Thursday, 28 July 2011

Week 1 Lecture Summary

Week1; Post 2


This weeks lecture...

"Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?"
 
- TS Eliot : The Rock
Communication technology has advanced dramatically over the past millennium. Looking back we realise how far we have progressed from oral to graphic, then finally to written, to then make way for electronic forms of communication such as the telephone and the Television. However we have, even in the past decade developed further, making way for mobile smartphones, super slim laptops, high speed and national coverage internet, instant messaging and a wide range of online methods of communication.

However, with such an abundance of methods, issues with each are often large and extremely detrimental, such as hacktivism, fraud & privacy. One example of the privacy issue is the recent Derryn Hinch story. After releasing the name of an alleged sex offender, Hinch was banned from any form of social media throughout his house arrest. 

Communication is fundamental to human interaction and always involves a wide range of factors, it is not simply what we speak or draw. Communication involves the way we look (facial expressions) the way we stand, the way we walk. in general, communication is any process that transfers, transmits or lets information be known to others.
Within the process of communication there are two implications, 

Intersubjectivity: The listener interprets the message and changes it as they send it along. Communication is between people and they always want to argue about things, interpreting them in the light of their own experience. The active audience produces feedback.
and
intertextuality: No message is ever complete. Any message gains its meaning (for a particular person) from all the other messages that person has previously received and sent.


Technology:
When looking at technology it can be argued that technology is merely an extension of the human body, such as a wheel is simply an extension of the foot.

Predominantly there is two separate kinds of technology:
Analog and digital (which relies on binary)
It can be argued that although digital may offer more specific and quality results, analog provides to the user more options, such as a car radio that in analog would merely require a small turn of the dial, whereas today pressing the button may miss the station that you were looking for.

Media
The word media is simply the plural for the word medium, as in medium (channel) for communication. However when we speak of Media we often refer to it as the 'news' such as through a television or the newspaper. For example when we speak about the news industry we often say the media. 

Convergence
Convergence has been introduced throughout the past decade as more and more options of technology become readily available, such as mobile phones and the internet UI's. With this kind of technology available and in high demand technology firms seek to find ways to bring the most uses to a single device. Such as cars, containing GPS, radios, internet, DVD players, Television, fridges, iPhone and iPod docks, bluetooth, air-conditioners etc.
Also there is the concept of intangible object converging, such as the media converging to bring multiple forms of interactivity to the audience and businesses are converging to provide new forms of vertical and horizontal integration. 

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Intro to ME!

Hello, This is Henry!
I am a first year Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Business student, With a passion for Film production and marketing, which combined makes advertising.

At the moment I am doing this Marketing, Economics and Writing for the Web.

I did this course mainly because of its relevance in society today and because communication technologies are a huge part of day to day life and business life.

What is Communication Technology?

Week 1; Post 1
When exploring communication technology, it's function in todays society, the implications it may have on social, educational and professional aspects of our lives it becomes clear that communication technology has consumed modern society. It has progressed the rate of communication and as a result the speed at which tasks and information travels to unprecedented levels. This concept of communication and the technology utilised to transmit a message has been around for centuries, and will continue to exist for centuries to come. However within the exploration of communication technologies there are three questions that are imperative.






What are the main issues in new communications technology?









As particular technologies have advanced to revolutionary new levels, such as the iPhone and the iPad, 




new questions have arisen to the stability of inbuilt defence mechanisms designed to prevent the unauthorised use of personal and confidential information. The are innumerable amounts of issues in relation to communication technologies; privacy, fraud, hacking and the dispersion of information to name a few. Quite clearly, the main issue in relation to everyday consumer technologies is privacy. Privacy is a major issue and refers to not only what or where the information we submit to technologies and websites go and how they are stored, but what information about us is received and stored without our knowledge. For example computer and technology giant Apple inc. has recently been 'slapped' with an iOS lawsuit. 'Apple has been named in a class-action lawsuit alleging that the company allows iOS applications to provide advertisers with sensitive – and supposedly private – user information.' (Myslewski, 2010) . Although apple was not actually aware of this taking place, with Goolge inconspicuously gathering this sensitive information, it illustrates how even just turning on a GPS may put you in potential danger. 













How do we distinguish between old and new communication technologies? 









To distinguish between old and new technology is not as simple as whats out on the shelf at your local JB-HiFi. Communication technologies are rapidly developing and as a result what can be seen as 'new' in some peoples eyes may not be seen the same way in others. Additionally new and old can also be over generalised. As with the discussion today, where some may see the difference between the old and the new as the transition from analog to digital. Often distinguishing old technology from the new is a matter of individual opinion, If it is used frequently and is easily accessibly from the stores it can be seen as new technology. 






Under what circumstances will new communication technologies become old communication technologies?









Again, this is a matter of individual opinion. Often technology will become old or outdated when one of the following occurs, a new technology becomes available that either performs existing functions more efficiently or performs new, more up-to-date functions. 'When a new high-tech creation is born, something else may die as a result. Sometimes, the loss is a good thing--who wants busy signals or staticky TV?' (Raphael, 2009) 










Myslewski, R 2010, Apple slapped with iOS privacy lawsuit, viewed 26 July 2011, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/28/apple_privacy_lawsuit/>










Raphael, JR 2009, Obsolete Technology: 40 Big Losers, viewd 26 July 2011, http://www.pcworld.com/article/169863/obsolete_technology_40_big_losers.html