Personal Reflection Week 1

This week in COMM 200 we discussed the value of books and other paper forms of media like newspaper and magazines and whether of not they had a future in the world of mass media.  We were able to briefly discuss and write down our opinions about e-readers and tablets and what benefits they bring to the table over books but I felt like we never really got to the heart of the matter.  While creating a blog I was actually able to find an older blog I had written for another class in my first year of college at DePaul, which also had to do with books and something I discussed in class called their irreplaceable value.  Although the statement I made in class was that in case the Internet collapsed or something similar occurred where all Internet content was lost books would provide a good backup for those lost records, and in the article I wrote, which I have linked below, I ascribe a much more aesthetic value to books which I failed to mention in class.  By looking back on this article that I wrote I feel as if I have relearned a very important lesson, that media is essentially what we make of it.  Many people may not view books in the same way that I do and may in fact prefer tablets over books but the important thing is that people actually read in order to ingest new information and expand their imagination, and knowledge.  I absolutely loved the clip we watched from Ted Talks where JD Rangaswami discussed Information as Food because what he said was very accurate.  The more diverse and balanced our diet is the healthier our bodies will be which can be related to our consumption of information.  A mind that only consumes FOX news or MSNBC is not getting a diverse balanced diet and therefore how can that person comprehend someone else’s positions or defend its own without having all the facts.

http://emi912.wordpress.com/what-are-books-for/