The ways in which a particular technology or form of mass media has been a Faustian bargain

The solution of the problem of urban air pollution and the threat to trigger severe climate change seemed to be close at hand – the invention of electric and hybrid cars. Yet, relatively few individuals worldwide became attracted to switching from fossil fuels to electricity. Thus, while in the EU countries the use of hybrid, electric cars or at least smaller and more economical vehicles seems to be on the increase, in the rest of the countriesinhabited by the majority of the world population, especially in those with emerging economies, the preference is still given to gas-guzzling four-wheel drives. The supply of electric vehicles seems to be following the demand trend. According to the optimistic scenario statistics, the hybrid car market share in total sales worldwide was 1.7% last year and will reach 5% in 2020, 15% in 2025 and 30% in 2030” (RNCOS Research "Global Hybrid Car Market Forecast to 2015). This exactly proves N. Postman’s point. If you should propose, for example to the average Russian, that rather than driving huge SUVs, he should switch to a smaller, fuel-efficient model, to save the environment, he would think the idea is preposterous. “He will think it ridiculous because he assumes you are proposing that something in nature be changed; as if you are suggesting that the sun should rise at 10 AM instead of at 6”Also, the Faustian bargain concept works with the invention of the electric car too. The production of batteries of electric cars requires the use of conventional sources of energy like oil or coal, again triggering the release of the infamous greenhouses that threaten to trigger significant climate change. Similar problems arise concerning the production of other alternative sources of energy for cars, for example hydrogen fuel-cell power. Isn’t it a kind of a vicious cycle? However, like scholars such as Neil Postman, Marshall McLuhan, Judith Donath and Chunka Mui, I do hope that we stop underestimating the effects of a particular technology or form of mass media on society and start asking ourselves about the new problems that will arise because of it. I hope too that people will learn how to convert these effects to their benefit and to harness them to their full potential.ReferencesBaym N.K. 2010. Personal connections in the digital age. Polity Press: CambridgeDonath, J. 2007. Signals in social supernetworks. In: Journal of Computer Mediated Communication. 13, n 1.McLuhan M. 1964. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man; 1st Ed. McGraw Hill, NY McLuhan M. 1967. The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects with Quentin Fiore, produced by Jerome Agel; 1st Ed.: Random HouseMui C. 2012. Bubble deflated, social media will now change the world: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chunkamui/2012/08/22/bubble-deflated-social-media-will-now-change-the-world/#6a36015f5a4cMui C. 2012: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chunkamui/2012/08/22/bubble-deflated-social-media-will-now-change-the-world/#6a36015f5a4cPostman N. 1998. Five things we need to know about technological change: http://web.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/classes/188/materials/postman.pdfRNCOS Research "Global Hybrid Car Market Forecast to 2015"// http://www.telecomsmarketresearch.com/research/TMAABGUR-Tablets--Segmentation--Mobile-Operator-Business-Models-and-Forecasts-to-2015.shtmlTechnology today: what would Neil Postman think? 2013. Spin Education: Teaching Internet Safety: http://www.spinedu.com/technology-today-neil-postman-think/#.Vz1CWpGLTIV