How Far Will Technology Take Us?

            Cultural limitations can come in many forms, and technology will surely bring some new limitations to the table.  On a massive communications scale, we all know the strain of dealing with robotic customer service calls.  So technology has since then influenced our culture to rely heavily on digital communication.  People of all demographics are using more mobile devices to get the information they want and need, so communicators have to produce data through these mediums.  The one piece of solidarity with media communications is that the story must remain powerful and draw in the audience regardless of the technology involved.  This idea can be compared to that of upgrading graphic technology in a video or a game, the user becomes uninterested if the publication is more about the technology than the content (Kolodzy, 2013, p. 165). 

            So how far can technology take us?  How much of our reality is going to become intertwined with our digital identity?  Well, many different companies are working on devices that take reality to the next step as explained by (Wall) in his BBC article Can technology help us improve upon reality?.  Augmented reality is a term that is easy to misinterpret, as virtual reality has been the thought up to this point.  Augmented reality is better, and this is because it allows the user to see and interact with digital representations, and they can manipulate the object in their physical surrounding.  The user can then share any information and ideas by digital means, and they can thus communicate with the world.  Microsoft has revealed an augmented reality headset called the HoloLens, and a video portrayal of the device can be found here:

            Not to give this post a dark undertone, but do we continue to improve upon technologies that seem to be slowly consuming our society in some aspects?  Can we ensure that improved technologies won’t go haywire and take us into a robotic apocalypse?  Or should we simply improve our way of thinking, and remain content with a certain level of connectivity?  Do these augmented reality devices have long term effects on our physical health?  Regardless, only time will give the ultimate answers, but I hope to inspire the reader to think.  I hope to help you open your imagination and wonder for a moment about what limitations technology already presents, and how far we should go before limiting our cultural involvement with technology.  So I ask, is there a stopping point?   

References

Camera Caught. (2015, January 22). Microsoft revealed the HoloLens augmented-reality headset: YouTube. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm2gnnyyvEg

Kolodzy, J. (2013). Practicing Convergence Journalism: An Introduction To Cross-Media Storytelling. New York: Routledge.

Wall, M. (2016, February 23). Can technology help us improve upon reality? BBC Website. Retrieved from BBC Website: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35629715

Filing Films: A Brief Look at How Technology is Digitizing the Movie Industry

     Movies also have become an integrated part of society, and technology plays a large role in what happens with them also.  Movie technology has been implemented into the creation of movies for decades, in the form of special effects in order to draw the audience in.  Going along with the same trend as music, digitized movies are taking the web by storm.  The movie industry still has a strong hold with theaters, and the digital explosion has not happened quite as quickly as it did with music.  This can be attributed to a couple of reasons including the fact that digital music files are considerably smaller and less time consuming than video files (Nickson, 2013).  Movies take an enormous amount of storage space for high quality images, but still people started pirating movies just as they had with music.  Movies are not simply taking over immediately, but the transition is a much more gradual change.  Chris Nickson, a contributor to A Technology Society, explains the situation quite well when he wrote “As more services spring up letting us download films, and broadband speeds increase, making those hefty downloads faster, it might well signal the end of DVD rentals, and probably have a serious effect on the sales of physical DVDs – although we’ll need much larger hard drives in order to maintain a film library” in his article Technology & Film.  Society has come to expect movies that can play anywhere at virtually anytime, because of the plethora of devices we see on the consumer market.  The following Ted Talk by Frank Smith, tells an accurate description of the film industry’s recent timeline.

     Netflix is by far the most notable name in the world of digital movies, and many believe the physical movie industry is suffering because of it.  Numbers suggest that ticket sales have been gradually declining, and as of January of 2015 ticket sales were at the lowest point since 1995 at 1.26 billion (Bowman, 2015).  Up until now, Netflix wasn’t a significant threat to the theaters, because they only show movies that have already been through the theater.  In 2013 Netflix announced plans to stream films as they are released.  Chief Content Officer for Netflix, Ted Sarandos stated, “Why not premiere movies on Netflix, the same day they're opening in theaters? Why not follow the consumers' desire to watch things when they want? Theater owners stifle this kind of innovation at every turn ... I'm concerned that as theater owners try to strangle innovation and distribution, not only are they going to kill theaters, they might kill movies” as documented in How Netflix Is Closing The Curtains On Movie Theaters.  Netflix is certainly driven by competition, and they have amassed a very large market for their service.  Statistic Brain shows that Netflix has around 64 million subscribers and the company is bringing in 5 ½ billion dollars in annual revenue.  So regardless of their intentions, Netflix and other movie streaming companies have found their niche in American society.

References

Bowman, J. (2015, January 10). How Netflix Is Closing The Curtains On Movie Theaters: The Motley Fool. Retrieved from The Motley Fool: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/01/10/how-netflix-is-closing-the-curtains-on-movie-theat.aspx

Nickson, C. (2013, January 5). Technology & Films: A Technology Society Website. Retrieved from A Technology Society Website: http://www.atechnologysociety.co.uk/technology-films.html

Talks, T. (Director). (2014). The Film Industry Today [Motion Picture].

Trending Tunes: How Technology is Changing Music

     As I continue this series of social expectations that have come from technologic advances in the media, music has to be one of the biggest areas of change over recent generations.  Music has been part of human civilization, and different variations have always been played across the globe.  Before electricity, the only way to share music with an audience was to play a live concert which seriously limits the amount of people that can enjoy the music.  The funny thing is that music was part of society and culture for thousands of years, so all of the advances have come within the last hundred years or so.  As musicians began selling their music, people wanted to be able to access more songs faster.  Thus pushing technology forward with consumer demand, and then people started creating digital music databases.  Although online music can be very beneficial to both the audience and the artist, there have been some very rough seas during the development of digital downloads.  A great introduction can be found in this YouTube video that gives some solid statistics and numbers to the tech influence on music.

(blagoysavov, 2013)

     Now we live in an age in which we don’t need to own a hard copy of the music we want (Harrison, 2014).  Consumers can buy their favorites from iTunes, Amazon, or other sites and apps.  Not to mention apps such as Pandora, Spotify, and other Internet radio channels.  These basically allow listeners to find specific bands, songs, albums, and more as long as they have an internet connection.  This also negates the trouble of buying an entire album when you only like a couple songs, and most of the folks from my generation have been in that situation.  YouTube has also given the audience a video platform without needing to watch MTV or other music channels.  Laura Harrison, contributor to Socialnomics, explains how the Internet changed the way music is made as well as the ways it can be played.  In her article, How has the Internet and Social Media Changed the Music Industry?, she shows that a couple decades ago the musicians would have to have a corporate executive listen to a demo tape, while today’s market allows for a much more direct approach across a social media platform. 

     Now artists love how some technologies can help them create and produce music, as they have synthesizers, vocal filters, and many more digital devices that enhance creativity.  However, when it comes to software programs like Napster and Limewire the audience was happy, while the artists became agitated quickly.  The technology driven delivery system was severely cutting into the profits of musicians, and in some cases led to costly lawsuits such as Metallica vs. Napster in April of 2000.  Since then, the technology has not stopped, but artists have found ways to control the flow of their own music through these digital platforms.  This has created a well balanced approach that both the audience and the musicians seem to be happy with, and I think this trend will continue to change as technology moves us into the future.

References

blagoysavov (Director). (2013). The Impact of Technology on the Music Industry [Motion Picture].

Harrison, L. (2014, July 23). How has the Internet and Social Media Changed the Music Industry?: Socialnomics Website. Retrieved from Socialnomics Website: http://www.socialnomics.net/2014/07/23/how-has-the-internet-and-social-media-changed-the-music-industry/

Technology and Digital Media: An Ever Shifting Environment

     Technology has influenced how just about everything in our society operates, especially since humans harnessed the power of electricity.  Society has always expected information, because people have always needed to communicate.  The biggest transition is that the audience has gradually gained more power while consuming information on a digital platform.  To be a little more precise, the people using social media can dictate exactly what media they want to take in rather than simply accepting what the media presents.  One paragraph found in the article, Social Media as Public Expectation: The New Public Utility, really sums up the shift that has gradually come across the internet.  The author states, “social networking and social media sites are not simply used to frivolously pass time but have become a backbone, a crucial aspect, of how we conduct our social, political, and professional business in the global world. It is this critical nature of social media over the Internet that is causing users to become vocal” (Thompson, 2010).  So even though it is considered social media, it has truly become an integrated part of how we live and operate as a society. 

     The Social Trends Institute documented a meeting in 2013 called What Society Needs from Media in the Age of Digital Communication, and it brought several communications professionals and analysts together to discuss this topic.  “Certain elements of the transformation of the media are unambiguous: There is increasing importance of audio-visual media, accompanied by decreasing use and prominence of text-based media (newspapers, magazines, and books); there is a proliferation of market-funded, highly commercialized content that is often influenced by global rather than domestic concerns; digitalization has and is producing new platforms for content distribution; and the amount of news, information, and entertainment available to the public has never been higher. All of these developments alter the economic basis of legacy media and the content we receive” (Social Trends Institute, 2013).  There are a lot of clear cut changes that we can all see on a day to day basis, but some changes are a little tougher to keep track of.  Some of these changes that people are less aware of can have dramatic effects, even on an international level.  “The changing media environment is producing both beneficial and deleterious effects to content provision. The meeting explored how the changes affect content of both commercial and non-commercial content providers, how it alters production of certain genres of content (news, information, debate, entertainment, drama, comedy, etc.), what it does to the range of topics addressed in media content, how it creates tensions between provision of domestic and international content, and how it alters perceptions of the world, relationships among people, relationships with society and institutions, and social norms and culture” (Social Trends Institute, 2013).

    A very informative video found on YouTube explains a few of these major changes.  Digital communication has literally influenced business closures, political agendas, and much more as described in this clip from Take Ten Productions.

References

Productions, T. T. (Director). (2013). How Social Networks Have Changed The World! [Motion Picture].

Social Trends Institute. (2013, October 5). What Society Needs from Media in the Age of Digital Communication. Retrieved from Social Trends Institute: http://www.socialtrendsinstitute.org/experts/experts-meetings/civil-society/what-society-needs-from-media-in-the-age-of-digital-communication

Thompson, A. (2010, June 30). Social Media as Public Expectation: The New Public Utility. Retrieved from New York Public Library Website: http://www.nypl.org/blog/2010/06/30/social-media-public-expectation

Digital Education

A Brief Look at Online College

            Being an online student myself, I felt this topic to be a very important one to discuss.  An educational environment is one in which communication is absolutely crucial to the development of both the students and the instructors.  Being an online student can be very tough and challenging at times, because it takes a special skillset to succeed.  This doesn’t apply only to students though, as every level of the online education needs to be proficient in these skills.  To put the situation into words is almost making light of it though, as a college education is one of the most important decisions in a person's life.  It really takes a level of confidence and independence that I personally have overlooked for some time.  So what skills are important to refine and why?  There is no absolute rulebook for skill development, as everyone learns at their own pace in their own way.  Skillsets will differ between students, teachers, advisors etc. 

            Some skills may apply to students and instructors alike, because some abilities are just good general attributes for the educational environment.  Personally, as a student I am expected to communicate my thoughts and words in a time-efficient manner.  This has definitely been a learning experience in more way than one, as I have also had to refine my abilities to communicate over the Internet while building a good technical skillset in the process.  All of these attributes are comparable to what an aspiring instructor can expect to utilize in an online teaching environment.  Melissa Venable reminds us that we have to remain within our own limits and only try to teach courses we are knowledgeable in (Venable, 2013).  In her contribution to OnlineCollege.org, How To Break into Online Teaching she gives some very good advice for anyone interested in teaching online. 

            So how powerful can a digital classroom be?  How many lives can be improved with online education?  Probably the best example I have found comes from a TED talks presentation, in which Daphne Koller of Coursera describes their online educational mission.  Some of the numbers where absolutely astounding, as it truly shows the global impact.  Coursera is a group that is trying to get multiple colleges to offer some of their best courses for free to some of the more disadvantaged areas of the world.  Within months of starting up, as Koller explains, they had approximately 640,000 active students with 1 ½ million enrollees spanning nearly 200 countries.  Not to mention their videos had been digitally viewed around 14 million times, and they had over 6 million quizzes for people of every educational level to take.  Her video as posted below is a bit lengthy, but truly worth the watch.  This is but a glimpse of what the future will bring if trends continue in the same fashion.

            Richard Sousa, senior associate director and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, points to a continued increase in numbers with his article What Lies Ahead For Digital Education.   In early 2014, the Khan Academy, whose mission is to provide a “free world-class education for anyone anywhere,” agreed to a partnership in which they cooperated with the College Board to provide free, online SAT prep software.  The Khan Academy, with ten million users visiting its web site every month, is at the leading edge of digital education. The Khan-SAT partnership allowed for self-paced learning and helped to level the playing field by providing access to those who were unable to afford proprietary preparation courses (Sousa, 2014).  It seems that the digital classroom is taking hold, and this could be for many of the aforementioned reasons.  It could also be attributed to the fact that online classes are non-traditional in the fact that the student feels somewhat empowered to set a very flexible learning schedule.  Of course money factors in, and many online degree programs are cheaper or free through certain groups.  Perhaps people are turning to the Internet because of the rising danger in American classrooms.  Either way, I believe this trend will continue for years into the future. 

References

Sousa, R. (2014, May 7). What Lies Ahead For Digital Education: Forbes Website. Retrieved from Forbes Website: http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/05/07/what-lies-ahead-for-digital-education/#2715e4857a0b5f55819055db

Venable, M. (2013, July 15). How To Break into Online Teaching: OnlineCollege.org Website. Retrieved from OnlineCollege.org Website: http://www.onlinecollege.org/2013/07/15/breaking-into-online-teaching/

Public Speaking Globalized

            Public speaking is something a lot of us don’t really enjoy, and in fact many people are afraid of speaking in public.  The majority of society has some form of anxiety or nervousness associated with the thought of public speaking, but we understand that it is not the end of the world.  Right around 10% of people really look forward to getting up on stage and discussing whatever message they are trying to convey.  Another 10% or so are truly petrified at the thought of publically speaking, and they will do anything within their power to avoid it at all costs (Morgan, 2011).  As described in the article Why We Fear Public Speaking And How To Overcome It, it is important for the communicator to recognize and train themselves to handle the adrenaline rush that comes with public speaking.  Which brings me to my next point, and that is the fact that public speaking has become public broadcasting with modern technologies.  This is exceptionally true about people that are seen as important to society.  Nearly everything politicians, entertainers, or sports stars say is immediately picked apart by the media and we see different examples of it every day.  A lot of these people don’t want to speak much either as is the case with Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch.  They are expected to interact with the fans though, and it can actually lead to repercussions if they fail to speak with the media.  Lynch actually referred to this in one of his more infamous interviews, and it has over 2 million views on YouTube.             

Public speaking is not a simple town hall meeting anymore though, because technology can take any speech and globalize it through social media or other digital platforms.  So this means any time a communicator is getting ready to present some information, they have to prepare for millions of viewers on an international scale.  Up until humans harnessed electricity, the viewing audience could only be several hundred or potentially a few thousand audience members.  Communicators have to be able to do a lot more than simply give a speech to boot.  They need to be well-versed with the Internet and other digital platforms, as they have to touch base with their fans through each medium.  Ronn Torossian, Founder and CEO of 5W Public Relations, advises public figures to leave some mistakes alone, as it shows that public figures are human after all.  His article, 10 Tips For Public Figures On Managing Social Media also explains that people of importance need to remain active when responding to negativity, and also to apologize when needed (Torossian, 2015).  Communicators should have minimal trouble if they remain ethical and respectful while they convey their messages though the Internet.  Even many speeches have taken a back seat to technology, as some presenters use teleprompters so they can read their speech while keeping eye contact with the audience.  Communicators of today have to really blend a solid traditional skill set with an invigorated thirst for technology in order to truly reach full potential.

References

Morgan, N. (2011, March 30). Why We Fear Public Speaking And How To Overcome It: Forbes Website. Retrieved from Forbes Website: http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorgan/2011/03/30/why-we-fear-public-speaking-and-how-to-overcome-it/#2715e4857a0b30432796ea43

Torossian, R. (2015, April 15). 10 Tips For Public Figures On Managing Social Media: LinkedIn Website. Retrieved from LinkedIn Website: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-tips-public-figures-managing-social-media-ronn-torossian-5wpr-ceo

       

Trending Technologies

     Technology has influenced humanity ever since people began inventing.  Every invention ever discovered was a piece of technology during a certain era, but our advances are now happening much more quickly and often than they previously were.  With technology growing so rapidly, it has become a double-edged sword in some aspects.  However, one of our most basic needs as humans is the need to convey bits of information to each other.  Communicating with one another is how we all figure out ideas, and find solutions to problems.  That is also how we plan agendas, set up appointments, and communicating drives everything we do in our lives.  Communication is so easy to take for granted, although it is the first step to bringing our dreams to fruition.  Communicating is also a constant step that has to be maintained throughout the entire process.

     We can all see the results on a personal level pretty clearly, but many times we overlook how much technology and communication influences our careers or other areas of life.  Some careers have always revolved around the ability to gather information, and then present it to the public in a fair and understandable way.  Journalists have been part of society for a long time, but have also had to adapt to new ways of producing, promoting, and presenting the news.  These adaptations have helped journalists to excel in some aspects of their jobs as well, such as the ability to be on the scene with mobile technology very quickly.  News crews will also be reliant on transportation and standard equipment, but they will be able to completely process, edit, and even upload a story without be tied to a building.  Technology has made it possible to virtually work from anywhere at any time.  Now we have wearable products (i.e. smartwatches) that will allow for the same communicative power of our current smartphones (Agrawal, 2016).  8 Tech Trends Changing How We Work In 2016

     So where will the future take us in terms of communicative technology?  This clip from 2010 gives a somewhat comical, realistic, but still very informative explanation from a journalist’s and bloggers perspective. 

   

References

Agrawal, A. (2016, January 11). 8 Tech Trends Changing How We Work In 2016: Forbes Website. Retrieved from Forbes Website: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2016/01/11/8-tech-trends-changing-how-we-work-in-2016/#2715e4857a0b67d57ede7013