You’ve probably seen this commercial. Two guys in lawn chairs at a tailgate party entranced with their cell phones. Every time a real person comes into the scene to ask a question, the lawn chair guys have the answer that they smugly give with the tagline, “That so ___ – seconds ago.”
Now, I get it. AT&T, known for their fickle technology, wants to convince us that their network is fast, and so they put these quirky commercials together to demonstrate that their phones are fast.
In another one, two women are sitting side-by-side in a cafeteria, equally dazed by their cell phones. When one character asks the two if they knew Fred was leaving, the girls reveal that they had already thrown the party and consumed half the face-cake. They show an online video to prove it.
Beyond the humor, though, there is a disturbing commentary found in these commercials. And not just the “get your head out of your cell phone” rant that many people angrily posted in the comment section of YouTube.
All good humor stems from a little truth. And in this case, there is this idea that life happens faster and fuller on the internet, and that what we find going on in front of us is a delayed reflection of our online experiences.
In other words, living in the 4D world is like a quaint, boring Victorian movie where women wear dresses that go up to their necks and men where wigs and tights. Living online is “the now.”
Further, you have the opportunity to become a part of “the now,” even if you are nowhere near the actual site. Just look at the top ten hashtags for 2011. Among them were #egypt, #tigerblood, and #japan.
Not only did these hashtags give people an opportunity to read about what was going on “live,” but also to comment about it in “real time,” and in so doing experience the event as a participant.
Historians, hundreds of years from now, just might read what you tweeted, making your words primary source material.
Thus, the AT&T commercials aren’t just highlighting a faster technology, but a faster reality. A new state of hyper reality that we seem to be heading toward, where what’s happening to us in the physical world is already in the past
#live in #realtime
I remember watching another one of these commercials, and then thinking about the phone I had in my pocket. I quickly realized that my phone works just fine, and it does everything i want it to do. I got a little frustrated after realizing that it was not a 4G…It was not a anything G at all. I remember one day last semester i accidently left my phone at my house, and it was one of the best days i had. I was not constantly in my phone, and I was able to be live fully in the present. I was not worried about who called or texted me, but i was enjoying interactions with people to its fullest. I also knew i girl who said she was having a terrible day, because she left her phone at home. She said something like “my world is falling apart.” The point is, is that I do not need the latest G phone. Sometimes I wonder if I need a phone at all. Although the commercial can remind us of the growth of technology at an incredibly rapid rate, it reminded me about the age-old marketing strategy of making people feel like they are not living life to the fullest, unless they have this one thing. Our American culture is notorious for this destructive idea. Cars, makeup, clothes, energy drinks, 4 G phones (The 5 G will be out next week) and on and on I could go. Things that have no true value, are made valuable. I once heard a preacher say that if your own your possessions, then your possessions own you. If one desires to try this out, then try leaving your phone at home.
This makes me think of Dr. Ellen Davis who was one of our special speakers last semester. She told us she did not have a cell phone and did not want a cell phone! It’s hard to imagine going anywhere without my phone – I’ll turn around and go back home to get it if I leave it! But . . . there is something to be said for being free of technology – a slower pace to be still and contemplate . . . During the Christmas break, I visited family in a very small town in the Arkansas mountains. Standing in front of their house, all I saw were tall trees and one house in the distance. It was quite peaceful and wonderful! I wasn’t worried about making sure I had my phone. I hope to go back often.
The information available now because of the Internet has led to a new reality. 60 minutes did a show on how social media helped countries copy each other in overthrowing their dictators. What was happening in the social world for some soon help organise a dream into reality. Interesting idea that what I read tonight could be reality tomorrow.
Its amazing to think that the world grows more knowledgeable every second and if you want to know an answer all you have to do is look it up… #crazy
I agree with Hayden. It’s very crazy that if you want to know something you can just look it up on the internet, even you cell phone. It’s kind of a scary thought too though. Just thinking about everything that people put on the internet and what people are searching for, which are not always helping things for people. Eventhough we are moving forward technologically, it may not always lead to good things.
It’s amazing how far technology has progressed, though it is a shame that human contact suffers a bit from having so much information available at your fingertips.
As I read the blog and everyones comments, sometimes it is better to live a life without technology. I have been going on in my head here the past month of being without being online, but for now its hard since were in school and everything is done online even though we sit in class. Even though we do much of our work online there is still always facebook and tweeter and everything else that is going to cross our mind. Guess for this to work out we got to have discipline not to do it and just focus on the things that needs to be done.
I find that all electronic information is so 30 seconds ago. If anything, the important events I follow online give me a “wish I was there” feeling, not an “I was there!” feeling…
It’s crazy to me that information about virtually anything going on in the world is at your fingertips, and to some that might make them feel more connected to everything/everyone in it. In my case I just feel more disconnected. Simply hearing about what’s going on makes me feel like I’m closed up in my little technological box as I watch the world go by, which makes me want to travel and experience the places I hear about even more than I already do.
In a different case, I get frustrated with cellphones and social networking sites because they cause people to believe you can simply make and maintain relationships by communicating via internet and texting only. What kind of a relationship is that? Some “make friends” online and talk to them 24/7 on Facebook, but when they see them in person they act like you don’t exist. That just doesn’t seem real to me.
I love those commercials, they are so weird. But what you propose is something to think about.
[...] do this in so many ways. For starters, read my last post, where I show how technology has this powerful, narcotic ability of taking us far away from being [...]
I love the commercials too! I can’t go without my phone!
I’ve never stopped to think about this and how quickly we can access information that is going on right that second. It is kind of scary to me to think that I am living in the present, but somewhat in the past because of what information I can find out at that very second. This definitely made me think a while.
That’s true! It’s interesting to realized that this comment is already in the past.
This blog makes me want to just set my cellphone, ipod, and laptop away and just live in the moment.
We areable to so easily download soemthing, or get information to our cell phones, that we forget to live in the moment. Sometimes I wonder if Jesus lived in our day, would he have a cell phone? ipad? would he have the latest and greatest apps? I think not… So many of us have misused this technology, and forget to live in the here and now. This scares me to thing if my generation is this bad now… what will my great grandchildren have to deal with?
It is unbelievable to me how much technology has caused the world to leap forward but in a sense leap back at the same time. Yes we can experience things from half a world away but we have other losses. With the growth of technology we do no longer live in our loves but outside them, we also limit our human capabilities as we strive to reach higher goals. in the past we had to retain information in volumes, numbers were memorized, names were linked with faces and characteristics in our mind, we could recal information in greater detail and length without aid. Now all we have to do is check our phones or computers and we have all the information, but do we have the understanding or the ability to recall anymore?
Did you know it is literally impossible to focus on the current moment because even your thoughts are focused on the past?