The future digital culture is a topic that raises many questions such as ‘where does the future of digital culture lie?’ and ‘how will human interact with technology in the future?’. Personally, I believe the future of digital cultures certainly lies with how technology develops, focussing on computers particularly. This links in with week 5 with the topic being ‘issues of interface’. Computers have become as common in the household as a television especially since the beginning of the 21st Century, so how human interaction with computers develop is important as people always seem to prefer simplicity.
The hardware of a personal computer has changed immensely since the 1970’s which has allowed people to use them for hours without feeling any physical strains. Small features such as adjustable monitors and chairs to allow comfort and prolonged time spent on a computer. This has become vital over the years as ICT jobs have been on the increase so products like mouse’s, keyboards, computer desk and chairs have allowed personal or desktop computers to become more ‘human friendly’.
Computers are becoming even more ‘human friendly’ which coincides with the fact that personal computers are found in many households. Since the introduction of windows 7 there has been more of an emphasis of touch screen computers. The development in both the hardware along with the software is important, allowing more simplicity for people. The continuation of personal computers becoming more ‘human friendly’ is vital for the future of digital cultures because many of the blog postings this year has been related to the internet or computers.
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Blog 3 - reflection on blog entries 2009/2010
Since the beginning of term digital cultures has covered a wide range of topics from convergence to artificial intelligence. Some topics I found more interesting than others and some topics I was surprised to see included in the unit for example ‘virtuality’ in week 9. This blog entry will be about the topics I found the most interesting and the topics I thought were irrelevant and hard to discuss and write a the blog.
This year in digital cultures I’ve learnt many new things, the most interesting topic for me being video games in week 12. This particular topic stands out for me as I learnt new terminology such as ‘balanced’ and ‘unbalanced games‘. It also caused me to look at what the future holds for video games based upon current popular video games and consoles. Another interesting topic was ‘issues of the body’ in week 7. I discussed the positives and negatives of an artificial body part, focusing on an artificial heart.
The topics I found the least interesting were in weeks 1,3 and 11. In week one was on ‘citizen journalists’ which I failed to understand what significance it had because I couldn’t how professional journalists could ever feel threatened by an unqualified and inexperience writers. In week three the topic was on ‘thinking about media change’ although the topic was relevant the title of the blog was hard to understand. In week 11 the topic was on ‘the aesthetics of digital culture’, I didn’t really understand the concept of the aesthetics of digital cultures and I struggled to come up with a question. Overall, the unit has been quite interesting and I feel I have learnt quite a lot about digital cultures this year.
This year in digital cultures I’ve learnt many new things, the most interesting topic for me being video games in week 12. This particular topic stands out for me as I learnt new terminology such as ‘balanced’ and ‘unbalanced games‘. It also caused me to look at what the future holds for video games based upon current popular video games and consoles. Another interesting topic was ‘issues of the body’ in week 7. I discussed the positives and negatives of an artificial body part, focusing on an artificial heart.
The topics I found the least interesting were in weeks 1,3 and 11. In week one was on ‘citizen journalists’ which I failed to understand what significance it had because I couldn’t how professional journalists could ever feel threatened by an unqualified and inexperience writers. In week three the topic was on ‘thinking about media change’ although the topic was relevant the title of the blog was hard to understand. In week 11 the topic was on ‘the aesthetics of digital culture’, I didn’t really understand the concept of the aesthetics of digital cultures and I struggled to come up with a question. Overall, the unit has been quite interesting and I feel I have learnt quite a lot about digital cultures this year.
Blog 2 - Review of Issues of Identity & intelligence: Robots & AI
In week 8 the blog posting was about ‘identity and intelligence’, the question of the week was ‘Do you think Sci-fi can ever come true?’. I concluded that I was undecided on whether sci-fi could ever come true, focusing on Cyborgs specifically. Since then my view on the topic has swayed towards Sci-fi technology not existing in the future, particularly in the less economically nations.
The phrase ‘science fiction’ in itself puts into question if it will ever come true as the word ‘fiction’ is defined as events or ideas that are not true or not factual. As these ideas are not factual, which in this case is Sci-fiction, Cyborgs in particular. A Cyborg is an idea or fantasy introduced by writers included in films. A Writer is a professional who uses language to portray an idea or an image. Therefore, writers are unaware how far technology will develop or how technology is currently developing. This, for me, means that Cyborgs are not destined to come true no more than a nuclear war.
To summarise, I think that the chance of Cyborgs being invented in the future is extremely slim as they are just ideas or fantasy’s, which have been created by writers. If Cyborgs where to be introduced into society I think there would have to be a major development in technology in order to support the argument of Cyborgs existing in the future. However, there hasn’t been a break through invention yet to sway my opinion towards Cyborgs existing in the future.
The phrase ‘science fiction’ in itself puts into question if it will ever come true as the word ‘fiction’ is defined as events or ideas that are not true or not factual. As these ideas are not factual, which in this case is Sci-fiction, Cyborgs in particular. A Cyborg is an idea or fantasy introduced by writers included in films. A Writer is a professional who uses language to portray an idea or an image. Therefore, writers are unaware how far technology will develop or how technology is currently developing. This, for me, means that Cyborgs are not destined to come true no more than a nuclear war.
To summarise, I think that the chance of Cyborgs being invented in the future is extremely slim as they are just ideas or fantasy’s, which have been created by writers. If Cyborgs where to be introduced into society I think there would have to be a major development in technology in order to support the argument of Cyborgs existing in the future. However, there hasn’t been a break through invention yet to sway my opinion towards Cyborgs existing in the future.
Blog 1 - Is new media having a positive or negative effect on culture and human communication?
New media has definitely changed the way humans communicate. The new media has transformed communication, especially since the invention of mobile phones. The change in communication began when the world wide web, as this allowed people to communicate across the world. Access to the internet is now available on mobile phone or PDA’s allowing even more options of communication along with calling and texting. However, this has caused to question whether new media has had a positive or negative outcome for our culture and communication.
As communication has become much more convenient it has definitely improved communication, which can only be a positive thing. However, the ability to send an e-mail to the other side of the world I think has caused governments and officials to be much more observant of their citizens, especially since the beginning of the 21st Century. So what effect has this had on our culture? Well privacy has become much more of an important aspect in human rights passed down from the EU. There are now more rules and protocols for the police and secrets service in order to acquire personal information such as accessing personal e-mails.
I think as a whole new media has had a positive impact on human communication as there are so many different ways to communicate nowadays. Communication has improved vastly compared to what it was just 20 years ago. However, some may say new technology has reduced physical human interaction for example calling someone instead of meeting up. Whether this is has a negative effect on human communication or more convenient is a difficult to say but I personally think that new media has had more of a positive effect on culture and human communication than a negative affect and will continue to do so in the future.
As communication has become much more convenient it has definitely improved communication, which can only be a positive thing. However, the ability to send an e-mail to the other side of the world I think has caused governments and officials to be much more observant of their citizens, especially since the beginning of the 21st Century. So what effect has this had on our culture? Well privacy has become much more of an important aspect in human rights passed down from the EU. There are now more rules and protocols for the police and secrets service in order to acquire personal information such as accessing personal e-mails.
I think as a whole new media has had a positive impact on human communication as there are so many different ways to communicate nowadays. Communication has improved vastly compared to what it was just 20 years ago. However, some may say new technology has reduced physical human interaction for example calling someone instead of meeting up. Whether this is has a negative effect on human communication or more convenient is a difficult to say but I personally think that new media has had more of a positive effect on culture and human communication than a negative affect and will continue to do so in the future.
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Week 20 & 21 - Prosuming, Crowdsourcing and Free Labour & Globalization, Technicity and the Digital Divide(s)
Is the digital divide positive or negative?
The digital divide is the gap between those who have access to technology and those who don’t. The term is closely related to the knowledge divide as the lack of technology causes a lack information. As the internet is becoming a major source of information there has been more of an emphasises for people to have access to computers. However, arguments against the narrowing of the divide has caused to question whether the digital divide is an issue.
In 2005 according to the world bank the global digital divide between the rich and poor nations is narrowing fast. The UN hope that widening access to technology such as mobile phones and the net will help eradicate poverty. This links in with the idea of technology improving knowledge one of the main arguments for bridging the global divide, which the UN firmly believe. Access to technology also brings a sense of democracy as people are free to look at whatever they wish with no consequences. Bridging he global divide is also believed to encourage equality between the richer and poorer countries.
The bridging of the gap has brought up some consequences such as; lack of privacy, piracy, global control and the freedom of choice not to have access to technology. Piracy is more of an issue in the more developed countries the majority of the population have access to technology, computers and the internet in particular. People believe that piracy may be encouraged by governments as they wish for more people to have access to the internet. Personally, I believe bridging the digital divide either globally or within a country has a positive outcome as the internet is now a main source of information as its more convenient for people. This will improve knowledge as an outcome, which is vital especially with the less developed nations.
The digital divide is the gap between those who have access to technology and those who don’t. The term is closely related to the knowledge divide as the lack of technology causes a lack information. As the internet is becoming a major source of information there has been more of an emphasises for people to have access to computers. However, arguments against the narrowing of the divide has caused to question whether the digital divide is an issue.
In 2005 according to the world bank the global digital divide between the rich and poor nations is narrowing fast. The UN hope that widening access to technology such as mobile phones and the net will help eradicate poverty. This links in with the idea of technology improving knowledge one of the main arguments for bridging the global divide, which the UN firmly believe. Access to technology also brings a sense of democracy as people are free to look at whatever they wish with no consequences. Bridging he global divide is also believed to encourage equality between the richer and poorer countries.
The bridging of the gap has brought up some consequences such as; lack of privacy, piracy, global control and the freedom of choice not to have access to technology. Piracy is more of an issue in the more developed countries the majority of the population have access to technology, computers and the internet in particular. People believe that piracy may be encouraged by governments as they wish for more people to have access to the internet. Personally, I believe bridging the digital divide either globally or within a country has a positive outcome as the internet is now a main source of information as its more convenient for people. This will improve knowledge as an outcome, which is vital especially with the less developed nations.
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Week 19 - Aggregation, Disaggregation and Long Tail Effects
Why has the ‘long tail’ theory appeared?
The phrase ‘long tail’ came from a wired article written by Chris Anderson. The theory describes the wide selection people have of the niche market on the internet and the potential profits sellers could make. Traditionally, records, books, films and other items have created a popular or mainstream section as stores can only afford to have the most popular items on their shelves in order to make a large enough profit. However, the internet allows people to find less popular items or subjects as there is a profit in those ‘missed’ items. For example Amazon can sell unknown books and iTunes can sell unknown songs.
The emergence of online and shopping, of many different items, via the internet this has caused the long tail theory to appear as people can now have a wider selection online then in stores. However, this causes to question whether the long tail theory is accurate? In the 2007 the long tail theory was put into question as more then 10 million of the13 million available music tracks failed to find a single buyer. The chief economists of the MCPSPRS alliance suggested that the niche market is not the most profitable area and that the online sales still heavily relies on mainstream items.
I personally believe that the long tail theory is accurate in the sense that it shows how wide the selection people have of niche items. However, I think the theory is inaccurate in saying the niche market is a goldmine for internet sellers, as most sale figures are of the mainstream items.
The phrase ‘long tail’ came from a wired article written by Chris Anderson. The theory describes the wide selection people have of the niche market on the internet and the potential profits sellers could make. Traditionally, records, books, films and other items have created a popular or mainstream section as stores can only afford to have the most popular items on their shelves in order to make a large enough profit. However, the internet allows people to find less popular items or subjects as there is a profit in those ‘missed’ items. For example Amazon can sell unknown books and iTunes can sell unknown songs.
The emergence of online and shopping, of many different items, via the internet this has caused the long tail theory to appear as people can now have a wider selection online then in stores. However, this causes to question whether the long tail theory is accurate? In the 2007 the long tail theory was put into question as more then 10 million of the13 million available music tracks failed to find a single buyer. The chief economists of the MCPSPRS alliance suggested that the niche market is not the most profitable area and that the online sales still heavily relies on mainstream items.
I personally believe that the long tail theory is accurate in the sense that it shows how wide the selection people have of niche items. However, I think the theory is inaccurate in saying the niche market is a goldmine for internet sellers, as most sale figures are of the mainstream items.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Week 18 - SEO, Packet sniffing and Astroturfing
Who controls the internet?
The management of the internet is an unknown by many people, the most common answer being governments. As governments are prioritising security, especially against the possibility of cyber warfare, they’re taking any form of measure to protect national databases, the USA in particular. So do governments have the freedom to change or alter the their own national websites? No each country does not have the final say as to whether a domain or suffixes can be created or changed for example, So who does have the final say?.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is an American authority which oversees, allocates and manages the domain name system and suffixes such as ‘.com’ and ‘.org’. So if a country wanted to change its domain name, which is at top level, it would have to be checked by the US department of commerce whom the (ICANN) is monitored by. This practically means the US government can allow or block alterations or modifications to domains which gives them the power as to who is and isn’t on the internet. This power unofficially means the US are in control of the internet. However, this raises the question of who controls what we can see on the internet? To be more specific, who controls what we see in ‘Google searches’?.
The emergence of Google bombing, what we see on the internet can be heavily influenced for political or humorous reasons for example. Google bombing refers to the influence the ranking of particular pages in results returned by the Google search engine. So a website for example will contain a link of another website thus increasing its rank creating the website to have a higher ‘page rank’. This is a common use of media manipulation and is a possible loophole created by firms in order to gain more advertising. Will governments intervene and stop this vicious cycle or will they eventually use this to their advantage?.
The management of the internet is an unknown by many people, the most common answer being governments. As governments are prioritising security, especially against the possibility of cyber warfare, they’re taking any form of measure to protect national databases, the USA in particular. So do governments have the freedom to change or alter the their own national websites? No each country does not have the final say as to whether a domain or suffixes can be created or changed for example, So who does have the final say?.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is an American authority which oversees, allocates and manages the domain name system and suffixes such as ‘.com’ and ‘.org’. So if a country wanted to change its domain name, which is at top level, it would have to be checked by the US department of commerce whom the (ICANN) is monitored by. This practically means the US government can allow or block alterations or modifications to domains which gives them the power as to who is and isn’t on the internet. This power unofficially means the US are in control of the internet. However, this raises the question of who controls what we can see on the internet? To be more specific, who controls what we see in ‘Google searches’?.
The emergence of Google bombing, what we see on the internet can be heavily influenced for political or humorous reasons for example. Google bombing refers to the influence the ranking of particular pages in results returned by the Google search engine. So a website for example will contain a link of another website thus increasing its rank creating the website to have a higher ‘page rank’. This is a common use of media manipulation and is a possible loophole created by firms in order to gain more advertising. Will governments intervene and stop this vicious cycle or will they eventually use this to their advantage?.
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