Erin Janulis's Seminar Blog

So I feel very technically unsavy at the moment. I had responded to Christian's request for help testing Mod Innis and I'm afraid I have not gotten very far without comming up against a problem. I downloaded the steam program as instructed but I cannot find out how to then download Civilizations IV. The only option requires a credit card. Let me know if I am just missing something or if this is an actual problem!

Also for clarification in the instructions you may want to specify that students should be accessing an existing account, as opposed to creating a new account. I figured it out but it wasn't clear on the first read.

Posted by ejanulis at 08:09 PM | Permalink

Today's Question:

What would Innis make of the Internet? Write a brief analytical comment about the relation of the Internet to society that you can defend as consistent with Innis's ideas in some way. For example, you might employ one of his concepts (information monopoly, time-biased, space-biased) or borrow one of his analyses from an earlier technology (cuneiform's effects on the invention of abstraction in math) and apply it to the Internet.

My Response:

Initially, I found myself wanting to respond to this question by analyzing the internet based on Innis' concept of the time/space bias, however, the more I thought about it the more it might be more interesting to discuss the internet in terms of "information monopolies." My first instinct would be to say that the internet is a communication technology that transcends this constraint. In the age of web 2.0 it's hard to think of information being held by a small minority. The internet seems to be less monopolistic than previous forms. And yet it is perhaps too idealistic to believe that a great deal of the internet is not maintained by an unrepresentative section of the public. It's significant to note that especially when discussing the printing business, Innis is careful to explain that it was not that smaller presses could not produce material; however, they were never capable of maintaining the sales numbers as the major producers. This discussion reminded me of some statistics that are often related in political communication classes (I don't have the exact numbers here but I'll give you the trends...someone feel free to correct any inaccuracies). There has been a great deal of discussion as of late about how people are turning to online sources for news. There has been special attention drawn to alternative news sources like blogs. While more and more people are turning to these sources the overwhelming majority of individuals who use the internet as a news source turn to online versions of print or broadcast outlets. In a sense they go to the same establishment resources for information. In some sense, as long as people are still turning to the same outlets in a technology, has the information monopoly of the old technology really been broken?

Posted by ejanulis at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today's Question:

The Bias of Communication is known as a "classic" in the study of communication technology, but it is also described as "difficult," "nonlineal," "puzzling," and "a struggle" -- probably chiefly because the book does not build to a sustained or coherent argument. Choose one of the three essays assigned for today and read them in the manner suggested by the introduction -- as an "idea file." Identify some important concept, theory, or insight in the essay you chose and describe its importance. Please describe the idea critically as appropriate -- list drawbacks as well as praise. It may be helpful to reference earlier class readings as a point of comparison to show what is different about Innis' ideas or his disciplinary approach (economic history).

My Response:

One of the things that became abundantly clear while nearing the end of Innis’ first chapter “Minerva’s Owl” is his disciplinary orientation to the topic of communication. What initially may come across as a somewhat haphazard historical narrative linking events and changes with the evolution of communication technology is viewed through a very specific lens, which is quite different from what we have been exposed to in our previous readings. Innis’ background in economics allows him to view knowledge as a commodity which can be possessed and withheld from the masses. This commodification seems to aide in his attempt to explain how such an abstract concept like knowledge could be contingent on the available communication technologies. If we accept Innis’ conception of knowledge as a commodity, it becomes essential to understand how technology increases or decreases the amount of this commodity which is available. While this may seem to be a somewhat cynical view of knowledge it does provide us with an interesting frame work. Instead of thinking about the vast potential of what information is available in the universe, we are instead asked to think about not only how the spectrum of available knowledge may have been limited in the past, but, how we may currently be limited because of the limitations of the mediums we are able to utilize.

Posted by ejanulis at 01:19 AM | Permalink

Today's Question:

For this answer, try to highlight a conclusion that Miller & Slater make that differs from what we know about an older technology. That is, Miller & Slater cover themes that are very familiar from our earlier readings -- such as businesspeople and consumers trying to come to terms with a new communication technology -- but they occasionally come to strikingly different conclusions. Consider Chapter 6, "Doing Business Online," which chronicles several instances where Trinis try to employ new communication technologies (Web site design businesses, textiles catalogs, Miss Universe, etc.). Compare one of these instances and any conclusions that Miller & Slater draw from this material (e.g., about decommodification, virtual vs. real, the dynamics from ch. 1) to an analogous instance with an older technology covered by another author in this course (Douglas, Marvin, Fischer, Williams). How do you explain this difference in conclusions? e.g., Is the difference the result of technology (the Internet?), the method, the theoretical approach, assumptions, Trini culture, etc.?

My Response:

When discussing internet consumers Miller and Slater come to the conclusion that consumer desires for free items and objects newly available on the internet is leading toward a sense of decommodification. I found this discussion very interesting given the more recent debate in the US regarding pirated music, and video through the internet. They are clear to state that this tendency could have something to do with an innate Trinniness towards acquiring free or low price merchandise. However this trend is not necessarily something that has occurred with other technologies. If for example we examine Douglas’ analysis of the radio we do not see the same trend occurring. Perhaps there are some similarities between the information exchange and radio amateurs (but that would be quite a stretch) There may be another way to think about the decommodification trend which Miller and Slater seem to see happening. In some sense this process is one of the “great possibilities” not yet fully realized. The free exchange of materials and ideas without the constraints of previous technologies is a theme we have seen before. The internet just may have allowed this to occur in a more practical and tangible way, perhaps this trend is not as different as it may seem. However, this is a phase that Douglas and others found to be short-lived. In the tale of the radio we know that government legislation and corporations came in and limited the possibilities of free radio access and ideas. Why is this something that Miller and Slater don’t find? There could be any number of factors that prevent this from coming about? On some level there could be a unique nature to the internet that prevents free materials from ever going away? Or perhaps the technology at the point where it is being studied is too new to settle into the more conventional structure that other communication technologies have acquired? In the case of this trend I honestly believe it may be too soon to tell, and in order to make a case for an innately difference because of the technology of the internet I think a little more distance is defiantly required.

Posted by ejanulis at 12:42 AM | Permalink