Disney for The Family, Maybe Not!
I found this essay by Brenda Laurel to be highly personal which is nice for a change. I can take pity on her and her struggles to create lasting memories with her daughter. As a child of divorced parents, I can remember my father always trying to make connections with my brother and I, to find that he was almost always unsuccessful. It is not that we did not love him, although it is closer to that point today, it was just that we were always closer with our mother and felt that we had to see him against our will. However, back to the point of the essay, which I have to admit I do not completely understand. I think the point that is being made is that as we advance in media the old technologies loose there magic, like the submarine ride at Disney. How many times have you gone to a carnival or amusement park and can not help but to think this is so fake. With that being said I think the innocence of places like Disney has died. The other point is the morality of amusements. I remember the days when everyone would stand on line and this was no problem, but now instead we see line passes, speed lanes, all special programs that once paid for allows the person to have a shorter or no waiting time at a ride. I don’t know it I agree with this. I think that one values the ride more if you wait for it. The same goes for the line holders, the one member in the family who stands on line and then the rest of the family comes up as he or she is about to get on the ride. I think this takes away from the ride and the lessons that can be learned from waiting. I know that in our world of faster, faster, faster, we want everything in an instant but maybe just once it would be nice to wait, for as we know good things come to those who wait.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The World through The Screen
The World through The Screen
It’s amazing when you stop to think about the emergence of the screen, be it movie, television or computer. Years ago you would walk into a fast food place and the menu would be up on boards above the register, now there items are flashing at you on as many screens as the store can hold or afford to hold. As we continue to experience new media and how it relates with us I think this will continue, we will take our technologies and the screens we access our technologies on with us. I mean we already have laptops and I-pods both of which serve as a type of personal computer. What’s next who knows, but the more important question to ask is how will it integrate into our world.
It’s amazing when you stop to think about the emergence of the screen, be it movie, television or computer. Years ago you would walk into a fast food place and the menu would be up on boards above the register, now there items are flashing at you on as many screens as the store can hold or afford to hold. As we continue to experience new media and how it relates with us I think this will continue, we will take our technologies and the screens we access our technologies on with us. I mean we already have laptops and I-pods both of which serve as a type of personal computer. What’s next who knows, but the more important question to ask is how will it integrate into our world.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Has Information Lost Its Value?
Has Information Lost Its Value?
Condition of Virtuality
Reading the essay The Condition of Virtuality by N. Katherine Hayles I could not help but get the feeling that I was reading cheesy science fiction. Beginning her argument, She states that information is at the heart of all. She explains that as technology advances so does information become easier to obtain. There are even examples in the paper of a “computerized Human” a computer that holds the consciousness of a human. However without all the crazy illustrations of science fiction I thing a valid point is being made. Information has now become so accessible that you can almost find anything online. So like the essay states, does that make information lose its value? In some ways I think it does. I think that we as a culture have begun to not take the information we have at our finger tips with much care. Back in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, scribes would write books by hand it was common that tops there may be ten copies of a book. The information contained in them was seen as vital. Long gone are the days where you were forced to do research on a subject on interest (unless it is for a class) but instead one looks for it on Google, or searches for it on Wikipedia. But I don’t know if that means that the information is worthless, no instead I think it simply means that it is more accessible to those who wish to search for it.
Condition of Virtuality
Reading the essay The Condition of Virtuality by N. Katherine Hayles I could not help but get the feeling that I was reading cheesy science fiction. Beginning her argument, She states that information is at the heart of all. She explains that as technology advances so does information become easier to obtain. There are even examples in the paper of a “computerized Human” a computer that holds the consciousness of a human. However without all the crazy illustrations of science fiction I thing a valid point is being made. Information has now become so accessible that you can almost find anything online. So like the essay states, does that make information lose its value? In some ways I think it does. I think that we as a culture have begun to not take the information we have at our finger tips with much care. Back in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, scribes would write books by hand it was common that tops there may be ten copies of a book. The information contained in them was seen as vital. Long gone are the days where you were forced to do research on a subject on interest (unless it is for a class) but instead one looks for it on Google, or searches for it on Wikipedia. But I don’t know if that means that the information is worthless, no instead I think it simply means that it is more accessible to those who wish to search for it.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Unleashing the Ethical Bomb on the Internet.
Unleashing the Ethical Bomb on the Internet.
The Ethical Life of the Digital Aesthetic
To say the least, Ethics in the Media, especially in the realm of the World Wide Web is a very hot and dense topic. In my mind it is a debate that is far to complex for a single chapter summery to give justice to. However it is a topic that needs discussion. Is it wrong or right to take pornography of the internet? Should we censor children from accessing certain sites? Should the internet be controlled by the government? To be honest I don’t know if I have enough information to answer this. I understand the view point that the internet should be protected by the first amendment but at the same time does that mean we should leave it completely without restrictions? Does that mean that we should allow anyone to access anything? I think in many ways instead of relying on a sort of internet ethic we as humans need to rely on our own ethics and morals to control the wonderful and potentially horrible internet.
The Ethical Life of the Digital Aesthetic
To say the least, Ethics in the Media, especially in the realm of the World Wide Web is a very hot and dense topic. In my mind it is a debate that is far to complex for a single chapter summery to give justice to. However it is a topic that needs discussion. Is it wrong or right to take pornography of the internet? Should we censor children from accessing certain sites? Should the internet be controlled by the government? To be honest I don’t know if I have enough information to answer this. I understand the view point that the internet should be protected by the first amendment but at the same time does that mean we should leave it completely without restrictions? Does that mean that we should allow anyone to access anything? I think in many ways instead of relying on a sort of internet ethic we as humans need to rely on our own ethics and morals to control the wonderful and potentially horrible internet.
Cyber Evolution
Cyber Evolution
The Cyberspace Dialectic
How does one view the computer and the immerging cyber world? . As a tool, as the future or maybe a threat. The advances in technology have in some minds created an artificial evolution. Humans are almost being forced to adapt to new media technologies or fear becoming extinct. We fear dying out by not fitting in to the rest of society in the digital age. Now I guess in some ways that makes me a “realist”, someone who relishes on real experience and so what if I am. Now don’t get me wrong I appreciate the advances in technology just as much as anyone else but I fear that we as humans have allowed ourselves to become computer slaves, to allow this forced technological evolution to take us in a direction I don’t think we always need to go. I think at times instead of allowing our human existence to revolve around a box with a screen, we should allow ourselves to step out into nature. I can not count how many times I say to myself; today would be a nice day for a walk and then never go for one. Yet at the same time, I could not count how many times I have sat down at my computer when I have had any amount of free time. The emerging cyberspace world is exciting and exhilarating, but at the same time as we become pioneers in this digital world I hope we don’t forget to spend time in the real one.
The Never Ending Maze of New Media
The Never Ending Maze of New Media
Unfinished Business
While reading Peter Lunenfeld’s essay, all I could do was force myself from saying yes or maybe well duh. We have entered an age of digital exploration and with that will come the unfinished space stories and time. We are like today’s version of Columbus, but instead of searching for new trade routes to India, we are exploring an uncharted virtual world. Maybe in that way we are more like Captain Kirk, boldly going where no may has gone before. With this exploration will come stories of exploration and the digital experiences these “sailors” have. Stories will become unending as you begin to have virtually endless ways to end them. However, I don’t think time is endless, I think its accelerating in the digital world allowing everything else to happen at an alarming rate. Time instead is like the Grim reaper it allows advances to happen but destroys everything that is obsolete in its path.
Unfinished Business
While reading Peter Lunenfeld’s essay, all I could do was force myself from saying yes or maybe well duh. We have entered an age of digital exploration and with that will come the unfinished space stories and time. We are like today’s version of Columbus, but instead of searching for new trade routes to India, we are exploring an uncharted virtual world. Maybe in that way we are more like Captain Kirk, boldly going where no may has gone before. With this exploration will come stories of exploration and the digital experiences these “sailors” have. Stories will become unending as you begin to have virtually endless ways to end them. However, I don’t think time is endless, I think its accelerating in the digital world allowing everything else to happen at an alarming rate. Time instead is like the Grim reaper it allows advances to happen but destroys everything that is obsolete in its path.
The Ever Changing Screen Grab
The Ever Changing Screen Grab
Intro and The Real and The Ideal
In the introduction to the Digital Dialectic, we are introduced to the concept of the screen grab. The screen Grab, a sort of picture of you computer screen as it appears in that moment, is a metaphor for this Book, but also I think for this course, NMC 331, altogether. Who knows where we will be in two weeks or three months in relation to the New Media realm so instead, we study screen grabs the hear and now of New Media. Because as we are told in the Digital Dialectic, New wont be new for long, or in other words there is always a new new. The Chapter The Real and The Ideal continues this idea in an intriguing way, well at least for me by using Plato’s Myth of the Cave. This Myth serves as the classic tale of the truths we see and the ideal truth. However I disagree with a point the book makes in regard to Plato’s myth, it says that “the materialistic rationalism that leads to the development of new digital technologies would seem to undermine our confidence in our own ideal, much less the Ideal.” To this I would disagree, Plato talks about the ideal forms, and the fact that technology keeps advancing makes me think that we are doing everything in our power to reach those ideal forms. Whether or not we can reach ideal forms by our own accord well. . . that’s a different blogging for a different day.
Intro and The Real and The Ideal
In the introduction to the Digital Dialectic, we are introduced to the concept of the screen grab. The screen Grab, a sort of picture of you computer screen as it appears in that moment, is a metaphor for this Book, but also I think for this course, NMC 331, altogether. Who knows where we will be in two weeks or three months in relation to the New Media realm so instead, we study screen grabs the hear and now of New Media. Because as we are told in the Digital Dialectic, New wont be new for long, or in other words there is always a new new. The Chapter The Real and The Ideal continues this idea in an intriguing way, well at least for me by using Plato’s Myth of the Cave. This Myth serves as the classic tale of the truths we see and the ideal truth. However I disagree with a point the book makes in regard to Plato’s myth, it says that “the materialistic rationalism that leads to the development of new digital technologies would seem to undermine our confidence in our own ideal, much less the Ideal.” To this I would disagree, Plato talks about the ideal forms, and the fact that technology keeps advancing makes me think that we are doing everything in our power to reach those ideal forms. Whether or not we can reach ideal forms by our own accord well. . . that’s a different blogging for a different day.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Terms as Found on http://themedium.blogs.nytimes.com/
Terms as Found on http://themedium.blogs.nytimes.com/
Web video: Short clips of video that are found on the internet.
Viral video: The term refers to video clip content which gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email or IM messages, blogs and other media sharing websites.
User-driven video: Online video’s made by users of the website. Could include video’s found on youtube that are posted by users.
Custom interactive video: Video posted by users that other users can than respond to.
Embedded video ads: Video ads that are embedded in websites and play without any user interaction.
Web-based VOD: systems that allow users to select and watch video and clip content over a network as part of an interactive television system.
Broadband television: involves accessing multimedia content via an unmanaged broadband connection and viewing it on a PC or sometimes a normal TV.
Diavlogs: A sort of online video dialog blog between two or more users.
Vcasts: A product of version wireless that allows its subscribers to download music, television clips, and other media material.
Vlogs: (video Blogs): a blog that comprises video. Regular entries are typically presented in reverse chronological order and often combine embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images, and other metadata.
Video podcasts: is a term used for the online delivery of video on demand video clip content. Most commonly this content is found through itunes.
Mobisodes: is a term first coined by Fox Broadcasting Company, for a broadcast television episode specially made for viewing on a mobile telephone screen and usually of short duration (from one to three minutes).
Webisodes: an episode of a television show that airs initially as an Internet download or stream as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television.
Mashup: A derivative work consisting of two pieces of (generally digital) media conjoined together in some interesting way, such as a video clip with a different soundtrack applied for humorous effect, or a digital map overlaid with user-supplied data.
Web video: Short clips of video that are found on the internet.
Viral video: The term refers to video clip content which gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email or IM messages, blogs and other media sharing websites.
User-driven video: Online video’s made by users of the website. Could include video’s found on youtube that are posted by users.
Custom interactive video: Video posted by users that other users can than respond to.
Embedded video ads: Video ads that are embedded in websites and play without any user interaction.
Web-based VOD: systems that allow users to select and watch video and clip content over a network as part of an interactive television system.
Broadband television: involves accessing multimedia content via an unmanaged broadband connection and viewing it on a PC or sometimes a normal TV.
Diavlogs: A sort of online video dialog blog between two or more users.
Vcasts: A product of version wireless that allows its subscribers to download music, television clips, and other media material.
Vlogs: (video Blogs): a blog that comprises video. Regular entries are typically presented in reverse chronological order and often combine embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images, and other metadata.
Video podcasts: is a term used for the online delivery of video on demand video clip content. Most commonly this content is found through itunes.
Mobisodes: is a term first coined by Fox Broadcasting Company, for a broadcast television episode specially made for viewing on a mobile telephone screen and usually of short duration (from one to three minutes).
Webisodes: an episode of a television show that airs initially as an Internet download or stream as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television.
Mashup: A derivative work consisting of two pieces of (generally digital) media conjoined together in some interesting way, such as a video clip with a different soundtrack applied for humorous effect, or a digital map overlaid with user-supplied data.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
From News to Noises: Rhizome.org
From News to Noises: Rhizome.org
When I first looked at rhizome I focused more on the main page and the nature of the site to post art related news at a very up to the minute pace. However I have begun to realize how much more this site has to offer. As I left the main page of the site I moved into the Art Base where people post there online art in many forms, flash art, video art, audio art. One piece in particular that I liked was called "Birdsongs: The Language Gene" by Debra Swack.
What the Bird Song Piece does is that it allows us to hear bird chirp or song composed into music. Debra Swack tells us that “Birds not only sing songs but improvise upon their creations. In fact studies have shown that they never sing a song exactly the same way twice. A typical song is only a few seconds long but can consist of fifty or more individual notes that can be as short as a ten thousandth of a second. A bird can sing a song up to five times faster than a human can utter the equivalent in syllables” (Swack). In addition birds also have the ability to sing with themselves. The piece itself uses many different bird calls from many different birds non of which relate to each other or sound remotely alike, but at the same time create a choir of birds and a musical piece that works, it sounds like song.
Rhizome also has a Text Base w3hich almost serves like a forum in nature. It “contains the conversations, commentary and listings of events and opportunities that have passed through our mailing lists over the past decade” (rhizome.org).
Rhizome seems to be a great tool for New Media communication. It gives readers the ability to access news relating to the field, communicate with each other and even post their works.
When I first looked at rhizome I focused more on the main page and the nature of the site to post art related news at a very up to the minute pace. However I have begun to realize how much more this site has to offer. As I left the main page of the site I moved into the Art Base where people post there online art in many forms, flash art, video art, audio art. One piece in particular that I liked was called "Birdsongs: The Language Gene" by Debra Swack.
What the Bird Song Piece does is that it allows us to hear bird chirp or song composed into music. Debra Swack tells us that “Birds not only sing songs but improvise upon their creations. In fact studies have shown that they never sing a song exactly the same way twice. A typical song is only a few seconds long but can consist of fifty or more individual notes that can be as short as a ten thousandth of a second. A bird can sing a song up to five times faster than a human can utter the equivalent in syllables” (Swack). In addition birds also have the ability to sing with themselves. The piece itself uses many different bird calls from many different birds non of which relate to each other or sound remotely alike, but at the same time create a choir of birds and a musical piece that works, it sounds like song.
Rhizome also has a Text Base w3hich almost serves like a forum in nature. It “contains the conversations, commentary and listings of events and opportunities that have passed through our mailing lists over the past decade” (rhizome.org).
Rhizome seems to be a great tool for New Media communication. It gives readers the ability to access news relating to the field, communicate with each other and even post their works.
No Pity At All
Televisionwithoutpity.com, Twop for short, is exactly that without pity. This site offers one the opportunity to reflect on television programming almost immediately after it airs. They do have a hired staff that writes the reviews but at the same time it appears that the staff it also critical fans of the programming. Reviews tend to include episode plot summery with witty remarks about the episode. From there one has the option to enter forums and talk about whatever they wish in regards to the episode. Well within reason that is. Now the forums take on there own entity as a whole. There are forums for shows covered by Twop as well as forums separated by genre, for example Sci-fi, Soaps, sports, Reality TV. One of my favorite forums is the Rec Room. Know for its zany recreational forum topics including my motivation is this, a picture based caption contest where forum members can post any image from a television show they wish with funny comments. More than anything Twop shows me how revolutionary or media world has become. We now have a world where television viewers have the opportunity to reflect on programming they watch and voice there opinion.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
New Media News???
New Media News???
While looking at Rhizome.org, I couldn’t help but feel like I was looking at a paper dedicated directly to new media. Not so much in the technology aspect of it, but in the art aspect. As you scroll down the main page, I see things such as recent news relating to New Media, community news, and short articles based on media related subjects. Links at the top of the site includes projects that they are working on like the new media museum or correction the “New Museum of Contemporary Art” in lower Manhattan. They also have a children’s program for introducing them to new media. They even have an art base containing hundreds of new media art pieces. I think that it is great that this site exists and I am excited about what it means to have an online community based solely on New Media Culture.
While looking at Rhizome.org, I couldn’t help but feel like I was looking at a paper dedicated directly to new media. Not so much in the technology aspect of it, but in the art aspect. As you scroll down the main page, I see things such as recent news relating to New Media, community news, and short articles based on media related subjects. Links at the top of the site includes projects that they are working on like the new media museum or correction the “New Museum of Contemporary Art” in lower Manhattan. They also have a children’s program for introducing them to new media. They even have an art base containing hundreds of new media art pieces. I think that it is great that this site exists and I am excited about what it means to have an online community based solely on New Media Culture.
Reality for Pixels
Reality for Pixels
In Lev Menovich’s Essay, “What Is Digital Cinema”, he talks about the advances in cinema and the moving picture. One point that he makes that I found incredibly interesting is the fact that he says once live video is uploaded to a computer the computer reads it as it would any other image it reads it in pixels. This allows one to skew reality, to animate it to ones need. Life action as Lev Menovich says is, “reduced to just another graphic, no different from images that were created manually. One example he uses is the opining scene is forest Gump with the feather floating through air. Although this is meant to look real it is not. The feather was filmed on blue screen in different positions and animated together.
This idea as a whole is fascinating. We no longer have reality and not reality in film. We no longer have real and animated, or live action and special effect separate, we have them together. For example when “Star Wars” first came out, the special effect in it were amazing, no one had ever scene effects like it before, but at the same time, except for the light saber scenes characters were not interacting much with special effects. Unlike today with say “Transformers”, or even “Star Wars Revenge of the Sith.” We have characters that are digitally made interacting in a “real” environment. The fact that today’s technology could make Yoda on a computer and have him doing back flips all over the screen or have giant robots interact with humans and turn into things we use in everyday life. And then there are Movies like “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”, which was completely shot on blue screen, everything the characters interact with was digitally made. It fascinates me how far we come but at the same time I am hoping that we don’t through reality completely out the window.
In Lev Menovich’s Essay, “What Is Digital Cinema”, he talks about the advances in cinema and the moving picture. One point that he makes that I found incredibly interesting is the fact that he says once live video is uploaded to a computer the computer reads it as it would any other image it reads it in pixels. This allows one to skew reality, to animate it to ones need. Life action as Lev Menovich says is, “reduced to just another graphic, no different from images that were created manually. One example he uses is the opining scene is forest Gump with the feather floating through air. Although this is meant to look real it is not. The feather was filmed on blue screen in different positions and animated together.
This idea as a whole is fascinating. We no longer have reality and not reality in film. We no longer have real and animated, or live action and special effect separate, we have them together. For example when “Star Wars” first came out, the special effect in it were amazing, no one had ever scene effects like it before, but at the same time, except for the light saber scenes characters were not interacting much with special effects. Unlike today with say “Transformers”, or even “Star Wars Revenge of the Sith.” We have characters that are digitally made interacting in a “real” environment. The fact that today’s technology could make Yoda on a computer and have him doing back flips all over the screen or have giant robots interact with humans and turn into things we use in everyday life. And then there are Movies like “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”, which was completely shot on blue screen, everything the characters interact with was digitally made. It fascinates me how far we come but at the same time I am hoping that we don’t through reality completely out the window.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Waiting On A Computer That’s Barbaric!
Waiting On A Computer That’s Barbaric!
Erkki Huhtamo’s article From Cybernation to Interaction is a reflection of where computers have come. It is funny now a days to think that at one point in our history we would wait around a room sized computer waiting for it to compute a simple operation. But wait this wasn’t five thousand years ago, heck it was barely fifty. It never seems to amaze me how far the computer and technology business has come. Yet at the same with the turnaround on new technology today its almost scary that we can only see these computers as something out of classic sci-fi.
Also another thing is the speed at which computers can now work. I remember when I first got internet at my house how it was a good thing if you could go to three or four websites in an hour. Today if I am forced to use dial up anywhere, I sit contemplating the best way to destroy the computer. In my mind that someone would wait for a day just to have the machine compute two plus two is beyond my comprehension, I just can’t conceive it. But that’s technology, and I am sure in 10 years people will think the way we used computers is barbaric.
Questions for Allan Appel
Timothy Anderson
NMC 331
Questions for Allan Appel
1.) Except for dark periods of mudslinging and muckraking I believe that the news has always at least tried to present the facts in as little of a biased way as possible. Some of course are better at this than others. However my question is do you believe that local journalism has to live up to the same expectations if local journalism is reaching to a particular area or type of people?
2.) What do you personally feel are the benefits and disadvantages of printed papers and online papers?
3.) What is your op-pinion on Blogging, whether in response to a news article at a online news site or a private blog?
How to Store and What to Store. Medium is the Memory
How to Store and What to Store.
In reality, what is the difference between a book ad a computer, between a movie and a novel? In reality, not much. As Florian Brody essay The Medium is the Memory explains such devices are simply places to hold memory. And by memory I don’t mean megabits and gigabits but no memory as information different forms of information. When one reads a book one sees the memory of a character or a tale. The same with a film or a TV show, although it is visual it is also the tale or memory of a person, event, ect.
Than what can I say is a computer simply the more advanced form of a book, in many ways yes it is. It allows us to engage in memory, weather or own or someone else’s. When we go to a website and read something there we are engaging in the memory of that websites information. But does advancing technology make the memory better? I’m not so sure. As Brody says early in his essay, “why take the trouble to dream when you can easily consume what has already been visualized?” I disagree with this, I think we should always dream because I guarantee if anyone else tries to visualize what we have already seen in our dreams they will always come up short. Just take a look at any book that has become a film.
In reality, what is the difference between a book ad a computer, between a movie and a novel? In reality, not much. As Florian Brody essay The Medium is the Memory explains such devices are simply places to hold memory. And by memory I don’t mean megabits and gigabits but no memory as information different forms of information. When one reads a book one sees the memory of a character or a tale. The same with a film or a TV show, although it is visual it is also the tale or memory of a person, event, ect.
Than what can I say is a computer simply the more advanced form of a book, in many ways yes it is. It allows us to engage in memory, weather or own or someone else’s. When we go to a website and read something there we are engaging in the memory of that websites information. But does advancing technology make the memory better? I’m not so sure. As Brody says early in his essay, “why take the trouble to dream when you can easily consume what has already been visualized?” I disagree with this, I think we should always dream because I guarantee if anyone else tries to visualize what we have already seen in our dreams they will always come up short. Just take a look at any book that has become a film.
Is Hypertext a Collage?
Is Hypertext a Collage?
In Hypertext as Collage-Writing, George Landow brings forth the claim that hypertext is becoming the collage of the online world. Personally I’m not excited. The form of the hypertext collage in my mind is too blocky to mundane. For me, collages have always been about the abstract message, how to bring out what you are trying to say in an artistic way. The imperfection is what makes the collage interesting. For instance, if one were to make a collage about families, it would be the way you cut the pictures, or rip out the articles that would make it intriguing; to me an online collage or hypertext does not hold the realness of the artwork. I mean you can look at a painting online all you want, but to see it in real life is the true delight, to see the brushstrokes up close and the minute detail. Maybe I just don’t understand the concept of hypertext writing correctly but to me it just does not hold the same feeling as the real thing.
In Hypertext as Collage-Writing, George Landow brings forth the claim that hypertext is becoming the collage of the online world. Personally I’m not excited. The form of the hypertext collage in my mind is too blocky to mundane. For me, collages have always been about the abstract message, how to bring out what you are trying to say in an artistic way. The imperfection is what makes the collage interesting. For instance, if one were to make a collage about families, it would be the way you cut the pictures, or rip out the articles that would make it intriguing; to me an online collage or hypertext does not hold the realness of the artwork. I mean you can look at a painting online all you want, but to see it in real life is the true delight, to see the brushstrokes up close and the minute detail. Maybe I just don’t understand the concept of hypertext writing correctly but to me it just does not hold the same feeling as the real thing.
Laying it out with the Hyper Local Sites
Laying it out with the Hyper Local Sites
After being intruded in class to Hyper Local news sites like the New Haven Independent I began to think about how these sites are formatted in how they compare to each other. Using the New haven Independent as a starting point I decided to take a look at the Chi Town Daily News and the Voice of San Diego.
I noticed that all three structure there main page differently. The New Haven Independent has paragraph long blurbs about there stories on the main page including pictures with links that take you into the stories. To the right of this they have links to their sponsors and to the left an Extra Extra column and to the left of that links to important sites in the new haven area including other papers.
The Chi Town Daily News seems to have a very different format on its front page. To left center of the top of the page they placed a Photo Gallery but the funny thing is that they do not tell you what the photograph is in relationship to. They don’t tell you what the story is behind it. The rest of the main page is broken up into categories for example breaking news sports or culture. In these areas they give you titles for stories but nothing else, so a reader like has little idea if they actually want to read the article.
The Voice of San Diego has a beautiful layout on the front page. Everything about it screams professional news paper, including the fact that they use a similar font to that of the New York Times. Similar to the Chi Town Daily News in the fact that they separate story by category it differs in the fact that it gives a small blurb about what the article is about similar to The Independent. I also thought that they intelligently placed pictures and promotional material and loved that they has a section on the main page devoted completely to Hot Topics in the San Diego area.
Leaving the main page and going to the articles themselves the Voice of San Diego post the articles listed as Top Stories with no pictures or anything on the page to grab the reader’s eye. This is disappointing to me after such a well placed main page to have a dull article page. Nothing keeps me interested in what the writer has to say. Now granted as I continued to check out articles and some included photographs, but how do you call something a top story and then not grab the reader’s eye visually. The Chi Town Daily news ended up being similar, about half of there stories had photographs and even those that did were not very stimulating.
The New Haven Independent5 however I thought was brilliant with there understanding of how to visually capture a reader. Stories at the Independent sometimes even had two or three photographs for articles which helped lead the article visually. Also photo’s on the site seems to have a depth with most including foreground, middle ground, and background. They also leave room for comments at the end of the article so that readers can see how other reader’s responded directly to that article.
Between the three I think that the Chi Town Daily News is the weakest. Visually poor in nature it did little to captivate me to the site. However I do like both the Voice of San Diego and the New Haven Independent. Do to layout of their sites they both seemed to have a way of keeping me at the site looking for more information.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Profiles or Avatars
Profiles or Avatars
In William Mitchell article,
However Mitchell’s article is slightly dated and does not include profile sites, something that I feel is far more efficient than an avatar. With Profile sites like Myspace or Facebook one has the power to control what information about themselves they want to share and who there wish to network with by “adding” them as “friends”. This is highly different than an avatar. With an avatar you can create any character you want, you don’t have to be you. With this in mind I fear networking with avatars because you really don’t know who you are talking to. With a Profile site if you feel someone is suspicious, you can simply delete them from your friends list.
However Mitchell is right about one thing, digital communities are growing. One very popular online world is the World of Warcraft where gamers interact online with other gamers. Although not acting as themse3lves and instead a fictional character none the less this environment seems to grow every day.
Is Mitchell right are online communities replacing place, I don’t think so. Although it is providing us with another means of communication and networking, I have a felling that people will always meet in coffee shops and at the mall.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
How Its Presented
How it’s Presented
For the last few weeks I have been studying how the New York Times presents information on its web site as well as in the print edition. In particular I have been focusing on story’s relating to the I-pod/ I-Phone after apple dropped the I-Phone price by 200 dollars. However, you sometimes need to view other sources to get the full picture, and to see how they present the information.
Speaking that I was dealing primarily in newspapers, online and print, I thought that I would continue my search there first. I visited a couple of newspaper websites and found the Los Angeles Times to have a highly effective, well structured, and informative site. I was able to easily manage my way to articles on my subject found by just going to business link and then the technology link. Another thing that amazed me was that in this section alone they had articles dating back to august 30th, this was unlike other newspaper websites, like USA today, which did not go back nearly as far.
In regards to the I-phone/I-pod story, I found that articles matched the timeline in the New York Times. I immediately found an article from September 6th when the price cut was first announced. In regards to content I found that it gave you the same information as the New York Times article with difference lying in authors writing styles. However, the New York Times article included more photographs including a photograph of Steven Jobs, Apples chief executive. The Other thing I noticed Is that the Los Angeles Times did not include links in the way that the New York Times did. Any major name or item was highlighted as a link in the New York Times article and linked you to News about that name or item.
One area the Los Angeles Times disappointed me in was that it did not seem to follow up the story in the way the New York Times did. Instead of articles about costumer reactions and editorials expressing views of what will happen to Apple’s prime product they instead carried more breaking news related to the I-pod and Apple. I guess in some ways this was probably a positive thing. One article I found incredibly interesting talked about how Apple might try to buy into Airwaves and therefore have a means of carrying I-phone service on there own and not have to count on a wireless provider like AT&T. Such a move would be huge for Apple and allow them more control of there product.
Looking for a more Business oriented article I searched Businessweek.com for information about the I-Phone price drop and any articles about Apple products. I found exactly what I was looking for with little effort. The article includes the same information about the rebate as The LA Times and the NY Times but also takes a new and interesting business approach. It asks the question of how much is the I-phone rally worth? The Business week article contained a quote from Terrence Russell on Wired's blog, Epicenter. He said that “A drop of $200 after just 66 days means that the I-Phone decreased roughly $3.03 a day in retail value between launch and yesterday's announcement.” I don’t understand how such a “HOT” item could reduce in price that quickly. I understand that Apple is getting it’s feet wet in the phone world but does this mean they should abandon there Apple Business approach?
Opening myself up to other websites allowed me to see other points of view on the subject at hand. Although not every website I tried produced results those that did gave me a deeper understanding at how content is arranged, and how coming from different angles can give you a clearer idea of the whole story. I was not going to find out about the actual I-phone worth at the New York Times, but Business week was not going to give me a Editorial opinion on the whole ordeal, In the end each source will present a slightly different view.
For the last few weeks I have been studying how the New York Times presents information on its web site as well as in the print edition. In particular I have been focusing on story’s relating to the I-pod/ I-Phone after apple dropped the I-Phone price by 200 dollars. However, you sometimes need to view other sources to get the full picture, and to see how they present the information.
Speaking that I was dealing primarily in newspapers, online and print, I thought that I would continue my search there first. I visited a couple of newspaper websites and found the Los Angeles Times to have a highly effective, well structured, and informative site. I was able to easily manage my way to articles on my subject found by just going to business link and then the technology link. Another thing that amazed me was that in this section alone they had articles dating back to august 30th, this was unlike other newspaper websites, like USA today, which did not go back nearly as far.
In regards to the I-phone/I-pod story, I found that articles matched the timeline in the New York Times. I immediately found an article from September 6th when the price cut was first announced. In regards to content I found that it gave you the same information as the New York Times article with difference lying in authors writing styles. However, the New York Times article included more photographs including a photograph of Steven Jobs, Apples chief executive. The Other thing I noticed Is that the Los Angeles Times did not include links in the way that the New York Times did. Any major name or item was highlighted as a link in the New York Times article and linked you to News about that name or item.
One area the Los Angeles Times disappointed me in was that it did not seem to follow up the story in the way the New York Times did. Instead of articles about costumer reactions and editorials expressing views of what will happen to Apple’s prime product they instead carried more breaking news related to the I-pod and Apple. I guess in some ways this was probably a positive thing. One article I found incredibly interesting talked about how Apple might try to buy into Airwaves and therefore have a means of carrying I-phone service on there own and not have to count on a wireless provider like AT&T. Such a move would be huge for Apple and allow them more control of there product.
Looking for a more Business oriented article I searched Businessweek.com for information about the I-Phone price drop and any articles about Apple products. I found exactly what I was looking for with little effort. The article includes the same information about the rebate as The LA Times and the NY Times but also takes a new and interesting business approach. It asks the question of how much is the I-phone rally worth? The Business week article contained a quote from Terrence Russell on Wired's blog, Epicenter. He said that “A drop of $200 after just 66 days means that the I-Phone decreased roughly $3.03 a day in retail value between launch and yesterday's announcement.” I don’t understand how such a “HOT” item could reduce in price that quickly. I understand that Apple is getting it’s feet wet in the phone world but does this mean they should abandon there Apple Business approach?
Opening myself up to other websites allowed me to see other points of view on the subject at hand. Although not every website I tried produced results those that did gave me a deeper understanding at how content is arranged, and how coming from different angles can give you a clearer idea of the whole story. I was not going to find out about the actual I-phone worth at the New York Times, but Business week was not going to give me a Editorial opinion on the whole ordeal, In the end each source will present a slightly different view.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
I Want an Apple for Christmas
I Want an Apple for Christmas
Over the last few weeks I have been following the development of apple’s holiday plans and how the New York Times presents these developments in both the print version and the online version. My interest was sparked when I noticed that after being released for a short period of time, apple decided to drop the price of there hot new item, the I-phone. Intrigued I decided to follow the story and see how the content played out in the different New York Times media, print and online.
With the primary article publish on September 6th, the layout remained similar in both the online in print editions. The major difference I found between the two articles was the placement of photographs and the fact that of courser anything not on the front page of the print edition will be in black and white which in my opinion is less stimulating to the eyes. Another thing I noticed is that for the print edition its placement on the page hurts it. Although it is front page center for the Business Day section underneath it there is a huge photo of an E-book that just automatically grabs your eye. And when you turn to the second half of the article on c9 it’s on the bottom half of the page. In the online version, the photographs are in color and grab your attention. Also one thing that I really enjoy is that in the article itself you have links to items mentioned in the article for example Starbucks.
On September 7th, I was delighted to find an article that dealt with consumers reactions to the I-phone price cut. As I though many were not thrilled especially those who purchased the I-phone for its original price. Again as far as content of the article is concerned we find the same content in both the print and online versions. There only seems to be one difference in the articles and that’s the placement of the accompanying photograph. In the print edition the save the photo for the second page of the article but the online version has the accompanying photo at the beginning grabbing the readers eye.
Moving to September 10th I also found the content to be exactly the same in the print and online editions. I happened to truly enjoy this article as the writer David Carr beautifully talks about what makes an I-pod a God send gadget and that without the content that we want to buy for example episodes of our favorite Television episode well than its like he says, “If the gated community loses a lot of cultural real estate, will I need to keep my address there?”
On September 13th we find that the trend continues that the content of the article does not change. Again differing in the placement of photographs and almost nothing else, I become fed up with these minute differences. It seems to me more than anything else online versus print comes down to a matter of preference.
Again repeating my previous point I wonder how much of a difference there truly is between the print version and online version in the content of articles. I have a hard time believing that a writer would make two separate articles one for print, one for online or be willing to see his work cut down in either media.
Over the last few weeks I have been following the development of apple’s holiday plans and how the New York Times presents these developments in both the print version and the online version. My interest was sparked when I noticed that after being released for a short period of time, apple decided to drop the price of there hot new item, the I-phone. Intrigued I decided to follow the story and see how the content played out in the different New York Times media, print and online.
With the primary article publish on September 6th, the layout remained similar in both the online in print editions. The major difference I found between the two articles was the placement of photographs and the fact that of courser anything not on the front page of the print edition will be in black and white which in my opinion is less stimulating to the eyes. Another thing I noticed is that for the print edition its placement on the page hurts it. Although it is front page center for the Business Day section underneath it there is a huge photo of an E-book that just automatically grabs your eye. And when you turn to the second half of the article on c9 it’s on the bottom half of the page. In the online version, the photographs are in color and grab your attention. Also one thing that I really enjoy is that in the article itself you have links to items mentioned in the article for example Starbucks.
On September 7th, I was delighted to find an article that dealt with consumers reactions to the I-phone price cut. As I though many were not thrilled especially those who purchased the I-phone for its original price. Again as far as content of the article is concerned we find the same content in both the print and online versions. There only seems to be one difference in the articles and that’s the placement of the accompanying photograph. In the print edition the save the photo for the second page of the article but the online version has the accompanying photo at the beginning grabbing the readers eye.
Moving to September 10th I also found the content to be exactly the same in the print and online editions. I happened to truly enjoy this article as the writer David Carr beautifully talks about what makes an I-pod a God send gadget and that without the content that we want to buy for example episodes of our favorite Television episode well than its like he says, “If the gated community loses a lot of cultural real estate, will I need to keep my address there?”
On September 13th we find that the trend continues that the content of the article does not change. Again differing in the placement of photographs and almost nothing else, I become fed up with these minute differences. It seems to me more than anything else online versus print comes down to a matter of preference.
Again repeating my previous point I wonder how much of a difference there truly is between the print version and online version in the content of articles. I have a hard time believing that a writer would make two separate articles one for print, one for online or be willing to see his work cut down in either media.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Laying out the Times
Laying out the Times
Not to be obvious, however, while looking at the two media’s for the New York Times, print edition and online one thing you notice is that the news changes more often with the online version. I think that one of the greatest advances of online news is that we receive stories faster. No longer do you to accept that this story made the paper today and anything else that happens will be shelved and have to wait till tomorrow’s paper. No longer will that be the case, and dare I say it, in the end the fact that emerging news can get to readers quicker will be the biggest thing that will hurt print papers the most.
As far as the layouts are concerned the New York Times Website and Printed Paper are formatted in similar ways. I believe that this is done to make people who grew up with the paper feel like they can navigate the site well. Things on the site are sorted by what area or field they fit in to, for example: Business or The Arts, just like in the Print edition of the Times.
One thing that a paper always wants to be careful with is how it places stories. Placement of a story can reflect what the editors think is most important and not necessarily what a reader thinks is most important. In regards to the Front Page/ Main Page the Times in print seems to give more of a taste of what will appear in each section of the paper. The Main Page on the Website dealt too much in one area, politics and the war. For example in September 10th’s paper, both main photographs deal with health related issues, but outside of that the page differs. Although dealing with politics and the war, the FrontPage times still includes many other aspects that the website does not give prevalence to on its main page.
When I left the main page one area I wanted to look closely at was the Business Day section since business relates with the new media realm. Again I will reference September 10th’s paper as example. In Monday’s business section there is a huge illustration with the article about how this lawyer named Kevin Morris helped the creators of South Park receive 50 percent stake in the cartoon’s success on the web and other emerging media. However, in the online business section the article is half way down the page where you have to scroll down to get to it. In addition instead of a large illustration to gain your interest featuring the characters of South Park there is a small picture with the lawyers face. And I am sorry but that is not something that is going to grab your attention right away, even if the article is more about his endeavors in the new media realm than South Park and its creators.
In reality the point I am trying to get across is this, both forms of the times have there benefits and disadvantages. Yeah it’s nice to sign in to newyorktimes.com and read the paper on your computer and see emerging stories, but sometimes its just best to open up the printed paper, do the crossword puzzle, and read.
Not to be obvious, however, while looking at the two media’s for the New York Times, print edition and online one thing you notice is that the news changes more often with the online version. I think that one of the greatest advances of online news is that we receive stories faster. No longer do you to accept that this story made the paper today and anything else that happens will be shelved and have to wait till tomorrow’s paper. No longer will that be the case, and dare I say it, in the end the fact that emerging news can get to readers quicker will be the biggest thing that will hurt print papers the most.
As far as the layouts are concerned the New York Times Website and Printed Paper are formatted in similar ways. I believe that this is done to make people who grew up with the paper feel like they can navigate the site well. Things on the site are sorted by what area or field they fit in to, for example: Business or The Arts, just like in the Print edition of the Times.
One thing that a paper always wants to be careful with is how it places stories. Placement of a story can reflect what the editors think is most important and not necessarily what a reader thinks is most important. In regards to the Front Page/ Main Page the Times in print seems to give more of a taste of what will appear in each section of the paper. The Main Page on the Website dealt too much in one area, politics and the war. For example in September 10th’s paper, both main photographs deal with health related issues, but outside of that the page differs. Although dealing with politics and the war, the FrontPage times still includes many other aspects that the website does not give prevalence to on its main page.
When I left the main page one area I wanted to look closely at was the Business Day section since business relates with the new media realm. Again I will reference September 10th’s paper as example. In Monday’s business section there is a huge illustration with the article about how this lawyer named Kevin Morris helped the creators of South Park receive 50 percent stake in the cartoon’s success on the web and other emerging media. However, in the online business section the article is half way down the page where you have to scroll down to get to it. In addition instead of a large illustration to gain your interest featuring the characters of South Park there is a small picture with the lawyers face. And I am sorry but that is not something that is going to grab your attention right away, even if the article is more about his endeavors in the new media realm than South Park and its creators.
In reality the point I am trying to get across is this, both forms of the times have there benefits and disadvantages. Yeah it’s nice to sign in to newyorktimes.com and read the paper on your computer and see emerging stories, but sometimes its just best to open up the printed paper, do the crossword puzzle, and read.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
New Media Glossary 9/4/07
Glossary
1 MEDIA: The term media refers to both a communications technology and thesocial, cultural, legal, economic, and political practices which growup around it. http://www.projectnml.org/node/132
2 citizen journalism or citizen media: When ordinary citizens — without journalism training — help in reporting, commenting on or disseminating the news, it’s known as citizen journalism. It includes people snapping photos on cameraphones at the scene of breaking news, as well as people who start their own blogs or podcasts. http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/01/glossary.html
3 RSS or web feeds: Technology that lets you subscribe to the content of a website or weblog, and then scan headlines or blurbs on new content for these sites using a news reader or aggregator. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, but previously stood for Rich Site Summary.
4 USER GENERATED: any and all forms of media that is controlled by the Used. In some cases refers to the media that the user himself has made
5 Monetization Partners: Refers to all investors in a company that will help it pull a profit. For example in the case of Youtube.com, all who will be buying add space on the site.
6 Intellectual Property: original creative work manifested in a tangible form that can be legally protected, for example, by a patent, trademark, or copyright. Encarta Dictionary
7 Impression: a single instance of an online advertisement being displayed. http://www.lycos-europe.com/mediacenter/glossary.pdf
8 Permission marketing: marketing centered around getting customer's consent to receive information from a company. http://www.lycos-europe.com/mediacenter/glossary.pdf
9 AVI (Audio Video Interleaved) - A Microsoft format for digital audio and video playback from Windows 3.1. Somewhat cross-platform, but mostly a Windows format. Has been replaced by the ASF format, but still used by some multimedia developers. http://media.ucsc.edu/glossary.html
10 HTTP Streaming - A form of streaming (popularized by QuickTime) in which media files begin to play before they are downloaded entirely. This means that they can be sent via HTTP and don't require specialized server software such as RealMedia files do. (RealMedia files use a specialized protocol called RTSP and require content providers to have a special server application installed.) Also called Progressive Download.
http://media.ucsc.edu/glossary.html
1 MEDIA: The term media refers to both a communications technology and thesocial, cultural, legal, economic, and political practices which growup around it. http://www.projectnml.org/node/132
2 citizen journalism or citizen media: When ordinary citizens — without journalism training — help in reporting, commenting on or disseminating the news, it’s known as citizen journalism. It includes people snapping photos on cameraphones at the scene of breaking news, as well as people who start their own blogs or podcasts. http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/01/glossary.html
3 RSS or web feeds: Technology that lets you subscribe to the content of a website or weblog, and then scan headlines or blurbs on new content for these sites using a news reader or aggregator. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, but previously stood for Rich Site Summary.
4 USER GENERATED: any and all forms of media that is controlled by the Used. In some cases refers to the media that the user himself has made
5 Monetization Partners: Refers to all investors in a company that will help it pull a profit. For example in the case of Youtube.com, all who will be buying add space on the site.
6 Intellectual Property: original creative work manifested in a tangible form that can be legally protected, for example, by a patent, trademark, or copyright. Encarta Dictionary
7 Impression: a single instance of an online advertisement being displayed. http://www.lycos-europe.com/mediacenter/glossary.pdf
8 Permission marketing: marketing centered around getting customer's consent to receive information from a company. http://www.lycos-europe.com/mediacenter/glossary.pdf
9 AVI (Audio Video Interleaved) - A Microsoft format for digital audio and video playback from Windows 3.1. Somewhat cross-platform, but mostly a Windows format. Has been replaced by the ASF format, but still used by some multimedia developers. http://media.ucsc.edu/glossary.html
10 HTTP Streaming - A form of streaming (popularized by QuickTime) in which media files begin to play before they are downloaded entirely. This means that they can be sent via HTTP and don't require specialized server software such as RealMedia files do. (RealMedia files use a specialized protocol called RTSP and require content providers to have a special server application installed.) Also called Progressive Download.
http://media.ucsc.edu/glossary.html
Bob Stein We Could Be Better Ancestors Than This
Will Technology Truly create a World Culture?
In Bob Stein’s essay, “We Could Be Better Ancestors Than This”, The Reader is Confronted with Stein’s ideas on how New Media technologies are shaping the world. One very important point Stein raises is that although Globalization is happening through New Media Technologies, it’s not a real Global community. Instead of all cultures influencing the “melting pot” if you will and creating a truly blended global culture instead we are seeing the stronger capitalist cultures imposing upon cultures that are seen as weaker cultures there ideas and views.
Like Stein says if you look at the internet today the top sites are “Time magazine, ESPN, and so on. The content does not look very different then the New York Times top ten list of anything: movies, TV, even books” ( Stein 202). But this is not just with the internet today this has been the trend for years. Not that it is anywhere near the beginning but one example in my mind would be MTV, MTV allowed American music to be seen around the world and slowly influence the music in other parts of the world. But it has happened at least to the point where American music is popular the whole world over. However, you don’t see much music (outside of maybe Reggaeton) that influences American culture. You don’t hear African music or German Waltz’s being played on Top Forty Radio Stations. The same can be said for movies and TV it is very hard for a foreign movie or TV show to make it here in the States.
I don’t think Americans see this globalization happens because we are the ones globalizing. In a way manifest destiny still is not dead. The Idea of Spreading American influence lives on.
Another form of New Technology that needs to be carefully watched is these new means of User generated communication. Communication through these new technologies has become less formal and less real. Instead of in the past when people wrote heart felt letters, instead today people receive instant messages and text messages that say “whr u @”, it is highly impersonal. As an example I get my mail forwarded to campus by my parents and most times my mom will write a little not to the effect of miss you love you mom. Nothing special but just seeing her handwriting on that paper can brighten my day in a way a text message never could. Maybe we need to think about ways that communication can go back to being personal notes on highly commercialized websites like Myspace or Facebook, maybe from time to time a letter is better.
We need to be more conscious about the way we handle or new technology. Like Stein says, technology is not revolutionary people are. Let’s make sure that technology serves us in the right way towards a real world culture and towards a form of communication that is advanced but still heart felt.
In Bob Stein’s essay, “We Could Be Better Ancestors Than This”, The Reader is Confronted with Stein’s ideas on how New Media technologies are shaping the world. One very important point Stein raises is that although Globalization is happening through New Media Technologies, it’s not a real Global community. Instead of all cultures influencing the “melting pot” if you will and creating a truly blended global culture instead we are seeing the stronger capitalist cultures imposing upon cultures that are seen as weaker cultures there ideas and views.
Like Stein says if you look at the internet today the top sites are “Time magazine, ESPN, and so on. The content does not look very different then the New York Times top ten list of anything: movies, TV, even books” ( Stein 202). But this is not just with the internet today this has been the trend for years. Not that it is anywhere near the beginning but one example in my mind would be MTV, MTV allowed American music to be seen around the world and slowly influence the music in other parts of the world. But it has happened at least to the point where American music is popular the whole world over. However, you don’t see much music (outside of maybe Reggaeton) that influences American culture. You don’t hear African music or German Waltz’s being played on Top Forty Radio Stations. The same can be said for movies and TV it is very hard for a foreign movie or TV show to make it here in the States.
I don’t think Americans see this globalization happens because we are the ones globalizing. In a way manifest destiny still is not dead. The Idea of Spreading American influence lives on.
Another form of New Technology that needs to be carefully watched is these new means of User generated communication. Communication through these new technologies has become less formal and less real. Instead of in the past when people wrote heart felt letters, instead today people receive instant messages and text messages that say “whr u @”, it is highly impersonal. As an example I get my mail forwarded to campus by my parents and most times my mom will write a little not to the effect of miss you love you mom. Nothing special but just seeing her handwriting on that paper can brighten my day in a way a text message never could. Maybe we need to think about ways that communication can go back to being personal notes on highly commercialized websites like Myspace or Facebook, maybe from time to time a letter is better.
We need to be more conscious about the way we handle or new technology. Like Stein says, technology is not revolutionary people are. Let’s make sure that technology serves us in the right way towards a real world culture and towards a form of communication that is advanced but still heart felt.
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