On December 5th, we had our final class session. This class was brief lasting roughly 20 minutes  and the discussion was about summing up everything we had learned and discussed over this semester.  We shared our thoughts about how a main theme in the class was the relationship between technology and culture. This theme is especially important since in today’s time our culture is practically run by technology, which Claude Shannon theorized this would occur. What connects to this topic is the crisis of how digital media has affected our attention. A perfect example that always come to mind of this is how many automobile accidents occur because of our phones. We then shifted gears to the beginning of the school year where we learned about compression and how we manipulate music. Nearly all the music created today is compressed by artists such as Adele, Britney Spears, etc. What I found so hilarious about this class is that Prof. O’Malley mentioned Comet Pizza and the conspiracy theory the restaurant because my good friend believes in it and constantly talks about it. He even visited and ordered a pizza to see the place with his own eyes. (Whoa, as I am typing this right now, I just overheard on the news about how the Comet Pizza shooter will be appearing in court, talk about irony.) As the class discussion was nearing an end we discussed Bell Labs and how strange it is to think that our cell phones are a product of the Cold War. So I’d like to thank the Russians and Americans engaging in this war that created a cell phone, which really benefits me when I’m bored (totally kidding). We concluded class by discussing America’s music theme, which was marketed and radicalized in the beginning with the minstrel shows to present day, which is now blended and crossed all racial boundaries. The most important takeaway from this class in my opinion is the theme of course which is the study of what technology does to us, not for us. Extremely deep when you think about it because I could not imagine a life without technology, which is probably pathetic if I were ever to tell that to a barbarian. I wanted to finish this final blog post by saying I was surprised I enjoyed this class. I took it as an IT credit and honestly was dreading it. As I attended each class (proudly never missed one) I constantly was learning new things I had never thought about or had been taught before. I heard so many cool facts that I brought home and sparked conversations with my father. After taking this I realized the importance of the history of the digital past because it contributes to our future.

Thank you for reading all my blog posts, I truly hope you enjoyed them!