Media Convergence Question-DBrewington

In “Residual Media” Sterne discusses the issues that fast developing computer technology has created rather than solved. Sterne focuses on disposal of obsolete technology, which currently has no special disposal requirements. This is an issue I had not thought of. As a child of the technolgy boom generation, I’ve personally had 4 laptops in less than 10 years. Reading this article made me question what other issues are raised by new media forms. We have focused on how they have influenced human history and arguably “evolution”, but what have they done to the enviroment that we live in? How many forests were eliminated to create paper? How many special batteries have been recycled in an environmentally friendly way? Sterne’s concerns should be the concerns of all technology developers and users. At the current rate, each person uses several forms of technology on a regular basis…we have to consider possible negative impacts of these new media forms.

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