When Old Myths Were New: The Never Ending Story

     It has been the desire since the beginning of mankind; The quest to fulfill a prophecy so ancient to mankind that even still, we have not fully achieved our goal. What is that goal? That goal is to make everything in your life as easy as possible for as long as possible. No hassle, no trouble, and in no time at all. It's the reason people invent things like the TV remote. The first thing that pops into our heads when a new invention is thrown in our faces is the idea that this new invention will change the way people live forever. This my friends, is what is called the "never ending myth." Now that TV remote will keep you from being compelled to get off your ass and change the channel, but don't you think that it would be even easier to invent something that you don't even need to push with your fingers? This is the whole basis of the "never ending myth." When something new is invented, something else will be built on that new piece of technology, eventually replacing it entirely.

       In the article by Vincent Mosco "When Old Myths Were New: The Never Ending Story," Mosco explains the hype surrounding "ground-breaking" technological advances and how they claim to change the way people live forever. In all eras of the telegraph, radio, and telephone, people have said that this is what would change the lives of people all over the world. Yet, these ideologies are soon forgotten once that technological brekthrough becomes a natural part of everyday life where it is later replaced with a product that is newer and more efficient. Since the emergence of Web 2.0, the generation of online commerce and smartphones would appear to have blasted people into the futuristic world in nearly a decade. Will the myth of Web 2.0 die? Like everything in this world, if it has a beginning, it will have an end. No one knows for sure how Web 2.0 will last until it is deemed obsolete making way for a new kind of online sensation that not only is self gathering of information, socially connect people, and provide information to third parties but it will be able to do much more.

      In a sense, Web 2.0 is not re-created, it is merely growing but is it really what it's made out to be with all it's talk and glory? With the creation of new software to do both bad and good, it would seem that Web 2.0 has a lot to offer (and a lot to be afraid of). However, it is possible for technology to have several myths. One may include the fact that Web 2.0 connects you to other people via a social netowork, yet another myth may mean that the information put fourth to that social network may be sold to a corporation for advertisment purposes. Yet these myths will never last. This is because myths follow the cultural preferences of any given time or place. When the preference changes, so does the myth because the old myths become irrelevant and forgotten resulting in a new generation of beliefs and socially accepted norms that are co-developed with them.

       Which way to look from? Well that's all about personal taste and user based opinions. The myth of something is not how it works and for how long but it is the value of how people are able to use it. The article points out:

      "the real power of new technologies does not appear during their mythic period, when they are hailed for their ability to bring world peace, renew communities, or end scarcity, history, geography, or politics; rather, their social impact is greatest when technologies become banal - when they literally (as in the case of electricity) or figuratively withdraw into the woodwork" (19)

      This article makes clear that an object that becomes obsolete is praised for its value that it had left for the new era of technology that replaced it. We accept the fact that this piece of technology or medium is no longer useful and forget about it before continuing how to better it. Thinking back, we can recall that DVDs replaces VHS tapes, how cell phones revolutionized the way people communicated, and that the home computer was something of a mystery to its user. Will Web 2.0 end up like these in the future? Only time will tell.