Thursday, June 21, 2012

Chapters 16-22


Chapter 17 is about how Webcomics and online comics.  People who publish comics find it easier to find a target audience, along with a cheap and inexpensive way of spreading their works.  Publishers can also make money off of their comics through advertising, sale of merchandise, and the use of an electronic tip jar.  It is also worthy to use the web for comics because comic strips can go infinitely in either direction, making it easier for people to read, as opposed to having to turn pages.  It is also better for creators to use computer software to make images and pictures if they are not the best illustrators or can better portray the image in their head on the web.  Chapter 18 describes the printed work and books.  I thought it was interesting that Logan said the sale of books continues to increase.  I would think that the opposite is happening with inventions like the I-pad and Kindle.  But it is obvious that there are huge concerns in the percentage of time younger people spend with books ever since the emergence of new media.  Like Alan Kay said in class when he came to talk, it is easier for the human eye to read a book close up than it is to read from an I-phone or computer desktop/laptop.  Like Logan says in this section, the left side of the brain needs to read hard copies, making books a medium that will always be a popular medium.  E-books are mentioned in this chapter and although I do own a Kindle, I prefer to read books in their original hard copy.  An interesting concept in this section is called VSTF (visual-syntactic text formatting), which transforms block-shaped text into cascading patterns that help readers identify grammatical structure.  Audio book is also an alternative way to reading and more popular than the e-book.  Listening to an audio book can help people more understand the content of the book by the use of enthusiastic reading.  One disadvantage is that it is more difficult to reread a section than it would be through normal reading.  Chapter 19 is about the wheel, bicycle, and airplane and how it is easier to order airplane tickets online.  Chapter 20 talks about the photograph and how much photographs have changed throughout the years.  It is also just as easy to snap a picture on a cell phone and change the filters to make it look like a professional camera took it.  Chapter 21 discusses newspapers and the news and before I read this chapter, I assumed that it was going to tell me that newspapers are becoming obsolete and news is much easier to get via twitter, the Internet, and other resources.  “One of the concerns journalists have with the ‘new media’ is that they might obsolesce newspapers.  Newspaper readership is in decline.”  More people are signed up for newspapers online, making it easier for people to find out information.  The last chapter, chapter 22, talks about motorcars and how GPS has changed everyday lives for humans.  Telemetrics is an interesting concept because it allows drivers to make payments automatically at the gas pump or at drive-thru restaurants.  Bluetooth technology allows the radio to connect to your phone which adds a hands-free concept.

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