Hey guys,
I didn't exactly know how to begin my search of the
Prelinger Archives for the most interesting vintage film for a 21st
century class on the “information society.” So I started by browsing the “Most
Downloaded Items Last Week” column. Although The Private Life of a Cat sounded very interesting, I doubt it
would have applied much to the information society. So I watched a 25-minute
video titled The Big Train,
which was about the New York Central Railroad from the 1950s. It stressed how
people take the railroad for granted, thus it went on to explain the complex
and technologic process and assembly of a freight train. At the very end, it
also discussed the unfair laws, taxes, and regulations that the New York
Central Railroad faced. The government allowed airports and car transportation
to use facilities and infrastructures paid by US tax dollars but the New York
Central Railroad had to use its own funds to build and operate, and pay taxes.
I will be honest, it wasn’t the most riveting film I’ve seen
but I thought it was interesting to hear about the complexity of this
technology, which also made me think of other information society aspects that
I might take for granted - the bus system that I use to get to class everyday,
my iPhone that allows me to stay connected with family and friends, my daily
email of the Skimm to inform me of current news in the world.
I think this film is useful to students of our modern information
infrastructure mainly because it shows how certain things can be taken for
granted. The video mentioned how the railroad “Builds towns, keeps industries
alive and growing, delivers the standard of living…Carrying the country on its
back in the 19th/20th century.” I would definitely agree
that the trains have a big responsibility (even today) and yet, it's not something you think
about everyday. People, including myself, expect to have goods and information to be available
and present when we need them but we don’t necessarily think of the process of
how they got there.
3 comments:
Hey Madeline!
I agree with you, this film was a little slow, but taught me a lot about how much of an impact the railroad system has had on our country as a whole. It was interesting to watch this and make connections back to the readings we've done in class on the industrial society. When they were talking about how the railroad system "carried the country on its back", and then showed how essential it was to the production and manufacturing industries, it made me think of Detroit, and other big manufacturing cities, and how dependent they were on transportation of goods, whether it was by train or water of some form. It was also interesting to get a new insight on how essential they were for not only manufacturing goods, but also as a means for human transportation as well. By connecting the coasts, ideas and styles were spread faster than ever before. I like how you looked to the "most downloaded" section to find a video, when you're unsure where to begin, why not get inspiration from others who are familiar with the site? :)
Hey Tiana,
Yes, Detroit definitely came to mind when I was watching this video! I thought it really implied how easy it was to transport material, even showed a person loading a manufactured car bumper into a train car. I think the railroads really connected the manufacturing factories and plants to the cities.
Madeleine
Hey Madeleine,
This is a pretty detailed film describing the train industry back then I actually don't know some of the details it mentioned during the film. It illustrate the importance of the train and railroads, some of them even apply to today's society. Today we have more options to choose from for traveling or transporting but back then railroads is the essential way which enables them to move things/people around. I definitely agree with you about the idea that people take things for granted in today's society. It is important for us to take a step back and look at what we have.
Sara
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