Tamara Neff

English 111
Movie Synthesis
December 4, 2014
Changing Technology and America
There was not a lot of modern technology like what we see and hear about now in 2014
when I was a child growing up. Its amazing the advancements in technology that have been
made in the last twenty or so years. There were no such things as cell phones, not even caller
I.D. until I was a teenager and experienced my first car phone (phone in a bag) that my grandma
had. Now most everyone owns a cell phone, and home phones or landlines are becoming
obsolete. I appreciate that I am blessed to be a part of the minority of people that remember life
before all these technological advancements. My first experience with video games was an Atari
and to my siblings and myself, it was exciting and fun. Now with how things have changed in
the gaming world its hard to imagine that we were happy with the graphics then compared to
what they are now. But we didnt know any different then, other than what was right in front of
us. I am a firm believer that technology has changed for the better and how you utilize it
determines your own path or outcome. Some people use it for therapy, which is what I use it for
as well as entertainment purposes. In the documentary, Video Games: The Movie there are
many people interviewed and they all seemingly support the playing of video games for various
reasons. Some of those reasons include for therapy, people that use video games for therapeutic
purposes like a death of someone close to you was an example they used in the documentary.
Another reason is for socialization, people can pretend to be something they are not for a while
and make new friends while they are at it. Make friends all over the world and they can come

together and play the same game at the same time and be on opposite ends of the world. The
documentary also discusses the history of video games from the first video gaming system which
was the Magnavox Odyssey which consisted of putting Mylar overlays (various pictures) on
your television screen and a single digital ball bouncing back and forth across the screen. To
where we are now various gaming consoles and the video games graphics making it look like
real life. Just simply an amazing transformation. In Jay David Bolters essay titled, Writing
Culture, he writes about how he thinks technology is going to evolve our world in the future.
He was right on about a lot of the points he makes in his essay, who knew. In the essay written
by Nicholas Carr entitled, Is Google Making Us Stupid, he believes that technology has
basically dumbed him down, made him lazier. I dont agree with him at all, I think its just the
way society has turned and he has failed to keep up.
Video games and technology have had a good and a bad rap throughout history, probably
more of the bad than the good. But there are people that say video games and technology have
helped them heal in various situations. Mikey Neuman says that video games helped him
overcome a stroke. Neuman said friends brought him games during his recovery, and the games
helped to keep his mind occupied during his recovery and helped to save his life (video
games). I also find video games and technology therapeutic after a long hectic day you can
lose yourself in a video game or on the internet. But technology has had the opposite impact on
Nicholas Carr. Carr purports that technology has changed him and made him a lazy reader, says
he can no longer concentrate the way he used to for reading. Im not thinking the way I used to
think. I can feel it most strongly when Im reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy
article used to be easy..Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I
get fidgety, lose the thread, I begin looking for something else to do (Carr). What Carr fails to

take into account with his statement is the outside influences such as, most likely when he started
reading there was no technology and we all change over time. Thats part of evolution we are
supposed to evolve and get better with time and also embrace change.
Video games and technology can be used to bring people together as well. People can
get online and be whomever they choose to be or take on their game character qualities. People
are communicating and falling in love with other people from all over the world online, thats
pretty amazing. Ernie Cline said, video games have changed the course of human evolution
(video games). Technology and Video games have helped people build productive
relationships. People are meeting and falling in love through social interaction with games and
online, and long term friendships are being built (video games). People are meeting on dating
websites and through gaming sites where they play each other. Social networking dating isnt so
much frowned upon any longer, like it was in the past. Jay David Bolter also agrees that people
are brought together by technology. He writes, Electronic communication is increasingly the
medium through which we form and maintain our affiliations. Email, chat rooms, and the World
Wide Web have become sires for highly mediated versions of the community (Bolter). Bolter
agrees but differs in the idea that although technology can bring us closer in some ways but
pushes people further from other art forms such as literature, music and the fine arts. He states
that one consequence of this networking culture is in the fact the abandonment of the ideal of
high culture (literature, music, the fine arts) as a unifying force (Bolter). I dont agree with
Bolter on that I think people still talk about these things as we can find all of these cultural things
online and talk about them. I see on facebook everyday people talking about someones art or
some song theyve heard recently.

Technology and video games are in literally everything now, a part of our everyday lives.
It can be used for good and unfortunately for bad as well. Video games and Technology have
brought people together and built relationships and I believe will continue to as it grows in the
future.

Works Cited
Bolter, Jay David.Writing Culture. Composing Knowledge: Readings for College Writers.
Ed. Rolf Nurgaard. Boston/St. Martins, 2001. Print. 654-665.
Carr, Nicholas. Is Google Making Us Stupid? Exploring Relationships: Globalization
and Learning in the 21st Century. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print. 370-377
Video Games: The Movie. Dir. Jeremy Snead. Perf. Sean Astin, Zach Braff, Larry Atkins,
Nolan Bushnell, Ernest Cline. Mediajuice studios, 2014. Netflix.