From 1 to 1,000

Television. Something that has revolutionized our society in how we view and obtain information, not only locally but worldwide. Whether it be politics, sports, news, or even the most popular youtube videos, the television network is capable of bringing us anything we could ever want to watch.

Before television existed, the morning routine consisted of breakfast, a cup of coffee and the morning newspaper, and to be honest, I wish this was still a common routine. We have moved away from reading as a whole. We want our information spoon fed to us while laying comfortably on the sofa (which I admit is sometimes the best way).


Many people blame our generation for being the reason for the common laziness that lies among society today, but I don't entirely believe we are to blame. It's not our fault we were born into an already thriving technological environment. We simply took it and ran with it, going above and beyond what anyone could have imagined when television first became a reality.

The screens are only getting bigger while the sides are getting thinner. Thousands of channels are available on satellite TV...Who the hell needs a thousand channels? When this technology was first introduced, one channel was more than enough to amaze people. It was a privilege to own a television, not to have one in every room as many of us do today.


As these technologies become better and better, we drift further and further away from our old ways of learning, which unfortunately I believe is hurting us. I'm as guilty as the next person, for I haven't read a book for fun in years (something that is a New Year's resolution of mine). Information has become so readily available to us, we have to go out of our way to enrich our minds the old fashioned way, which I think is the most efficient way as well.

With all of this negative talk about television, I do think there are many positives that it brings to society.

1) Political campaigns/races are able to be viewed by all
2) Sporting events are aired across the country, allowing fans to keep up with teams even thousands of miles away
3) Breaking news and weather reports
4) Your favorite shows at the press of a button

Television is an amazing technology. We can learn, laugh, and experience things we never could have before. Yes, there may be too much 'fluff' or random nonsense scattered through the network, but therein lie many shows, programs and news casts that are of great value to all of us. If you can find a good balance, television can be a wonderful resource of information and recreation.