Week 2

For me, this week demonstrated that "New Media" can function as much as cultural, political and emotional capital as it can as pure entertainment. The form and way that new media is enjoyed and expressed speaks to us as much as its content. That's what I think McLuhan was trying to say in his horribly convoluted way – "the medium is the message". Of course there is nothing particularly profound or new about this (McLuhan was writing in the 1960s); indeed "media" in the broadest sense as described by McLuhan has served as cultural markers since time immemorial – what people wear, what they eat, where they go, what they read and listen to – and has both defined a persons' place in society and shaped their perception of their place.

Of course the same cultural markers still apply today – particularly our musical tastes – and always will. But as Levy states, in the electronic age the rules have changed. Hitherto cultural markers, whether music or books or some other media, required inputting money and/or time to obtain, and so carried something of the owner's "soul" in them. But now they can be copied with ease and little cost, and one's cultural identity is far more fluid; it can be both "shown off" and "manufactured" like it could never before, as Levy's iPod Playlist examples demonstrate. And so we might have public figures like K-Rudd filling his iPod with Barnsey or "Akkadakka" to put forward an image of the fair-dinkum Aussie, or someone like Amy Winehouse's playlist including Chopin "coz, it's like, really cool and sublime and stuff." Or we might just have some punk chick showing off on the train, or some awful ball-busting woman cementing her dominance by an electronic pissing contest.

Now, the iPod moniker itself has become a cultural icon. Far from being a genercized trademark for any MP3 player, it possesses the connotations once reserved for a Bang & Olufsen stereo or a Porche – cool and overpriced, marking the owner as both hip and a connoisseur. As Levy maintains, we want to know the "iPod playlist" as opposed to the pedestrian "musical tastes." All these things ensure the not-so-humble iPod is commandeered for cultural and political capital as much as mere entertainment. Naturally this strategy may backfire – Obama with his iPod is progressive, whereas George W with his white earbuds and mountainbike is just a dag.

So what do I listen to on my generic brand MP3 player? No playlist. Just the radio. But perhaps the lack of a playlist speaks volumes for my cultural identity as much as one filled with "The KLF" and "Iron Maiden"... it yells, "surprise me".

(ps. Woops! I went over the 200 word limit a bit. Sorry... sorry.)