As Postman stated, “People do not see what new technology will undo.” This statement is true with every new technology that has been arriving in the past decade. We started off with print, moved to computers and now are moving into a technologically advanced future that no individual is sure of. As we are advancing we are forgetting that we are leaving some things behind; such as print, radio and even the music industry. “Every technology is a burden and a blessing.” If we all forget about the music industry we will allow it to disappear, and is that a good or bad thing?
The internet brought our society many new and exciting things. We are now able to get up to date news, play video games and chat with our friends that live in a different country. One of the most exciting things that has become a huge issue is the continuing use of online music websites. The popularity of Pandora, Grooveshark and Last.FM has put the music industry between a rock and a hard place. How can record companies sell music if everyone can now go online and listen to it for free? Why would we want to go out and buy something when we can just open our laptops and listen to a new song instantly and for free?
“When we admit a new technology into the culture, we must do so with our eyes wide-open…” Did any of us realize that by using these new music websites that we were potentially putting the music industry out of business? I am sure some people were aware of this, while others were not. But, now that we all know where the music industry is headed will our personal ethics tell us to stop using Pandora? Ethically we can decide to not use these sites to help the music industry, but we probably will not. Healy discusses ethics and moral obligation within his article, but do we have a moral obligation to the music industry?
“Sometimes a technology is so pervasive that we cannot escape it, but often we have the freedom to choose.” If we all now know that the music industry is deteriorating why do we still use the internet for music? Two reasons are obvious; it is cheap and convenient. The problem with our society is that we do not think about the long-term consequences, we are only concerned with the immediate consequences. We do not think about what listening to music online will do to the music industry ten or twenty years from now. As Healy states in the article, “…unanticipated consequences are a part of life.” When the music sites first began to show-up on the internet the potential consequences may have not been thought out, but now we can see the unanticipated consequences of online music.
Ariely stated in the video, “We need to understand our cognitive limitations.” What does this have to do with the music industry? If we all realize that we have cognitive limitations maybe it would help us see the hold corporate America has on us. Corporate America is very aware of our irrationality. This helps them influence us, which also helps them influence how we listen to or purchase music. Corporate America knows that we want what we want and we want it now. So, they allow us to get what we want when we want it by supplying us with online music. We get to pick and choose what we listen to without having to leave our homes and go to the store to purchase a CD. What about the music industry? They have no control over us anymore. The music industry cannot coax us into spending our time and money because we have discovered another way of getting it.
Bell Labs and AT&T knew that our society can easily move on from one thing to the next, which is why they took matters into their own hands. Instead of releasing magnetic recording to the public in the 1930’s they hid their discovery for many years. Why would they want to keep it a secret? They knew it could potentially cause major consequences. Bell labs felt people would reduce the use of telephones behind, and where would that leave AT&T? It would potentially leave them with less revenue.
The story of Thamus and the god Theuth makes a good point that our society should always keep in mind. “These new technologies may have been made with the intention of helping our society but people do not think about the potential consequences.” I knew that the music industry was beginning to fall, but what I did not realize until today was that I was helping the music industry towards potential destruction. Does that mean I will stop using Pandora or Grooveshark? No. Does it mean I will continue purchasing my music legally? Yes. We do not know what will potentially happen to the music industry ten years from now, but we can all keep in mind that new technology does hold future altering consequences.
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