On a blistering hot day in July, you might expect to find one at the beach. Cooling off, getting a little sun and, perhaps most importantly, relaxing. At the very least you would hope to find someone like myself there, who has the privilege of living right on the water. By the same token, however, you might presume to find someone as passionate about hockey as myself glued to the television on that same date. On this specific day, the latter was the case.
Being July 1 - which in the National Hockey League is the first day of unrestricted free agency - there was a flurry of transactions as teams scrambled to finalize their rosters in preparation for the upcoming season. General managers' phones were ringing off the hook in an effort to acquire players they believed could help vault their team into contender status. It was a frantic day, with some players signing new deals with different teams, while others were being traded in exchange for one another.
I myself was caught up in all of the action, watching as all of the drama unfolded. Some of the players involved in these trades had been long-rumored to be dealt, while other guys were perhaps caught a little off guard. In the midst of the free-for-all, I recall hearing about one particular trade. The deal was a blockbuster involving Mike Richards, former captain of the Philadelphia Flyers, who had been sent to the Los Angeles Kings.
TSN (the sports network covering the event) was quick to catch up with Richards in order to gauge his reaction. Naturally, he was shocked. Not necessarily upset, but more or less surprised by the outcome, especially with his recently minted twelve-year contract with the Flyers organization taken into consideration. And as he described, it wasn't his own manager, or even the coach who had broken the news about the trade. To paraphrase his own response, he remarked that it had been players on his new team who had sent him messages via text and 'tweets' him welcoming to the new team and city. It had taken an extra five minutes for Philadelphia to alert Richards to what had transpired.
It was this particular moment that made me stop and reflect. How and when did we reach the point in time where our society permits an event like this to occur? How on Earth had Richards' new teammates reached out to him before he was even aware of the deal himself? Did they find out through text or twitter or some other form of media? And if so, where did this mean our society is headed with such a lightning-fast dispersal of information?
In order to articulate a response to these questions, I decided to choose the blog route. I found this to be an effective way to communicate my thoughts and ideas, as they pertain to topics regarding the Internet and technology itself. Many of the technologies I discuss I am quite familiar with myself, which I found to be quite useful in guiding my writing. I also incorporated links into my writing where I found it to be appropriate and relevant.
Once again with the story of Mike Richards in mind, I would like to closely examine a few of the avenues that permit this to occur.
Unprecedented Heights
Technology is simply not what it used to be. With each and every single innovation that passes by, the world around us continues to evolve beyond the scope of imagination. In recent years, this phenomenon has truly come to light with advancements coming to affect just about every facet of our lives. Individuals across the globe can connect with one another through a plethora of means, without the restrictions of time and space. Such accessibility makes for uncharted waters for a society just beginning an era of marked technological change. And, quite simply, all of this can be traced back to a handful of innovations over the past decade. The proliferations of the smart-phone, social media sites, and Skype have been prevalent in the ease and increased speed of communications.
Perhaps one of the most remarkable new innovations of the century has been the development and popularity of the cell-phone, or more aptly, the "smartphone". From Apple's iPhone, to RIM's now famous Blackberry, the exponential growth of the cell-phone has been astonishing. What began just a decade ago as a relatively modest tool for communication has expanded with each of the latest advancements in the industry. Take for example the iPhone. In recent years, it has extended its array of capabilities to include that of GPS, internet-browsing, and high-definition picture and video, just to name a few. These tremendous progressions have paved the way for a new breed of cell-phone users. With incredible tools like these, there are an unlimited number of options, all right in the very palm of your hand. Whether it's updating a Facebook status or watching a clip on youtube, the speed at which content flows from one user to another has never been swifter.
The expedited advancement of the Internet, along with the aforementioned smartphone, has facilitated the lightning-fast transition of information from one source to another. These two key aspects of the modern age have given rise to yet another digital revolution: social media sites. Although before Marshall McLuhan's time, websites such as Facebook or Twitter were perhaps exactly what he had in mind, when he described the planet as moving closer and closer towards a "
". In particular, Twitter has experienced prolific growth in recent years. All you have to do is search Barrack Obama's twitter - who has over ten million followers - to appreciate just how staggering its popularity really is. It is not only presidents and celebrities signing up for Twitter these days either. Millions of ordinary people are using the forum to communicate their own content, with Twitter claiming the ability to "instantly connect with what's most important to you". Love it hate or hate it, Twitter is just one of many widely accepted social media sites these days promoting an increase in connectivity.
Another medium of interest is that of Skype, software that is free and can be downloaded off the Internet by anyone. Skype is similar to smart-phones and social media sites in that it is a means for communicating with other individuals, but differs by utilizing video chat as the avenue for users to connect. For this reason, Skype is a unique way to connect with others, from anywhere at any time. Skype's prevalence is growing too. Students that have left home for university are using it, in addition to friends separated by thousands of miles. Even businesses are favouring the software as a more personal way to communicate with their clients. Like its social media counterparts, Skype's popularity is astonishing. In fact, Skype recently eclipsed the half a billion mark in number of users. With Skype emerging as one of the dominant social utilities today, the speed of communications only continues to skyrocket. The fact that this technological breakthrough is free (much like Facebook, Twitter, etc.) is crucial in enabling the ease and accessibility of conversing for the masses.
There is definite logic in suggesting that the influx of technology in today's society has hindered real-life interactions. In that respect, the idea that technology is bringing us closer together is paradoxical in that we are spending more and more time indulged into our mobile devices. In reality though, there is no crystal-clear answer to the debate of technology's merits and pitfalls. It is a mere personal opinion, where those who are "digital natives" (as Sterin refers to) are more inclined to believe technology is a boon to communications,and our collective society as a whole. Others who may or may not be quite as acquainted with technology's latest developments will argue against, claiming technology is precluding our personal interactions. Whatever the case, there is no denying there are some distinct advantages to modern day technologies. Where we stand today as human beings could not have been achieved without such breakthroughs. And the one thing that is for sure, is that there does not appear to be any slowing down. At least, as long as issues like this do not continue to frequent technology.
