Lisa Gitelman's Always Already New

     In this reading, Lisa Gitelman focuses on media: how it is studied and how it becomes a historical object. I found this reading particularly interesting, specifically in respect to how closely it relates to our first major assignment. The first time we discussed the assignment in class, I was baffled as to how a piece of digital media could be studied as a historical "artifact." Gitelman's piece brings clarity to some of my confusion, as she uses several examples, such as the phonograph or ARPANET, to define how digital media shapes our views, language, and modern technology. Her discussion of recorded sound and its effect on people and their memories rings very true with me; while we today take recorded sound for granted, we fail to see what an impact it has on us, and how different life must have been without it. Music, for instance has a huge impact on today's youth. Recording artists make millions of dollars every year, which is a great deal more than many doctors make, even after spending years obtaining their degrees. Music also reaches out to young people in a way that adults often cannot; it tells them that they are not alone, whatever their struggles are. I personally relied on music to get me through many difficult times. Had we never found ways to record and distribute sound, we would not have the benefits of music in our lives, and would likely be a very different society because of it. While this is only one example, it makes clear just how essential digital media is in our society, and allows me to see a little more clearly how digital media can become a historical artifact.