ABSTRACT
A parameter (from Greek metron, to measure) is a set boundary, an arbitrary constant factor. Consumer technology (computers, video cameras, fax, satellite, television, photocopy) has transformed the people social environment and hence the people society. Media-fed and media-connected, the people are suddenly in a New World that few could have imagined a generation ago. There is a new name for this infiltration: media virus—the instant introduction of icons, ideas, and images into the culture via the media. Douglas Rushkoff writes about such matters in his book Me dia Virus: Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture. Half the people in the world have never made a phone call, and many millions live far outside the overconfident system known as the World Wide Web.
