Edmund Carpenter’s article “The New Language” stimulated me the most in conjuring commentary. On page 257 he states that “We don’t watch TV; it watches us”. This reference made me think about TiVo and how suspicions were being raised about how TiVo monitors its clients. Apparently TiVo automatically adapts to users choices of shows and automatically records data, the data is then analyzed and then returns other shows that you might like that are similar. This stirred a huge privacy debate weather TiVo had the right to monitor recorded content. But it is this technology that Carpenter was foreshadowing; the TV will adjust to our viewing preferences and not the other way around.
In Williams Boddy’s selection “Television Begins” concentrated on the early entrepreneurships of the few successful television companies. The selection also centered around how the television impacted the family life. Women were out of the kitchens, children were inside instead of outdoors playing and fathers were leisurely relaxing all day without opening the briefcase. This scenario continues to show relevance today, as Americans are statistically eating more and exercising less. The media through television contains the power to change the American way of life. Much of what people do are dictated through media and has a direct influence on society. When McDonalds introduces a new product, millions of people will go try it, not knowing that it contains high levels of fat and cholesterol, the only image being portrayed is that, the food will bring happiness. Like Carpenter states in his article, the television is the most powerful media of the time.
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