Herb Kauderer
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Seeking Out Versus Tuning Out

7/18/2015

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I certainly do not intend to write this blog every day, or anything nearly like it.  But to get started, I can generate content as needed.  Today's blog is on the dynamic change in access to entertainment.

When I was my youngest daughter's age (nine), there were still only four television stations in and around Buffalo.  It was a big honking deal on December 21, 1970 when WUTV started broadcasting.  A fifth station!  And one that broadcast afternoon Japanese cartoons such as Tobor the Eight Man and Astro Boy.  This was much rejoicing among my peers.

When I was nine I did not yet own my 200th book.  Or my 100th book.  Or my 50th book.  I was just discovering comic books which I could buy used affordably.  At the peak of my childhood comic ownership I had less than 200.  Given the 54 boxes stashed around my house, my wife can only dream of such a boon.  Or at least that they had appreciated in value.


My older children don't watch broadcast television, despite my lack of cable.  The library's blu-rays, Netflix and the internet take care of the need.  Every day more books are published than were published in the decade of the '60's.  Marvel Unlimited is an internet service that provides the subscriber access to more digital comic books than can reasonably be read in a lifetime.

As a child, my peers and I had to seek out and acquire quality entertainment.  We were not always the most diligent critics because there simply wasn't enough to be too choosy.  For my children's generation, one of their most important survival skills is tuning out the excess of quality entertainment.  The available material is far beyond the ability to consume it.

The response of the millennial generation is curious.  Instead of trying to harness the torrents of material, they generate their own content magnifying the excess of cultural material.  Why?  I believe they trust to the common judgement that will make anything important go viral.

I don't know that this is any better or worse than relying on other gatekeepers.  But it is different.  And now I find myself adding to torrent of free content, submitting the writing to the whims of viral popularity.  As long as I'm having fun along the way, I might as well take a chance.
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    Herb Kauderer

    Writes a lot.

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  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
    • Orthopedic Horseshoes
  • Academics
    • Teaching Experience
    • Education
    • Courses Taught
    • Professional Affiliations & Recognitions
    • Academic Presentations & Related Materials
    • Full Curriculum Vitae
  • Poetry
    • Poetry Chapbooks & Other Books
    • Poetry Samples
    • Links to My Poetry On-Line
    • "My First 508"
    • Interviews and Featured Poet appearances
    • Featured Readings
  • Writing
    • Accolades
    • Drama
    • Book Reviews >
      • 'Sacrificial Nights'
      • Moon Facts by Bob Scholfield
      • What Stranger Miracles
      • Crowned: Sign of the Dragon Book 1
      • 'The Role of Lightning in Evolution'
      • 'Why Elephants No Longer Communicate in Greek' by Timons Esaias
      • Brief Encounters with My Third Eye
    • Flash Fiction Links
    • Prose >
      • Short Fiction Bibliography
      • "A Dwarf for Each"
      • "Standard Repair"
      • "Sense of Place, Sense of Mystery"
      • Intro - Come-on from the Horse on 7th Avenue
      • "No Sense Fighting"
  • The SCA
    • SCA Photos 1
    • SCA Photos 2
    • Precedence for Andreas Hak
    • SCA Persona
    • Offices Held in the SCA
    • SCA Writings >
      • Serenity: A History of Eastern Coronets
      • "The Origin of The Betting Man's Guide
      • "The New Newsletter"
      • Old Newsletters
      • "The New Newsletter"
      • "When the VOID Was One"
      • "The Hael's First Baronial Champions Event"
      • "Aftermeetings: An Excuse to Tell Svid Stories"
      • "The Origin of Aethelmearc's Ancestral Pelican Medallion"
      • Remembering Durlome Rakesh d'Mithnan (Dwarf)
      • Growth Chart of Kingdoms for the First 23 Years of the SCA
      • Doings... An incomplete and informal chronology of the earliest days of Aethelmearc
      • History of the East Kingdom
  • Something Like a Blog