Mass Comm. in the 90s vs. Mass Comm. Today

Looking back on the decade prior to the Millenium, it is quite amazing how far technological advancements in communication has come. For instance, in the 90s it was not vitally important for everyone to own a cell phone. For most people during that time, a cell phone was a big, clunky piece of equipment that stayed inside your car and was only used for emergencies. Now, however, everyone including children as young as the age of five have cell phones, which they constantly carry with them. Today's cell phones are smaller, more portable and have the capability to instantly connect you to anyone at any time in the world.

The Internet has come a long way as well. The one thing anyone who grew up in the 90s will tell you about the Internet is how unbelievably slow it used to be. But at the present time, a good Internet connection has the ability to access a webpage that would have taken the Internet of the 90s roughly five to ten minutes to load in less than a second.

From these two examples, the obvious trend in the evolution of Mass Comm. is its massive increase in speed. People are now conditioned to expect instant information or gratification from communication devices like cell phones, computers, mp3 players etc. The patience people may have had during the 90s for technology has vanished and has been replaced by a I-want-it-now mentality.