Week 2 Blog-athon (Topic 1)

Right here goes...

I think when we see and hear about upgrade culture it is in a large sense a money making business which is seen as the main priority for these companies making the 'big bucks'.
However we can't forget the real main priority is which why this industry to exist.
With new technological advances becoming available every year to use, so are our needs.
So if you look at your phone, when your got your first one all you needed it to do is be a phone, nothing more nothing less. But with the advances within the past, I don't know 9 or 10 years, our need for the phone has become a lot higher. With the availability of having a camera on them, this gives the chance for workers to use it if needed. I guess you could say they are the electronic pen knifes!? So these advances do help in both senses, the customer’s needs and business for the manufacture.

This then is an opinion in contrast to Robin’s statement. I mean I do see where he gets his idea and how we really can’t justify new media, but as a whole I would have to go against his argument.
Obviously clever new media products have been around for time now, but it’s in our generation where we have seen a dramatic change. I can relate to my statement above with the phones, but I see this situation in all media forms. This is a digital age we live in. Even half this course is online now, so we are basically in class when sitting at our own computers at home. Which is good in some ways, as I don’t have to get dressed and out of bed!
But as a whole, in my personal opinion, I would categorize new media as things from this 21st century and even things anything up to 5 years before the millennium.

So I’d say that during this time it has been a progress in our new media world. We have seen these advances evolve certainly through our lives as they are becoming a daily use and need.
I could take an example at random like insurance companies. With the use of the internet, their business has exploded as this progress with new media has benefitted everyone. Especially this case with people on the internet. To put it in general, this new media and others like it cut out the hassle and speeds it up as its all digital. That is if the bloody computer doesn’t freeze!

With analogue and digital I think that it’s difficult to say there is a clear cut between the two unless when we focus on certain media forms. With email and letters in mind, they are basically the same concept without the ink and paper. As I have already mentioned, this is a digital age we live in and we have moved on from the old styles of communication. Certainly those like writing which has been around for centuries and so on.

That said we do take this new media form for granted. I’m not sure how I would cope with having to write essay out on paper if I had to do it now? Again, with the new media, it just takes out the hassle. We don’t have to worry about the little things like the style of writing, the computer sets it all the exact same. Even now with the spelling. If you make a mistake writing something out, it can completely balls up the entire thing, but with typing the same piece you can erase it in the blink of the eye and no one would be any wiser.

With Lunenfield’s concept in mind, we are basically looking at online gaming and realistically on a global scale. So what, World Of Warcraft and all that nonsense? I mean I’m not an online gamer myself so I can’t give a personal opinion on the matter but I suppose it does allow you to chill out doing an activity with a friend who maybe on the other side of the world.

When reading what Lister has to say about non-linear structure, I can totally understand him. As he says we are constantly surrounded by linear text which has to follow rules to make the text interesting and the reader involved. Whereas with non-linear, these texts can break the rules which does in most cases make it more interesting and exciting. Readers like the sense of excitement and shock when reading.

When I think DIY and click to send setting features, obviously the first thing I think is social networking. As Sam has already stated that every friend can see what you’ve been doing and sometimes even your friends friend. So even with all the protection they offer account holders, we are still advertising ourselves to people we don’t even know.

As for ideal interactivity, the thing I would mention would again relate to the likes of Facebook and Myspace. With the freedom to create different profiles, you can personalise your details which displays your character. As an example my Myspace profile is based around The Beatles. These personalised options are there just to show your interests I guess. Whether music, film or television.