I'm not sure if you've seen the phone commercials where they say that you can watch the olympics live off your phone, but I have. I couldn't find a video online, but here's the overveiw of what most of those commercials look like. You hear someone talking while you see their hand and a phone in their hand. On the phone there is video of a figure skater or a skiir doing what they do best. While we're hearing the person and seeing the phone, we are also seeing the surroundings move. The surroundings also move with what the athlete is doing if you pay close enough attention. I found this commercial post-modern in two ways.
The first way is the distant to close feeling. Now, with our phones we can watch something that's thousands of miles away. Sure, we're used to the idea that we can watch the Olympics at home when it's thousands of miles away, but now we can do that while moving around in all sorts of directions. No matter where we are, or what we're doing, we can watch the only Bermuda athlete compete against one of the many American athletes. We no longer have to be couch potatoes to see the olympics, we can be at work or in the halls of school. Just think about it. The world just got a little bit smaller.
The second thing I noticed was the multiple views. We weren't just seeing the olympics through one screen. We were seeing it through 2, and some can argue 3. It can be two screens because we are looking through our TVs and then the phone, but the three views are the TV, the person holding the phone's eyes, and then the phone itself. If that doesn't give you some sort of multiple viewpoint, then what does? Also, when I talked about the surroundings, I was being serious. The way that the surroundings move is very subjective to the way the athlete moves. It's not so obvious that you can tell what sport is being shown by just looking at the surroundings, but it does help give you a more inclusive feel to watching the olympics while on your phone.
I personally feel that although we're living in a postmodern world, some things are just more post modern than others; this being one of them. We can't stop this train now, though.
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I have seen these commercials and it is interesting that you point this out. I have been noticing post modern aspects of various commercials and converstations ever since we discussed it in class. I agree with you about the multiple view points. I feel like I have been harping on this a lot recently, but I think that technology like the iPhone makes this world much more difficult to get around. It becomes harder to beat the system. The advancement of technology is inevitable and you're right, we can't stop this train now.
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