The mathematics and technology are far beyond me.
It might be easier to say it's magic.
Yet here, in the basement of my house, in what I will term as my "office," I can stream the world to my fingertips.
While
I write this, I will have Twitter open and be consuming a live stream of a
local sports talk show. While, that's going on, I'll have a tablet open
streaming a live cable channel. On the side, should I need a
preposterous third source of media, I have my cell phone, capable of
pretty much everything I just mentioned, as well as the ability to
broadcast and record myself.
The kind of equipment that now feels
standardly equipped on a smart phone has eclipsed everything I was using
at Penn State in 2006.
I'm watching the war in Ukraine live. I'm
absorbing the latest on Penn State wrestling while simultaneously
writing on the computer. I'm taking pictures of the whole setup with my
personal phone.
These are wild times.
For less than $20, I
can get completely wireless headphones that enable me to listen to
these organized data streams wherever I go.
I am convinced that streaming is already the preferred way of broadcasting today. The new question is, "What is the next level of
streaming?".
As technology companies experiment with the VR technology of today, it is easy to see where we might be headed next. For one, the experience of live events will eventually change forever. Rather than the stationary viewpoint, or rather, being prescribed a viewpoint by a single producer, the level of control will be put into our hands.
Yet for all the advances in technology, I can't help but feeling somehow less connected. As though I'm a fading ghost living in a world I can effect and be effected by the digital world, but my connection to the physical one dwindles.
As I've become cognizant of these feelings, I've attempted to become more present in my face-to-face interactions and put more stock in doing things that don't require typing and clicking. Taking walks with my wife. Working on campus. Calling my parents and friends. Playing basketball at the park. This provides me with a balance to the stream. A way to ground me back to the physical world.
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