Did you know? is a short (4:55) video by by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Bronman, remixed that is very interesting. I believe did you know? is about the advancements of information technology. This video includes various statistics pertaining to how life is today and how technologically advanced life will be in the future. Information technology (IT), for those of you who don't know is the use of computers and software to manage information. I have been asked, do you think the video is xenophobic? Xenophobia is an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange. Initially, when I saw this video I said to myself, no, this video is not xenophobic. However, after taking some time, watching the video again and thinking about it, this is what I believe this video is.
Did you know?, presents the idea that advancements in technology are far surpassing the human mind. With statements shown in the video like "we are currently using technologies that haven't been invented, in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet" and "by 2013 a super computer will be built that exceeds the computational capabilities of the human brain", suggests to me a fear of technological advancements, advancements that do not exist yet making them foreign (unfamiliar). This video is essentially saying did you know that technology will be the world as we know it, in ways that you can't even imagine. Technology is going to be so advanced that "by 2049 a $1000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the entire human species", what does this mean for the human species? Not only do I believe this video is xenophobic, I believe it can instill xenophobia in people toward technology, its advancements and the future.
After watching this video, it made me think of certain articles I have read in class. In Anderson's 2004 "The long tail" he discusses how the universe has shifted going from a one to many model of distribution to a many to many distribution. How with this universal shift all things became possible. Is this video suggesting another universal shift? What form of distribution will we have in 2049 when computers are far surpassing humans? In Hargitai's 2000 article, "Radios lessons for the Internet" he discusses how government regulations are inevitable for the Internet, that because of the issues facing the radio and how the government essentially needed to regulate the radio that they will not make the same mistake with the Internet. So how far will the Internet grow with all these technological advancements? Will the government regulations eventually become a problem and butt heads with the many to many model of distribution. Looking at Dimaggio,et al. 2001 article "Social Implications of the Internet", and how it discusses massification and the Internets impact on culture made me think, how will everything discussed in this video impact culture. How will things like a super computer affect us directly?
Fortunately, this video did not make me feel xenophobic about the future. However, it did make me think a lot about what the future holds for the world. It made me wonder how quickly will we advance technologically, and if all this technology will be better or worse for the future. If in "2008 1 in every 8 couples married met online", then imagine how many married couples will have met online by 2020. If this video is even a little bit true it means that the world will be changing extremely fast right before my eyes and I have a crazy future to look forward to. I recommend that everyone who reads this post watch the video, it is very interesting and if you have your own opinions on it feel free to leave a comment.
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