Congratulations on being picked up by The Huffington Post! I loved the article, and it could not have come at a better time. I am strongly weighing the idea of following my Master's with a PhD with a focus on new media -- or as I have debated with myself, with the Internet of things, are we reaching an era of 'post-media'? Of course, when you throw out a term like that to professors in a college of communications, they tilt their head to the side and look at you strangely. I think your article captured some of my thinking. What happens when everything becomes a medium? Right now, I am taking (begrudgingly) a course about strategic communications/advertising. Although there are very distinct elements to the field, we can argue everything is advertising today. If a friend shows off his new car, it's advertising. If a person wears a shirt with a logo, it's advertising. All this chatter about developing a personal brand? Yup, advertising. What happens when we begin installing refrigerators that send us a text message to tell us we're low on milk? My personal theories about the Internet and technology are pretty far out there, so I am glad to see I am not the only person who thinks there is going to be some massive evolution of mankind. Having a background in media, I am anxious to see at what level we'll be sharing information in the future.
It will be a completely different media landscape. So if your program is training you with a similar model to one I'd expect to encounter in the 20th century it's definitely a waste of time. Of course, they have a vested interest to believe everything will stay the same. Global Brain. This is a great example of the "Internet of Things". Expect it to mature in the 2020s. Certainly not. I want to study it's potential emergence for my Ph.D. And people over the past 100 years have had some inkling that a new phase of humanity was near. H.G. Wells thought of the "World Brain". Pierre de Teilhard thought of a "noosphere" or "omega point". John von Neuman first thought of an age of intelligent machines. Vernor Vinge and Ray Kurzweil developed the idea of the "technological singularity". Peter Russell, Howard Bloom, and Francis Heylighen have been working on the idea of the "Global Brain". My own thoughts are now beginning to take on a new form, but the rough ideas have been in place for a while. Something big is going to happen. It's getting closer. A new system level is going to come. It's going to come quickly. And it is probably going to change everything.with the Internet of things, are we reaching an era of 'post-media'?
when you throw out a term like that to professors in a college of communications, they tilt their head to the side and look at you strangely.
What happens when everything becomes a medium?
What happens when we begin installing refrigerators that send us a text message to tell us we're low on milk?
I am glad to see I am not the only person who thinks there is going to be some massive evolution of mankind.
Wasn't that a line by Dave Bowman in "2010: The Year We Make Contact"? But in all seriousness, I am think along the same lines as you are. If I had to project, I think we'll see a greater adoption of augmented and virtual reality before some sort of transformation of humans take place. In a way, it is amazing. A little scary, too. Can we still call ourselves human if we're bionic?Something big is going to happen. It's getting closer. A new system level is going to come. It's going to come quickly. And it is probably going to change everything.