Did MTV ruin Music/ society?

[Guest]

This is up for debate but personally i feel that MTV like other forms of media has told us what to listen to, how to act /dress/look/feel, basically ruining us from living up to our potential as individuals of society.

[putty]

It's all a result of capitalism and advancing technology.

When TV came around, the transitions and timeline it has taken makes perfect sense. MTV was just part of that timeline.

But, I believe throughout all of time, the mainstream of anything is a watered down version of the real thing.

AND/BUT all that matters is what sounds good to you. I just saw a Tom Petty cover band at a local bar, and it was awesome. The band was having a great time, and when they played Breakdown, I couldn't've been happier. Petty had a bunch of MTV videos.

shit happens. just keep looking for what you think is the truth, and stop worrying about why things are different than they used to be.

[diesel]

mtv never put a gun to my head and told me to listen to what they say.

what ever happened to personal responsibility? the only people to blame for the faults of society are those that let themselves get fooled.

[Guest]

mtv never put a gun to my head and told me to listen to what they say.

what ever happened to personal responsibility? the only people to blame for the faults of society are those that let themselves get fooled.

No they didnt, but i suppose they do what they do based on
yeah but when tv is such a huge part of people's lives today.... u must not have a sister? my sister has almost become warped by what she sees on tv. I'm not saying all t.v. is bad or anything like that. If the media and what is on t.v. has no effect on us whatsoever, why is there so much legislation to control what we watch and what is acceptible for audiences if it just comes down to personal responsibility?

[harrymcq]

Well, there is all sorts of legislation to control what we watch, what we eat, what drugs we can take etc. TV has an effect on you, of course. Everything you do/see/think has an effect on you. TV, like anything really, can be highly addictive and the motivation behind much television programming is to get you to buy and buy and buy. I've often thought that some of the best psychologists of our age work for the advertising industry and they know how people tick and where the culture is at and use all sorts of triggers to convince people to look and act a certain way (so they will buy the things needed to get that cool look, be accepted by their peers, and ultimately be happy.) Problem is that what is advertised is not a true recipe for happiness, it is more a formula to trick you into buying lots of stuff you don't really need. Conformity is a side benefit since people are trying so hard to 'fit in' they don't have the time to think for themselves and the less thinking they do, the more they are dependent on the system to do their thinking for them. Easier, isn't it?

TV doesn't need to be such a huge part of people's lives today. I've lived without cable for the better part of 10 years now. (I did get Dish for a year after 9/11 because I wanted to watch the news but cancelled it.) We have a TV in our house and watch DVD's including DVD's of some TV shows (I love The Sopranos, The Wire, a lot of the HBO stuff) and once in a while we plug in the rabbit ears for the kentucky derby or a spelling bee or something.

[harrymcq]

Some might call me a hypocrite if they knew how much I was on the internet (which is also addictive of course) but the two major differences I see between TV and the internet is that the internet is pull and TV is push. TV has a bunch of channels constantly churning things out and you have only the choice of which one to watch. The internet you can choose what you want to read/watch etc. Also the internet is truly interactive. Anyone with a little bit of cash and know-how can put up their own website and there are tons of places where for better or worse people can discuss things. TV is a completely passive system. You can discuss what you're watching with whoever you may be watching it with or afterwards but it doesn't affect in any direct way what is coming at you on all those channels.

I don't think TV or all push technologies are evil, I listen to the radio in the car all the time and of course there are great channels like The History Channel but for me the main reason I don't want cable is that I'm afraid I would be watching crap all the time. This thing happens to me when I sit in front of the TV where hours suddenly pass and I haven't really been watching anything good, just wasting my time and even if I've been flipping past commercials I still walk away with a strange desire for junk food

[hoby]

the two major differences I see between TV and the internet is that the internet is pull and TV is push.

Also the internet is truly interactive.

TV is a completely passive system. You can discuss what you're watching with whoever you may be watching it with or afterwards but it doesn't affect in any direct way what is coming at you on all those channels.

No one is more aware of the differences between the two than the TV programmers/execs. Notice the attempts to make TV more interactive: "Watch and vote!!" "You get to decide who moves on to the next round!!!" The technology isn't quite there yet, but they're working on it. Once "the pipe" gets universally fat enough and they work out the back end, "talking to the TV" won't be a figure of speech anymore.

I just got done reading an arrticle in an old issue of WIRED about "cloud computing" - giant server farms, distributed computing, etc. Did you know that Google has something like 1/2 a million servers in their farms? I knew it was big, but...

All the big players (Microsoft, etc) are building their own farms as fast as they can. The clock is ticking on the desktop paradigm.

I can't help but think that there's going to be a seismic convergence between cloud computing and the "electronic teat." At that point I'm guessing there won't be separate TVs and computers anymore. Isn't that part of what Windows Media Center is supposed to be about? (I don't know because I won't open it on my computer. ;^)

Hey, that's how to solve the terrible voter turnout problem!! Turn our elections into "American Idol"-type talent shows with all of us calling or clicking in our votes!! Our "debates" are already such spin-managed, staged jokes that we're most of the way there.

I know I would love to have Paula Abdul's guidance on who I should vote for. After all, she's famous!!

Smiling to hide the fear...

hoby

[ScS]

sure ive watched mtv. maybe it has told people what to listen to but i don't think its ruined music.

if you look hard enough, there's plenty of under the radar bands out there that haven't had any mtv exposure and they are making some terrific music.

[Guest]

def but how much better would they be if they did... i for one wish MTV or some other network showed these underthe radar bands so like the Slip , right as i start to listen to them after hearing them its not too late. (In terms of me preferring their earlier stuff till later)