Technology has a significant impact on the ways in which we communicate. Media technologies comprise a substantial portion of modern communication, especially in social mediums. Four media technologies that immediately come to mind are television, the internet, mobile applications, and digital publishing. The following summaries provide a glimpse into the history and impact of each medium as they pertain to media communication.
TelevisionTelevision (TV) has drastically evolved since experimental images and movies were initially broadcast to the public just outside Washington D.C. in 1928 (Miller, 1929, p. 472). From the first commercial electronic television sets to Light Emitting Diode (LED) and Three-Dimensional (3D) capable home theater systems, the way we watch media at home has continually evolved over the years. Besides the obvious evolution of the technology, research into the history of television exposes the intriguing aspect of television broadcasting as a business (Kisseloff, 1995). Modern television broadcasting provides entertainment, news, shopping, public service announcements, emergency messages and alerts, marketing advertisements, and internet access. Television has become a media platform with the ability to host an entire sub-set of media platforms which increases audience numbers and audience diversity.
Television has the potential to reach the largest and most diverse media audience within the United States because the majority of households have access to television where they may not have access to other media technologies. The relationship between advertising and network executives has become abundantly clear through the gradual introduction of commercial advertising and the permanent effect advertising has had on television (Kisseloff, 1995). Specialized programming and genre programs are tailored to reach specific audiences, and the advertising attached to each program reflects the target audience. Although specific programming segregates television audiences according to taste and media preferences, television as a media technology has the unique ability to reach across cultural, religious, gender, age, social, economic, and political boundaries and bring audiences together for a few illustrious hours during prime time.
The Internet
I doubt the full impact of the internet was prophesized when the first three letters, L-O-G, were sent from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) to the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) on October 29, 1969 over what was then referred to as Arpanet (Ward, 2009). Arpanet made a cosmetic name change with the introduction of the new Internet in the 1980’s. More changes followed when commercial interests took notice of networks in the late 1980’s, greater speeds were established in the early 1990’s, and a user-friendly Browser was established in the mid 1990’s (Kleinrock, 2010). The internet we know today operates thousands upon thousands of networks on millions of computers all over the world.
Although not every household in the United States subscribes to internet service, public internet stations, free wi-fi hotspots, and other access terminals are popping up across the nation. “Back in those days [1969], long before the utility of the net was demonstrated, Dr. Roberts and his colleagues had an inkling that remarkable things would happen once such a network was built” (Ward, 2009, ¶17). The internet provides many of the same functions as television, in addition to countless information resources, social networking sites, electronic mail, and data backup services just to name a few. Another unique characteristic of the internet as a media technology, as opposed to television broadcasting, is that information from the internet delivers immediate results, has unlimited accessibility, and has the possibility to circulate to a world-wide audience. Personal connections are no longer bound by location. Communication is no longer bound by language barriers, and the possibilities of the internet are limited only by the user’s imagination. “The potential impact of this ubiquitous information infrastructure is unbounded. The nature of the services and styles it can produce is limited only by the imagination of its practitioners. It has penetrated our institutions and has changed our behavior and attitudes in fundamental ways” (Kleinrock, 2010, ¶11).
Mobile Applications
The introduction of digital media on mobile phones opened up limitless possibilities to turn ordinary phones into what we refer to today as smartphones. I have one, my husband has one, almost all my friends have one, and my mother even has one. The mobile phone has become more than a device used to communicate; the mobile phone has become a social status symbol with marketers and consumers alike competing for the latest and greatest. Like the internet, mobile applications provide immediate gratification for entertainment purposes, and little or no additional effort to search the parameters of these mediums. Mobile applications target younger generations, an audience accustomed to the convenience of carrying their social lives on their devices. Status updates, music downloads, instant messaging, and throwback arcade games all available at the touch of a button. These types of applications provide an additional outlet for marketing driving support from modern consumers. Mobile advertising uniquely targets specific audiences who seek out products and services, and that value comes with the compromise of unreliable audience numbers. The compromise seems to be working considering the revenue for mobile advertising in the United States reached $700 million in 2011, and the year just passed the half-way point (Lim, 2011).
Digital Publishing
When electronic readers (e-readers), such as the Kindle, came on to the market, many people foretold of the demise of printed books and publications. With devices such as the Apple iPad, Amazon’s Kindle, and the Barnes and Noble Nook, the latest New York Times Bestseller can be downloaded and ready to read in under a minute at a mere fraction of the cost of a printed copy. E-readers are dominating the publishing market, evident by the recent liquidation of Borders Group Inc. The second-largest book retailer declared bankruptcy in February, seemingly unable to compete with counterparts when the publishing industry shifted toward online and electronic dominance (Brown, 2011). The complete demise of the printing art form seems unlikely, but the shift from print to digital appears to have a lasting appeal. I know my bookshelves will remain filled with the likes of great authors along with my current favorites, Chuck Palahniuk and Suzanne Collins to name drop. I also know my Kindle App. has almost reached capacity, filled with guilty pleasure reads and highlights from my latest Cosmopolitan subscription. The future of digital publishing will be revealed soon enough, but in the meantime, publishing media is both at my fingertips and at the neighborhood book superstore.
Resources
Brown, N. (2011). Borders liquidation approved by bankruptcy judge. MSNBC.com. Retrieved July 22, 2011, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43845362/ns/business/
Kisseloff, J. (1995). The box: An oral history of television, 1920-1961. New York: Viking.
Kleinrock, L. (2010). Personal history / biography: The birth of the internet. Retrieved July 22, 2011, from http://www.lk.cs.ucla.edu/personal_history.html
Lim, D. (2011). Cell phone companies still pondering how to milk the mobile app. Fox Business. Retrieved July 22, 2011, from http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2011/06/22/cellphone-companies-still-pondering-how-to-milk-mobile-app/
Miller, J. N. (1929). The latest in television. Popular Mechanics, 9(1929), 472-476. Retrieved July 21, 2011, from http://books.google.com/books?id=xt4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA472#v=onepage&q&f=false
Ward, M. (2009). Celebrating 40 years of the net. BBC News. Retrieved July 21, 2011, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8331253.stm
No comments:
Post a Comment