my life; the Ipod. Packed with 200 to almost 15000 songs, it holds the soundtrack of my life. I consider music a huge influence in my life and communicates so much in just three to four minutes. I was amazed to discover that since 2002, this sensation has sold itself; approximately 60,000,000 Ipods have been sold. Now that’s communication!! Even today, billion dollar companies like [|Myspace, Youtube] and MSN have people of all ages glued to their computer chairs, me being one of them. From personal experience, online communication is very informal and very dangerous if you are not careful. A controversial move by politians in the USA passed a bill instating for schools and libraries to prevent children and teens from accessing sites such as Myspace. Personally, I think that something drastic like a law won’t prevent kids because there are so many ways to hack and get passed restrictions. I even was surprised although it was very obvious how one of the biggest influences in modern life communicates indirectly; the media. Do we watch an hour-long show, or nine minutes of commercials and fifty-one minutes of a show? It is funny how commercials feel so much longer than intended. You could be watching a great episode of [|Greys Anatomy] (that’s what I’m doing) and then BOOM, you’re watching a Swedish man reject food from an average restaurant and choose Wendy’s (I laugh every time I see that commercial). It’s frustrating, but extremely effective when it gets down to sales. The media affects every aspect of our lives; what we eat, what we wear, where we go, and who we are. As much as we want to reject that influence, it happens even when we don’t notice. So you better get used to it, media will always be there, infecting your brain. Reflecting on what I have discovered showed me how more convenient communication has gotten; it has come a long way from cave paintings but even our current technology will change and in even ten years, MSN will be the thing of the past and something new will be infecting our brains. Enjoy it while you can…