The first icon in modern times is the iPod, a portable media player that has become part of youth culture. This is an icon that represents technology and innovation in a youthful way. It represents superiority in thinking and style. An iPod is not just an mp3 player; it represents a new generation of media players. To the owners, they are sacred items. They represent personal taste and revolution in technology that others can only dream of. Not everyone may have an iPod, but everyone knows what it is. Andy Serwer in an Article in Fortune said, “IT'S HARD TO RECALL ANY BRANDED RECREATIONAL product that ever carried the cultural oomph that the iPod now has” (Serwer, 2005). The iPod is now part of mainstream culture in the United States and in many other countries.
Another contemporary icon is Nelson Mandela. He defines the fight against the South African Apartheid. His imprisonment and triumph over the apartheid system makes him an iconic figure to Africa and to the rest of the world. According to Daniel Lieberfeld, Nelson Mandela had such influence that, although he disappeared from public view for thirty years, he had critical accomplishments that lead to the freedom of South Africa. He symbolized the majority of South Africans that were imprisoned and enslaved. His movement represents rising above any kind of oppression, and standing for your belief. (Lieberfeld, 2004). Nelson Mandela is an icon, for both Africans and the international community. People seek to see him or hear him speak; his legacy is one that will not be easily forgotten.
The next icon is Google. Google is a search engine that has become the alterative word for search. Google is an icon because it represents a revolution to availability of information. Every information you need is at the tip of your fingers. If you need to find something, all you need is to Google and you will find it or at least find something that will lead you to it. Information is power, and making it available to everyone is empowering. Information access used to be very limited until google. According to The Journal of International Affairs interview with Michael Jones, a technology advocate for google, “Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful” (Vericat, 2010). Google, by providing information free for all enables societies to educate, learn and become better. They are more than a search engine, they help societies become better. (Vericat, 2010).
