Popular Culture is a popular trend in the mainstream of society at a specific time but is usually temporary and constantly changing. Pop culture can come in the form of music, art, objects, or TV programming.
To me, I look at pop culture as all the trends or popular artifacts of my life. These include TV shows such as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and Gilligan’s Island. It also includes toys and video games that were exciting for their time. These include Atari with Pong (now that was exciting) up to today’s technologies with the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360.
Popular culture is important in a business environment because I believe it helps people to become diverse in their own cultural beliefs as well as others. It is also instrumental in allowing for a better understanding of people and the current trends of society allowing for better and more open communication.
For my example of a cultural artifact, I chose the Rubik’s Cube. This was also called the Büvös Kocka or the Hungarian Horror (Rosenberg, 2010). It was originally created in Budapest, Hungary by a gentleman named Ernö Rubik in 1974, but wasn’t released to the world until 1980 (Rosenberg, 2010).
This little gem became one of the most popular puzzles on the planet and was a huge success and icon for both young and old alike in 1980. Over 100 million were sold by 1982 and the Rubik Cube phenomenon was born.
References
Browne,R.B. (2005). Profiles of popular culture: A reader. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press.
Rosenberg, J. (2010). History of the Rubiks Cube A Small Cube that Obsessed the World. Retrieved January 5, 2011, from About.com:http://history1900s.about.com/od/1980s/a/rubikscube.htm
I can remeber when I first attempted to solve the Rubiks Cube, I became so frustrated, that I took the whole thing apart to see how it was put togeather, when it was put back togeather, I still had to solve the puzzle. It took me a while, but I solved it. My friend has a large one as a collector piece and I have a small key chain one. It is quite remarkable how people can make such an item. I like to work on car engines, I would not take the risk of fixing someone's car, but I like to look at the parts and see where everything goes. Your rubik cube artifact was a good one.....Vivian Martin
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