But this kind of visual display has become so natural to men and women, and especially children, who are raised under the scopic regime of mail-order catalogs, self-service stores, and television.” (2004) Children are especially drawn to the bright screen that has them playing games or surfing the Internet for longer periods of time than ever before. What I think both authors forget to mention when discussing the role of technology and consumption is the idea that even though participating in the virtual realm of online shopping or gaming may seem to create a sense of belonging and community, it also alienates them from their surroundings as these activities are experienced individually in their own time and space. When you imagine a person shopping online, it is usually one person sitting behind the screen of their computer or laptop. Similarly, when you picture a child playing on their game console, they are generally playing by themselves, against a virtual opponent. There is an interesting parallel between the flat screen that both Zukin and Pugh talks about it. In one of Pugh’s interviews with the parents, one mom says that children “forget how to play and use their imagination because they get addicted to this screen thing.” (2009) Similarly with online shopping, the virtual shopper can get lost in browsing the infinite choices highlighted by the bright screen on the Internet that
But this kind of visual display has become so natural to men and women, and especially children, who are raised under the scopic regime of mail-order catalogs, self-service stores, and television.” (2004) Children are especially drawn to the bright screen that has them playing games or surfing the Internet for longer periods of time than ever before. What I think both authors forget to mention when discussing the role of technology and consumption is the idea that even though participating in the virtual realm of online shopping or gaming may seem to create a sense of belonging and community, it also alienates them from their surroundings as these activities are experienced individually in their own time and space. When you imagine a person shopping online, it is usually one person sitting behind the screen of their computer or laptop. Similarly, when you picture a child playing on their game console, they are generally playing by themselves, against a virtual opponent. There is an interesting parallel between the flat screen that both Zukin and Pugh talks about it. In one of Pugh’s interviews with the parents, one mom says that children “forget how to play and use their imagination because they get addicted to this screen thing.” (2009) Similarly with online shopping, the virtual shopper can get lost in browsing the infinite choices highlighted by the bright screen on the Internet that