Seventeenth Chapter … Regina Arnold, “Podcrastination”

Hey – I liked this one. Not only was the title unique and appropriate, but the article had citations and structure and the uninhibited nature of Regina Arnold’s writing was refreshing. She called Neil Postman a grumpy man and Theodor Adorno a known sourpuss (she would probably be equally unflattering in her analysis of some of my cynical postings).

We are enslaved, “we are tools of our tools,” and there is a depersonalization that has become evident through use of mobile devices. Arnold defines Podcrastination as “the voluntary suspension of one’s engagement with reality.” Even though we reason that by time shifting tasks by using automated processes, we have attained a certain degree of freedom, we are actually ever more enslaved because we have become dependent upon that time shifting to make it through the day.

I had not considered the etymology of the term ‘podcast’ as she describes it, to a specific group, like a pod of whales, rather than to the world at large, a broadcast. I would really enjoy the opportunity to discuss her vision of the podcast that can provide a platform for a more participatory culture. She discusses text messaging and smart mobs but is convinced that the automatically downloadable aspect of the podcast is superior. Apparently this was written before the real emergence of Twitter, which takes the convenience and accessibility of a simple text message and combines it with the directed auto-downloading features touted by Arnold.

Arnold saw iTunesU as a potential overthrower of the social order, but it has had less of an impact than was predicted and she says that there is evidence that we will never use the “conventional consciousness industry” for any enlightening purpose but I think that is starting to emerge. A follow up article or interview would be interesting.