This class has had a huge impact on the way I view media as it spreads its stories and influence societies’ democracy not only in America, but around the world as well. In general, I will focus on some of the media effects means that have been employed by giant media conglomerates to affect democracy within the American and or global culture.
From my studies of the text book, lecture, and the clips from various media effects played in class during lecture, it is obvious that the media industry is an oligopoly. This means that only a few giant companies or media conglomerates own and control the content produced and distributed to media consumers in the American and global arena. This only raises one question in my mind. If these fewer industries control the consumer market, doesn’t this pose in some ways vertical integration (control of production, distribution and exhibition.) and if so limit the number of viewpoints from individuals? On the other hand, the stories these media artifacts sell or tell could fall on unsuspecting consumers, especially in struggling global cultures and be bought without second thoughts. This is where this class has really had an impact on me, that I should not be readily receptive on face value the stories that media puts on my face or ears, instead practice diligence over these stories and myths.
However, far from the somewhat unacceptable control on media by major conglomerates that I think discourages a vast majority of viewpoints paramount to democracy is the internet. Perhaps the internet is one of the most revolutionary media effect tool. Today’s society is geared towards making more and more personal choices rather than be fed information through controlled media. The internet as a tool is perhaps one of the key to unlocking the democratic mind of individuals. To conclude, on a personal level I feel as though am savvy concerning matters of media than I was before this class.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
A Little Reflection
Throughout the semester i learned a lot about how the big corporations have a death grip on America. I never new how much my life was influenced by the mainstream companies. I feel as though as a kid growing up in the generation X that more and more people don't think for themselves. Until this class it really wasn't that apparent. I have always been an avid listener to the current since in inception in 2005. And this class really taught me to appreciate what a good radio station it truly is. How it didn't let the mainstream media flex its monetary muscle and ruin what is a truly great station.
We learned how many large companies own many different types of media. A company could own a movie business, and a radio station, and a T.V. station, and a video game company. They could then persuade you to purchase a particular video game using their many faces of media. Perhaps during a T.V. program a commercial for the game might come on, or during the previews of a movie at the theatre. The large companies can control what you want to buy and when. That is a very scary thought. That there are certain items or services out there that can't compete with big business so the public becomes unaware of there existence. Big business controls more then we think it does, and every year they get better and better at manipulating the unsusepecting public.
Jordan Langer
We learned how many large companies own many different types of media. A company could own a movie business, and a radio station, and a T.V. station, and a video game company. They could then persuade you to purchase a particular video game using their many faces of media. Perhaps during a T.V. program a commercial for the game might come on, or during the previews of a movie at the theatre. The large companies can control what you want to buy and when. That is a very scary thought. That there are certain items or services out there that can't compete with big business so the public becomes unaware of there existence. Big business controls more then we think it does, and every year they get better and better at manipulating the unsusepecting public.
Jordan Langer
Semester in Thought
Throughout the semester we have covered many different forms of media, all of which have given insight to many industries that I had previously not though too much about. Instead of trying to summarize everything that I have learned, I have decided to review one of the common elements that we have gone over for every chapter. That is to analyze and dissect the democratic elements (or lack thereof) to different forms of media and their industries. Here are some of the topics that I felt were most interesting, also those that seem to bring about the most conversation in the sense that everyone may have a different opinion.
Telecommunications Act of 1996 – De-regulating:
This act was pushed through by congress in what seems to be a fairly quiet manner considering the extreme outcomes and effects for media conglomerates and consumers. This de-regulated so many aspects of media, particularly allowing regional phone companies, long-distance carriers and cable operators to compete in one another’s markets. This was said to allow for more consumer control, lower prices and to increase competition among conglomerates, but it seems that really it had the opposite outcome. Huge media conglomerates were able to buy each other’s companies and combine services, whence locally we have the Comcast bundled services, telephone, Internet and cable services. What this has done on a local level however would be considered to be a monopoly, not giving consumers choice. As we discussed this in class, few students could say that they had more than one choice for digital cable and internet services other than going through satellite service instead, and this is not only the case here in MN, but throughout the entire nation. As a consumer, I don’t like this very much, I don’t feel as though I get to “price shop” or choose based on what company I feel has the best services to offer, it is kind of hard to do when there is only one and little room for any smaller companies to grow when they would be competing against a much larger competitor.
This has not only been the case with cable, Internet and telephone providers, but also holds effects to the radio industry as well. In this the FCC eliminated most ownership restrictions on radio, and as a result the number of radio station owners has decreased 34% since 1996. I do get tired of listening to limited radio stations, almost all owned by the larger corporations like CBS and Clear Channel having many programs nationally syndicated. I don’t mean to sound like I am bashing on the large corporations or our congress for that matter, these are some of the outcomes from this act that makes us think and question where the democratic process fell short here, I know that as constituents we certainly didn’t vote on this, nor do we have the money and power of the corporate conglomerates that helped lobby for these changes.
I feel that overall, this act is just one large example of the shortcomings for consumers in today’s world, and I didn’t even know about it until this class! One other idea that was brought up in class was the hopes from Internet Service Providers to do away with our current Net Neutrality system in which the internet is pretty much a free for all for anyone, meaning that it is not currently privileged. I also was not aware that the infrastructure for the internet in the United States is very poor, especially compared to countries such as China. The only way to repair this infrastructure is for someone to put lots of money into doing so. Apparently the Internet Service Providers have volunteered! But not without a cost, if they were to bolster the finances to fix the infrastructure they would want to change it to be a similar structure to cable, in that you would have to pay a little more to do things that are now free. The instance that was used in class was Amazon or Ebay. As it is now, anyone can bid on anything in order that they do it, however ISP’s want to charge people, so that those who pay more will have preferential treatment, or first dibbs over those who do not. I think that there could be benefits to this, but those would mostly be in the hands of the ISP’s.
Again, I don’t want to sound like I am an anti-large corporation crazy person or anything. But what I do want is to have more awareness to the possibility of changes such as this, or those that were already brought on by the Acts such as the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The idea of consumer choice, control and even freedom is something that should be talked about more amongst everyone, from all age and socio economic brackets. I would love to hear all of the opinions for or against some of these policies or potentials. I feel overall this class helped me become a more confident, aware consumer and I feel as though that is something that should be instilled in everyone, even though at times the amount of recourse that seems available might be limited.
Telecommunications Act of 1996 – De-regulating:
This act was pushed through by congress in what seems to be a fairly quiet manner considering the extreme outcomes and effects for media conglomerates and consumers. This de-regulated so many aspects of media, particularly allowing regional phone companies, long-distance carriers and cable operators to compete in one another’s markets. This was said to allow for more consumer control, lower prices and to increase competition among conglomerates, but it seems that really it had the opposite outcome. Huge media conglomerates were able to buy each other’s companies and combine services, whence locally we have the Comcast bundled services, telephone, Internet and cable services. What this has done on a local level however would be considered to be a monopoly, not giving consumers choice. As we discussed this in class, few students could say that they had more than one choice for digital cable and internet services other than going through satellite service instead, and this is not only the case here in MN, but throughout the entire nation. As a consumer, I don’t like this very much, I don’t feel as though I get to “price shop” or choose based on what company I feel has the best services to offer, it is kind of hard to do when there is only one and little room for any smaller companies to grow when they would be competing against a much larger competitor.
This has not only been the case with cable, Internet and telephone providers, but also holds effects to the radio industry as well. In this the FCC eliminated most ownership restrictions on radio, and as a result the number of radio station owners has decreased 34% since 1996. I do get tired of listening to limited radio stations, almost all owned by the larger corporations like CBS and Clear Channel having many programs nationally syndicated. I don’t mean to sound like I am bashing on the large corporations or our congress for that matter, these are some of the outcomes from this act that makes us think and question where the democratic process fell short here, I know that as constituents we certainly didn’t vote on this, nor do we have the money and power of the corporate conglomerates that helped lobby for these changes.
I feel that overall, this act is just one large example of the shortcomings for consumers in today’s world, and I didn’t even know about it until this class! One other idea that was brought up in class was the hopes from Internet Service Providers to do away with our current Net Neutrality system in which the internet is pretty much a free for all for anyone, meaning that it is not currently privileged. I also was not aware that the infrastructure for the internet in the United States is very poor, especially compared to countries such as China. The only way to repair this infrastructure is for someone to put lots of money into doing so. Apparently the Internet Service Providers have volunteered! But not without a cost, if they were to bolster the finances to fix the infrastructure they would want to change it to be a similar structure to cable, in that you would have to pay a little more to do things that are now free. The instance that was used in class was Amazon or Ebay. As it is now, anyone can bid on anything in order that they do it, however ISP’s want to charge people, so that those who pay more will have preferential treatment, or first dibbs over those who do not. I think that there could be benefits to this, but those would mostly be in the hands of the ISP’s.
Again, I don’t want to sound like I am an anti-large corporation crazy person or anything. But what I do want is to have more awareness to the possibility of changes such as this, or those that were already brought on by the Acts such as the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The idea of consumer choice, control and even freedom is something that should be talked about more amongst everyone, from all age and socio economic brackets. I would love to hear all of the opinions for or against some of these policies or potentials. I feel overall this class helped me become a more confident, aware consumer and I feel as though that is something that should be instilled in everyone, even though at times the amount of recourse that seems available might be limited.
We are always changing
Throughout this whole semester we have been talking about how media has changed our lives, and how vastly the spectrum of technology has changed over the decades. Some argue that our technological advances are slow, and the future generations will have problems because we lack motivation and brains. This post is not about those crazy assholes whole think the world is doomed, it will focus on how the media has advanced our thinking, and even though most of what we see on TV and the Internet is porn and violence, there is still hope for the future. When television came out, the shows were geared towards men after 5, and during the afternoon focused on women and Saturday mourning's were cartoon days for the kids. Today media has not changed at all; soaps during the day, sporting events at night, and lousy cartoons. Radio still plays music and talk shows. Instead of pong, we are playing highly advanced games with realistic graphics. I can see why the old bastards are so jealous of their younger rivals; we have what they never dreamed of. I always listen to analyst's discuss the trouble amongst young people, and how we are getting all drugged up and having kids at 15, dropping out of school and killing people. All of their allegations are true, but couldn't we say the same thing about their generation? The only difference is there was no one to report the shocking news. Technology has advanced this world greatly in the sense that information is more readily available. This is why we "young people" get a bad rap; because someone is there to report, and someone is there to get the news out immediately and someone is always looking for a story. Technology though has hurt us in this sense. I thought the whole purpose of advancing technology was to advance our understanding of how things work, and how we can make life better. Have I lost touch with reality? I am pretty sure many view media and technology as a monster that is destroying the god loving innocent bastards out there. I think people need to realize that we are always changing, and media will always have the same sexual innuendo agenda and a violent profile for the male and a drama filled life for the female. If this is the world you live in, I do feel sorry for you.
Social Learning Theory vs. Media
During the semester in class, there was a particular theory we talked about that I found quite interesting. That theory is known as the social learning theory. This theory helps suggest that there is a relation between mass media and social behavior. In the 1960s, psychologists did "Bobo doll" experiments where they let children watch videos of adults performing violence on a blow up clown. After the children watched the movie, they were separated into rooms filled with toys. The same action occurred; they enacted violence on the bobo doll. This theory suggests that if the media shows inappropriate behavior, others may copy that trait.
I agree with this theory, but I also do not. I think it really depends on who the person is and if they are capable of separating reality from television/movies/media. Every spring break, MTV shows all their wild spring break moments. It will show young people with nice bodies in bikinis and shorts drinking and dancing dirty, being crazy. Somewhat, this show or any show of this nature, affects college students to do the same thing. You will always hear of someone's spring break in Cancun and how they partied all night and met hot chicks. This may not be a violent factor, but it still affects people one way or another.
The kinds of people who are most likely to be affected by media would have to be kids. Do you remember when you were a child and you wanted something because your friend had it or just because you saw it on t.v.? A good example would be in the movie Home Alone 2 Lost in New York. In that movie, Kevin McCallister had a Talkboy (I think that is what it was called). He used it to pull pranks and even caught criminals with it in the end. I'm sure that item was a big hit when that movie came out.
Anyhow, media affects people no matter how much they may think it does not. You just have to have a mind of your own and do what you like and be what you want to be, not just do it because you saw someone else liking it or doing it too.
I agree with this theory, but I also do not. I think it really depends on who the person is and if they are capable of separating reality from television/movies/media. Every spring break, MTV shows all their wild spring break moments. It will show young people with nice bodies in bikinis and shorts drinking and dancing dirty, being crazy. Somewhat, this show or any show of this nature, affects college students to do the same thing. You will always hear of someone's spring break in Cancun and how they partied all night and met hot chicks. This may not be a violent factor, but it still affects people one way or another.
The kinds of people who are most likely to be affected by media would have to be kids. Do you remember when you were a child and you wanted something because your friend had it or just because you saw it on t.v.? A good example would be in the movie Home Alone 2 Lost in New York. In that movie, Kevin McCallister had a Talkboy (I think that is what it was called). He used it to pull pranks and even caught criminals with it in the end. I'm sure that item was a big hit when that movie came out.
Anyhow, media affects people no matter how much they may think it does not. You just have to have a mind of your own and do what you like and be what you want to be, not just do it because you saw someone else liking it or doing it too.
Hot Garbage Isn't So Bad Afterall
One thing I learned in this class that I found surprising was the relationship between independent record labels and major labels. Major labels suck all that is good out of music and dumb it down, compress it, digitize it, polish it, mass market it and blow it at the whole world like hot garbage on a windy day whether they want it or not. Because most people don't care enough about music to search deeper, they'll accept the trash coming out of the radio speakers. I prefer to search for independent artists that take risks in their music and with their recording style. Until the chapter on the music industry, I never realized that the calves that suck from the music industry’s utters are actually doing me a huge favor!
Independents can take risks on new bands only when they have enough money to do so. Every so often, major labels come sniffing around young independent bands that can be commercially viable with a little polishing. They lure the band, who is usually very poor, into huge record advances. Then they buy out the contracts from independent labels for huge sums of money. The band sells out and is compensated. Sometimes they hit it big, and sometimes they don’t. The independent label, however, has a new stack of cash in order to offer several new artists small contracts. This is when I, the consumer, get to go into the record store and search for that new sound.
I think the good bands would still do what they do whether people listen to them or not, but without small, independent labels, it would be very difficult to filter out so many bands in order to zero in on one I like. You Tube and Myspace are great places to check out bands, but the independent labels help group like-minded bands together so it’s easier for people to buy new music. Independents like Sub Pop, Matador, and Swami would have much less power to sign bands I do like without have a band here or there cross into the mainstream. It’s very similar to the movie industry how one Star Wars can pay for twenty movies like In the Bedroom or You Can Count on Me. For music, one Nirvana can pay for Michael Yonkers or the A-Frames.
Independents can take risks on new bands only when they have enough money to do so. Every so often, major labels come sniffing around young independent bands that can be commercially viable with a little polishing. They lure the band, who is usually very poor, into huge record advances. Then they buy out the contracts from independent labels for huge sums of money. The band sells out and is compensated. Sometimes they hit it big, and sometimes they don’t. The independent label, however, has a new stack of cash in order to offer several new artists small contracts. This is when I, the consumer, get to go into the record store and search for that new sound.
I think the good bands would still do what they do whether people listen to them or not, but without small, independent labels, it would be very difficult to filter out so many bands in order to zero in on one I like. You Tube and Myspace are great places to check out bands, but the independent labels help group like-minded bands together so it’s easier for people to buy new music. Independents like Sub Pop, Matador, and Swami would have much less power to sign bands I do like without have a band here or there cross into the mainstream. It’s very similar to the movie industry how one Star Wars can pay for twenty movies like In the Bedroom or You Can Count on Me. For music, one Nirvana can pay for Michael Yonkers or the A-Frames.
GTA
For those who are unfamiliar with the game series Grand Theft Auto, it takes place in three different cities; Liberty City (based off of New York City), Vice City (based off of Miami) and San Andreas (based off of San Fransisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas). In these games, the player has free roam on the city as well as doing missions. When free roaming, the player has absolute freedom to do many things including; stealing cars, picking up hookers, murdering random people and much more. As if this does not get people upset that their children are stealing cars and killing people, the missions involve many more things including (aside from the previous list); stealing drugs, hijacking planes and military vehicles, blowing things up and more.
Many people believe that these games will cause their children to do these things. People claimed that the school shootings in Columbine happened because the kids were playing GTA3. A more logical explanation would be that the kids were bullied, teased and emotionally disturbed. When the latest GTA game came out, a lawyer by the name of Jack Thomson purchased the game to convince people that it should be banned. It is understandable that some people do not want their children to play the game, but what about those of us who's parents allow us to play or who are old enough to make the decision on our own.
For those interested, you can watch all sorts of grand theft auto games in action at www.youtube.com
Many people believe that these games will cause their children to do these things. People claimed that the school shootings in Columbine happened because the kids were playing GTA3. A more logical explanation would be that the kids were bullied, teased and emotionally disturbed. When the latest GTA game came out, a lawyer by the name of Jack Thomson purchased the game to convince people that it should be banned. It is understandable that some people do not want their children to play the game, but what about those of us who's parents allow us to play or who are old enough to make the decision on our own.
For those interested, you can watch all sorts of grand theft auto games in action at www.youtube.com
Influence of Media
One of the most important things that I have learned through this Introduction to Mass Communications class is the influence that media has on the people in this world. Although I already knew that media was part of our everyday lives; whether it be billboards we drive by, the internet we use, TV we watch, or even attending sporting events. Media is always there. Every message that we see is carefully planned by someone important from one of these mega corporations. These are all things that I already knew. The influence that it has on peoples lives is a different thing. Especially the MTV viewing crowd, (which is an obvious generalization, but just an example)people that seem to sometimes even be brain washed to join the "tribe" by doing whatever is necessary. The video we watched about the negative effects of urban/rap music videos is one of the biggest examples. Some people view their favorite rappers even themselves sometimes living out dreams of throwing money, slapping girls and dumping liquids on them, and everybody partying all the time. I had previously believed that everyone knew that this was not a reality, but from the parade in NYC it shows that clearly many young men have been brain washed to desire this a reality. Instead of seeing these kinds of videos and appreciating the music, and sometimes enjoying the scenery; some A-holes believe that they too can live this out in their everyday lives. This kind of media viewing shows that some people are passive observers, and others are not.
Another form of media that some cannot take for its viewing pleasure, is fake wrestling. Some young men take time to learn moves, practice, and become amateur wrestlers. Many others view the act on TV, and act it out foolishly with their friends...sometimes with dire consequences. Trying dangerous moves, using tables and other objects for weapons, even jumping off houses to attack. The influence that this sport can have on young mens lives can be seen on YouTube.com, wrestlingsbest.com, and other amateur websites in which moves and stunts are reenacted. Unfortunately both of these groups of people that take media influence too far are mostly young men, many just trying to play the role of the mook. These examples show that men these days really do make the mook a real life character, and not just something that exists on TV. The Jackass generation as I will call it, cannot stand by and watch professionals like Johnny Knoxville, and have to be that mook themselves. Wrestling mooks are the same way, except their stunts are usually combative. The effect that media has on some peoples lives is very real. Although most users do not take it to the extreme, there are those out there who cannot distinguish the media message from their reality.
(Oh yea, Aaron....The Phantom Menance was the bomb!! Two words....DARTH MAUL!!)
Another form of media that some cannot take for its viewing pleasure, is fake wrestling. Some young men take time to learn moves, practice, and become amateur wrestlers. Many others view the act on TV, and act it out foolishly with their friends...sometimes with dire consequences. Trying dangerous moves, using tables and other objects for weapons, even jumping off houses to attack. The influence that this sport can have on young mens lives can be seen on YouTube.com, wrestlingsbest.com, and other amateur websites in which moves and stunts are reenacted. Unfortunately both of these groups of people that take media influence too far are mostly young men, many just trying to play the role of the mook. These examples show that men these days really do make the mook a real life character, and not just something that exists on TV. The Jackass generation as I will call it, cannot stand by and watch professionals like Johnny Knoxville, and have to be that mook themselves. Wrestling mooks are the same way, except their stunts are usually combative. The effect that media has on some peoples lives is very real. Although most users do not take it to the extreme, there are those out there who cannot distinguish the media message from their reality.
(Oh yea, Aaron....The Phantom Menance was the bomb!! Two words....DARTH MAUL!!)
Monday, May 12, 2008
media conglomerates
The thing that i found mot interesting about the media, is that nearly everything is owned by major corporations, called media conglomerates. In the exercise that we did in class i found out that the biggest one of all is Turner broadcasting. I really didn't know how much this corporation had until i saw the sheet, the company owned basically every thing. I was surprised to see that Turner had well over one hundred magazine publications, it has some of the most influential and trusted news corporations like CNN and multiple others, not to mention AOL and other major internet sites and services. I really didn't know what kind of power this company had until we started the exercise, and in the exercise there were three products that were looking for a company to advertise their product. I was placed in the Turner category and the product I was trying to win over was for investment managing and so on. I had the competition of two other conglomerates (Fox and Disney), noticing that i had the upper hand, being that Turner (my company at the time) had more outlets to offer. Being that most of my outlets were geared towards the older generations, and that the product that was wanting advertising was also geared towards the older generations, I knew that i had the winning ticket.However no matter how much Turner had it still wasn't enough for the other two products. As it turned out I was the only representative to gain a product. Any way the exercise helped me gain an understanding of how much of our media is owned through major conglomerates, and it also gave me an understanding of how the companies market themselves out to people to gain profit. With this realization, I am more aware of how media works, this gave me an incite on how big the media is, and that it controls more then you would think.
Public Relations
One of the most interesting things I learned in Mass Communications class was the concept of public relations. I knew public relations professionals existed but I never really knew and understood what they do. People need to remember they act on behalf of the company paying their salary to put that company in a favorable light even though they may be up against an unfavorable issue or negative press.
The use of video news releases and press releases are tools used by PR agents to get their companies in the news. Those approaches work but I never knew they were products of the PR agency to promote the company. They put a positive spin on the company without highlighting any negative effects. They seem like the news station produced them. It makes you questions the credibility of the news station when they use information provided by a company. You would like to think news station is doing its own research for stories and not relying on outside influences.
The one technique I had never heard of is a pseudo-event. Creating an event just for the purpose of getting media coverage seems like they are taking advantage of people’s interest in news stories. It gets company advertising without them having to pay for it. I never really thought about press conferences as staged events for manufacturing news and that they are created to draw media attention.
The public relations area of media is one the areas I know the least about. It has been interesting learning about public relations and the tactics used by PR agencies. It will make me more conscious with my media choices and how they are trying to influence my decisions.
The use of video news releases and press releases are tools used by PR agents to get their companies in the news. Those approaches work but I never knew they were products of the PR agency to promote the company. They put a positive spin on the company without highlighting any negative effects. They seem like the news station produced them. It makes you questions the credibility of the news station when they use information provided by a company. You would like to think news station is doing its own research for stories and not relying on outside influences.
The one technique I had never heard of is a pseudo-event. Creating an event just for the purpose of getting media coverage seems like they are taking advantage of people’s interest in news stories. It gets company advertising without them having to pay for it. I never really thought about press conferences as staged events for manufacturing news and that they are created to draw media attention.
The public relations area of media is one the areas I know the least about. It has been interesting learning about public relations and the tactics used by PR agencies. It will make me more conscious with my media choices and how they are trying to influence my decisions.
Internet : our future
Most of us are on the internet everyday, checking e-mail, doing research, keeping in contact with friends, taking care of finances, ect. But most of us would have a hard time going at least a week without using the Internet. It has become a staple in most of our lives, much like TV and radio. With the fast paced rate of moving technology, it is only going to become more and more of a necessity rather than luxury. With companies like Qwest and Comcast bundling services in what our text book calls “triple play” there are fewer homes choosing not to have internet in their homes. Companies like Comcast are now able to pull one line of either Coax or Fiber that can give you both a 10Mb internet pipe, a full cable TV package and VOIP phone service as well. This is now all down one line where as before this could take up to 3 cable lines. The internet is becoming more and more integrated into our lives everyday though fast passed technology and now with the availability of WEB 2.0 and devices like the iPhone; there are endless possibilities waiting to happen. Since you are already getting the internet everywhere via a cell phone signal soon you will be able to stream radio from the internet to your iPhone into your car stereo or while waiting at the airport you can catch up on your favorite TV series just by connecting to the show’s website. It won’t take long until all TV programming is no longer distributed by over the air, satellite, or cable and instead you will plug in a cat 5e cable into your TV and watch shows on demand whenever you want without devices such as Tivo but by just using the internet. Cable TV, Satellite TV, phone service, radio, could all be a thing of the past with Web 2.0 technology. And with how fast technology is changing and how more and more we rely on the Internet and are demanding more and more integrated packages, devices, and transfer speeds, it won’t be long until many services all combine into one.
We also talked in class about the 3 big internet companies: Yahoo, Google and Microsoft. Microsoft, however, sees a greater opportunity in the internet; they see it as a central main frame that people connect to from their homes rather than actually having a computer. Much like many companies are doing via Networks. They are just give you a monitor, keyboard and mouse and no matter what computer you are at, you can just sign in to a computer and access everything exactly as you would when working at your desk without having to move files onto a network. Now these companies are not quite there but pretty close to it. With having a central main frame computer you could access your computer anywhere in the world without having to have a laptop or run a special configuration on your computer. Weather this actually becomes a reality is dependant on us as the consumer to see it as a good idea, and with more and more people having their main computer as a laptop, I don’t know if it is going to be logical, but Network based systems in workplaces and schools are definitely something we will all see in the future.
As you can see we are just beginning to tap the possibilities of the internet with web 2.0 and networking in major companies are using central mainframes type things right now. Radio and TV stations are streaming content 24 hours a day on the web already but at a low resolution bit rate. Now we just wait for them all to converge together and that will give the Internet a whole new meaning.
We also talked in class about the 3 big internet companies: Yahoo, Google and Microsoft. Microsoft, however, sees a greater opportunity in the internet; they see it as a central main frame that people connect to from their homes rather than actually having a computer. Much like many companies are doing via Networks. They are just give you a monitor, keyboard and mouse and no matter what computer you are at, you can just sign in to a computer and access everything exactly as you would when working at your desk without having to move files onto a network. Now these companies are not quite there but pretty close to it. With having a central main frame computer you could access your computer anywhere in the world without having to have a laptop or run a special configuration on your computer. Weather this actually becomes a reality is dependant on us as the consumer to see it as a good idea, and with more and more people having their main computer as a laptop, I don’t know if it is going to be logical, but Network based systems in workplaces and schools are definitely something we will all see in the future.
As you can see we are just beginning to tap the possibilities of the internet with web 2.0 and networking in major companies are using central mainframes type things right now. Radio and TV stations are streaming content 24 hours a day on the web already but at a low resolution bit rate. Now we just wait for them all to converge together and that will give the Internet a whole new meaning.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Apologies
Hi folks -
Obviously, I haven't posted a blog assignment. I need to think about what makes sense to do, and I will let you know on Tuesday at our class meeting. Sorry I haven't gotten to this earlier - I appreciate your patience.
Best,
Aaron
Obviously, I haven't posted a blog assignment. I need to think about what makes sense to do, and I will let you know on Tuesday at our class meeting. Sorry I haven't gotten to this earlier - I appreciate your patience.
Best,
Aaron
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