Historical analysis: the whole story and a nice cop-out
Books we have read for the course up to today have relied on historical data to analyze how populations interpreted certain media forms. The books by Douglas and Fischer, especially, were able to reach more concrete conclusions not just about the way people used a medium when they first encountered it, also about how their efforts worked out in the long run. In this sense, historical analysis is perhaps a more fruitful endeavor for academic study, since it provides information about how particular media developed over a longer time frame, leaving less open to speculation. Miller and Slater, on the other hand, conduct their analysis essentially in the present tense, and are therefore unable to discuss much more than up-to-date efforts by populations to utilize a new and unique technology.
Douglas’ discussion of the amateur broadcasters, for example, was an explanation of both the initial efforts and success of the amateurs – what Miller and Slater might call their attempts to reach their “expansive potential,” – as well as the subsequent regulations by the government that limited further ‘grassroots’ development of wireless technology. It encompasses a story from beginning to end, with not only social, but also political and economic factors in a more well-rounded discussion due solely to the benefits offered by the history factor.
In comparison, Miller and Slater’s discussion of the clothing and textile firms in Trinidad can offer no more than a static analysis, since they cannot know how a particular business effort online will manifest itself in the future. Essentially, they are just making observations.
Although this method of research can be interesting and useful – or, at least, is a gutsy and interesting change of pace, – where Miller and Slater go wrong, in my opinion, is in their overly flowery and optimistic presentation of the textile firms’ use of e-commerce. They seem to be advertising Trinidadian e-commerce, as if to stick up for Trini modernism, more than objectively taking notes. Though it is clear that they are attempting to demonstrate Trini efforts to reach “expansive potential,” their analysis could be more useful, and may lead to more substantive conclusions, if it included more detail and less optimism.