Friday, April 25, 2008

South Park - "Over Logging"

This episode came out a few weeks ago, but I was up late one night and happened to catch it. This episode was hilarious! If you haven't seen it, you should definately check it out...





What I find even more fitting is the article that the LA Times published, regarding how much of South Park's episodes is social commentary about current events. The general premise of "Over Logging" is that the internet all over the nation goes out, and the people loose all touch with reality when they can't check their email, the news, and chat with their friends. People begin to flood Silicon Valley to wait in line to use 1 bar of signal internet for 40 minutes.

The fact that people would become so obsessed with the internet is so ludicrous. Or is it? I know that I am quite the internet junkie. One of the first things that I do when I wake up, is to turn on my laptop and hop online. My bet, is that although the majority of the population doesn't turn on the computers at home, they do so at work, or check the things they need to through their phones. I have so many friends who recently switched to phones that are linked to the internet like Blackberry and the iPhone. The likelihood that having a nationwide internet failure being declared as a National Emergency is highly probable. What does that say about our society, and the type of environment that we're raising our children in? As educators in the field of Instructional Design, are we feeding the nation's hunger for the internet? I think it's definately food for thought.

As I wrap this up, I can't help be make a brief comment about South Park's solution to the internet crisis. Turning the router off, then on again. Completely brilliant! It's one of the troubleshooting tips that we not only covered in class, but also the answer the ISP (internet service providers) give all the time.

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