Communications and Cyberspace: Chapter 22

In Chapter 22, Professor Strate proposes the concept of cybertime and virtual time. His main argument goes, "the computer functions both as a clock- keeping, measuring, and producing time both for the outside world and its own internal microworld-and as a medium- generating "virtual time" through stories, games and audiovisual presentation". I find this statement interesting because I find that while the computer keeps track of time, I also find myself losing track of time easily when I'm on the Internet. The creation of terms cybertime and "virtual time" exhibit the immense impact the digital world has on our reality. It was even able to infiltrate one of the most objective parts of the real world. The chapter is introduced by paralleling the computer with the clock and their similar functions. Both technologies manufacture pure information. While the computer also serves as clock, it is unlike any other timepiece because "the central processor generates time for the computer's internal world". This is a fascinating idea because time is often thought as an element that cannot be created nor molded. Another interesting point made was that the computer functions as a medium of time but not in the traditional sense. The computer and communicate a sense of time that is not exactly the time but rather "virtual time". Virtual time refers to the sense of time propagated in the virtual reality and computer generated worlds. VR has become so involved and powerful that it even has its own separate sense of time. (that's kind of scary)

Communication and Cyberspace Chapter 22

Chapter 22, Professor Strate's chapter, is titled "Cybertime." He states that the invention of the computer can be traced back to the invention of the clock; it was one of the first automated machines, and it produced information. He writes that, "Cybertime is absolute time, digital time, and it is quicktime." Today, people mark time down to the second, and even the nanosecond, changing the way people relate to time. Not only do computers display time, they also "communicate a sense of time that is not necessarily the time." He refers to this sense of time as "virtual time." As he said in class, no other medium allows users to lose track of real time so easily.

Chapters 8-15

The first line that caught my attention in chapter eight was in the first paragraph—“The spoken word therefore extends the mind.”  The Internet has many different forms of language, including email, instant messaging, IRC, Usenet news groups, the World Wide Web, etc.  Media will have a numerous amount of effects on the spoken language.  Before writing and mass printing, each village had their own language and after the emergence of these two steppingstones, language has changed in a different way.  New media has a huge impact on spoken language as well as text-based language.  Chapter nine discusses the written word and how new media has impacted it.  “The written word, an extension of the spoken word, is ultimately an extension of the mind.”  New media encourages the use of written word, however, there are so many different types of written language based on different generations, in my opinion.  E-mail, instant messaging, and text messaging cause an instantaneous form of written language as opposed to older forms.  I was rather nervous when I read that William Crossman stated that writing be wiped out by the year 2050.  Chapter ten states a website that I am very comfortable with, Mapquest.com.  I love the fact that technologies in new media can possibly have automated tolling booths.  I am not sure if McLuhan writes this before any knowledge of the EZ Pass, but it has made driving long distances extremely easier and it was an unbelievable invention.  Chapter eleven talks about binary codes, which are used for almost everything nowadays.    Digitization has made the world a much easier place.  New media plays a large role in design, distribution, marketing, and sale of clothes, as stated in chapter twelve.  Everything can be done through the Internet in present day, including one of my favorite past times, online shopping.  I can buy an unlimited amount of clothing online without having to leave my house.  As said in chapter thirteen, new media is everywhere in houses today.  It can regulate lighting, heating, cooling, humidity, and security.  It has made living much easier.  Ecommerce is a huge invention today.  I can get money out of an ATM or charge a purchase to a small piece of plastic called a credit card.  Special cards have been invented for those who are loyal customers and want to know about sales and items of interest, like that of Stop and Shop.  Websites like Amazon and Ebay make it easier for people with less money to find items that have the lowest prices.  Chapters fifteen and sixteen talk about clocks and the print.  Every electronic machine today has a clock, including microwave, TV, cell phones and cars.  The last part of the assignment is about how print is becoming obsolete with the new emergence of “digital images, computer graphics, and the hard copy output of printers connected to computers.”

Logan Chapters 8-15

Chapters 8-15 of Understanding New Media are in Part II of the book, which lists all of the old media and how they have been affected by New Media. Chapter 8 is about the spoken word. One possible effect of New Media that the author discusses is that there could be a reduction in languages spoken across the world because most of the internet is in English. Although he says that the fear is “misplaced,” he does believe English will be more widely used. Chapter 9 discusses the written word. New Media encourages its use, through email, instant messenger, etc. Some, however, claim that reading and writing are doomed. Chapter 10 discusses roads; New Media has helped drivers find their destinations through online maps. Numbers, as discussed in Chapter 11, have been influenced by New Media due to the use of binary. Clothing has been influenced by New Media by wearable devices. New Media has influenced housing by way online real estate and the proliferation of internet connections in houses. New Media has influenced money by way of the ATM, E-commerce, and eBay. New Media has also influenced clocks, because most electronic devices (smartphones, computers, etc.) contain digital clocks.

Digital vs. Analogical

Digital is composed of discrete units, which are arbitrary, while analogical is continuous.  I never thought of life in this way, but it surrounds the world every day.  It is important to note that everything is moving to greater digitization, but a good question professor Strate brought up is, "is this important?"  The clock face shows other potential times that exist when compared to a digital clock.  It is important to learn how to tell time on a clock face because knowing the other potential times, for me at least, helps me sort out my day easier.  For example, if I wanted to plan out my workout, homework, and beach time, it is easier to split my time by the numbers visually than it is to count on a digital clock how much time I should leave aside for each activity.  What was interesting in class was that counting is digital and measurement is analogical.  Measurement is always an approximation and counting is always precise.  My favorite part of class was when we talked about different mediums of music.  It first started with the records and when the magnetic tape came out, people like professor Strate were not happy because they had developed a passion for collecting records.  I was just born when some people still used magnetic tapes, but I never used them.  I do remember using CD's (which were made of discrete units), but I always thought it was unnecessary because I would put my music online and discard the CD rom.  Television was another medium we spoke about and I could not imagine not having a TV that was not digital.  DVD's also came up.  When I was younger, I had a great assortment of video cassettes that I still have in my basement, but those always took up too much room.  In todays society, DVD's are easy to store and better quality, in my opinion.  We also spoke about how analog requires space, similar to how I mentioned DVD's being easy to store.  I loved how professor Strate said that, "we live in a remix/mashup world."  On a side note, I think learning about the background of Marshall McLuhan was good for the class because I am eager to read his book that we are assigned to read in a few classes.