SW Poster v Benjamin

When I started reading the sub-heading of “Reality Problematized” I made a direct connection between Poster and Benjamin. Poster suggests the idea of “duplication” on page 539. Now if we parallel this idea along with virtual reality and the Aura, then consider Google Map. There are many cities, our very own Winter Park for example, in which you can “walk” down the streets (Street View), looking in every direction and see real buildings, cars, even people. While these people do not move in real time, Google Map is a duplication of earth. So I relate this to Benjamin because there is a loss of Aura by using this. I could “walk” up and down the streets of Manhattan using Google Maps, but there is no way I could claim to have been there.

Picture courtesy of Google Maps http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

This made me think of Grand Theft Auto ( I don’t know which one) but my boyfriend has been to New York and it is so funny to hear him say, oh I know what road this is, or this restaurant/club/hotel/theater is on this street while we play the game (more like he plays and I watch cause I can never get the damn car to drive straight!), but even though we know it is not real, it duplicates-copies the original—in a way that one day technology could perhaps make seem real (virtual reality).

Another way to think about virtual reality is the Nintendo Wii. I often hear my parents talking to friend about going bowling or playing tennis, yet they really just stand in front of the t.v. swinging their arms and mocking one another after a bad play. Wasn’t there a time when you went outside to play baseball?

I agree technology is great, but we need to be careful about what we lose by promoting this idea of bigger, better, faster…..

Picture courtesy of Google Maps http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

"Scarlett Wishes"