Media in a Changing Global Culture

Media has changed over the years and in a good way because things have changed like technology and the way we view and use things. All facets of our lives are changing along with media and globally change has taken a new turn over the past couple of years. One of the noticeable changes is education. In the reading by Thoman and Jolls they stated, “The convergence of media and technology in a global culture is changing the way we learn about the world and challenging the very foundations of education.  No longer is it enough to be able to read the printed word; children, youth, and  adults, too need the ability to critically interpret the powerful images of a media culture.” It also goes on to state that “mastering the skills required for lifelong learning in a constantly changing world.” (Thoman & Jolls. Pg. 1) As a 70’s and 80’s kid globally media was very bland back then compared to now where children all over the world are in need of laptops and need the internet in order to survive.  However, children in other countries seemed to be more advanced and that seems like the same case even when it comes to media.

My Asian coworker told me that his family in China always had many different tech things way ahead of people in America. I wasn’t surprised because this has been happening the past 30 years but Americans seem to catch up. Updated technology comes out like the speed of lightning and we all must adapt to it. For example, smart TV’s came out where you can view the Internet on it! This was not a thing of the past for sure. Media convergence is inevitable and things are done differently.  Kids today definitely do things differently than yesteryear. In the reading by Jenkins he mentions, “Our culture communicates through snippets of borrowed media content.  Young people construct a mix tape to share how they feel about each other. They create a collage of images to express how they see themselves.” (Jenkins. Pg. 6)

Media will continue to change in global settings. The culture will always latch on as television, radio and the internet changes worldwide and these changes will go on way into the future and hopefully, great things will happen within all cultures that can be passed on from generation to generation.

Class Activity- Digital performance

The Internet of things, according to Neil Gershenfield, are certain objects that humans have access to that when in use are connected to the internet while collecting and exchanging information. This is a little different than a cellphone or a laptop but more like an Apple watch or even apps on a cellphone. What these apps can do are track peoples heart rates who are wearing the device, track how many footsteps you have taken that day and or monitor how many calories you have consumed. If wanted, people have the option to hook up the data that they retrieved from their devices up to the internet whether that be social media or to keep track of. Not only can a persons self growth can be monitored but also that persons dwelling. With the power of technology we are now able to have access of our homes right at our fingertips. Devices like Insteon allows people to control the environment in their homes from a greater distance. This includes turning lights on/off, opening/closing of garage doors, and setting alarms on for security.

This form of technology is great for those who may seem forgetful and doesn’t remember leaving anything on. This new wave of technology can be proved beneficial to our everyday lives by optimizing efficiency.  For example, Internet Of Things allows people to have more productive time for work. If people had to worry about whether they had left the lights on in their home before leaving for work, it will become an annoyance, unlike having data to automatically turn lights out in the house when no sensor motion is detected will save people the worry and the risk of a higher light bill.  This leads to the last benefit, the Internet Of Things can help create new revenue opportunities. Such as an assembly line, This will lower the cost of errors done in real time all while producing more products in less time

These articles didn’t really surprise me as much as I thought it would. It always seemed kind of interesting it was that you can be tracked depending on the device you have. The one thing that I didn’t know actually existed was the term “blogjet”. Who knew that we came in contact with these devices all the time and never knew. We knew of course there is a tracker on phones from many TV shows that we have watched and also cause guys how the government gets to us. The idea of putting a tracker on items that we may not necessarily think of ever putting one on.

Th fact that the world is turning into a “smart world”, there’s going to be many more things that we can use to either find an object or a human being.  I believe that it would be both smart but also not really. I could in some way backfire. The pro is that you the location quickly and there’s no extra work. The con would be that you would have no privacy. Everybody will know your every move and what you do all day everyday. I wouldn’t want everyone to know where I’m  at all the time because that’s technically invasion of privacy.

A Internet would could either be beneficial or hurtful in the end. But the question is are we really ready for that?

i find the concept of the internet and things to be very interesting. Reasoning behind it is because the living in a smart world would be beneficial and detrimental to us. A pro behind all this would honestly just be constant information that you can obtain in a heart beat. A con from this is constantly using technology to get things done. With all the technology that’s out right now, us as people already lack in communication skills and it sucks becuase people can’t keep a full conversation. We also live in what I like to call the “A.D.D” era where we all can’t keep focus for too long. We constantly want to get on to the next thing and get bored very easily and it’s because of the internet, it’s becuase of technology and as time goes on, things like this will continue to worsen.

We already have portable objects to travel with us. We use watches like Apple watches that we can listen to music on, use a GPS, track where we are going and tells time. Portable earphones are being used, shows that can tie themselves as soon as you put them on. More money gets made as soon as the producers see these items constantly being purchased so if we can have a “Smart” world, more money is being made. We already see it in schools, as technology keeps improving.

Prior to reading these articles I had never heard of the term “blogject”. After reading these articles I realized that I have been in several encounters with blogjects. For example wearing a fitbit that tracks the amount of steps you took for the day. Or even my own phone. There has been times where I would be sitting at home and I would get a notification on my phone saying “It will take you 18 min to get to work”. Or when I’m out and my phone tells me that it would take me 20min to get home. It is just so weird to me how my phone tracks my every little move  even without me saying anything. I also found it pretty interesting how luggage can be considered a blogject. I have had a few occasions where I was traveling and my luggage would get to my destination hours after I arrived, or in one case a day later. I always wondered how that happened and how they were able to tell where it was.

I find this to be beneficial in some cases. For example in one of the articles they mentioned a coffee maker turning on as soon as a person gets out of bed. Stuff like that is beneficial although it does make us lazy. In other cases I do find it to be a little creepy. Especially when my phone knows when I’m going to work and how long it is going to take me to get there

The Internet of Things is a very interesting concept. These objects surpass the typical phone and computer devices that can connect to the Internet. To answer the question, I think there are pros and cons to being connected to essentially what would be a full-on “smart” world. Internet access is vital for education, work, school, play, etc. It would be beneficial for even more people to access it from anywhere besides a handheld device.

However, I feel like a huge con would be that it would almost make life seem “artificial” in a way. Everyone in this day and age is already glued to their phones, and I feel like a super-connected world of “things” will only add to that. Sure, we are communicating more, but are we truly communicating in a human-to-human way? I also think it would be too easy to let information slip from our devices. It’s almost too public. Our information would be easily accessible and I don’t like the idea of that.

Internet of things is when they have everyday objects use the internet to work. An example would be smart watches, like the fit bit or the Apple watch. Watches are everyday objects we use them to tell time, but now they read our heart rates, measure our cardio and other workouts, receive phone calls and messages etc. This will impact the future, all devices will be all connected to each other. While your alarm clock wakes you up at 6 am it can send a message to your coffee machine to star making your cup of coffee. In the article of foreign affairs they mentioned that software has become so advanced that you are able to make a server that fit on a fingertip for $1. This has taken over the world to the point where there are more computers than people then also mentioned in the article.

Joseph Singh

MCS

Jonah Brucker-Cohen

March 15 ,2018

Weekly Post: The Internet of Things / Locative and Physical Media

Write your responses to the readings and if you think that connecting physical objects to the Internet is beneficial or detrimental?

After reading the articles, I am sort of on the fence about the whole situation. Basically, my understanding of the whole situation is that instead of just having computers and smart phone devices, we will also have basically a smart world. Where everyday objects and things will have computer access and access to artificial intelligence. With an open mind to the whole idea I think just like every new idea, it must go through some trial and error and take a bit of skepticism, but ultimately us, consumers will say if we like it or not and continue to use the services.

As I mentioned before I am on the fence with the idea about making physical objects connected to the internet because who knows which way things will go. Furthermore, on pro I think will come with objects connecting to internet is there innovativeness and availability. Once this big transition is made, there is no turning back literally everything will be electronic and connected to the cloud. One con about connecting physical objects to the internet is that maybe the artificial intelligence will get too smart and be able to take over and live without humans. Sounds crazy but in this age in time anything is possible, based off how much we rely on artificial intelligence.

After reading about this and learning about the idea of giving physical objects connection to the internet, it reminded me about my childhood. In the early 2000’s I saw this movie on Disney channel about a house that was a robot, it would clean, cook, repair itself, and be watching 24/7 and when the father and kids who lived in the house wanted to get out the house had a huge problem and didn’t let them go. This is what I imagine could possibly happen in the future if we give physical objects artificial intelligence and connection to the Internet.

I find the concept of the “Internet of Things” to be really interesting; especially as it pertains to my own life. Just last week I felt like a “blogject” when Google asked me if they could track my texting patterns and where I am when I text. Of course I declined. It also reminded when Microsoft tried to force people to buy their Kinect motion camera which must always be on to play a video game despite whether that game needed the camera to function or not. I feel like these things could be either good or bad depending on what it is used for. Is it being used solely to collect data to get an angle on marketing? Or is it being used to truly try to improve functionality and practicality. I also find interesting the idea in the parsons article about technology being “invisible.” I think technology would function better and be a lot less controversial if it stays invisible but as the article says “most consumers will associate their mobiles with being social, aesthetic, and fun,” iphones have become a statement about status, cutomer loyalty has become more important than putting out a better product and the marketing is more important than the engineering and innovation.

However I do like the idea of “a stoplight can communicate with roads to route cars around traffic, a building can operate more efficiently by knowing where people are and what they’re doing, and even the health of the whole planet can be monitored in real time by aggregating the data from all such devices.” These are things that can actually help and benift society while also being almost invisible.