NMR: Chapters 30 - 34

"The Endless Chain" was the article I was most fascinated by.  Having studied media and journalism throughout college, I am constantly reminded of the fact that much of today's media is concentrated, owned by big business conglomerations which are then subject to the wants and needs of that corporation rather than in the interest of the viewers and the population at large.  Thus far, our text book has looked at the various potentials/uses of computers and other forms of new media.  It is assumed, and many of the authors prove, how the increase of knowledge of technology leads to amazing advancements that only further a human being's abilities.  Many of the delicious articles that we've posted deal with technologies that allow the disabled to become enabled again with the help of a machine.  So how is it possible that in a world where technology has granted so many abilities, does such a narrow scope exist for the news?  There seem to be endless possibilities to create alternative news sources, however it still has been difficult for such institutions (i.e. alternative new blogs, websites) to gain attention, to gain a large target audience.  There is an extreme sense of irony in the fact that with technology, we have been granted a wide scope of possibilities, but with that same technology, many important institutions, such as the distribution of news, has become narrowed.

NMR: Chapters 25 - 29

The majority of these chapters dealt with how everyday people, the average American of almost any age group, is able to benefit from the use of computers.  When Alan Kay's group developed the computer notebook, the creators were thinking directly about how the computer notebook, the Dynabook, could be used by people everywhere, not only by experts.  Paper's article came about in the era of the home computer, and at a time when people were thinking about the power a computer has in terms of a child's learning tendencies. 

The power of a computer as a learning tool seems almost limitless to me.  I remember one of the first times in elementary school when I had to go to a computer class.  It was experimental, meaning that parents had the option to omit their children from the program.  I was excited about it -- eager to learn about computers, aware of how much easier things could be done.  I remember what I loved most was the responsibility using a computer inherently instilled in me.  As a child, rarely are you given anything of such monetary value to call your own.  In the computer lab, each student got his or her own computer station, your own work area.  Having the machine to call your own, even if only for 45 minutes, gave me more of a desire to learn.  Because the machine seems more fun by nature, even if it is indeed giving off the same amount, same type of information, students are more apt to be excited about learning, just as I was during the first days of computer classes in lower schools.

NMR: Chapters 21-24: Eliza

The power of Eliza, discussed in chapter 24, really compelled me to the potential danger of technology.  In 1966 when Eliza was first introduced, people were able to "communicate" with a "chatterbot," encoded with various scripts and posing as a psychotherapist.  Joseph Weizenbaum questioned what technology like Eliza was doing not only to our world but in terms of what it was doing to our minds.  There must be boundaries developed, the author believed, in order to prevent technology from running wild.  While Negroponte talked about how technology was empower its users, just as Boal examined ways in which technology could help create circumstances that helped to deal with everyday problems for the oppressed, the advent of Eliza puts a lot of the positives of technology into question.

The power of technology has always fascinated me and the chapters in the NMR (21-24) gave me more to ponder.  I, myself, am constantly struggling with which world I prefer:  that of the technologically savvy versus the nostalgia of old media.  I love blogs, but fear for newspapers.  I collect vinyls, but love finding new, underground artists that I would never be able to find without the Internet.  

McLuhan Documentary: McLuhan's Wake

McLuhan's "Medium is the Message" is an article that has been relative to many of my courses throughout college and will definitely be a huge reference for me during my colloqium.  I've always been a fan of his work, finding it very relative to a lot of the issues that technology is bringing up, decades after the work was written.

However I found myself frustrated by "McLuhan's Wake," the documentary we watched in class that was created by his son.  The documentary only slightly discusses McLuhan's life and instead, very abstractly, looks at McLuhan's theories, almost too abstractly in my opinion.  I spend a lot of the film trying to figure out what everything meant and less about McLuhan as a person or about his concepts.  What I would have really liked to see was a discussion of McLuhan's ideas in a more concrete, direct manner -- more biographical information that would clue the viewer in more to who McLuhan was and how his persona relates to his philosophies.   

G.H. Hovagimyan's Lecture/Demo

I missed out on most of G.H.'s lecture, unfortunately.  I did, however, get the chance to explain his discussion of youtube and the concept of the "youtube slam," which I was really fascinated by.

Youtube is something that is an everyday tool that I use.  There's almost always at least one youtube clip that is forwarded to me by a friend, either a serious one, an interesting one, more likely a funny one.  My friends have started a blog that consists of youtube clips they find funny.  And often, for at least an hour before my friends and I go out, we compete (unofficially) for who has the best youtube clip to show.  

Most of the videos we watch aren't exactly what I would call deep.  Most of them are humorous, and not interesting like many of the performance art clips that G.H. showed during his lecture.  However G.H.'s discussion of the "youtube slam" that is reminiscent of what my friends and I do when we hang out, but on a larger, more organized fashion.  It excited to me that there was a way to make something like youtube, which can easily be criticized for a considerable amount of trash that is posted, is also be able to be used constructively, even artistically.