Reading Rainbow App and The Future of the Internet

            Reading Rainbow. You guys remember that show? You know: Opening Books, Opening Minds. It’s the one that aired on PBS where celebrities would come on the show and read popular children’s books. Well, if you’ve never heard of it, you most likely didn’t have a TV, because it was EVERYWHERE! The show was very popular (3^rd longest running kid’s show on PBS behind Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers), and it even scored a couple of Emmys. It lasted from 1983 to 2006, with President Bush’s shift in education philosophy blamed for its cancellation, according to show executive producer and host LeVar Burton. So, has it ringed any bells yet?

            Anywho, Burton has decided to bring back the show, but not to PBS. Instead, reruns and, most likely, new episodes of Reading Rainbow will be available at some point on the new and improved site, RRkidz. Burton got the go-ahead to develop this site back in March. Kids will have the opportunity to view digital books that have that RR feel to it, and in the near future, if the site gains enough interest, actual episodes of the show. So it looks like Reading Rainbow is getting a second chance at educating young children in the form of online learning. Now for the big question: Good idea or bad idea?

            Personally, I never enjoyed Reading Rainbow as a kid. I remember times when I used to watch it, but it got to a point when the books weren’t all that good, and the narrators were just boring. I decided that turning off the TV and reading my own books was better. More often than not, I would just change the channel. Does this mean that I disagree with the new online concept? HELL NO! I praise what they’re doing. If it lasted for more than 20 years with static demographics, I say more power to them; they must have been doing something right. And now Burton has found a medium that has become popular and quite useful for modern years, the Internet and apps. Although the article never stated the fact that apps would be used, I would assume that’s the direction they will be going in once it gets off of the ground. Basically, I have no doubt that this is going to work for Burton and the RR fans.

            This leads me to a hot topic: the Future of the Internet. And there is only one way to describe it: Up. Billions of people have benefitted from the Internet since it came about in the 90s, and even more will benefit from it many years from now. Have you ever considered what your life would be like if you never had any access online? In recent years, not only do we have Internet access, but now it’s portable; cell phones, tablets, laptops, etc. have all been extremely useful when needed. At this point, it’s even harder to determine when this would even end. And it probably won’t! Every year, there is a new piece of technology that consumers buy to help enrich and simplify their lives. It may even just be an upgraded version of a piece of tech, but people buy them anyway. Who knows when this age of technology will ever end; all I can say is to live and flourish in the present with what we have.