Horkheimer and Adorno, post class 10/28

Horkheimer and Adorno focus on the relationship between culture and capitol and how television and media all have the effect of “sameness.” Their concepts branch off of Benjamin in a more contemporary light where media and culture are now homogenized. The theorists stated, “The schematic nature of this procedure is evident from the fact that the mechanically differentiated products are ultimately all the same” (55). Sameness in our society today is seen a sense of functionality. Even if we compare car advertisements that are very similar, we look at how the advertisements drive the notion of different. This notion of being different is directly related to the cult of the new.  In a new advertisement, Microsoft mocks and bad mouths Apple’s new IPad Seri by showing almost the same product, Mircrosoft’s Windows 8 tablet. These two products are virtually the same, but manufactured by two different companies. People in our society feel comfortable purchasing this Microsoft product because it is so similar to the IPad, at a lower price and in a better light. The functionality of these products are both for the accessibility of a computer in a tablet form, to surf the internet and to play games and use countless other apps. Microsoft sets itself apart from Apple by mocking “Seri” and downgrades its capabilities and intelligence.  This advertisement is very appealing because it targets a specific competitors product and picks on something that actually does not have much credibility, Seri. But if you step back and look at these two products, they are mechanically differentiated, are actually the same. And it is then up to the consumers to pick their favorite and most loyal brand. A large concept of culture and capitol in our society.