Observation 2)
My students know every pop culture trend video on youtube, they watch most of their TV shows on the internet and they get a lot of their music illegally.
What it means:
They have far more access to content than most of the people over the age of 22 realize. Ever heard of SurftheChannel? The majority of today’s college students have and I’m pretty sure it’s illegal. Yet, students are on there every day watching the latest movies and TV shows, not to mention endless archives. But this isn’t about SurftheChannel. SurftheChannel just enables you to find content. It’s a symptom of access to any show or movie at any time (and music) without having to pay for it or really even look that hard for it. If you have the interest to find free (and commercial free) stuff, you can.
I was talking to a student last night who scoffed at the idea of paying for music. “C’mon, we know no student does that anymore”. That’s an astounding statement when you think about it. This isn’t about Napster or Kazaa or any of these services that the government has shut down. This is about a generation who knows that they don’t have to pay for anything they don’t want to pay for because they know they can find it somewhere else for free. It’s really a frame shift in the way people think and is far bigger than taping music off the radio.
