2011/8/14
Independent writing:
Most advertisements make products much better than they really are.
I strongly agree to the statement that most advertisements makes the products presented much better than they really are, and points below supports my idea.
An essential reason concerns the nature of advertising – advertisers, in most cases, would only make products seem better than they really are, not the other way around. Since the ultimate aim of advertising is to persuade people into buying something, and people would natually be attracted by something that is desirable rather than repellent, advertisements are certainly made to display a more attractive image of products. Therefore, customers would first be graviated towards the virtual product that is somewhat dishonestly pictured by advertisers, then desire to own it, and eventually purchase it. In this way, the desire of consumers is satisfied, the purpose of production achieved, and the advertising process completed.
But the norm that a “good” product is advertised as a “better” one is often challenged or even reversed – that is, unscrupulous businessmen make use of advertising to sell inferior products, which raises a moral question. For example, my mother was once attracted by a commercial of a encyclopedia which was claimed to be the one and only complete version of several ancient Chinese documents. She rushed to the shop and bought this “limited version” at a eye-popping price, and regarded it as one of the most precious things in our house. However, a few months later she found the same version was sold in bulk at another shop at an unbelievably low price, which annoyed her for quite a long time. We can learn from the experience that we should not always trust the advertisements that are apparently exaggerating products, and keep alert in the swarm of television commercials.
However, the notion that “advertisement always make us disappointed” sometimes results from consumers’ unrealistic expectation of products. Advertising easily makes people to imagine “perfect” products which are not realistic at all, but consumers would rather keep this unreasonable hope. Then they would be inevitably disappointed by the actual products which cannot be so perfect, and attribute the cause to advertising. But it is actually the unrealistic expectation that eclipses any product, because a perfect image is absolutely subjective and could not even be realized. For example, I once signed up for a group tour toLantaoIslandinHong Kong, being attracted by the beautiful landscape pictures posted in the advertisements. But later on in the journey I was disappointed because actual scenery was never as attractive as what I had expected to see. Therefore, an unrealistic expectation is to be avoided in making any buying decision.
In conclusion, advertisements do make products seem much better than they really are, as a result of commercial propaganda and our unrealistic hope imposed on products. A better solution would be that both consumers and sellers keep a more realistic point of view, and avoid unreasonable selling or buying behavior.
2011/8/15
Independent writing: Does technology make children less creative than in the past?
Are our kids becoming lazier and less creative, less imaginable than before as a consequence of highly advanced technology? My answer is no, and just the opposite, technology has apparently assisted our kids to become more creative.
First and foremost, technology has provided children with easy access to scientific and liberal art resources which is their best source of inspiration. For example, children could now easily gain access to academic databases through iPad screen, read classical works on Kindle, or watch historic documents on Internet. These great works are essentially helpful to arousing their curiosity and prepares them with key knowledge necessary for any creation. However, these wonderful equipments and facilities are never as handy in the past, when kids could only reach limited resources in public libraries or schools. In this sense, technology has provided the possibility for children to be more creative.
Second, technology has equipped children with professional apparatus which could finally realize their imagination. This takes form particularly as computer softwares and applications, such as Photoshop for creative graphic design, Overture for easily composing a piece of music, 3DMax for building up a virtual world, etc.. All the software were never as handy as they are at present, and this would absolutely provides our children an effective tool for realizing their creativity.
Third, technology itself is a market place where creative ideas are economically encouraged. Steve Jobs earned millions of dollars a year for his unparallel creation, and Mark Zuckberg gained his reputation for the genius social network. Therefore, technology has provided children the internal motive to develop their creativity.
However, it is undeniable that technology might make children become lazier and be comfortable with what is already available because everything are so convenient nowadays and there seems to be no way to improve them. Children lost in pc games or blindly pursuing every single piece of tech apparatus is a relevant example. Thus, it is always necessary to keep children’s mind active in the marvelous world of technology.
In a nutshell, I still regard children as becoming increasingly creative in technology development, although it might bring minor side effect. As along as we keep a balanced mood on children enjoying the fruit of technology, they are sure to contribute more to innovation than in the past.