The Song of the Alphabet in Cyberspace

1.     What are the differences between the pre-literate acoustic world and the alphabetical visual world? How does the media of television become a part of the acoustic world?

In a pre-literate world, there are no boundaries of acoustic space. There is no certain way for information to be sent or received. It is a culture completely immersed in fable and myth. The alphabetical visual world differs due to the form it comes in. The visual world heavily relies on the form of television. It is visual, “musical, mythic, and immersive”. However this alphabetic-post world lacks perspective; it creates a wide gap between the subject and its viewers.

2.    Why does the alphabet have the segregating tendencies? How exactly does the printing press reverse the segregating tendencies?

The alphabet has segregating tendencies due to the worlds select ability to understand. The alphabet was widely accessible but only the privileged that knew how to read could comprehend a message. “Texts which were usually readable by no more than one set of eyes at any one time. The printing press reversed these tendencies by making the alphabet available for all to view. As print increased, more people had the opportunity to read, comprehend, and spread awareness to the alphabet. The printing press gave way to the future of full libraries, bookstores, and newsstands.

3.    How does the alphabetic communication in online communication make cyberspace acoustic? How is the online acoustic world different from the television, radio, or print acoustic world?

Online, alphabetic communication is one of the few types of media available on the Internet. However, all online media share the alphabet’s characteristics and qualities. This is comprised of “the volition it facilitates to its writers. The Internet’s users have immense power on what they can put on the web, like an author writing the pages of a blank book. The online acoustic world is much different from other media such as television, radio, and print because of an increased control the user has. For example, radio online like Pandora can be accessed at all times during the day at the user’s pleasure.

4.  Not only do we invent media and media technologies but also we select their uses in different contexts. What are the two selection criteria? According to the selection criteria, please discuss what will happen to our online communication in 20 years.

The two selection criteria are: “we want media to extend our communications beyond biological boundaries of naked seeing and hearing” and “we want media to recapture elements of that biological communication which early artificial extensions may have lost”. According to these selection criteria, in 20 years our online communication will have grown large enough that we will never settle. Technology will continue to grow and change. However, this technology will not be able to change with the times fast enough and will become irrelevant.