Using your wider knowledge of new media technologies, discuss how far young people's use of media technology differs from that of their parents.
Young people today use NMT much more than their parents do. Most NMT are aimed towards the younger audience with technologies such as social networking sites, mobile phones and music players. Older parents are simply not up to speed with this new technology and are often technophobic about it.
Social networking sites and other web 2.0 applications and websites, are encourage young people mostly to make accounts and be social with each other, exchanging pictures and videos, as well as chatting and making friends. Many of this seems to overwhelming and too complicated to learn for the parents of these children, however now, more and more of the older generation are now using sites like facebook and myspace to chat and stay in touch with each other.
Gaming has often been seen as a youth pastime with complex games and graphic violence, parents aren't interested in playing games. However this is likely to change with the Nintendo Wii as it has been designed with all ages in mind. For example with games like Wii Sports, a friendly all ages title, parents and children can all play together with the simple game play and input device. Parents can get to grip with this technology and enjoy playing along with their kids.
The digital music industry is mostly aimed at young adults and teenagers today. Although the parents may have vinyls or even CDs, most of the kids have iPods and various other mp3 players which are portable and able to be used on the go.
Thursday, 1 May 2008
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Media Magazine Article Summary
Playing the Future – The Rise and Rise of Online Gaming
Seb Emina
February 2003
This article focuses on how far technology has come, especially the Internet.
The Internet has come a long way and is used in more than computers now days. And technology is still changing and evolving, updating constantly with new products and services available and new applications for the Internet to be used with.
Brand new technology can be out dated in a matter of years, with a bigger and better replacement. For example in the passage above, floppy disks have been replaced with any from CDs and DVDs to memory sticks and external hard drives.
The Internet is not just for research and reading articles, it has numerous other uses including gaming. Online gaming is a booming community with hundreds of games available to be played online with or against friends. One of the excitements of playing online, the writer of the article claimed, was that you don't know who you are actually playing against,
But even broadband now days will not be fast enough to carry the vast amounts of data needed to be playing games in 10s of maybe even several years time. And the two top of game gaming companies Sony and Microsoft will have to compete hard to be promoting products and making profits. They will have to offer more services and better features to keep attracting customers to their products over their rivals.
Seb Emina
February 2003
This article focuses on how far technology has come, especially the Internet.
The Internet has come a long way and is used in more than computers now days. And technology is still changing and evolving, updating constantly with new products and services available and new applications for the Internet to be used with.
But, as far as the owners of that Internet café are concerned, my ‘traditional’ Internet usage habits mean I am already becoming part of an old-fashioned minority. Using the Internet for reading? How 2001! Floppy disks? How 1997! In fact, most of the computers in this and every other Australian Internet café I seem to visit have already been dedicated to something else entirely: the playing of video games...
Brand new technology can be out dated in a matter of years, with a bigger and better replacement. For example in the passage above, floppy disks have been replaced with any from CDs and DVDs to memory sticks and external hard drives.
The Internet is not just for research and reading articles, it has numerous other uses including gaming. Online gaming is a booming community with hundreds of games available to be played online with or against friends. One of the excitements of playing online, the writer of the article claimed, was that you don't know who you are actually playing against,
Imagine! When I take down an enemy sniper, it could be being controlled by Britney Spears. Or Prince Harry. You’d never know…
But even broadband now days will not be fast enough to carry the vast amounts of data needed to be playing games in 10s of maybe even several years time. And the two top of game gaming companies Sony and Microsoft will have to compete hard to be promoting products and making profits. They will have to offer more services and better features to keep attracting customers to their products over their rivals.
Sunday, 20 April 2008
6. The Future
The future of gaming at the moment looks bright but necessarily orange. Obvious things we know will be able in the future will be faster internet connections enabling multiplayer games to consist of many more users than is possible to today. Bigger storage devices and more advanced GPUs (Graphics processing units) means better graphics and more objects being able to interact with each other adding a new definition to the realism. However some things being developed are more surprising but equally as exciting.
For example, the piece of kit called Neurosky. What’s that I hear you ask? Well give me a moment and I’ll explain. Anyway, Neurosky is a “super-futuristic” piece of kit, which on completion I am so getting. Below is a video outlining what the Neurosky headset is, what it does and shows it in action.
This is basically how it works:
You concentrate hard on lifting an object in the game; the chip in the headset reads this info via the brainwaves and sends a signal to the algorithms of the headset. They translate it to something the game can understand and your action happens in game. Pretty amazing if you ask me! As stated in the video this can be used for more than just gaming. Another practical use is to help NASA with experiments in space and helping the elderly with mind controlled wheelchairs. This will benefit everyone and I think is extremely impressive. The only issue is, how much is something like that going to cost? Or more importantly how many years will have to wait before I can avoid one?
As I’ve stated graphics are getting better and recently with games like Crysis, the graphics are almost photorealistic. This really adds more realism to the game and turns it into a new experience for gaming. I should know, I have Crysis, and it’s awesome!
Here are some screenshots I’ve taken myself:
Click to enlarge them.
This is a screenshot from a downloadable tech demo released by the Nvidia Corporation, who makes graphics cards. This human head is completely computer graphics, but looks almost real! Click the picture to enlarge.
Here also is an interesting article about Will Wright, creator of Sims, and his new game Spore. This article focuses on how customizable the game is and Will speaks about his views on the future of gaming. Click here to view it.
For example, the piece of kit called Neurosky. What’s that I hear you ask? Well give me a moment and I’ll explain. Anyway, Neurosky is a “super-futuristic” piece of kit, which on completion I am so getting. Below is a video outlining what the Neurosky headset is, what it does and shows it in action.
This is basically how it works:
You concentrate hard on lifting an object in the game; the chip in the headset reads this info via the brainwaves and sends a signal to the algorithms of the headset. They translate it to something the game can understand and your action happens in game. Pretty amazing if you ask me! As stated in the video this can be used for more than just gaming. Another practical use is to help NASA with experiments in space and helping the elderly with mind controlled wheelchairs. This will benefit everyone and I think is extremely impressive. The only issue is, how much is something like that going to cost? Or more importantly how many years will have to wait before I can avoid one?
As I’ve stated graphics are getting better and recently with games like Crysis, the graphics are almost photorealistic. This really adds more realism to the game and turns it into a new experience for gaming. I should know, I have Crysis, and it’s awesome!
Here are some screenshots I’ve taken myself:
Click to enlarge them.
This is a screenshot from a downloadable tech demo released by the Nvidia Corporation, who makes graphics cards. This human head is completely computer graphics, but looks almost real! Click the picture to enlarge.
Here also is an interesting article about Will Wright, creator of Sims, and his new game Spore. This article focuses on how customizable the game is and Will speaks about his views on the future of gaming. Click here to view it.
Case study feedback #2
Well done Sam - this is focus and well informed research. I like the approach of separating it out into the 5 key areas for research. Once you have done those, I strongly suggest you look out for more articles on current debates - PS3, Blueray, Second Life and other online gaming issues. Also - think about how although the gaming experience for players is improving in terms of functionality and graphics, what about the cost? A digital divide? The current console 'war' has created winners and losers in terms of HD DVD and Blueray too... Think aobut the moral panics...
Keep it up!
CF
Keep it up!
CF
4. Counter-Argument and 5. Issues
There is however a more sinister side to all this joy gaming seems to bring. I have mentioned Second Life a few times now, for various good reasons. I have also mentioned it’s a growing community. I haven’t yet mentioned its size though. The virtual world is big, and by that I mean enormous. It’s so huge that policing the entire world would be almost impossible especially with new members joining constantly and the world expanding. So due to these difficulties issues due slip through and can go unfound for ages. An example of this is what’s called Wonderland a place for child paedophiles to “hang out” in second life. The video below goes into more detail.
Another important issue in the counter-argument is the fact that too many people are spending too much time gaming and not doing enough other activities. This can lead to body neglect, social retardation and obesity. There have been reported cases where people have played addicting games like World of Warcraft for hours on end, forgotten to feed pets, haven't moved to go to the toilet and even died from continuous playing with no breaks. Obviously with sensible playing and breaks these issues can be avoided.
Link to article about a similar death due to WoW can be found here.
Violence is another key issue in gaming. The connection between violence and gaming has always been strong in the papers. Many stories have been reported of incidents that have happened, for example people shooting people or killing themselves accidentally depicting what they saw in a video game. Several cases have gone to court and many cases though have failed to establish the link between gaming and the incident, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Games such as Mortal Kombat, Doom, Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt have been criticised for having excessive violence, crime, sexual content or drug abuse in them. Manhunt was in fact banned from several countries including the UK because,
BBFC director David Cooke.
It is also thought the game inspired a guy of 17 to murder another boy in Leeds in 2004.
More information can be found here and here.
Another important issue in the counter-argument is the fact that too many people are spending too much time gaming and not doing enough other activities. This can lead to body neglect, social retardation and obesity. There have been reported cases where people have played addicting games like World of Warcraft for hours on end, forgotten to feed pets, haven't moved to go to the toilet and even died from continuous playing with no breaks. Obviously with sensible playing and breaks these issues can be avoided.
Link to article about a similar death due to WoW can be found here.
Violence is another key issue in gaming. The connection between violence and gaming has always been strong in the papers. Many stories have been reported of incidents that have happened, for example people shooting people or killing themselves accidentally depicting what they saw in a video game. Several cases have gone to court and many cases though have failed to establish the link between gaming and the incident, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Games such as Mortal Kombat, Doom, Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt have been criticised for having excessive violence, crime, sexual content or drug abuse in them. Manhunt was in fact banned from several countries including the UK because,
Unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slayingThe British Board of Film Classification said.
There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed
BBFC director David Cooke.
It is also thought the game inspired a guy of 17 to murder another boy in Leeds in 2004.
More information can be found here and here.
3. Audience
Audiences are being able to become less passive and be more interactive with the games they consume. Gaming is becoming a more personal experience with the ability to customize in game characters, or avatars, design and constructing objects for the game, making tracks, the list goes on. Games like Second Life for example are encouraging the audience to become more creative in their approach to the 3d virtual world. This in turn is also forcing the companies to be more creative with their advertising and marketing campaigns, for example guerrilla/viral marketing as seen in the previous post.
This interactivity with games has lead to many different things. For example, machinima, which are movies filmed inside a video game. An example called Combine Nation made using Valve’s Half Life 2 can be seen below. A comedy about patrol officers in city 17.
Here are some statistics about who is actually playing games:
Click any of the pictures below to enlarge them.
• 75% of heads of households play video games
• Average age of a gamer is 30
• With 19% still playing when over 50
• 55% of gamers are males
• The average number of years adult gamers have been playing is 12
• 53% of gamers expect to be playing video games 10 years from now
• 47% of most frequent gamers play computer and video games with friends.
However game players do spend time doing other activities too:
• 79% of game players of all ages report exercising or playing sports an average of 20 hours a month.
• 93% of game players report reading books or daily newspapers on a regular basis, while 62% consistently attend cultural events, such as concerts, museums, or the theatre.
This interactivity with games has lead to many different things. For example, machinima, which are movies filmed inside a video game. An example called Combine Nation made using Valve’s Half Life 2 can be seen below. A comedy about patrol officers in city 17.
Here are some statistics about who is actually playing games:
Click any of the pictures below to enlarge them.
• 75% of heads of households play video games
• Average age of a gamer is 30
• With 19% still playing when over 50
• 55% of gamers are males
• The average number of years adult gamers have been playing is 12
• 53% of gamers expect to be playing video games 10 years from now
• 47% of most frequent gamers play computer and video games with friends.
However game players do spend time doing other activities too:
• 79% of game players of all ages report exercising or playing sports an average of 20 hours a month.
• 93% of game players report reading books or daily newspapers on a regular basis, while 62% consistently attend cultural events, such as concerts, museums, or the theatre.
2. Institutions
One method EA games has adapted to increase profit from games is to include dynamic advertisements in game. This basically means on billboards placed throughout the levels there are adverts for products from different companies. EA gets paid to host these adverts in the game thus increasing their profit from the game. An example of what this looks like in game can be seen below:
Sony, makers of the PSP, tried a viral market campaign to advertise their product. However it raised issues among the public and people at whom this advert was targeted. The advert consisted of kids using a PSP as several different objects including a skateboard, a paddle and an ice cream. These images were then spray painted on the side of buildings around various US cities.
People expressed their hate for them with their own graffiti on top.
Caption sprayed in this image reads,
Read the whole article here.
Another article about another viral marketing scheme for the Sony’s PSP which received bad reception as well.
Sony, makers of the PSP, tried a viral market campaign to advertise their product. However it raised issues among the public and people at whom this advert was targeted. The advert consisted of kids using a PSP as several different objects including a skateboard, a paddle and an ice cream. These images were then spray painted on the side of buildings around various US cities.
People expressed their hate for them with their own graffiti on top.
Caption sprayed in this image reads,Advertising directed at your counter-culture.
Read the whole article here.
Another article about another viral marketing scheme for the Sony’s PSP which received bad reception as well.
1. Technology
My chosen technology is gaming and the video game industry. I will be researching both consoles and PCs.
The technologies are marketed to the gaming crowd, ranging from casual gamers to hardcore gamers. The average age of a gamer is 30 years. Gamer marketing is aimed at both males and females as roughly 50% of each spend time gaming.
There are lots of companies that provide the gaming audience with games, as well as the companies that supply the games consoles. Some of the major businesses that publish games are EA, Activation, Nintendo, Ubisoft and Microsoft Game Studios, all which rank in the top 10 for publishing games. The three main companies that make games consoles (of this gen), are Microsoft who made the Xbox 360, Nintendo who made the Wii and Sony who have made the PS3. This differs with the PC as not one or more companies provide PCs, because they can be built by the user with parts from different companies.
Prices can range anywhere from £140 - £1500 depending on whether a console or PC is bought and which model/specification you decide to buy. The higher the price tag, the more extras you get. More hard drive space, wifi built in, better graphics card etc.
Gaming is a pull technology and is a cold media. This is because in many games there is a storyline to follow the player is allowed to go about it at their own pace and complete the objectives how they wish. Multiplayer games are a lot more interactive as the goals are less defined and every player is a user able to interact with the virtual world and players in the game. Games like Second Life take the cold media to the limits. The user in Second Life is literally able to do anything. Anything they can imagine they create, build and play with. Creations can be shared and even bought online. A booming community and network is being born from this game, and it is ever expanding.
Gaming is an old media and has been around since 1972 with the invention of the first games console, The Magnavox Odyssey. Few people know about the Odyssey (I didn’t till I started this research project) but it was the world’s first games console predating the more popular known Pong by 4 years. The games industry has however undergone rapid changes and transformation from 1972 to the present day. Games consoles and the games themselves are becoming more advanced, better looking but necessarily more fun to play. Some classic games are still fun too!
There are now loads of different genres of gaming, a few example of these are FPS, RPG, MMORPG and RTS. With different styles of play to suit to different players.
The technologies are marketed to the gaming crowd, ranging from casual gamers to hardcore gamers. The average age of a gamer is 30 years. Gamer marketing is aimed at both males and females as roughly 50% of each spend time gaming.
There are lots of companies that provide the gaming audience with games, as well as the companies that supply the games consoles. Some of the major businesses that publish games are EA, Activation, Nintendo, Ubisoft and Microsoft Game Studios, all which rank in the top 10 for publishing games. The three main companies that make games consoles (of this gen), are Microsoft who made the Xbox 360, Nintendo who made the Wii and Sony who have made the PS3. This differs with the PC as not one or more companies provide PCs, because they can be built by the user with parts from different companies.
Prices can range anywhere from £140 - £1500 depending on whether a console or PC is bought and which model/specification you decide to buy. The higher the price tag, the more extras you get. More hard drive space, wifi built in, better graphics card etc.
Gaming is a pull technology and is a cold media. This is because in many games there is a storyline to follow the player is allowed to go about it at their own pace and complete the objectives how they wish. Multiplayer games are a lot more interactive as the goals are less defined and every player is a user able to interact with the virtual world and players in the game. Games like Second Life take the cold media to the limits. The user in Second Life is literally able to do anything. Anything they can imagine they create, build and play with. Creations can be shared and even bought online. A booming community and network is being born from this game, and it is ever expanding.
Gaming is an old media and has been around since 1972 with the invention of the first games console, The Magnavox Odyssey. Few people know about the Odyssey (I didn’t till I started this research project) but it was the world’s first games console predating the more popular known Pong by 4 years. The games industry has however undergone rapid changes and transformation from 1972 to the present day. Games consoles and the games themselves are becoming more advanced, better looking but necessarily more fun to play. Some classic games are still fun too!
There are now loads of different genres of gaming, a few example of these are FPS, RPG, MMORPG and RTS. With different styles of play to suit to different players.
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Case Study Research - Hypothesis
Hypothesis
My issue was firstly, which is the best console on the market out of the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii or PC? All sides have many advantages and disadvantages over each other and this issue has been questioned by members of the gaming community many times. I expect to find that the Xbox 360 will be considered the best console overall as it's affordable, has a good games selection and has decent graphics. In my opinion though i think the PC is the best gaming console.
My issue was firstly, which is the best console on the market out of the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii or PC? All sides have many advantages and disadvantages over each other and this issue has been questioned by members of the gaming community many times. I expect to find that the Xbox 360 will be considered the best console overall as it's affordable, has a good games selection and has decent graphics. In my opinion though i think the PC is the best gaming console.
Googlezon
EPIC 2014 is a flash movie made which depicts what could possibly happen in the future. Googlezon is featured in the movie and this is a fictional company made from combining Google with Amazon. The story goes, Google invents Google Grid, “a universal platform that provides a functionally limitless amount of storage space and bandwidth to store and share media of all kinds.” and combines with Amazons “social recommendation engine” and “huge commercial infrastructure” to form Googlezon which in turn takes down Microsoft and the major news corporations like The Times, as they can’t compete. Googlezon then releases EPIC (Evolving Personalized Information Construct), a universal, personalized news submission and distribution system that is so popular it effectively puts the fourth estate out of business.
A possible insight to our future or a sensationalistic view on the future of the media?
Googlezon on Wikipedia
EPIC 2014 Animation and EPIC 2015 (an updated version)
Monday, 31 March 2008
Key Concepts for the Internet
Convergence : The Internet really is the biggest convergence technology available. It has every media available to view and download including, books, music, films, text, games etc. It can also be used in conjunction with other media technologies, for example, Internet on phones, games consoles etc.
Personalisation: The Internet offers a very personal experience as it is completely up to the user as to what they consume. They choose when and what they consume and how much they wish to consume at a certain time. They can even make their own, videos for example, and upload for other users to consume.
Interactivity: The Internet is extremely interactive as the user can pick and choose what they consume and spend time doing. Games can also be played on or over the Internet offering a fun and interactive experience.
Linear/Non-linear: The Internet is non-linear as the user chooses which links to click and where to go next. The user is never told what they should consume and in what order. Play lists of videos and songs can be made by the user so it is up to them what they do and in what order.
Democratisation: The Internet is very democratic as anyone can upload their opinion and express it with the world. Whether it be political, a review of a video game or the recipe for the worlds best sandwich, the users of the Internet can express themselves how ever they see fit on a number of websites including their own.
Digitisation: The Internet is digitised as it is made of 1s and 0s and binary level. All digital data is stored in this way which includes everything on the Internet and the Internet itself.
Personalisation: The Internet offers a very personal experience as it is completely up to the user as to what they consume. They choose when and what they consume and how much they wish to consume at a certain time. They can even make their own, videos for example, and upload for other users to consume.
Interactivity: The Internet is extremely interactive as the user can pick and choose what they consume and spend time doing. Games can also be played on or over the Internet offering a fun and interactive experience.
Linear/Non-linear: The Internet is non-linear as the user chooses which links to click and where to go next. The user is never told what they should consume and in what order. Play lists of videos and songs can be made by the user so it is up to them what they do and in what order.
Democratisation: The Internet is very democratic as anyone can upload their opinion and express it with the world. Whether it be political, a review of a video game or the recipe for the worlds best sandwich, the users of the Internet can express themselves how ever they see fit on a number of websites including their own.
Digitisation: The Internet is digitised as it is made of 1s and 0s and binary level. All digital data is stored in this way which includes everything on the Internet and the Internet itself.
Thursday, 27 March 2008
NMT draft questions page 12
1. Endism is the perspective that sees new technologies as replacing older ones.
2. A media ecosystem is media technologies interacting with each other and the audience.
3. Narrowcast is digital TV on demand, the audience gets to choose how and when they consume the shows, for example Sky Plus.
4. The Internet and the Web are different. The Internet is the link between computers, phones and other devices across the world. The Web is just one traffic type across the Internet. Another traffic type is peer-to-peer networking, for example.
5. Push medium is when the people who create the media decide what the audience will watch and then give that to them at the time they choose. Pull medium is when the audience only get the media if they decide to view it or “pull it out” to view. Push medium example could be Broadcast TV and pull medium The Web.
6. The positive aspect of blogging is that it requires audiences to be creative instead of passive and it is easier for them to express their views and opinions.
7. The internet has added another dimension to digital photography. A good example of this is flickr.com. People can post their own images for free and share with their friends or the whole world. Photos that are tagged can then be easily searched for by other people helping to share and spread the photos taken by users.
8. People are watching less TV because new technologies are requiring audiences to be less passive. People still watch TV shows but less and less are watching them via broadcast TV. On demand services like Sky Plus and BT Vision provide a lot of popular programs, for a small price, to watch any time. As well as TV being able to be legally and illegally downloadable via the internet. The increase in DVD sales and now Blu-Ray discs will mean TV and movies are able to be watched or bought at a small price, and ready to watch anytime.
9. Big companies like Microsoft and Apple are taking advantage of these changes and developing IPTV and on demand TV shows and movies to be downloadable via the internet. Though Apple’s iTunes, TV shows and movies are now available in the UK as well as most countries across the globe. Via Microsoft’s Xbox 360, films and games are downloadable directly to the console.
2. A media ecosystem is media technologies interacting with each other and the audience.
3. Narrowcast is digital TV on demand, the audience gets to choose how and when they consume the shows, for example Sky Plus.
4. The Internet and the Web are different. The Internet is the link between computers, phones and other devices across the world. The Web is just one traffic type across the Internet. Another traffic type is peer-to-peer networking, for example.
5. Push medium is when the people who create the media decide what the audience will watch and then give that to them at the time they choose. Pull medium is when the audience only get the media if they decide to view it or “pull it out” to view. Push medium example could be Broadcast TV and pull medium The Web.
6. The positive aspect of blogging is that it requires audiences to be creative instead of passive and it is easier for them to express their views and opinions.
7. The internet has added another dimension to digital photography. A good example of this is flickr.com. People can post their own images for free and share with their friends or the whole world. Photos that are tagged can then be easily searched for by other people helping to share and spread the photos taken by users.
8. People are watching less TV because new technologies are requiring audiences to be less passive. People still watch TV shows but less and less are watching them via broadcast TV. On demand services like Sky Plus and BT Vision provide a lot of popular programs, for a small price, to watch any time. As well as TV being able to be legally and illegally downloadable via the internet. The increase in DVD sales and now Blu-Ray discs will mean TV and movies are able to be watched or bought at a small price, and ready to watch anytime.
9. Big companies like Microsoft and Apple are taking advantage of these changes and developing IPTV and on demand TV shows and movies to be downloadable via the internet. Though Apple’s iTunes, TV shows and movies are now available in the UK as well as most countries across the globe. Via Microsoft’s Xbox 360, films and games are downloadable directly to the console.
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
New Media Tech
I have chosen gaming as my topic for new media technologies.
I will concentrate on violence in video games today and the moral concerns with violence in video games.
I will also focus on the "console war" going on between the 3 next-gen consoles xbox 360, ps3 and wii. Which is better and why?
And finally i will be looking at the future of video games, hugely graphical games like Crysis, games becoming more "real" eg. Second Life and other future tech such as virtual reality and Neurosky.
I will concentrate on violence in video games today and the moral concerns with violence in video games.
I will also focus on the "console war" going on between the 3 next-gen consoles xbox 360, ps3 and wii. Which is better and why?
And finally i will be looking at the future of video games, hugely graphical games like Crysis, games becoming more "real" eg. Second Life and other future tech such as virtual reality and Neurosky.
Monday, 11 February 2008
New Media Tech
1. Directors used to film movies on celluloid film, but with the invention of digital camcorders this may become a thing of the past. Although it does cost to store the footage, shooting digitally is a lot cheaper than shooting on celluloid. “A celluloid print runs costs of about £100,000, while for a digital distribution costs could be cut to one hundredth of that, around £1000.” BBC News. With the move to digital recorders, it will be much easier to shoot films, thus saving the companies even more money. Editing with celluloid film was a literal cut and paste job. Editors would cut out the frames not wanted and stick the film back together afterwards. This was a laborious task and took many hours. However with digital film it is much easier to get the film onto a computer and digitally edited in any way you wish. Computer aided special effects can be added in postproduction, for example CGI and green screening, which could never have been done before on celluloid.
2. Nowadays films aren't only watched in cinemas. Films can be rented from the nearest video rental store, they can be watched on TV, they can be watched or on demand services such as BT vision or Sky and they can be legally or illegally downloaded off the Internet. At the moment the majority of the cinemas in the
3. Cinema ticket prices are on the increase and this is making less people want to go to see movies in the cinema. At the same time as this increase of cinema ticket prices, the prices for home cinema systems are on the decrease. More and more people now are buying home cinema systems and watching films on them instead of going to see the films in the cinema. Now more than ever, it is easier to illegally download films off the Internet. This is crippling the movie industry and making film companies lose millions of pounds in profit.
BBC News source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4681859.stm
Monday, 7 January 2008
Cover Work
Task 1
Characteristics of new media
Digitally = binary, 10101, on or off, all programs based on binary, a huge amount of info can be dealt with in the tiny code.
Interactively = new ways of streaming info, compress, receive through isdn cables, satellites through the air, the way its compressed multiple strands of info can go via one feed, limited amount of bandwidth, interact with other users, yes and no, reply to it and response, feed goes both ways, upload and download
Hypertextuality = this is to do with organise with texts, no longer linear, jump to wherever you like, like DVD instead of video tape, your able to jump from one text to another, the owner can no longer control which order you jump to, or whether you’ll jump out of theirs to other texts.
Dispersal = how the info can be and is shared, market share and size of market, how the producers target users to access their market
Virtualality = how real something is, some virtual worlds are representational, what is real? Who’s doing this and why?
Convergence = this is a big issue, new tech are converging into one, mp3 players show photos, video on phone etc. debate is where it will go next, how things converge, its also related to size, size of gadgets once converged.
Audience = How does the audience use the tech? Does it change the way they use it? Does it change the way information before it was accessed this way? Was it changed due to consumer demand or led by the industry? Who has got access to these things? Who’s not getting it and being cut from the market?
Regulation and control = Is there any control over the use? Who’s doing the controlling? Should there be any control? Copyright issues! Is it realistically possible to control things? What difference does it make if everyone copies songs etc. What impact is there for government? Communities online etc.
Ownership = Who owns the tech? And does it make a difference? How they use there money and brand, games console manufacturing. How does it affect the way they sell it to the audience?
Case studies = Internet, email, computing, mobiles, mp3 players, games consoles, sat TV, digital radios and iMacs.
Task 2
- Who is Chris De Wolfe and what does he say is the future for social networking? What impact will portable hardware have on this area of technology?
Chris De Wolfe is the co-founder of internet social networking site Myspace. Online communities are evolving all the time and are laying groundwork for new a social web which will be more personal, portable and more collaborative. Expectations are on the fact that new media is increasingly becoming more portable and this includes social networking.
With more people accessing social networking sites on their mobile and companies making this easier to do, the online and offline world are becoming evermore blurred at the edges.
- Who is
Chad Hurley is the co-founder of internet video hosting website Youtube. Youtube’s goal is to allow every person on the planet to participate by making the upload process as simple as possible. This new video content will be available on any screen whether it be in your living room or in your pocket, and will bring together all the diverse media which matters to you, from videos of family and friends to news, music, sports, cooking and more.
He is a positive technological determinist as he states that in the coming years more and more people will be able to use this technology and this will help bring more information to be accessible to all sorts of users no matter where you are and what you’re doing.
- What does Maurice Levy say is the challenge for advertisers and what is 'liquid media' compared to 'linear media'?
The challenge for advertisers is to think and act creatively to engage the audience in what they are advertising. People no longer want to stop their programs and watch the advert break and so the advertisers have to find incredibly creative solutions to interact with the audience and engage them in genuine and honest ways.
Linear media is fast giving way to liquid media where you can move seamlessly in and out of different settings. No more prescribed times eg. 6 o’ clock news, it is becoming more seamless and more multitasking is taking place.
- What parallels does Norvig draw between
Peter Norvig is the director of research at Google. Peter compares the future of media technology to
- What are the issues for the developing world? How is this evidence of a 'digital divide'?
The biggest issue for the developing world is of course the cost of such technologies for the end user. The price of a personal computer is more than the average wages of someone working in a village. The end users aren’t able to afford the media technology as opposed to the more developed countries which technology has now become easily affordable to the average person.
Obviously people living in the developing world aren’t always going to be able to have free access to electricity, so are not going to have the sort of access to mobile phones, computers and the internet like people living in more developed countries. This means they won’t be able to have the advantage and benefit of the vast amount of data proved by such media technologies as the internet.
Task 3 - Moral Panics and Concerns with Online Technology
Growing concern in the area of online networking sites, for example “Myspace”, are that anyone on the internet can browse to your Myspace page and look at your email address, physical address, phone number etc. This leads to cases of fraud and in extreme, identify theft or paedophilia. Users of such websites should be careful when giving out personal information as they don’t know who they could be giving it to.
Technology is taking over our lives. It’s changing the way we access information, talk to friends and family and our day to day lives. But, unfortunately it’s not all good. Obesity and desertion are common “side-effects” of the over use of computers. Instead of going to meet up with friends or playing out many people will sit at their computers doing no exercise or seeing people in the real world.
New social networking and other media technologies are becoming more accessible, portable and interactive than ever before. You can browse the internet on most phones now and chat with friends and family across the world using MSN, AIM etc. It is bringing us closer together than ever before and really creating a virtual “you” with a virtual address online, by Myspace, for example, having such fluid rules when customizing pages that you can personalise it to be your “virtual home” where friends can leave comments and chat.
Censorship and control over such media technologies as online MMORPG Second Life are a large concern. Although a lot of users use this virtual world responsibly there are groups of people, who use this technology for far worse things some of which are illegal. For example child paedophilia groups have been set up secretly in Second Life and due to the size of Second Life there are just not enough people to police it.
The video below goes into more detail about Second Life’s “Dark Side”.
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