Week 2: Topic 1

a) With Windows Vista replacing XP and Office 2007 replacing Office 2003 (and so on), what is 'upgrade culture' all about? Is some new media just consumerism thought up by big businesses?

The term ‘upgrade culture ‘ is based around the idea of replacing an older model of something for a newer and somewhat better model of itself. This is need takes place in most of us as we would rather have a brand spanking top of the range product than stick with one which isn’t so hi-tech and new. For example when I was younger I used to have a Sony Discman. At that point it was top of the range and I could play all of my CD’s and listen to them on the go as it was portable and I thought it was great! But with the invention of products such as MP3’s and Ipods nowadays, I’m afraid that my cool little Discman isn’t as appealing as it used to be. I think it’s the fact that you think that you are modern yourself if you have the new hi-tech gadgets. Also if you’re friends have the fancy new products it also entices you to want it yourself. Well it does with my anyway!

I find it strange how easy it is to access upgrades of certain products I can quite easily ring up my mobile phone company and ask for an upgrade on my handset. Also the word ‘upgrade’ implies that it will be better than the old model. An example of this would be the idea of colour screens, cameras, and videos on our mobile phones. These are seen as a luxury on modern phones compared to phones years ago. As for the idea of new software replacing old software, I think it’s the fact that you are enticed to have them by businesses and advertisements. Also the idea of having new software makes you feel as if you are up to date new technology. I find it bazaar how my brother in law works for Microsoft and he has to have a new laptop every 3-4 months, with new software on it, to keep him up to date. I also find it strange that I think that Windows Vista is the most up to date software, when on his laptop he knows of ideas and trials of other software which is being tested which is even better than Vista, strange eh?

It can be argued that the fact that every year new models of the Ipod are released and new mobile phones and other gadgets are upgraded monthly makes you feel like you have to keep up with technology so that you don’t lag behind. It’s also an easy money making technique for popular businesses as the more new models they produce the more profit they will gain. I personally think that we are quite gullible when wanting to buy these new products as the manufacturers cleverly know that we are going to want whatever’s thrown at us, especially if it’s an upgraded product of something we’ve had before.

b) According to Lister, some commentators stress the 'newness' of new media, but others (such as Kevin Robins) can be seen to be saying that nothing fundamental has changed, because new media technology is another product of capitalism, and therefore will fit into and serve a pre-existing capitalist society and culture, rather than transform it in any fundamental sense. Can we critique this position?

I think I highlighted this idea in the first post of the first week, but I shall just briefly go back over my point. Personally I agree that sometimes the newness of new media is stressed. As I mentioned before I find it strange how we still consider the internet to be ‘New Media’ when the idea of it has been round for years, but only became popular in the later 1980’s-early 1990s. What we consider to be ‘new’ isn’t necessarily as new as once thought. It makes me think of other technologies that we believe to be new and modern, which might not actually be as new as we thought. Can any of you guys think of any?

c) Are new media a source of 'progress' in the sense that they enhance things we do in spheres of social activity - business, education, shopping etc? Could we say that such a proposition involves an 'ideology of progress'?

New Media can definitely been seen as a source of process when looking at is relationship with social activity, business, education and other areas. It is clear that new media plays a great role nowadays when looking at the aspect of education. All schools, universities, colleges etc have access to the internet at a daily basis to enable students to get the best sources and information available. Also when thinking of courses; Computer and internet courses are highly popular in education, which also goes to show the popularity and importance of new media in education. Quite a few courses (just like this one) has an online module or expect you to use online sources as part as your research. This also implies that educational courses are willing to adapt to the use of the internet.

As for business and shopping, we have become accustomed to new media and find it an everyday way of life. It’s hard to imagine how life would be without new media. Online companies wouldn’t exist which would result in people having no jobs. Also without the internet high street store profits and popularity would decrease due to the lack of advertising and media interaction. The idea of new media makes things appear more modern and things like the internet allow access to websites and products 24 hours a day.


d) Is there a clean break between analogue and digital media? (Bolter and Grusin's concept of 'remediation') Can you identify any commonalities? For example, is e-mail based on the language of 'letters' and 'the postal service' because we have tried to fashion its communication functions in terms we are already familiar with?

When looking at the idea of a ‘clean break’ between analogue and digital media, I think it is hard to determine is there actually is such a ‘clean break’. Many digital media forms are simply and upgraded version of an analogue media form. For example, cinema has been around for decades but the idea of special effects has been imposed to improve what cinema used to be into what it is today. These upgrades also help to improve the success of films which may come out and will entice audiences to view a product with ‘new effects’. Another example would be E-mail. An E-mail is simply an electronic mail, which is basically the same as a letter, but instead of being hand written on paper, it’s typed on a screen. Fair enough E-mails are super quick and easy to reply to, but the letter which you post is still successful in today’s society. Even with new media/ digital media common conventions from analogue media are still clearly seen. For example in an E-mail we still write “Yours Sincerely” or something along those lines, just like in a letter. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts different age generations prefer different types of media and will stick to old fashioned methods of analogue media that they know works that try out digital media which may seem complex to them.

e) Digitality and code: Imagine you couldn't compose your assignments on the computer. How would a hand-written editing and composition process be different?

I’m glad we have this question. Personally sometimes I absolutely hate writing up essays on a computer. At GCSE all the assignments at my school had to be hand written and it was a similar case at A-Level . I’m personally glad that this semester includes us writing assignments on the computer, but also creating and hand written note portfolio. It just adds a bit of difference I guess as we depend so much on computers.
I find it strange how at primary and secondary school we used to have handwriting practice on a weekly basis to improve our writing, where as now, we only really use our own free hand for taking notes in lectures (where we can also take our laptops into and make notes on them). I must admit as much as I sometimes really dislike writing essays on the computer, it is much easier and quicker (and you don’t get wrist ache from writing so much!). I suppose that a piece of paper cant crash and lose all of your work like a computer can, BUT, you can’t accidently rip or scrunch up you work on a computer like you would a piece of paper can you? Hmm

Also depending on your handwriting, writing an assignment on a computer makes it look a lot neater and professional. This can also be applied to an example such as writing your CV. Its looks far more neat and professional if you compose a formal looking document on the computer rather than handwriting it. The luxuries of having a spell checker , adding footnotes and changing fonts also imply how simple it is to get such a professional looking document when writing them up o a computer. Also mistakes can be simply backspaced out without having to use tip ex or crossing anything out. Overall I can understand how typing up assignments on the computer easier and more professional looking is, but sometimes I wonder whether we will forget how to write sometimes with how much we use such an appliance. Silly I guess!

Week 2: Topic 1 part 2

f) What do you make of Lunenfield's concept of 'immersive interactivity'? What could we apply it to?

When considering Lunenfield’s concept of immersive interactivity, I think about things such as online gaming. As I’m not really an online game player myself I cannot really imagine what it’s like to take part in such a 3D atmosphere on a daily basis. You are able to play a ‘role’ or part for an amount of time. I also thought of the example of Xbox live, as like with online games you can play live against people all around the world. By wearing a headset you can also interact with the other players.

However when thinking about it, I also thought that ideas such as Myspace, MSN and Facebook can also be partly applied to this idea of immersive interactivity. I personally have MSN and Facebook on constantly throughout the day, and sometimes it is almost as if I’m living my actual real life but also a virtual life as well. I feel I have to constantly update my Facebook page and look to see what’s going on my other ‘virtual online friends’ almost as if we’re a little virtual village. Some people will call it weird, others would call it enjoyment. I’m not sure how many people agree with me when thinking of this idea; they might just think I’m being weird ha!


g) What do you understand by 'non-linear, non-sequential reading and writing'? Does it capture the experience of the web?
When I first saw this question I thought oh no, i’m not going to get the hang of this. But when reading Lister’s comments I understood it a little bit more, although i’m not entirely 100% on the concept of non-liner, non-sequential reading and writing’ so I would be grateful of any comments! Am I right in thinking that he’s suggest that the idea of non linear narratives have been around for some time and are popular to the reader as they portray events? This type of storytelling keeps the reader interested as they in what is being written? I’m really quite confused on this idea...

h) If new media allows more people to be involved in cultural production (compared to mass-media) what are these new voices saying in public? In a DIY and click-to-send setting, what kind of things are people sharing with others that comes from their private/domestic world and might otherwise not be distributed?

When looking at the idea of DIY and click to send feature, I noticed how it is a part of everything to do with the internet and computers. Anything can be done at the click of a button, which even though it is quite impressive it is also worrying that things can be done and changed to easily. Shopping websites consist of ‘Click to buys’ and files can be sent or received at the click of a button. I also think social networking which is something I use on a daily basis. With Myspace and Facebook or blogs for that matter you fashion yourself your own environment with what you want to be included in it. Luckily with all of these 3 examples you can have a private or public profile which helps to keep an air of security over your personal space. It makes you wonder if there wasn’t such a thing as privacy security settings, who would be viewing your page? Can this be questioned?

i) Preceding discussion of interactivity: Is there such thing as 'ideal interactivity'? What form might it take? You can also refer to Meikle's 4-types in the wk. 2 lecture.

For the idea of ideal interactivity, I’m going to have to once again look at the ideas of Facebook, Myspace, MSN Space, and Bebo. The idea of creating your own personalised webpage different to other peoples is somewhat exciting. It also makes you want to create a fun an exciting page to enable friends to explore your page as well as theirs. People like to put their own unique twist and feel to their pages to make them stand out from others. However by doing this you can be as detailed or include as little detail as you want. Because of this idea I also think the idea of people being ‘fake’ online and creating false profiles with a false information should also be mentioned here. However some people like to have a ‘character’ online to help escape from their everyday lives and interacting on the internet helps them explore things that they wouldn’t normally be involved in the 'un virtual' world.

Week 2: New Media News

Whilst getting ready for my day this morning, I caught a glimpse of a story on the news based around new media and communication in the UK. I found it highly interesting and thought that it related to ideas that we have been looking at these past 2 weeks. The British government has plans to boost digital and communication industries to try and help the British Economy. A British digital report is being fashioned to help the British economy and will be released sometime this year. In the clip on the news this morning Prime Minister Gordon Brown mentioned trying to get every age group and household to have access to the internet. He also went on to say that digital technology was as important in this day and age as "roads, bridges and trains were in the 20th Century".

As the summary was very brief, I couldn’t write everything down so I decided to investigate a little further with help from the wonderful Internet. It turns out that this report will highlight various positive and negative aspects in the digital and communication industry. They are also set to improve and expand on various areas of digital and communication technology including broadband development, internet technology development, digital radio and public service broadcasting. It was suggested that by 2012 there may be a set broadband speeds to enable users to get the most out of the Internet. Prime Minister Gordon Brown also commented "Every aspect of our lives... will be dependent on the services that the digital network provides" (Brown, G: 2009). How relevant do you think this comment is to our developing country?

Not only is the report going to discuss positive subjects and ideas around digital and communications but it is also going to look at negative aspects such as the safety of children on the internet, illegal downloading/ file sharing and, internet fraud, gambling games on the internet and restricting areas of social networking sites for youngsters.
I found this story very interesting as it just shows how important the digital and communication industries are to our society. It also shows that the government are thinking of our own welfare. I guess this could be questioned though as they may only be trying to be on par with other countries that have a higher level of digital and internet communication.

I've attatched the link to the news article that I looked at at the bottom of the blog, but there are a few more that are attached to its link which are also interesting :)

Any opinions guys?

Amy x x

BBC, (29.01.09), 'Broadband in every home by 2012', http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7858498.stm [Accessed 29.01.09]

The Internet: Good or Bad?

I've just realised that my last post only included positive ideas based around the internet, when there are also various negative aspects of the internet and communication on the internet. You may agree or disagree with my opinions but here's just a few negative parts of the internet that I came up with:

• Advertisements & Pop Ups - We've all experienced these. You go on to a reputable website and within thirty seconds you have 'pop ups' and advertisements taking over your screen, when all you want to do is browse a site! -Annoying, especially when they usually result in viruses that attack your computer. Oh yeah thats another one: Viruses- thank heavens for Anti-Virus software! We would be well and truly stuck if this wasn't around!
• Spam - Where companies some how send bulk messages to your E-mail account some containing viruses which can potenitally damage your computer. They're just annoying and a hassle.
• Security - The idea of the safety of the internet is a great concern. Ideas around fraud and internet hacking are a very serious concern. Also considering the notion of how safe children are when using the internet must be highlighted. Concerns surrounding ideas of the safety of social neworking sights, pornography, paedophilia and internet bullying are greatly discussed in society.
• Reliability- Exactly how reliable are the websites that we use for our university work? We are told to use online journals and websites, but it can be suggested that some websites aren't as reliable as others.

I know its not exactly very interesting reading, but I just thought I should highlight some concerns that I have with the internet as well as positive ones. Even though i've mentioned some of the concerns that I have, like other people I still continue to use the internet. Do any of you agree with these concerns or any others towards the internet? Do you think they're inportant? Thanks guys :) x

Is there anybody out there...? Communication & the Internet

Communicating is a process used by everyone and nowadays it seems that the internet is one of the easiest and quickest ways to communicate with people worldwide. Nowadays the internet seems to be the ‘norm’ in terms of communication in our culture. The internet holds a range of information and resources; it provides you with an array of information that is at your fingertips twenty four hours a day. Not only is it used for information purposes whether it be educational or just a random search, but it is also used for entertainment, social networking, to keep up with current affairs and to shop. This highly versatile method of communication is extremely popular and will carry on being as it continues to develop.

The internet is not solely used by the individual, but is also used by business and companies when advertising their product. It is a quick andeffective way of promoting their company and is available to be looked at 24 hours a day. The popularity of the internet allows companies to have a contemporary feel especially because the internet is perceived to be ‘new media’. The speed of the internet makes it highly popular towards audiences and companies as you can access worldwide information at a faster pace than other forms of communication.

I use the internet for entertainment and educational purposes. Because of this I use the internet on a daily basis. This makes me wonder if perhaps you can be somewhat ‘addicted’ to the internet, as it seems to revolve around most people’s daily routine. Would we be able to cope without having the internet for a week? If anything did happen to the existence of the internet, how would people manage? I use the internet to help find information and sources for University work. I also use social networking to keep in touch with friends and family. Social networking such as E-mail, IM (instant messaging), facebook and MySpace are quick and easy ways to keep in touch with friends and family no matter where they are on a regular basis. In addition to this it is cheaper than other methods of communication such as phone calls, which also makes the internet more appealing.

I personally think that websites play a great part in the idea of consumerism. Various high street stores and business have websites nowadays. They have a tendency to promote various products with offers and special prices which you would not necessarily get when going down the high street. Also websites such as online shopping and price comparison sites enable the consumer to get the product that they want the best price possible (this is definitely appreciated especially whilst we’re part of an economic crisis!). Plus you can have the luxury of shopping at all of your favourite shops without even having to leave your house!

New Media...what do I think?

When I began to think of what new media could be, I went through the normal ideas of media such as the internet, mobile phones, podcasts and Wi-Fi etc. But when looking at these ideas I realised that some weren’t as ‘new’ as I thought they were. To me it seems quite strange to realise that the idea of the internet has been around for years even though it never really became popular until the 1990’s. I can remember when I first began to use the internet at Secondary school. It was so weird to have a computer where you could type any word in its search page and it would give you millions of results based around it from all over the world. This made me wonder what I thought and what others think ‘New Media is’?

Reading Goebbels speech made me consider what other generations might think of new media or new technologies. For example my mum and dad are both retired and they love the radio. When thinking about it they have the radio on every day and it is obvious that they enjoy this type of media. Whereas I don’t think I actually listen to the radio at University and the only time I can think of listening to the radio at home is either the background noise of when my mum and dad have it on or when I’m driving. Can you guys remember the last time you chose to listen to the radio and not on things like DAB radio or i-player, but the ACTUAL radio???

Personally I didn’t realise how much new media I used on a daily basis. In our culture things like mobile phones, Skype, webcams, IM (instant messaging) are accessible so easily that we don’t realise how lucky we are, and the only reason why we know how to use them so well is because we have been brought up to learn how to work them whilst they continue to develop, unlike our parents generation for example Personally my mum and dad see computers and the internet as something that ‘young’ people use. It sounds really daft but my mum just about knows how to switch the computer on/off and how to write a letter on Word and that’s it, where as my dad has no idea, and its exactly the same with their mobile phones; they both have the same mobile phone which they know the basics of and do not attempt things such as texting. I find it strange how much I rely on different types of media, which my mum and dad don’t care for. It sound so pathetic but I honestly don’t think that I could give up my phone, MSN or internet for a week! Could any of you guys?

Overall I don’t think we realise how privileged we are to have such luxuries which play a great part in our lives. Maybe we should try going without some of them now and again. Ha I sound like I’m some kind of New Media Minister preaching a media gospel! I know i’ve rambled on about some rather random things. Perhaps some of you agree with me or in fact disagree? Well that’s my first proper New Media Blog and i'd love your comments :) x

It's here

That's right my first post has arrived... blog blog blog!

There's nothing like a bit of blogging in a morning with an array of sizes, colours and styles. Hmm... this could be fun!

Toodles for now.