Nostalgia & Technology
Simply defined, nostalgia is a yearning for something experienced in the past. For most people, its usually a yearning for the way things were in their childhood, or college years or something appropriately time-lined. But in the case of technology, the speed that it develops and changes significantly alters the time frame for nostalgia. My neighborhood did not change drastically in 5 years when i was a child, but the game world of Everquest changed significantly – to the point that many people picked up and moved. With all nostalgia, there is always the glossing over of the bad times and exagerration of the good – but isnt that always the way when we experience a great first of anything?
How does this quick paced nostalgia affect the way we perceive future technology and the worlds created by it? Is my yearning for a community lost 5 years ago any different then those from who talk about what the internet ‘used to be’ and how great it was back in the day of MUD’s …
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