In what seems to be a paradoxical way, I happened upon a very thoughtful piece written by Marriah Raphael Starr, a Facebook friend (who I also know in real life) reflecting on the magnitude of change that has taken place since the 1990's.  He wrote a very thoughtful essay on Facebook, the kind of essay that I would have found in a newspaper or magazine article in 1990.

Marriah notes that in 1990, "We lived in environments characterized by low system noise, high vitality, intrinsic values, and symbols that accurately reflected reality."  And in 2016, all of these aspects have reversed entirely.

Let me explain what he means:

Marriah describes the media environment of 1990 as "low saturation."  He notes:  Only 5 major television channels were available without a cable subscription:  NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and PBS.  And cable tv was very rare.  Records and tape cassettes were stlll the media for people to listen to music.  Phone conversations took place over landlines.  Cell phones were rare and limited to phone conversations for the few that had them.  We did not have 24-7 programming on tv. Word of mouth and the postal service were the predominant ways of receiving messages.  Photos were taken on cameras using film and only a print photo album allowed people to share their pictures. E-mail did not yet exist on a mass market level.  Nightly news broadcasts and the morning newspaper were the only ways to get state wide, national and international news.