Convergence Reading

The Saul Hansell article seems to be conveying the idea of convergence's affect on advertising. Advertising at present in and in the past is ostensibly what keeps the film rolling and "entertainment" on cable and television. With the ride of TiVo and the pay per view options, there is less opportunity for advertising to drag us in kicking and screaming while Madge is asking if our hands are soft. It makes sense that the next step is to charge for the specific items the consumer wants. With this, the idea of HAVING to watch the commercials is gone, and their being in the background still paying and maintaining is there. The jukebox television or iPod or cell phone or any number of other electronic device will be consumer driven rather than industrially driven.

In the Steven Johnson piece, I am finding it disturbing to actually see an problem articulately described as a form of social networking. Not only are we "learning" to advance our thinking via reality shows and TV dramas. Though the thought is, our social and mental capabilities are "advancing" through the social connections of these shows, I feel it is taking away from the days where our brains were given the opportunity to socially grow with ACTUAL social interaction, and reading and discussion. The Internet allows for the "wu@" and "gr8". Kids are not learning spelling and grammar or being corrected. What happens in the "social networks when these kids are adults? Will it then be acceptable to have interactive television shows in these socially acceptable languages? My real question is, are we REALLY expanding our brain capabilities, or are we simply finding ways to "intelligently" dumb down outside influences in the name of laziness.