The ability to listen to any song you want, at any time, in any place, with just the push of a button. Such a capability seems commonplace, almost trivial, today, but there was a time within our lifetimes that this kind of action was not so ordinary. In our society, technological advances like the iPod have become an integral part of many people’s lives. And while the captions in the featured picture may be a little drastic in their message, the concept definitely holds true. Many people would react with surprise should they meet a person who did not own an iPod, Zune, or other portable MP3 player, and all because that person did not have a technology that, just fifteen years ago, didn't even exist.
Over the last 50 years, advances in technology, specifically in the field of music, have greatly changed the face of the world’s popular culture. From tangible inventions for playing music (read: iPods) to the evolution of mass media outlets to advertise it (television, Internet) to the development of more and more easily accessible ways to record and produce one’s own music, the music industry has undergone a heavy dosage of changes, and with every change comes a redevelopment of ideals, values, and attitudes towards music and its place in our society.
Image Source: Adam Thinks
Tom, very well written! I like your topic but make sure that you focus on maybe one or two devices and the specific ways they have impacted society. Remember that you have to be as factual and objective as you possibly can for your informative brief -- your own judgement of whether these changes have positively or negatively affected our society are something I certainly welcome you to develop for your persuasive speech.
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