On Demand

Part One;
I chose the hand crank cassette player.

Part Two:
A case study for evangelists

Part Three:
This technology is intended to help spread the work of missionaries.  It is has the intention of any other cassette player but since the places you are traveling to do not have electricity, you have to have a technology that can work without it.  The hand crank allows you to travel to these countries and still use sophisticated technology that we use in America.  The missionaries use the hand crank cassette players to spread their gospel to indigenous peoples.  The hand crank cassette players were made by the missionaries.  They took ordinary cassette players apart and replaced the electrical devices with manual ones.  This allowed for the use of advanced technology in places that were not as advanced.  This technology worked very well.  Due to the fact that the native people did not live in developed areas, they had never seen a cassette player before.  They were so fascinated by it that they became desperate to have one.  They wanted one so bad, and they did not care what tapes came with it.  They simply wanted to have the technology.  One scene in the movie shows a boy being interviewed.  He tells the director how much he and his family love it when the missionaries come and bring them free stuff.  They have no idea what the cassette player is or the message they hear, but it is exciting and fun for them to get something new.  Most of these people are poor, and any new presents will excite them and invoke them to play around with it.   This allowed for great success for the missionaries.  They were able to spread their word of god somewhat unknowingly to the people.  Since the missionaries brought the cassette players and tapes, and there was no such things like it in their cultures, the people were forced to listen to the gospel preachings.  People wanted to experience the communication technology so bad they were willing to take whatever they were given.  The missionaries would come and people would surround them.  The new technologies were unknown to the native people and that made them desirable.  It did not matter what the message was the missionaries were sending, all the native people cared about was the medium.  This allowed the missionaries to succeed very well.  People would listen to the recordings frequently because it was so new and exciting.  Then the people started to remember and learn from the gospel messages.  This in turn allowed for the missionaries to convert some cultures.  Evangelists can learn a lot from this case.  If you can expose people to something new and exciting, they will be much more receptive of it.  Providing a lower developed area with a technology that they have never seen before will produce great outcomes.  The people living in this community will want to experience what you provide them so bad, and they will not care what you are telling them.  While this may seem unproductive it ends up working out beneficially.  While the native people experience over and over again what you provide out of desperation, they will begin to memorize and remember the message.  Some will learn to understand the message and believe in it.  This is an example of cultural imperialism.  The missionaries take a part of their culture, the communication technology, and bring it to another culture.  This culture, whether by force or volunteer take on this new technology.  When they agree to take on this new technology they are eventually being converted to Christianity through the messages sent by the technology.  This is the best case scenario for the evangelists, and it is very possible for all of you to achieve this. 

Part One:

The communication technology I chose is OnStar.  OnStar was invented for the purpose of being helpful to drivers while on the road.  If you lock your keys in the car, OnStar can help unlock it or if you get into a car accident OnStar can notify for help.  While all these things are beneficial to our lives and could help us out in a crisis, OnStar is overall a negative communication technology.  It could lead to a dystopian society.  OnStar has the ability to know where you are at all times.  With OnStar in your car, you are always track able.  This is dangerous because if the government wanted to find someone they could.  It is not fair that the government, or let alone people who work for OnStar can find out where you are at any time.  This is an invasion of privacy and personal information. 

Part Two:

This communication technology is very similar to the communication technology, the telescreen, used in 1984.  The telescreen is similar to the modern television we all know today.  Everyone in the novel has one in their living rooms and they are also placed on street corners.  The telescreen differs from the television because the telescreen is capable of seeing what people do in their own homes.  At any time, the thought police could be watching you and listening to what you say.  At the end of part two, Winston and Julia are eventually caught by the thoughtpolice because of a hidden telescreen.  The telescreen was hidden by a picture, but was able to catch the two of them in their disobedience to the party (p, 227-230).  The telescreen controls its citizens through surveillance.  It is on at all times and is used to communicate with all people in their homes.  Different government officials come on at different times to speak, or music will play.  It can even be used as an alarm clock to wake up workers. 

Part Three:

Overall I think there are no communication technologies that are completely used for dystopian purposes.  I think that plenty of technologies can have dystopian or negative uses, but for the most part they all provide more benefits.  OnStar is a good technology because it can save lives when someone gets in an accident.  Surveillance or security cameras have the same idea to them as the telescreen.  While this could be viewed as an invasion of privacy and the government gaining too much control, the safety and security these appliances provide us outweigh those negatives.  Almost all communication technologies could have some dystopian uses, but it is up to society to make sure they are used for their positive benefits and not their negative ones.

Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Plume, 2003.

In our lives today, we have numerous communication technologies available to us.  Each of these technologies has been created to serve a different purpose, most of them advancing us and making our lives easier. However, with the creation of new technologies our lives are not always made simpler and less complex.  Along with these new communication technologies have come new worries.  Some of these worries include privacy and conformity.  With inventions such as the internet, and all that comes along with that communication technology, comes concerns about identity theft, privacy settings and loss of interpersonal communication.  These issues and worries we have today are some of the very same issues George Orwell discusses in his book 1984. 

1984's central character is a man named Winston.  He is living in London during a time where everything is controlled by the government and everything is equally rationed out.  Not only does the government control what everyone does and when, but it can also know who and when people are disagreeing with or plotting against the government.  One particular section of the book I really liked was in part one, section eight.  In this section, Winston begins to question the life he is living and how things may have been different in the past.  He has learned his whole life of one thing, and he is beginning to believe that he may not have been taught the whole truth. 

            Winston meets an old man in a pub one night and presses him to answer questions about the old days.  He is curious to know if things were better now or then, and if capitalism really was that wrong.  The old man is quite drunk during their conversation, but even if he was sober, he still would have had a difficult time answering Winston's questions.  The old man does not remember much and seems to be annoyed by the assumption that Winston wants him to automatically say things were better when the old man was a boy, and there was more freedom and individuality.  Winston goes on about what he believes the old days used to be like, and on page 93 uses the word lackeys when talking to the old man.  This brought back memories to the old man, memories of how things used to be a long time ago.  When Winston and the old man part, Winston is left thinking over their conversation.  He realizes that survivors of that era don't remember anything, at least anything of importance or value (95).  All people are now forced to believe in Big Brother and all personal freedom of thought has been erased.  There is no such thing as individuality in Oceania. 

            I find this observation to be very similar to our society today.  While today's loss of individuality is different from that of 1984's, there is still an important loss in our society.  People on the internet can be whoever they want to be.  People lie about their age, gender, and personal information.  Not knowing who people are on the internet can cause serious problems with stalking or obsession.  In this sense, I think 1984 pertains just as well to today's society as it did in 1949.  The communication technology we have today curtails our individuality just as the Big Brother curtailed individuality in 1984.  

Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Plume, 2003.

Part 1: The role of communication technology in maintaining/creating an identity

 

Part 2: The game Civilization 4 simulates the real world very well.  When you first begin your civilization, you pick your leader and country.  This is an example of choosing your identity.  I chose to be the leader for the Egyptian Empire.  I chose this because this leader is a woman.  Chapter 13 in Culture and Technology discusses how gender plays an important role in creating identity.  Lots of communication technology forces one to choose between genders.  In playing this game as a woman I felt I was creating a different identity than when I had played it as Roosevelt.  This influenced my decision making and interactions with other rulers.  For example, I chose to adopt universal suffrage very early on in my game.  If I did not identify as a female, this may not have occurred.  I also think the communication technologies I chose to build in my society helped create its identity.  Early on I chose to build a broadcast tower.  This then brought me to other communication technologies such as the internet and library.  Having these technologies allowed my culture to then become educated and powerful.  Also, I chose the grocer application which allowed my nation to make more money and therefore make stronger deals.  When discussing how technology affects identity, I remembered the beginning of Chapter 13.  Technology is unequally distributed and often times separates nations into the haves and have nots.  My identity for this game was a strong, powerful nation.  I needed this identity in order to obtain all the technological advances I did. 

 

Part 3: I think this game does a really good job at simulating identity and its regard for communication technology.  Having both female and male rulers helps players pick an identity.  This also makes player maintain a certain identity when they are playing because who they are as a ruler effects how they work with other rulers.  If I want to be a caring, sympathetic female ruler I will keep to myself.  If I want to be a dominating, strong male leader I could use force and take over other empires.  This game also does a good job at challenging identity.  If I want to be a strong powerful female who takes over the entire world I can do that as well.

My screen shot here shows me building the broadcast tower.  This communication technology was extremely helpful in helping to maintain the identity I wanted and gain more technology. 

Part One:
I chose the Oxford University component.  This component creates a university in your culture.  Oxford University is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the English speaking world.  Civilization IV describes the university as having thirty nine colleges and seven private halls.  It is heavily associated with religious organizations.  A large number of world leaders, including prime ministers, presidents, kings and Nobel Prize winners have attended Oxford.  The game's simulation of Oxford University is very accurate and detailed.  In the real world, England as looked at in a higher light because of this college.  This same effect occurred for me in my society.

Part Two:
In the game, Oxford University helped my culture to expand enormously.  I was referred to as "Roosevelt the Pathetic" at the beginning of the game.  Once I added Oxford University to my culture, my land and power grew a great deal.  As you can see from the graph below, my culture is greatly succeeding compared to the other cultures in the game. 

 

Once my culture began to expand greatly due to Oxford University, I was also able to succeed in other areas of the game as well.  Other leaders looked to cooperate with me, as well as try to trade or become a friend.  Oxford University gave me a lot of power in this game because not only did it allow my borders to expand, it allowed me to expand as a leader. 

Part Three: 
I found adding the Oxford University component to be very effective.  In comparison to adding the University versus adding a library or Rock and Roll, I found that the University helped my culture immensely.  I think this is because education is valued greatly.  Almost all cultures value education on the highest scale, and usually leaders of cultures are highly educated.  Intelligent leaders are better able to expand their cultures and borders through cultural imperialism.  This is exemplified in class during the movie The Tailenders.  The missionaries are very educated people.  They translate their preachings into several different languages and dialects.  In addition they use their wealth and influence to convert people's religions.  The missionaries would not be as successful at this process if they were not educated.  Therefore, this supports the effectiveness of adding Oxford to your culture during this game.  In order to expand and impose my culture on other cultures I needed to be educated.  The Oxford University application allowed my citizens and myself to be better educated.  . 

Advertising plays a major role in helping communication technology develop. It helps people become more familiarized with communication technologies. Communication technologies rely on advertising to inform consumers about the product; how to use it and why they should want one. These consumers who are being targeted are called configured users. To teach the configured user, advertising helps to focus on what type of consumer people might be. A consumer could be either very unfamiliar with the technology, familiar with the technology, or very familiar to it. Advertising is used to advance a communication technology's popularity. Advertising really shows the evolution a communication technology goes through. Take these two cell phone commercials. The first commercial is an advertisement for when cell phones first came out. At this time, most people are uncertain about the product. Only a select few people owned one. This group is called innovators. They are the people who take the first risks and try new technologies before everyone else. This early commercial tries to emphasize the importance of cell phones and how they can be helpful in cars or anytime you are alone in hopes the majority will adopt the technology. Advertisements in this phase are trying to explain to the consumers what the communication technology is so consumers become comfortable and familiar with the product. In the second commercial, the majority has adopted the communication technology, and the advertisement is targeting the laggards. This group only accepts a technology once it has become traditional. For this group, advertisers no longer have to worry about explaining what the technology is, but instead they are trying to popularize and glamorize cell phones. When a technology starts to become popular, new additions and improvements are made to it. These new additions still need to be advertised in order to keep the technology advancing. Without the help of advertisers, communication technologies may never become popular and therefore die out.

FREQUENT UPDATES: Pick either an acquaintance you don't know that well or a parent. In a 24 hour period dramatically increase the amount of information you send this person using a text-based mobile communication technology that you know they can receive (likeIM on your phone, text/SMS, or e-mail on your phone/PDA). For example, you could communicate with them every time you do anything ("hi I am getting on the bus", "arrived in class," "class is boring," "having lunch," "talking with friend.")

 

I texted someone very frequently for the past day.  During this 24 hour span I texted him things such as "eating a salad for dinner" and "going to sleep now".  His reaction to these text messages was very interesting.  I imagine he was confused as to why I was talking to him so much.  I do not talk to him often, and to not only talk to him a lot in one day, but through texts, I'm sure was puzzling for him.  I imagined this person did not know how to respond to my text messages.  At first, this person responded with a bit of hesitation.  It seemed as if he liked that I was making an effort to talk to him, even if it was out of the ordinary.  With some of my earlier texts, he did not write back normally.  The early texts were responded to with "ok" or "that's weird".  Once the day went on, and this person got more accustomed to talking to me, his responses became less hesitant.  Once he said, "oh how fun" when I texted him that I was taking notes in class.  This text expressed thought in the fact that he used sarcasm.  He was getting used to my frequent texts and starting to play along.  When I texted him what I was eating for each meal, he responded with "that sounds tasty".  I think this exercise exhibits the norms we associate with texting.  We associate texting as something good friends do.  You do not text some one who you have not spoken to or seen in awhile, especially if the text is about something insignificant information that they probably do not care about .  Also, currently, the norm for texts are right now is that they are supposed to be for fast questions or quick sayings.  It is not supposed to be used as a form of communication to tell someone about your life every five minutes. 

 

Texting is a relatively new communication technology.  Therefore, norms need to be created for it.  I think these norms come from the media and society.  We see a lot of commercials for texting and new phones that offer it.  There has been a whole language created based on texting.  Abbreviations and spelling words phonetically has become the appropriate way to talk when communicating.  This also supports the fact that texting is supposed to be used for short, fast communications.  I broke this norm when I texted this person frequently through out the day.  My texts were meaningless and unimportant.  The expected behavior of texts is that you use them to communicate with people when you can not speak on the phone and need to tell them something right then.  I know I would be taken a back if someone texted me frequently during the day with useless information.  I expect texts to be fast and of great importance, because that is the learned expectation of how our society is supposed to use text messages. 

I am digitizing an analog picture of food.  It is a very colorful depiction of a steak, carrots, broccoli, and a bread roll.  In order to digitize this I would want to copy it in a very neat fashion.  There are a lot of bright and distinct colors in the picture.  First, I would make a grid over the entire picture.  I would want to make the sections of the grid as small as possible.  This will ensure that I can get as much detail as possible.  There are a lot of specific and interesting colors and shapes in the picture, and the effect of it will be lost if some of the detail is lost.  I would draw a large amount of lines vertically and horizontally to cover the whole picture.  Once I had the grid all mapped out on top of the picture I would focus on one square at a time.  Each square would be labeled as a color.  However, the color would not be just "brown".  Instead, there will be a spectrum of shades to pick from for each color.  This is because there is a lot of brown on the left half of the picture, but it is not all the same brown.  The browns would be labeled from one to ten; one being the palest brown such as tan, and ten would be the deepest brown, such as chocolate.  I would go through every square on the grid, and give it its name.  An example would be square 3,5 Brown 6.  Once every square had its corresponding digital number I would be able to covert this picture from analog.   

Below is a picture of the food with the grid over it showing how I would digitize it. 

This process of digitization could go wrong if it becomes too popular.  The idea of quantization that I use is a complicated one.  There is not just a simple 1 or 2 assigned to each square.  There are a lot of number combinations that could be used and this can become confusing.  I imagine if this process becomes popular there would be a large demand for digitization.  This would mean people would work faster and sloppier to accommodate more needs.  Doing this will cause a lack of concentration on detail.  The scales for the brown colorings would begin to run together, and one would lose the differences between the browns.  Instead you would just have an entire left side of the picture all being the same shade.  That is not what the analog picture represents.  I could see the sampling being quite low.  In order to speed up this process of digitization, I believe the amount of intervals tested would be lowered.  This would negatively effect the digitization of the picture because it would not accurately represent the analog picture.

My broken object is a Tivo.  It looks like a silver rectangular box, with a black center and a little picture of a character in the middle.  It is about a foot long in width, a foot long in depth, and about two inches high.  There are lots of holes and wires in the back.  Some of the holes make shapes on the back for design.  The other holes have colored strings hanging out of them.  Most of the colors used on the box are black, silver and pewter.  However, then there are red, yellow, and white wires that stick out of the box.  There definitely looks like there is a lot of space on the inside of the box to hold a large amount of stuff.

The purpose of this box is to be a storage system for music.  The wires are used to connect it to and from different technologies so you can store and hear your music.  First, you connect the wires to a radio.  Through the wires, songs and other media are transferred to the box.  You can store millions of songs in the box because it is so large.  Then, you remove the wires from the radio and put the wires into a speaker.  Now you can hear your songs through a sound system.  The point of storing the music is so you can hear it whenever you want.  Your favorite songs on the radio can now be heard anytime, and you don't need to be by a radio to hear them.  This helps because sometimes with radios you do not get a good signal.  Also, not all radio stations are broadcasted in all areas.  So if you like a certain station in Champaign, and then had to leave and go to Chicago, you wouldn't be able to hear the songs you like.  Now, you can take your favorite station along with you, and all you need are speakers to hear your favorite tunes. 

This new technology was intended to make it easier and more convenient for people to be entertained.  However as chapter 2 in Culture and Technology explains, "Convenience does not in any incontrovertible way make life better" (p. 32).  In fact, this new technology made life more complicated and troublesome for people.  People had to lug around this huge box to hear their music.  It also greatly hurt the radio industry.  People were only listening to the radio a small amount to transfer their songs.  Once they had their music stored they did not listen to the station anymore. This made the radio industry suffer economically.  Therefore this technology that was intended to make people's lives more convenient, in fact made them more inconvenient. 

           

1. Find out where the "on demand" movies are stored in a digital cable system. Also find out who decides what movies are available. Take a picture of the location of the movies (or get as close as you can)
2. I talked to a person at Comcast, which is the digital cable provider for my home town.  I asked him questions about where "on demand" movies are stored and he helped me out a great deal.  He told me that the on demand movies are stored in the Headend, which is provided directly from the cable system.  The Headend is an actual building that stores all the on demand programming.  There are several of them around the United States to provide cable services to different areas.  What goes on demand is decided by the channel provider.  The channel provider changes from city to city and area to area.  So what movies or channels might be on demand in one place are not on demand in another.  I received information about digital cable from my home town provider because Insight, which is Champaign-Urbana's provider, was not as helpful.  I took a picture of the Insight building in Urbana, which is where the Headend is located.
   

3. Cultural Determinism

On Demand was created from a cultural determinist stand point.  Americans, as a nation have continually become more obese and lazy.  They eat a lot more, exercise a lot less, and spend way too much time in their houses.  Because they never leave their couches, they have stopped going to the movie theaters.  Movie companies were suffering and needed to figure out a way to continue producing movies and making money.  In order to do this, movie production companies teamed up with cable companies to bring the movies into people's living rooms.  If Americans were in shape and not so lazy, on demand would not have been necessary.  However, on demand needed to be created so the movie industry could survive.