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Re: MeToo Children's Program

Michael J. Mahon wrote:

David Schmenk wrote:
I know, all the kids are used to whiz-bang graphics (of which I'm partly guilty) and 5.1 surround sound. You can't keep their ADD brains in front of a boring old computer for long. 

I was just watching a Nova show, which I used to consider a well made
"food for thought" show, and found it riddled with fast cuts, stupid
"revolving shots", and a general Sesame Street-inspired attitude (but
much more manic than Sesame Street used to be).

The material they presented in an hour (with lots of repetitious and
often irrelevant graphics) would have fit nicely in 20 minutes or less
of a more thoughtful exposition.  I've noticed this trend for some time,
but simply ascribed it to a desire to stretch sparse material to fill
a longer time slot...like the way some people BS in school reports to
avoid work.  Now I'm afraid it may be something much more sinister.

Is it me, or is the national attention span being degraded to less than
that expected by even a music video?

I'm really sick of eye candy that is absent any meaning or intellectual
nutritional value.  And I'm worried that we are training a whole nation
(planet?) of zap-pow addicts!  And when that's complete, who will do the
things that require more than five minutes of thought??  (Like voting!)

-michael

AppleCrate: An Apple II "blade server"!
Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."
I'm sorry to hear that about Nova. I also used to enjoy watching that show, but haven't in many years. I first noticed this trend myself when Wired magazine came on the scene. I can't believe it's still published. You have to be jacked-up on Ritalin just to open the cover or it might melt your brain.
To counteract some of this, I've gone a little extreme. No TV. Well, to be honest, I got a basic cable feed when I switched to cable internet, but the TV is in a closet in my room where a 5 year old can't get to it without me knowing. No DVDs or video games until after dark. The result is now that my son isn't addicted to watching hours of TV. He can watch a little bit at a friends, then move on to playing with something else. We also try and read a little from a book at bedtime. It really helps settle him down. I hope it prepares him a little for the onslaught that will come.
Now, I know I'm on the computer waaaay more than I should be so I have to be careful about what it presents to my son. I just have to make sure it is always a lower priority than anything family related. 

I'll give you an update in 16 years to see how it worked out ;-)

Now, if I could just find a way to settle his friends down.  Legally.

Dave...