Revolution of Digitalized World: Growing up Becoming the Generation of iWant

1. The Atrocious Revolution over Overly Induced Minds

As I grow up, I have been introduced with the infamous line of “analogue person in a digitalized world’’, which essentially means that we will always be left behind the revolution and the advance of technology. It is as if close to impossible to always have yourself updated to the digital world. I also remember how I hate myself the most everytime I browse the Apple Virtual Store and realized that software updates is made every two weeks for every of your gadget, otherwise some of your gadget feature may not be used in optimum level, and I realize that living in Jakarta sometimes despised me of not having proper internet speed to cater my digital need. This is my story and the story that I have read over some articles, lead me to another impression that indeed: we could never ever chase and hop into the point where you can proudly say: I am the most updated yet digitalized person in the world, unless you are Steve Jobs,- but this is not necessarily true because then again Steve Jobs is nothing compare to the bigger magnitude of revolution of digital age (as I am borrowing the term of Mr.James Der Derian’s) and the growth of capitalist scape. To another nutshell, these articles have brilliantly put myself into an awe of technology, especially the internet.

But when I try to link it back to the daily encounters of life and college life, all the thigns I have mentioned is only the mind games as we have been spoon fed by the simulation of reality. In digitalized world, mind games is possible, and I just even realized that when you are on the brink of saying: “I need to buy an iPad,because I want to read iBook every time I travel and play games or even update myself on twitter at the same time I feel bored waiting on the cashier’s line!”, you’ve been there? I have been there. Done that. Well in fact, I am annoying myself and my Mother’s pocket over things that I don't really need, cause reading from paper sheet is rather glorious as I don't have to experience low battery. It is the sense of all the impact of the revolution that we are unconsciously charged of: mind games over publication of this revolution.

We are the IT generation, we have to follow the stream in order to survive. This is the impact that we are less conscious to contemplate. In Baurdillard’s system of thinking, this is the simulation of reality. Some people, lets call them the capitalists have turned the scene into reality: the scene of making people amused of arts in technology, therefore attract more buyer and thus create a definition of current lifestyle. It is the moment of perceive-ness, where what you think over certain products matters the most. So don't be discouraged of reading the whole marketing strategy of Apple Macintosh, who never done any market survey because they provide a platform for defining iWant generation. Steve Jobs, the mindmaster behind this logic admits that Macintosh truly never research on their market (but they take every complains and critics necessarily). What they do is to provide a necessary definition of high-end and cutting-edge technology which manifesting arts and aesthetic value inside a technological product. Later on my essay, we will be discussing deeply about dilemma of technology as a product.

Those are glimpses of impact portrayal over the revolution of digitalized world. We are becoming the generation of iWant: I want this and I want that. This is my simple utterance of paraphrasing James Der Derian’s utterance of how digital age came to enjoy a natural hegemony over other descriptors of modernity. Then, who is the subject of the revolution? Is it the technology as the product or is it our mind who have entangled with the construction of simulation of technology that amused us to date?

Later in my essay you will see how recent exposure of information and technology is the face of today digital world and is defined by personal want, therefore I call it a generation of iWant. Don't get me wrong because more than that, I am more than thankful for the existence of all provided means to make life easier because of the technology. The question is are we ready with this?. Manuel Castells has eloquently elaborated that the technology have shrank our construction of time and space (this is true, I watched the Academy Award two weeks ago and I have simulated myself of being there, while not physically being there but enough of sensation of imagining yourself being there) which defines our construction of reality. This requires a consciousness, or slap in the face to some extent, as we have made our mind travel to the symbol of correspondences between true event and mental map. For me, consciousness is derived from the necessity of integrating greater number of mental images from perception from memory.

The Power of Information: the Dark and Bright Side of iWant Generation

Can we apply iWant in information sharing? I strongly support the assertion as a self-evident consequences to the revolution of information technology. Well, people tend to believe what they want to believe, people only filter information in order to adapt it to their predisposed judgments, more reluctant to accept the facts that challenges their beliefs. Information per se does not alter attitudes, unless there is an extraordinary level of cognitive dissonance. This is because people select information based on their own cognitive frames. Examples: terror and selection of information. Because of the 3 revolution, people are now exposed to individual and personal linkage to the revolution. With the basic internet browser, electronic mail and social networking,the level of people contact with the media is slightly larger than ever. Unconsciously the media has accommodated the feeling of expressing ourselves to a bigger exposure