Blog 10: Future of Internet

This post marks the end of my journey to learning about Introduction to the Internet. I have certainly enriched my knowledge of Internet and its uses through the course of this module. In addition, i am now more familarised with using a blog and i getting hands-on through the use of Windows Media Player to create a video. It was a good experience writing about what i have learnt each week and to be able to read what my friends' work was certainly additional information learnt.

A big Thank You to Mr Choy for making the class infromative and interesting at times. And also, for being flexible and helpful when i had doubts.

To mark the end of the final blog post, my take on the FUTURE of Internet will be somewhat like this...



Microsoft - Future 2019 - video powered by Metacafe

After viewing the video, i am certainly excited and looking forward to being able to use some of these technologies. In fact some of them are already avaliable in the market now. According to a Pew research done:

-A low-cost global network will be thriving and creating new opportunities in a flattening world.

-Humans will remain in charge of technology, even as more activity is automated and "smart agents" proliferate. However, a significant 42% of survey respondents were pessimistic about humans' ability to control the technology in the future. This significant majority agreed that dangers and dependencies will grow beyond our ability to stay in charge of technology. This was one of the major surprises in the survey.

-Virtual reality will be compelling enough to enhance worker productivity and also spawn new addiction problems.

-Tech "refuseniks" will emerge as a cultural group characterized by their choice to live off the network. Some will do this as a benign way to limit information overload, while others will commit acts of violence and terror against technology-inspired change.

-People will wittingly and unwittingly disclose more about themselves, gaining some benefits in the process even as they lose some privacy.

-English will be a universal language of global communications, but other languages will not be displaced. Indeed, many felt other languages such as Mandarin, would grow in prominence.

With so much anticipation, i believe the new WEB 3.0 will be ...

An Internet of Services: services are ubiquitous

An Internet of Things : in principle every physical object becomes an online addressable resource;

A Mobile Internet : 24/7 seamless connectivity over multiple devices is the norm

Need for semantics : to meet the challenges presented by the dramatic increase in the scale of content and users.

Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2006/The-Future-of-the-Internet-II.aspx

Blog 9: Internet and Journalism

Question: WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF PRINT NEWSPAPERS?

Answer:

Since my group is doing on Internet and Propaganda, i personally feel that the rise of internet has led to a new platform for politics, terrorism and journalism. What's more, even in my Media Effects class, issues like how the traditional print media are losing money, its value etc are being raised. It makes me realise just how fast and rapid technology is changing the world, changing our consumption of news.

It is evident in the recent elections how internet has shaped and changed the way politics work.

I believe that what makes the internet so outstanding is the fact that it is Interactive. Providing us the ability to engage instantaneously with people from all over the world in both print and on video.

As the internet moves into the next stage of broadband and wireless, TV is transformed into a genuine two-way medium.
Journalists will be able to read e-mails off their wireless phones as they come in, live on air from almost any place in the world.

The videophone - a concept that seemed like science fiction five years ago - will become more robust and versatile, and as more people get high-speed internet access, the viewing figures of webcasts will grow.

A question then comes to mind, Google News VS traditional newspaper- Allies or Enemies?

We have learnt that Google News aggregation is entirely automatic, using algorithms which carry out contextual analysis and group similar stories together. Articles on Google are ranked based on "how often and on what sites a story appears online," and "based on certain characteristics of news content such as freshness, location, relevance and diversity.

BUT, publishers of newspaper think otherwise and are resentful of Google News and other similar web structure. Main problem: publishers do not feel that the click through rate to articles is high enough, and thus any additional advertising revenue that they would gain from extra viewings of individual articles will not compensate for the income they lose from readers not going direct to their newspaper websites.

So, how can newspapers tackle these problems, which are all the more relevant in this time of financial crisis?

One example could be for newspapers themselves to provide more aggregation, such as the NYT's Times Extra page: an alternative homepage which includes links to articles from other sites under the Times' own stories.

OR

As quoted by the Automated Content Access Protocol, a coalition of newspaper, magazine and book publishers led by the World Association of Newspapers, "content owners in control of their online content in a way that is conducive to developing new online business models, putting new, high-quality content on the net and to maximizing the benefits of the relationship with search engines."

Hence it is evident that the internet has revolutionised the way that people read news, and aggregation and linking is undoubtedly going to continue to be a part of the news landscape. People in our generation like to be able to get news from many different sources around the world, and young readers like us have grown up with online news will have less loyalty to individual newspapers.

Therefore, a way for newspapers to gain an advantage is to offer a clear editorial voice in its selection of articles and how they appear, which is one of the aspects of newspapers that readers value highly.

The issue is whether it will be newspapers themselves or third parties which manage the system.

The future of newspapers is evident and we have to embrace it and not deny it...

Blog 8: Internet and Politics

In the early part of the 20th century the invention of radio and television greatly accelerated the dissemination of information albeit in a form that was mostly one-way, thus again proportioning a significant power in the hands of the wealthy owners of recording and broadcasting technology. At the same time, the populace of western nations were being induced into believing that the new electronic communications systems, like the telephone and television,

"liberate our domesticity from its dependence on physical location and enhance our social and cultural freedoms by enabling us, as active consumers and users, to create our own distinct and meaningful cultural identities."

This extrapolated to the new computer technologies, which began to develop when the U.S. defense agencies sought to create a system to make the U.S. military's weapons systems less vulnerable to attack.

POWER OF THE INTERNET

One of the most attractive attributes of the Internet for political activists would be its ostensibly uncontrolled nature. The fact that the Internet is able to render irrelevant the laws and controls of nation-states, and the essentially 'anarchic' quality where there can be genuine freedom of expression are qualities that attract those who have been voiceless in the past.

The range of groups active on the Internet vary from feminists and environmentalists to indigenous and liberation struggles to right wing extremists and white power advocates. Every conceivable group of like-minded people on the planet is theoretically able to connect and communicate with their fellow-travellers.

Furthermore, the global nature of the Internet means that for minimal outlay political activists now have the whole world as a potential audience for their propaganda via web sites, e-mail and discussion groups.

However, one of the major threats to the ultimate independent nature of the Internet might be posed by the major commercial imperatives of the new global corporate interests with incredible wealth and power.

Personally i feel that in Singapore, although forums and online portals make it easier for the exchanging of views among youths, such tools are unable to reach out to apathetic and disinterested parties.

People who are interested in music will visit forums which discuss music and entertainment. Sports lovers will frequent forums, or even blogs with a sporting outlook and content.

Likewise for politics, only youths who are interested in politics would bother to explore political forums, portals or even blogs online.

Hence, the Internet thus poses an obstacle for political parties like the Workers' Party to reach out to politically disinterested youths.

Fundamentally, the Internet does not solve the problem of raising political awareness among youths in general.

The Internet also leads to a false perception among the youths that they are contributing to their country by expressing their views and ideas online.It creates a facade that their ideas and views are being heard and considered by policymakers.

Blogs like i-speak, tend to reinforce the mindset among youths that the Internet is a feasible and convenient tool through which youths can voice their suggestions to the country and government.

BUT perhaps, nothing beats a face-to-face engagement with the public, which allows one to get a feel of the problems and circumstances afflicting Singaporeans in general.

On the ground is where the most exposure to youths is avaliable, by listening to the comments and opinions expressed by them. Providing an inkling of what exactly are their thinking and mindset. Only then can we propose effective and creative ideas and suggestions to reach out to these youths.

A very good example that i can give is The Youth Wing of the Workers' Party , which creates countless opportunities for youths to constantly interact with like-minded people, fostering the inception of various initiatives and ideas.

Being in a youth wing allows for a pro-youth stance without asserting the main political stance of the mother party. Putting aside the formalities and practices prevalent in a political party, thereby encouraging the development of ideas and opinions crucial to assisting and raising political awareness among the youths in Singapore.

Before i end off, i came across this interesting clip, the FUTURE OF POLITICS....

Blog 7: Multimedia

The evolutiuon of the 4th screen..... Not TV OR the internet...but......


This week, ive decided to focus more on multimedia, specifically in relation to Nokia VS Samsung

Nokia
I have been a Nokia user since young, infact my very first handphone was N8250. I have always been a fan of Nokia, which is why up till now, i am still carrying the same brand. Nokia advertisements have always amazed and facinate me. Lets take a look at this very first N78 ad..


Personally Nokia's N-series mobiles are all supported by high-speed wireless technologies like HSDPA and Wi-Fi. Each of the handphone is built to stream video, play music, take photos and video clips, enabling the user to share content easily with friends. In the ad that you have just seen, Nokia has made use of the handphone's unique multimedia facilities in the advertisement to entice and interest the consumers, which is a smart move as we are always searching for the latest device and gadgets that allow us to do many things in a small device such as this.

As for Samsung....
This particular ad that i came across attracted me and the way the advertiser had made use of multimedia to market the handphone is different from the above Nokia ad.


I believe it is evident that the type of advertisement for the different types and models of handphone will be catered and tailored to the specific targer consumer group. Personally for me, in this case, I felt that the Nokia was more professional and better at bringing out the features of the handphone compared with the Samsung ad which outrightly brought out the specs of the phone The features of both handphone were more or less the same with just some slight differences. Perhaps, the significant factor for some will be the appearance of the handphone which Samsung has a better advantage over.

To conclude, Nokia's multimedia marketing impresses me most, perhaps that is why i have been a Nokia user since my secondary school days. With the advancement of technologies and the current iphone trend now, i am waiting for Nokia to come up with something equally good or even better than Apple's iPhone.