Observation #20

Stop, pause, start, skip are all terms associated with using a remote control or a DVD player, but not with fast forwarding television, that would be crazy. The knowledge of TiVo has redefined how television is viewed and how ad agencies choose to advertise their products. All the commercials that advertisers think are being viewed can now be skipped over by just the push of a button. I am sure ad campaigns have been hurting from this revolutionary tool, but it hasn’t resulted in better commercials. One of the main reasons why people would skip over a commercial is because it is lame, cheesy, and long. I love the Super Bowl commercials because they make me laugh and they take on a new spin, instead of being boring and annoying. If commercials were always trying to live up to their potential, I think TiVo wouldn’t have as big of an impact on the advertising markets.

Observation #19

Disney doesn’t make movies like they used to. Disney classic styles like Cinderella, Aladdin, and the Little Mermaid aren’t found on the newly released, exciting racks, but they are still available. I just watched one of the new Disney movies, Enchanted. I loved it, but it wasn’t a classic in my eyes. Although the new Disney movies have a type of appeal to them, I don’t see them lasting through times like the older movies have. My mom and her mom used to watch Cinderella. I know that Disney can’t remake classics, they have to move on with the times of technology too, but I miss it. What made those movies classics? Will movies of today become classics for future times? In some cases I think the answer is yes, but the world of media is so unpredictable it’s almost impossible to even guess.

Observation #18

New terms in the way we gaggle to one another have emerged since technology has become an everyday necessity in our lives. No, gaggle is not one of them, but expressions like, “I just googled it,” have become a part of our vocabulary. Just like Coca-Cola became a symbol of American life and language, I believe that these new terms like googled, twittering, facebooked, and other technological lingo, as well as, texting abbreviations are already taking up too much of our brains memory, but I can’t help but use the terminology because I hear it so often. Does this type of language just come with the times we are living in, or will it stay with us as a memoir of this technological revolution?

Observation #17

Express yourself, post it on YouTube. If it’s not on YouTube it’s not news, or so I’ve heard. The wide variety of information and entertainment found on YouTube has redefined what expression means. Although many people use YouTube for humor, several great musical artists have found their start on YouTube. The purposes of this site are without number. Personally, I go on YouTube to get fun clips for presentations that I am giving, or to get a real laugh. I think this type of expression allows the Hollywood part of the media become more attainable for the average person, and allows others to enjoy the results for free, that is probably one of the reasons that it is so popular. By clicking on the title of this post it will take you to a YouTube clip produced by madTV called I-rack, I think it is pretty fun!

Observation #16

Digitalization is taking over the world. This digital reform is being exemplified through music. There is a drastic difference in the way we buy music in this day and age. Records were replaced with tapes, which were replaced with CDs, which are now being replaced by I-tunes and single track purchases. Although this adjustment has changed the way recording companies highlight an individual’s music, I think this revolution in music purchases was vital to get people to start buying music again. It requires every song by every artist to be a hit in order to sell, and this creates a more competitive market forcing good music to be a requirement. I love it!

Observation #15

Are we really, truly a literate people? Of course some things have improved since the times of the caveman, we can read, or else you wouldn’t be looking at this, but at what price? Has the influence of media and the new standard of technology brought down the intellectual capacity of the human mind by not stressing the importance of knowledge and answering the difficult questions of life? We are still asking and answering the same questions that have been asked since the Dark Ages. Instead of reading books back then, since they were expensive and unavailable, they used art, music and symbols to interpret and communicate allegorical and symbolic meaning. The book industry today is declining, not because we don’t have the money to buy books or the materials to make books, but because we don’t want to read books. Today we use spell check to conquer the homonyms and spelling errors, but in some cases its spelled write, but not used write, for example. Today’s society doesn’t search for knowledge; it doesn’t dig deeper than the surface unless it is required. Celebration of life and knowledge is being replaced with superficial, inept entertainment which is at the standard of everyday life. So, are we really literate, or have we lost the art?

Observation #14

One of the best new technologies for me, as a college student, is wireless internet. Even though there are kinks that still need to be worked out in some of the systems, for the most part it is a very efficient tool. This technology is spreading to cafés and restaurants all over, and has become a device that we rely on everyday. The internet is still young. If it has come this far in such a short amount of time I can’t imagine where it will be in another couple of years. Things can only get better from here. Faster, stronger, bigger; the options are endless, at least that is what some of the experts say.

Observation #13

Here at BYU-Idaho we have something called the laptop initiative. At first I thought that buying a laptop when I had a plethora of other options available was a bad idea, because it would be cheaper not to buy a laptop, but I bought one anyway. Now I have found that having a laptop while in school is the best idea to improve my study and efficiency. Everything is available online, and it is very effective to bring my laptop to class to take notes. If I didn’t have a laptop I would have to be very dependant on my roommates and library, which can be a hassle. Without the laptop initiative I wouldn’t have a laptop, and probably would have never gotten one.

Observation #12

There is something that I really enjoy about technology getting better, and that is having everything available in one place at one time, with me always. I think this is true of an iPhone. They are really unique pieces of technology that will let you contact people, connect to the internet, listen to music, find locations, and give you tips, as well as, keep you informed of your social calendar, dates, and times. This type of synchronization between all the different things that you section your life into can really help you see how much you have, and plan your time better. If I had one of these I am not saying that I still wouldn’t be jumping all over the place, but at least everything would be at my fingertips.

Observation #11

The new technology of blue ray in viewing movies is something that isn’t catching on very well right now. DVDs are working to totally replace tapes, but there is a major difference between DVDs and tapes. I think one of the reasons why blue ray isn’t catching on is because number 1 they are more expensive to create, number 2 they are more expensive to purchase and you have to buy certain equipment to watch them, as well as, DVDs are still pretty new, and blue ray really isn’t all that different. I think if they brought blue ray out later when DVDs were done having their glory, then and only then would they stand a chance. Right now I think it is too soon for blue ray to even think that they will make it big.

Observation #10

Facebook to me is just another way to communicate fast. Like texting, twitter, and instant messenger, facebook is a distraction. I do have facebook and I spend a lot of time on it, updating my status, figuring out what’s going on at home, but is it needed? I was just fine with my phone and the word of mouth. The ability that media has to connect us with the rest of society is an appeal that strikes everyone, whether they like it or not. We like to know what is going on and have it at our fingertips. Before I had facebook I felt like I was missing out, but I was just as in the loop as any of my friends, the reason I got it was the thought of loosing their friendship because I was moving away for school. Facebook, as a distraction, leaves the media wide open to usurp its ability to advertise. This is the way the media is moving slowly but surely into every aspect of the internet.

Observation #9

Commercials are well thought out and highly researched to be put with the television programs that they are. I never realized how much they were researched and surveyed, but I was working on a project and it came to light. I was writing down what commercials showed and how many times they were played. It was amazing how directly connected the commercials were with the show. I watched Gilmore Girls. Commercials came on 5 times within the hour-long program for about 3 1/2 minutes for every break, resulting in about 17 minutes worth of commercials. The products highlighted in them were for makeup, clothing and facial cleansers, all things that a teenager or young adult would probably be associated with. I don’t know how well commercials work to actually sell things, but I do know that it gets the product on the market, and that in and of itself is a note of what commercials do.

Observation #8

I went to Elder Bednar’s CES fireside on May 3. The topic of discussion caught me off guard, not because I didn’t think that the church would ever address the issue of the media, but because the specific manner that he addressed it. So many people reacted harshly to what he said, even though he was very carful about how he said it. I think that the realization of the effect media has on our lives was a harsh reality for people to face. Just because they are good LDS people doesn’t mean that they can’t be tempted or be deceived by the effects of the media. I think that reality was the cause of most people’s feelings to this talk, no one likes to be told that what they are viewing or doing isn’t right or helpful to them.

Observation #7

Texting is a social hazard for me, and it should be for many other people. Texting results in a separation from the area and environment. The dialogue between people and the normal social aspects of getting together are ruined. Texting does communicate things faster to people all over the world, but there are certain instances that texting is not appropriate; texting does have an expense that is given up. I don’t have texting, and I don’t ever want it. Text is another distraction that isn’t needed, but people feel like now it is a social wrong not to have it. Although I don’t have text, I feel like if I did I wouldn’t have a personal relationship with my friends. Texting like many other things when taken too far can be detrimental.

Observation #6

I know from experience that getting older generations into the newer technologies is a challenge. I frequently get phone calls about how to run certain things or how to make programs work. I think one of the reasons that they don’t embrace the new technology is they think the older things work just fine and it is just a trend that will disappear by the time they understand it. Although in some cases this may be true, for the most part it’s not. My parents will never get the new technology, but they will get it when it has been out for three to four years. I feel that if the new technology was brought in slower to the media it would pick up faster because people would be able to trust it and make sure it is good before they buy it.

Observation #5

Recently television has been transformed from analog to digital signals. My apartment didn’t really notice the change because we have cable, and it changed automatically, but my family at home in Utah noticed. Even though they can still watch movies and DVDs, the regular stations come up with a dark screen that says the stations have changed their signals and in order to watch them a converter box or cable is needed. My family is now part of the 1% population that could be considered as not having a T.V. I wonder how this change has affected the ratings of some of the local stations, and how many other families like mine are not making the switch over. I feel like this change has defined how technology moves on and leaves others behind.

Observation #4

Music has always been a big part of my life. I am a very sentimental person when it comes to music. I don’t have an iPod, but if I did I know I would have it in my ear everywhere I went. Even though I love music I think that iPods have made things so mobile and personal that self-centeredness is a common occurrence in today’s society. When students on campus are “plugged-in” they are, for the most part, unaware of the people around them. As long as the purpose of the iPod isn’t pushed to an obsession I think they are okay, because then at least there is a limit. The iPod has redefined the way we buy and listen to music, but should it define who we are and how we are perceived?

Observation #3

No TV=more time. That is one of the things that I found out when I went on a T.V. diet for two weeks. Television has never been a really big part of my life. I love to spend time outside, and I am a very diligent worker, but T.V. plays a bigger part in my life than I anticipated. Even though I work hard on my homework, somehow I always felt rushed to get it done. A reason for this: television. I found that my sense of time is thrown off when I watch T.V. I also found that I was more willing to purchase items when I went out if I had seen a commercial about them recently. Going on this diet helped me portion out my time, and I got things done at a faster rate than I had ever had before, as well as, I didn’t spend as much money. It was a great feeling. Once I stopped my diet I went back to watching television here and there, but I haven’t let it take control, I have been in charge of the remote.

Observation #2

Ahhhhhhhh! My screen just went blank! Beep….beep….beep; it’s beeping at me! My laptop just died! When my roommate’s laptop died it was a very dramatic incident. As traumatic as this experience was for me and my roommates, it was even a more traumatic experience for the world of computers. The reason was, my roommate’s laptop was a HP, her new one is a Mac. One of the reasons for her purchase of a Mac was she thought that all her problems would go away because Mac’s have newer technology. Although it does have a different set-up, that doesn’t mean that the other competitor’s in the computer world should go extinct. I personally love my Dell and I haven’t had any problems with it. Just because a computer is new doesn’t mean it is void of any or all problems, Mac’s still have problems, technology will continue to get better, but computers, whether they be an HP or a Mac, will still die. I think that it is a preference issue more than just a brand name or trendy issue.

Observation #1

A great idea can go really far in the world of media, maybe even start a trend. Take for instance the new series “Twilight”. Vampires are now an image in society almost like a real person. Edward is in almost every girls fantasy, just saying the name will start a conversation. When the series first came out I didn’t think that it would go far. I thought of all the television shows that had a vampire topic or star, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angels, and True Blood, the fact is, they didn’t go very far. After the Twilight series came out, these shows received a big boost in their ratings. It is amazing that from one fictional book series so many other mass media were affected. All parts of the media want to be apart of this breakthrough idea.