Understanding New Media: Chapters 50 & 51

Chapter 50 considers smart tag technology and dataspace. Smart tags or barcodes contain information that are extensions of the label of a product. They are made to be easily recognizable by computers to send to a database. Barcodes are definitely essential for sales industries. Now checking out at stores are significantly faster and more efficient. Now even cell phones have the ability to read bar codes through the use of the built on camera. Dataspace is the sum of all information. It is so expansive that it is considered to be a "new frontier". Furthermore it "represents an expansion of cyberspace"- all that is accessible on the web is available and present in the dataspace.

Chapter 51 deals with other enabling technologies not dealt with in UM.  Three notable technologies are Wikipedia, WiFi and Fiber Optics. Wikipedia, although not the most reliable source, has become a cornerstone in online researching. This website features an extensive archive of people, places, and terms with descriptions and information given by the public. WiFi today can be considered the optimal source of Internet connection. It can connect phones, tablets, and computers to the Internet at fast speed and across a wide range. Fiber Optics function by encoding information in a light beam. It improves the the transporting of information and alleviates traffic jams. 

6/25 Electric Writing and Hypertext

 Hypertext has been the focus of discussions for many years. Even though interest in hypertext has died individuals try to pin point exactly what it is. Many say that definitions up until now have been very ambiguous. Many feel that it is time to stop living in the past and create the future with the use of cyberspace and hypertext. individuals have been going to colleges to examine students and their reliance on print ads versus the internet. Print ads have become less and less as the years have gone by and students are spending up to five hours on the internet each night. Hypertext can never exist in printed documents the only space that is capable of holding it is cyberspace. Many parents and other individuals who relate to education are very skeptical of how hypertext will be used in the classroom and what effect it will have on students. Many feel that the sources that are required with the display of hypertext lead students to be able to discover and vast variety of information from the sources that are cited. Others feel that there must be some structural evidence to why we have used a textbook for so long and what impact switching over will have on students. Of course there is no conclusive evidence of where our society will go, but with the trends that are being set now hypertext and other devices will replace what we know now as the printed textbook. Smart tags release radio frequencies that allow information related to the barcode to be found and directed to a database. In order for this information to be sorted and arranged an enabler needs to be put in place so that when the barcode is scanned the information can go directly where it is suppose to go. Smart boxes are used to receive information that may be highly confidential. The military uses drones to scout out their enemy and than this information is relayed to a smart box, which is than examined by the military. obviously this information isn't available to just everyone, but smart boxes can be programmed to work in either a private or public setting. As shown by Professor Strate in class Wikis can be created very easily and can be used in many functions. I was amazed to know that wikipedia was one of thousands of wikis that are being created everday. This enables individuals to create their own future and design exactly how they can go about completing their goals.

6/25 Electric Writing and Hypertext

Chapter 50 discusses the use of  “smart tags.” The smart tag is very helpful because it makes information available that’s related to the tagged item through radio frequency. Furthermore, the camera phone has the ability to scan a barcode and learn about the product before buying it. The smart tag can also be used as a monitoring system that can detect leaks in plumbing or even help prevent the kidnapping of children through the tracking software. There are also many negative things associated with the smart tags. For an example, the tags in passports have the ability to track all citizens and visitors. This can lead to more serious things such as tags under peoples skin, which can allow the government to know where someone is at all times. The chapter also discusses “data space as the new cyberspace.” The data space will be different because unlike cyberspace which needs a search engine like Firefox, the navigation in data space will be carried out by humans and maybe eventually a component of AI. The mouse as a graphical user interface really stood out to me in chapter 51. For so many years we have had technology that does not require the mouse, and as a consequence we seem to forget about it. Instead of the mouse we either have trackballs on the blackberry or touch screen on the iPad. The chapter also discusses the importance of the hyperlink/hypertext. Hypertext “extends the written word (341).” This is because it allows the reader to click and go to another place where they can find additional relevant information. Chapter 17 also discusses the difference between print media and hypertext. Print media doesn’t allow for interactivity the way hypertext allows. Hypertext shows “interconnectedness between ideas by linking them together (283).” Even though hypertext encourages participation, it is still open whether or not it will be used more often in classrooms.

Chapters 15, 16, 17, 50-51

    Stuart Moulthrop titles chapter 15 “Getting Over the Edge”.  This chapter mentions that a single appliance will be all that’s needs in the world very soon.  No more personal computers or television sets or fax machines.  No one will have to go to the bookstore anymore because they have all the information they need already.  While reading this section, I was extremely concerned at how the world would interact if this were to happen.  Would I ever have a face-to-face conversation with another person again?  It would not be necessary with the advanced technology that we have, but I for one yearn for REAL social interaction.  Jay David Bolter states that we are living in “the late age of print,” where we ditch the world of print and are gradually becoming immersed in electronic technology.  Most of the chapter talks about how old regimes have changed into something electronic, but is this “new world” really emerging?  One of the most important thoughts in this chapter was that a book like Communication and Cyberspace, one written about new media, is still something in the past and a new world is not emerging as fast as we think.

     Chapter 16 talks about a medium that many thought would be outdated due to the emergence of the Internet, but writing for the Internet is actually something that is very important.  Camille Paglia talks about her experience starting in 1995 for writing for the Internet.  Paglia mentions how even the most prestigious people use the Internet daily.  People like Paglia mention that the key to Internet writing is the visual, not the verbal.  One of the best parts is similar to how television works.  Someone can TIVO a program and watch it repeatedly, just as writing for the Internet can be re-read as many times as someone wants to.  I thought it was extremely interesting that she said she uses different tones with her writing.  For example, in her op-ed pieces in The Wall Street Journal, she used a sober tone, whereas in the Salon, she uses an array of different personas to make her points.  Texts can also be visually designed so that it is more appealing to readers.  The Internet can have a flair for the “news flash.”  Internet writing can be made so that it can convince the reader to want to read it.

     Chapter 17 is about pedagogy and hypertext.  “Any program that allows readers to navigate nonlinearly through a body of text, sometimes a single text, but frequently a database of related materials with hundreds of nodes of text linked together forming a network of relevant material, may be considered a hypertext.”  Hypertexts and textbooks are compared throughout this chapter.  An example of a hypertext form is Afternoon by Michael Joyce.  “The reader reads a node of text and, depending on his or her selection of navigation methods, moves to any of several possible text blocks to continue reading.”  Hypertext brings about different habits for people than traditional reading in textbooks.  There is also no hierarchy of ideas with hypertext, which also causes it to be dynamic instead of static.  Hypertext always has a movement about on the screen causing no one idea to be the primary idea, yet the reader can decide where to start first.  In my opinion, I agree with Gibson that classrooms will shift from using traditional textbooks to hypertext.  But some things may be holding it back from being this way.

     Chapter 50 is called “Smart Tags and Dataspace.”  Bar codes and smart tags make it indefinitely easier to identify information on items.  Tracking shipments is now possible with smart tags.  Cell phones can even do the tracking now.  I thought it was interesting to know that the American Food and Drug Administration came out with a tiny chip the size of a grain of rice which can be implanted under the skin and transmit data on an individual’s location, identity, medical history, and possible criminal record.  Dataspace is the sum total of all the information resident on smart tags embedded in objects, buildings, and places.  An example of a smart tag application is the smart book that is smart, readable, searchable, and networkable.  Although it does not exist yet, it is a combination of a regular print book with a smart tag so they the reader can have both a digital book and a printed-on-paper book.  An interesting section in this chapter is the eighth language of dataspace.  Dataspace has all the information stored in smart tags.

     Chapter 51 is about enabling technologies not dealt with in Understanding Media.  Electronics, information storage devices, communication infrastructure, and more make new media possible.  There are many types of electronics, including microelectronics, nanotechnology, and quantum computing.  The mouse is an important section in this chapter, which was invented by Doug Engelbart in 1963.  Haptic technology means to translate touch into digital information and vice-versa.  One example that many people know of is the joystick in video games.  Hypertext, like described earlier, is a link from one set of text to another for from webpage to webpage.  Fiber optics works by encoding information in a light beam and can travel at the speed of light.  WiFi and Bluetooth technology is something that I have been accustomed to by growing up in this generation.  WiFi is a good invention because it allows someone to have Internet access where access would not usually be.  Wikis and Wikipedia is something we discussed in class, yet they are not related to each other whatsoever.  Wikipedia is a wiki-based encyclopedia, meaning a person can add or take off content on the web (similar to Google documents), but with the ability to add links as well.