In this weeks readings, Manovich discusses first of all, how our (what I think DEPENDENCE on new forms of digital media came to be, as well as analyzing the ways it has changed us, by our need "to externalize and objectify the mind's operations" ( Manovich 24). I think this is an interesting point, as in a way that is all technology really has become. The evolution of technology from the beginning of time has really only been inventions humans have come up with to make things easier on us. The ultimate form of technology created by humans would have to be something that mirrors the ultimate form of technology created by nature- the human brain.
" The private and individual are translated into the public and become regulated" ( Manovich 24). I feel that this quote says a lot about the way media works in general, it is a way of taking all the private happenings in our world today and creating them in a completely public sphere. The internal processes such as art or self expression through writing is made available through media as well, especially digital media with the ease of using the web.
One topic that I wanted to bring up although not directly related to this weeks readings is the fact that with this whirlwind of digital media developing rapidly on the internet, I feel our country is growing a large dependence on it (many other countries don't have the luxury of using the internet because they cant even afford food much less a computer), is it necessarily a good thing for our country to be so massively dependent on computers? Yes, they are the new wave of technology and practically run the world as we know, but as we saw in the big Y2K scare, mistakes can also be made with the use of computers, and perhaps it is not such a safe idea to be so dependent on them. Yes, we still use newspapers and radio, but the popularity of both of those things is quickly dropping, and the convenience of a computer massively outdates them.