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Preface
In 1984, more than a decade before the Internet became
available to anyone with access to a computer and a modem, the novelist
Thomas Pynchon recognized that emerging technologies had the potential to
change the relationship between individuals and those in power. Asking "Is
It O.K. to Be a Luddite?" Pynchon implicitly compared the political
implications of today’s computer revolution to the 19th century’s
Industrial Revolution (see Appendix). While he speculated that computers
would provide the means for ordinary individuals to challenge mainstream
avenues of power, Pynchon offered a vivid counterargument to the view that
increased technology would lead to less freedom, a dogma exemplified by
George Orwell’s 1984, a novel about a world in which technology has given
rise to an all-pervasive totalitarian government known as Big Brother.
Since the Industrial Revolution, thanks in part to the
Luddites, challenges to ruling elites have often been cast in terms of
challenges to technology. After technological advances in England made
their jobs in textile factories obsolete, the Luddites—influenced by the
actions of a man named Ned Lud in the 18th century—banded together between
1811 and 1816 to destroy the machines that were robbing them of their
livelihood. The term Luddite has since come to refer to anyone hostile to
advances in technology and can—and often does—connote one opposed to those
in control of that technology. "But we now live, we are told, in the
Computer Age. What is the outlook for Luddite sensibility? Will mainframes
attract the same hostile attention as knitting frames once did? I really
doubt it," Pynchon observes. "Machines have already become so
user-friendly that even the most unreconstructed of Luddites can be
charmed into laying down the old sledgehammer and stroking a few keys
instead." The emergence of the new media has made Pynchon’s conjectures a
large-scale reality—even while making Orwell’s worst fears a real
possibility. Over the last 10 years, the new media has changed the way
people receive and engage with information, allowing those outside the
centers of power the opportunity to challenge both corporate and political
authorities, all while sitting in front of their computer terminals.
Among the tools most responsible for enabling this new
environment are weblogs, or blogs—frequently updated online journals that
have allowed private individuals to debate and correct journalists on the
national stage—and, more recently, podcasts—broadcasts recorded onto audio
files and uploaded onto the World Wide Web for others to download and hear
as an alternative to radio programs. Individuals, taking on the role of
publisher or broadcaster, can now reach an audience without the help of
financial backers and distribution outlets, and those who have done so
have had surprising successes. Of course, the new media has changed more
than publishing and broadcasting. It has revolutionized the way people
participate in politics, entertain themselves, educate themselves and
their children, socialize, and shop. These changes do not always pose an
obvious affront to those who have traditionally controlled the media, but
they have offered the unconnected a chance to widen their influence.
The Internet, by giving everyone access to a potential
audience, has weakened top-down structures of control, democratizing the
media in a way never before possible. This book explores the
transformations brought about by the new media. The first section offers a
general consideration of recent developments, opening with five articles
that discuss the changes, the possibilities, and the public’s responses to
them. To balance the emphasis on newness, the section ends with an
examination of how our attachments to the latest technological gadgets
connect us to traditional modes of life.
The second section turns to the world of publishing,
where blogging has played a major role in making the new media a relevant
force. Particular selections discuss the blogosphere—the name given to the
world of blogs—and examine bloggers’ contributions to the news media. The
section concludes with two articles about book publishing. The next
chapter considers the new media’s impact on the entertainment industry and
how corporate and private entities compete for the attention of consumers.
Rounding out the chapter is an article examining how technology could give
rise to a new genre, video game narratives, and another entry discussing
the revival of old-fashioned forms of commercialization by entertainment
executives in order to finance innovations.
The fourth and fifth chapters look at the notion of
media in a broader sense and examine the possibilities that new
technologies have created for students and educators, as well as the new
forms of social interaction that have developed online. Specific articles
discuss how online databases improve the research capabilities of students
and professionals. Other entries examine social networking Web sites,
communally produced publications, such as the online encyclopedia
Wikipedia, and new-media shops. New-media developments have also led to
certain excesses; consequently, the last section concludes with articles
addressing the dangers of the Web.
I would like to thank the authors and publications that
granted permission to reprint the articles in this volume. I would also
like to acknowledge those who have helped me put this book together,
especially Lynn Messina, Paul McCaffrey, Mari Rich, and Jennifer Curry. Of
course, nothing would have been possible without John Farris, whose
guidance sustains all those who know him. I would also like to thank my
wife, Raquel, for her patience.
Albert Rolls
April 2006
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