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<title> Today on TV </title>
This essay is supposed to show my reflections on the uses and abuses of television in society. I think that both television and computers have had quite a similar evolution through history. When TV first came, it was made for the wealthier families that could afford this new technology. This was also the case with the computer technology when it did break through. Today these kinds of technologies exist in almost every household and are a part of our daily life.

The problem with TV today is that there are so many programs and news broadcasts to watch, almost twenty-four hours a day. For some people this is very devastating, because they might have problem getting their work done, for example schoolwork, preparing lessons etc. It's so easy just to sit down in the couch, to relax, flip through the TV-channels and simply get caught in front of the TV, instead of doing the things you should do. I know, because I've been there myself during the high-school years. Because of the fact that the selection of available TV-channels have increased, there is now at least one channel for all kinds of people, music, news, education programs, science programs etc, something for everyone to like. Because of this, TV has a big influence on our lives. Personally I think it's quite relaxing to study to the sound/music played on both MTV and ZTV. Because of the fact that these channels play a lot better and more various music than the radio does, my TV is on during the time I'm at home. 

TV is a great communication medium to reach a lot of people, with news, current events, science breakthroughs and a lot of other important information. But, unfortunately there are great deals of bad commercials shown too, some of them meant to trick people in buying worthless things. And many people do, maybe because it's so easy. It's just a phone call away. Lately, I think that Internet has gained ground against TV in several areas. You can see videos, moving pictures, read updated news, sports and learn about science in quite a funny way, purchase food, computers and so on. As with TV and computers in their early days, there was only a small part of the population that had access to the Internet a few years ago. Today almost every computer owner has access to the Internet in some way. I think that Internet will keep growing and affect our lives even more in the future. But still, TV isn't to be forgotten in the future.

I think that TV programs and commercials influence children today more easily than it did ten or fifteen years ago. This may be because society today is more cruel and tougher. Some children programs show a lot of beating and violence in general, and they do it in a funny way. What kinds of impression do these programs give young children? They might think that it's OK to beat up their friends, just like the do on TV. And then they are surprised that he/she starts to cry or get hurt. It doesn't seem to hurt on TV. I think you have to teach your children that it's only a program, not real life, or don't let them see these kinds of programs at all until they are ready for it. At this point I'm just guessing, I can't speak from my own experiences because I'm not a parent, so please don't take it in the wrong way.

Today there are a lot of soap/documentary programs, such as Big Brother, Villa Medusa, Mullvaden and many more. I don't know why these programs are so popular; maybe because todays stressed society don't allow ordinary people to do these kinds of things. Another possible cause may be that the viewers like to see other people in a worse situation than they are in by themselves. (I don't know, just guessing.) Anyway these programs have a very big audience that continuously follow the competitors "progress" on TV. 

As a conclusion I think that TV has affected our lives for as long as we have had access to it, and I think it will keep doing that for quite some time, even though Internet and computers will affect us more and more, whether we like it or not.
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