Media Has Displaced Culture

So I want to share an item Matt pointed out to me, and highlight the bit that will make you click over to it and read it -- but it's too hard to pick out the best bit! There's this

But on or about June 29, 2007, human character changed. That, of course, was the release date of the first iPhone.

On that date, media displaced culture. As commenters on The American Scene blog have pointed out, the means of transmission replaced the content of culture as the center of historical excitement and as the marker of social status.

Now the global thought-leader is defined less by what culture he enjoys than by the smartphone, social bookmarking site, social network and e-mail provider he uses to store and transmit it. (In this era, MySpace is the new leisure suit and an AOL e-mail address is a scarlet letter of techno-shame.)

And it concludes, "Remember, cultural epochs come and go, but one-upsmanship is forever. " Click here for the full NY Times op-ed piece.