Is the evolution of Communication and Technology really negative?

Technology, communication technology in particular can have some negative consequences in addition to the positive ones that get talked about so often. These positives and negatives can be very cloudy, however, when truly looking deep into the individual circumstances. Let’s take for example, a newspaper company. That company may have thrived in the 1980’s selling papers because everyone needed the news and the only way to get it was either television or newspaper. That same company in 2010 could potentially go out of business because much of the news that people want can be had for free at the click of the internet via mobile device, Smartphone, pc, iPod, etc. This would appear initially as a negative because many people would potentially get laid off and the company could fail all together. Looking deeper, there may actually be some positives and hope for these types of companies if they put in the time and effort. One angle to this is that if old print newspapers and magazines are phasing out and internet articles are what is more popular, then these companies need to make a strong push to make their products available on line. They should then put in the time and money to make sure their sites are user friendly with a competitive interface that captures the reader’s attention so that they will come back to their site for future news information. Once they do that, then their site hit count will rise and they can profit from the revenue of advertising from their popularity. One positive side effect would be that fewer trees would have to be killed because less paper would be used since we do not need paper to look at a story online as opposed to in a newspaper! This concept can apply just the same to the movie industry, where a company like blockbuster may need to make a stronger effort to deliver movies via the mail and/or through a simple download from their site, like Netflix. The music industry is heading toward a simple mp3 download from sites like ITunes, Zune, napster, or illegal like Kazaa, limewire, and bit torrent. A store like FYE, who sells cd’s will begin to see a decrease in sales as time goes on because of the evolution of the industry. However, with so much illegal downloading on line, the artists, recording labels, and stores all get hit hard in their pockets. This should make them unite and create incentives for people to buy the cd’s in the store. For example, if I was a big Eminem fan, I may not want to spend $10 on a disc when I can get it for free online. However, if that disc came with tickets to a concert, or a chance to win tickets, an autograph, or extra artist exclusives only available via the purchase of the compact disc itself, then I may spend the money and buy the disc. Aydan Corkern makes the point that this technological evolution has caused people to become lazier and less active. A point like this is hard to argue because I simply agree with the author on it. People do seem lazier and less active because of the internet and technology. They will often communicate online as opposed to getting out and socializing in person, which I believe is much healthier overall. The key here is that we must strive for a healthy balance of both.
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