Are We There Yet?

As I sit in front of my two computers, typing this post on one while checking my fantasy baseball statistics on the other, listening to music on iTunes while passively watching a basketball game on the TV five feet away and texting my friend about a funny thing I just read on his Facebook profile, I began to ponder the question of how the "connectivity of the new media" has changed what I read and watch and listen to.

So I tried to watch CNN for a bit. While doing nothing else. Apparently the only thing going on in the world is Michael Vick pleading guilty to dogfighting charges, although the text scroll hinted at other stories. That's right, a TV news network is giving me most of its news in text form. Talk about taking advantage of the medium.

Thanks to that cute little buzzword "connectivity," however, I was able to go back to the internet and quickly read, watch, and listen to the stories I wanted, right then, without commercials or pretty talking heads talking about one story for an hour. I was also able to check an email which provided links to a story about how the internet has stabbed TV news in the gut and is slowly turning the knife, as well as how Yahoo now allows people to send text messages from a computer, providing a quicker, more grammatically-correct way to bug your friends. I also checked and re-checked Facebook several times, set my fantasy baseball lineups, read various stories on various topics from various sources, and watched videos of dogfights on YouTube (so I can fully grasp the gravity of this Michael Vick thing, the horror). Did I mention I checked Facebook?

God help me if I ever get an iPhone.

The old media is like the parent that sets your curfew too early, won't let you date until you're eighteen and won't let you hang out with your friends because that lawn's not going to mow itself, damn it! The new media is like the cool parents spoiling their child, giving them whatever they want whenever they want it, except in this case, that's not a bad thing at all.