Poster: Post-Class

After attending class this week, the quote that really interested me was in Poster's "Postmodern Virtualities." He states, "technology has taken a turn that defines the character of power in modern governments." He points out that in the society we live in today, we rely so heavily on technology: from the individual level (cell phones, television programming, social networking) all the way up to the institutional level. I immediately associated this quote with the previews I have seen for a show called Revolution on NBC. It's about a global blackout that effects all forms of technology: electronics, electricity, transportation, etc., and how this effects society. The show takes place 15 years after the Blackout, and it depicts the institutions of the modern world as completely shut down because of this. 

The beginning of this trailer shows a typical American family in Chicago who are completely and blissfully reliant on technology. The mother is on the phone with her husband while the young children are like zombies watching the television and playing on the iPad. When the Blackout occurs, the children start crying and all chaos breaks loose. The narrator explains how they "used electricity for everything, even to grow food and pump water." After the Blackout, "governments fell and militias and warlords and generals rose up." I think this is exactly what Poster was getting at in his piece: technology has become a vital part of the society that we live in, and without it living life seems almost impossible.