> That we have become a consumer culture concerns me greatly.
I'm really skeptical that this is actually true. The hardware to produce things has gotten cheaper (computers, video/sound equipment), the knowledge is more easily and readily disseminated (tutorials online, videos on youtube, forums for specialized interests), and it's become easier to share things (uploading to vimeo and then posting to reddit.) It seems to me like it's even easier to “produce” than ever before, and that more people are doing it.
The iPad hardware itself speaks toward a consumer culture. We have a cultural obsolescence for their older devices: who even talks about iPad 1 or iPad 2 nowadays when there is iPad 3?
I'm still rather pleased with my iPad 1, and use it as my on-the-go computer for trips about once a month. And that's for real work: writing and editing articles, managing a team, and doing app support and random email. And yup, an iPad 1.
I'm really skeptical that this is actually true. The hardware to produce things has gotten cheaper (computers, video/sound equipment), the knowledge is more easily and readily disseminated (tutorials online, videos on youtube, forums for specialized interests), and it's become easier to share things (uploading to vimeo and then posting to reddit.) It seems to me like it's even easier to “produce” than ever before, and that more people are doing it.