Allison M. Shapira

Saturday, November 17, 2007

The Death of Distance, Part 2

This week was our last discussion of the year. The final two classes will comprise our group presentations.

So for our final discussion, we talked about The Death of Distance by Frances Cairncross. I really liked the format of the discussion - our instructor put up slides from the chapter "The Trendspotter's Guide to New Communications," and we engaged in a discussion of all the issues it raised, from privacy to outsourcing to world peace. A great discussion, and I think it was a great way to end the class. I was specifically interested in the social and cultural consequences of emerging communications technologies, and as a result of this class, I feel like I'm in a better position to deal with them as a communications professional.

I was specifically interested in the idea that technologies can simultaneously cause fragmentation and cohesion. When you're dealing with someone's communications adoption, it's important to recognize in which way they are affected.

In closing, our instructor warned us to always think through the new technologies that we are using, in an effort to understand their implications. But no matter what technology we are using, it always comes down to human relationships - we are always trying to communicate with one another, and that will never change. The medium may change, but our needs won't. And we won't.

The last two quotes of the class were the following:

"Technology takes shape long before its full consequences for society emerge."

"Technology, driving economics, has the power to change the social and physical world."

Interesting thoughts to keep with me as I progress through the Master's in Communications Management program.

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