Post-It Notes

A Post-It Note is a piece of paper with a stick adhesive strip on one side of the paper, used to leave notes and reminders for yourself and others. This simple idea was not invented until 1968 by Dr. Spencer Silver, an engineer at 3M. I know how important this tool is because growing up I used these on a daily basis. I am one that if my head were not attached I am positive I would lose it, so these Post-It Notes are great to set on my front door with whatever reminder I may need for that day. My freshmen year my two closet doors were covered with Post-It Notes because my roommate and I decided to keep a "quote wall" with funny quotes from the year. The video below also shows some tricks that you can do with these "sticky notes."



















History of the Post-It Note

The Teleprompter

A teleprompter is a text display device that can be used to aid in reading text instead of a paper script of some sort. It was invented in the 1950's by Fred Barton Jr., Hubert J, Hub Schlafly, and Irving Berlin Kahn. Fred Barton was an actor who was in search of something to aid him in remembering his lines. This was a big step in media because it became a tool used regularly by presidents, news anchors, and actors/actresses to eliminate the need of memorization. It cleaned up speeches and acting making what we watch on TV easier to understand and overall more entertaining to watch. It can even be used in concerts for artists who have trouble remembering lines to songs while performing. Teleprompters have aided TV, Movies, and music, which are 3 of the biggest media concepts in our world today. However sometimes the people reading the teleprompters can have trouble... check out the video!

History of the Teleprompter

Portable DVD Player

A Portable DVD Player is a device that you can watch DVD's on and bring with you on the go. Movies are a big part of our media, they have been since first created "Roundhay Garden Scene" was made in 1888. However it was not until 1998 that Panasonic had created the first ever portable DVD Player, which started a whole new tool for the world to view its movies. This player had a five inch LCD screen and built in speakers. Now when waiting for your airplane at the airport or waiting for a ride to pick you up wherever you were at you had the ability to watch your favorite movies to make the time go by faster. The fact that this invention was created shows how important movies are to our media, because of the fact that this item has been so successful and has advanced on to other technological devices. 

History of the Portable DVD Player

First Movie Made

Poster

A poster is a large printed piece of paper that usually has a picture or words or both that can be used as decoration, advertising, and many other things. The poster is a great form of mass communication, and this is how they began to come popular in Paris in the 1890's (When all the advancements had been made for posters to be all color posters). The streets of Europe and Asia became "streets of advertising" due to the many posters that lined them up and down. Today posters are used for all the same reasons, however they just have many more posters to choose from, and you can actually create your own poster. Posters are a way of showing your personality in something like your room or household, or are great for advertising any type of product in any type of place.

History of Posters

The Grill

The grill is a cooking device that can be used outside, commonly used to cook such things as burgers, brats, hot dogs, chicken, steak, basically any type of meat or food you want to grill. The first step to the grill being invented was the indigenous people who cooked there meat on a rack in the middle of a smoky fire, it evolved to the advanced grills that we have today. This is a source of media because the grill brings people together. Families are known to have "barbecue's" where everyone gathers and food is made on the grill, this applies to team gatherings, graduation parties, or any other type of gathering that involves food. If people are coming together, the grill is the perfect thing to cook with to please the crowd.



History of the BBQ Grill

Electronic Message Boards

An electronic message board is something with a digital screen that can display any type of information to people that cross its path. It is commonly used in front of banks telling the temperature, in schools to display current school news for students in the hallways, and many other reasons. These boards are convenient because they can be changed to say whatever is desired, and are also very easy to operate. It saves the hassle of having to write something down on a big board, hope it doesn't get erased, and then go through the hassle of doing that all over again. These message boards are a great resource of information to people that cross their path, and can be very valuable depending on what information is given on it.

LED Sign Authority

GPS (Global Positioning System)

A GPS or Global Positioning system is something that was first invented by Ivan Getting and the U.S. Government and used to pinpoint anything ships and submarines, could measure Mount Everest, and make overall measurements and pinpoint locations within only a centimeter! In today's world GPS is used commonly in cars to help navigate you to where you need to go. It is much easier than the previously used paper map, that you have to read and follow. In many cars the GPS system will literally tell you when to turn, making it much easier and safer to drive. This is an example of media because the GPS uses the voice of a person to aid you in where you are going. This video is a spoof on the power and intelligence of the GPS, but I would not doubt that in the future this is possible!

History of the GPS

WNBA

The WNBA (Women's National Basketball League) is the professional level of women's basketball. It was developed in 1996 and play began in 1997. The league was a success, being played in the summer which was the time that had the least amount of professional sports being played, and being televised on three big name television stations (ESPN, NBC, and Lifetime), more than 50 million viewers tuned in to watch the games live. This shows that media, sports media specifically, is not only a male category. It was a big step for women to have this league created, and then proceed to have it be successful, and media made this possible. The video link shows that the WNBA is no joke, and it is just as intense as the NBA.





History of the WNBA

Blogs

If I am going to create a blog about the tools of media, I definitely have to include blogs. A blog is a website usually run by an individual, that becomes a persons online diary of some sort. A blog is something that people can come on to and post whatever they want, and others will have the ability to view it and in most cases comment on it. The first ever blog was made by Justin Hall, a student at Swarthmore student in 1994, which evolved into the first blog-creation webpage made by blogger in 1999. Since then blogging has become a common theme in the world. Giving people the ability to write whatever they want whenever they want, on their own personal webpage. I feel the quote on the posted picture explains blogs well.

How Blogging Started
What is a Blog?

Projectors

The projector is something that takes images and displays them in a bigger fashion for a group of people to see. You may have thought the old slide show projectors and those "overheads" that your teachers used in grade school were the first projectors invented, but they were around long before that. It is unclear about who, where, and when it occured, however in 1645 Athansius Kircher described and illustrated a device for reflecting sunlight from a mirror, through a lens and onto a screen. In today's world the projector has evolved into something that has made displaying still images and videos simple and easy, and there could soon be a phone with the ability to work as a projector. The tagged video shows how life like these big projector screens can be! The projector is a tool of media because without it, it would be much more difficult to spread important information to a large group of people.

History of Projectors

Ringtones

Ringtones are what saved people from having to hear the simple "ring ring..." of a phone that usually would go off when you were receiving a call. A ringtone is a type of alert that you will hear when you are receiving a phone call. However there are many differences from the normal "ring ring.." of old phones.
With ringtones you can choose the ringtone you get, whether it is a song, words from a movie, or something you personalized yourself! Ringtones are a way people can use media to show their personality in the way their phone rings, and also a way media can spread with the ability of others to hear your ringtone.

Explanation of Ringtones 

Picture Messaging

Picture messaging is a good example of how different types of media can combine to make a more advanced media source. Picture messaging (also known as Multimedia Messaging MMS) is the ability to send pictures from phone to phone like a text message, therefore combining text messaging and taking pictures. It gave people the ability to send a picture of whatever they saw, were doing, or felt was important to share at that time.  One of the first phones capable of picture messaging was the Sony Ericsson T68i in 2002, and now in today's world it is hard to find a phone without picture messaging.



History of Picture Messaging

Survivor

The show Survivor was one of the main reasons reality TV is as popular as it is today. In the show people are brought to a small area somewhere in the wilderness where they must compete in numerous challenges, while at the same time voting people off the island. The last person standing at the end of the show would receive 1,000,00 dollars, so people would do whatever it took to win the game. After Survivor, many shows did what they could to create shows like Survivor and to compete with Survivor, and that is when the Reality TV fever hit the United States.


Information for Survivor

Reality Television

Reality TV is something that has become more than popular in our culture in the last two decades. It is a form of television with no scripts or plots, it is just a bunch of cameras following the people or "cast" in whatever situation the producers have put them in. The first big reality show was MTV's The Real world which was played in 1992, which took seven people from different backgrounds and put them in one house to live. Reality TV was not much of a hit until 2002 when Survivor premiered on CBS. In 2011 there are at least 7 reality TV shows on the big four networks ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. This doesn't even include the numerous amounts of reality TV on MTV, VH1, and many others. Reality TV is an example of the type of media entertainment can change drastically. Before the 1990's, sitcoms were very poopular, however 20 years later reality shows are a top source of entertainment for people in the world. 

History of Reality TV

Words With Friends, Game or Advertising Trick?

Words with friends is a very popular game that can be played on Iphones and all Android phones. It is basically scrabble that you can play back and forth with others who have the right type of phone. However, do we know how much is actually being shared when this game is played? Besides the words that are formed between the two participants. Some people are searching deeper to see what advertisers can see when you give your information for "Words With Friends." One person believes that when playing words with friends advertisers are able to view numerous things, but more importantly your E-Mail address, phone number, and unique phone fingerprint. Now we can't be sure that this is a reliable source. Someone with the username "Smackywolf" may be hard to take seriously, but his words have definitely got me thinking... This is an example of one of the problems of media, the fact that it is so easy to be tricked into giving some random person or thing your information.

Words With Friends Sharing Personal Information

Tap Shoes

Tap dancing is a form of dance that involves clicking of the feet created by a metal plate that is attached to the bottom of the shoe at the toe and the heel. It was originated and made from elements of many different countries, and is very popular in the U.S. today. This is another topic that may be thought of as having nothing to do with media, but I will give a step by step explanation of how it is clearly connected. Tap shoes are needed for tap dancing, tap dancing can't happen without music, and music is a key part of media! Without tap shoes, we would not have this interesting type of dance that many people are entertained while performing and while spectating. The video attached is of two men tap dancing outside of something like a clothing store, and you can see the amount of people that are watching. This proves that media happens in extraordinary ways in many places. 

History of Tap Dance Shoes

Lebron James "The Decision"

As an athlete, there may come a time when you have to decide what team you are going to play for. However in most cases when choosing the team to play for, they don't get to decide on national television with millions of people watching. Now many people felt that Lebron James was wrong for making his decision broadcasted for millions, but there was a lot of good that came out of it. Even though Lebron did choose to go away from his hometown of Ohio, he did raise more than 2 million dollars for the boys
& girls clubs of Akron. Bringing 60,000 in to fix a leaky roof, refurbished a beaten down gymnasium, and paid for a new playground. Now this is just 60,000 of the 2 million. It is amazing to see that a simple choice can change the lives of so many people, and the change was able to be made because of TV and media overall.

Benefit of Lebron James "The Decision"

Pool Tables

One thing that brings people together is sports. Whether it be a athletic sport game or a small recreational sport. One recreational sport that I feel can be connected to media is the game of billiards or "pool." Now at first thought you may not think that these two are connected, however when it comes to media the game of pool is important. When you think of a game of pool you have to think of where it is played. One obvious option is in a household, which can be played alone or with other people. Say you have a gathering at your house, one of the things that people would be doing is playing pool and conversating at the same time. Therefore, making media! Another common place that a pool table is seen is in a bar. This is a source of media because it brings people together at the bar, again making it media. It is hard to say when and where the game of pool was started, however it was started as a game on the lawn. It was then moved to a table so it would be easier on people's backs. The game of pool has come far from when it was played on the ground back in the day, check out the video attached for some pool trick shots!

History of Pool Tables

Sirius XM Radio

Music is a key part of media, and now there are many different ways of listening to it. One of the top music resources in today's world is using satellite radio. Some top names in the Satellite radio world is Sirius radio and XM radio. In 2007 the two major companies merged together forming a satellite radio superpower. The benefit of this radio is that you can choose the genre of music you want to listen to, or a talk show hosted by big names including Howard Stern. The merger was a big deal because according to company executives it will soon lead to major cost savings and the first-ever profits in the fledgling industry. The combination brought 18.5 million subscribers to the company making it making it the second largest radio company in the country. Thanks to this merger people can enjoy the superpower of radio, in their vehicles or homes.

Merger Information Website

"We Are the World" - Haiti

After a 7.0 Magnitude earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, Lionel Richie suggested the a remake of "We Are The World" be made in an effort to help those effected by the large quake. Knowing the past success of the song made for Africa, a new version was remade with over 85 artists contributing in making the song. The song was basically the same, besides some adjustments and additions made by some of the artists. The Song is still available on Itunes and was one of the top 100 songs for a long period of time. The importance of media has not changed over the years, actually it has only gotten more important. I'm sure that if something like this occurs again in 20-30 years, there will be a whole new line up of stars that remake the song a third time to help the people.

official website of The We Are The World for Haiti

"We Are the World" - Africa

In 1986, a group of celebrity musicians showed how effective music can be in our world. The song "We Are The World" was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie in an effort to support the famine in Africa. The song included 21 solo performances from famous musicians such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Willie Nelson. The song sold over 20 million copies, making it one of less than thirty songs to sell more than 10 million copies and raised over 60 million dollars which was distributed throughout Africa. This situation shows the power of media and its effect on people. A seven minute song changed the lives of many people all around the world, specifically in Africa.

Facts About "We Are The World"

Whoopi and Donald Go At It

In a recent episode of The View, Donald Trump and the ladies of The View discussed President Obama. Donald Trump was stating his argument requesting that President Obama release a copy of his birth certificate to the public, proving that he was born in the United States. The ladies of The View did not agree with what Mr. Trump was saying, however Whoopi in particular showed anger with what Donald was saying. Donald stated the reason that President Obama should show his birth certificate is because "I have to, and everybody else has to." Whoopi did not buy that statement, she in return stated "....I have never heard of any white President to be asked for his birth certificate... When you become the President of The United States, you know that he's American." The argument continued between the group until it was time for a commercial break. I think it is crazy to show that we as people have the ability to watch and react to a heated argument like this over a serious issue in our nation from the comfort of our own homes. Then, after everybody has seen the show, or the video clip, and has posted it on their Twitter or Facebook, everybody is throwing in their opinion on the matter until the whole world has heard of and spoken their opinion on the issue. Media is running our world and it spreads like wildfire.

Whoopi and Donald Brawl

Whoopi Goldberg Speaks Her Mind About Donald Trump

In the episode of the view shown before in my previous blog post, we saw Whoopi Goldberg and Donald Trump in a heated argument about President Obama and the necessity of the President to release a copy of his birth certificate. When the 4 women of the view sat and discussed Donald's statements, everyone took shots at Donald, however Whoopi made it clear that she was upset. Stating, "you know how Donald says 'people are laughing at us thinking we don't have it' Here's one of the reasons they are laughing at us Donald. When you show such disrespect to the president of your country, people in other countries think that were idiots." This whole ordeal again shows how powerful media is. Being able to discuss someone's statements and bash them on national television for the world to see, is kind of a crazy thing to think about

Whoopi bashes the Don

Obama's Birth Certificate Released

After Obama had been ridiculed multiple times about his eligibility to serve as president, President Obama released a copy of his birth certificate to the public, proving that he is an eligible citizen to serve as president. However President Obama knows that the talks about his eligibility are over, stating "I know that there is going to be a segment of people for which no matter what we put out, the issue will not be put to rest." This shows the power of the media, that we as people have enough power to convince the President of the United States to release a copy of such a personal item. However President Obama did make it clear that this issue was not of importance stating "I am speaking for the vast majority of the American people as well as the press. We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We have better stuff to do. I have better stuff to do. We have got big problems to solve."

Article on the Release of President Obama's Birth Certificate

Beats By Dre Headphones

Now in today's world, almost everybody has an Ipod, and if not they have some sort of listening device that of course requires headphones. Today's headphones have improved greatly from the first pair made by Beyerdynamic in 1937. One of the top notch headphones of today are the "Beats By Dre" brand of headphones. There are 12 different kinds of Beats By Dre headphones, including 6 in ear headphones, and 6 over hear headphones. I have a pair of the over ear headphones called the "Studio" version. These headphones are a step up from the rest due to their High Power Digital Amplifier, Powered Isolation Technology that cuts external noise, extra large speaker drivers for super deep bass, and a special driver design for precise audio clarity. Now I can't say I know what all that means, but I can say that these headphones are AMAZING!
Beats by Dre has changed the way consumers can listen to music, and has changed media because of this. Giving people the ability to listen to music in a studio quality fashion, encouraging people to listen to more music.

Official Beats by Dre Website

The First Headphones

Headphones are a very important part of media today. Ipods would not be successful without headphones, and music would not be successful. The first pair of headphones for the public were created by the manufacturing company Beyerdynamic in 1937, and actually still make a version of these headphones today. However they were not immensely used in the public till sometime around 1950.

History of Headphones

Skype

Skype is a computer application that can be downloaded allowing you to video chat with someone that also has the Skype application. It was of the first mainstream applications used by many around the world. It was created in 2003 by Niklas Zennstrom and Dane Janus Friis. It changed the way people communicated, adding the visual effect that brings you even closer to the person you are talking to. It was a very big deal to people off at war, being able to "Skype" their family members, and see them while they talk to them even though you are millions miles away. The best part about the application is the fact that its free! I personally use it to talk to my parents and my grandparents while I'm away at college, and I am definitely a fan of it. The Iphone 4 has advanced this idea by creating "Facetime," which gives you the ability to video chat on the move with your phones, so you can virtually video chat anywhere you are (If there is WiFi available).

Skype Corporate Fact Sheet

Apple Hit With Lawsuit

Iphones have always been known as one of the best if not the best phone since it was first brought onto the market. However the name of the Iphone is being damaged due to the recent lawsuit brought on by 2 men named Vikram Ajjampar and William Devito. This lawsuit was brought on after 2 researchers at O'Reilly Radar found an unencrypted file that contains data that can locate anybody that has one of the latest versions of the Iphone. The argument is that Apple is violating the privacy of the users and in doing so are breaking the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Apple has stated that they need to know the location of the user in order to help them locate things on their GPS, but the two men are not backing down.

International Business Times Article

"Tomorrow's Media Today" (Paper)

Woody Balut

Media Literacy

Rob Larson

4/5/11

Media Tools of Tomorrow

            In today’s world media is used almost every minute of every day, however, imagine what the world was like before any of the media came around. There was no radio, television, internet, etc… That is something that is hard to think about, due to the fact that in today’s world almost everything we do is done through medium known as media. However, something that is even harder to think about is to imagine what the world will be like in the future, and the many media advances that will occur, or in some cases what could fail. Media has changed drastically since the beginning of time obviously, but even more so in the past 50-100 years. It is without a doubt that in the next 50-100 years it is only going to change at a more drastic rate. However, due to how advanced our media is today, it is hard to think about how the media could be technologically improved. There are many types of media, and many devices that are key in the media world. There are a few major types of media devices that will most likely change the most, and become the most important. These include radio, film and television, phones, the Internet, and print.

            The radio is something that has been important for a very long time, and something that will continue to be important for years to come. Then again, this form of media will be important for different ways. According to an article on the Gerson Lehrman Group website written by Brad Saul, radio revenues began to fall in 2007, and there are 3 main reasons why. The economy is the first reason; due to the fact that many automobile makers are in economic distress and more than 25% of radio commercials are geared toward automobile manufacturing, auto dealers, or related services. Second, is the fact that new media is coming around that the radio is having a tough time competing with. Companies are now choosing to do advertisement online rather than on the radio, causing the radio to lose the money from advertising that they usually would profit off of. The third, is the fact that this generation has little or no interest in radio. Texting, social networking, and television have taken over from the previous generations that thought of the radio as very important. The radio needs to find a way to direct consumers attention back to where it used to be in generations past, before it is too late. If not, commercial free tools such as Ipods and Pandora will soon take over becoming the standard in vehicles and homes all around the world. (Saul)

            Film and television is a form of media that has changed over time, and in the future will continue to change in many ways. Many new developments have been attempted and are still in the making, such as the OLED TV (Organic Light Emitting Diode) that saves energy by using a different type of backlight, and the SED TV that was energy efficient and had a great picture quality. On the other hand, these developments have also had their own faults. The OLED TV is great, but is not a top selling item due to the fact that it cannot be made as a big screen due to technical reasons. The SED TV failed because of the simple fact that major companies fought over the idea, and the development went undeveloped. Conversely, there is

an idea that is improving the television of today and that is 3D television. As of today, 3D has been around for a while, but not on an HDTV that you are able to bring to your home. However, there are some problems with this new idea because 3D TV only offers select channels that one may watch, and even though major movies are now coming out in 3D, it is still a very small amount. Another hassle of 3D is the expensive accessory that one must be have in order to view these 3D televisions. This accessory is a set of “active shutter 3D glasses,” which according to psmag.com will cost somewhere around $150. So, in the future consumers can most likely be ready for 3D televisions that cover all movies and channels, that you can watch in the comfort of your own home, and without the nuisance of 3D glasses. (Strauss)

In society today, the television is improving as well as the sources for the consumer to watch. Online streaming of movies and TV shows has become something very popular with Netflix. With Netflix, the consumers are able to stream their favorite movies and TV shows directly to their computer or television without leaving the couch. This concept has caused the hyped Blu-Ray disc to not be as popular as some companies may have planned. Netflix has over 10 million paying subscribers, and this number is increasing rapidly (Butler). Due to the fact that people today want things brought to them quickly and easily, and it is safe to say that Netflix has only reached the brink of its popularity. Netflix has influenced change through in several major television corporations because of the creation of Comcast On Demand service. The trend of online streaming has begun, and is taking the world by storm; soon all TV’s will have the option of some sort of Netflix, with more movies and shows available to watch quickly and conveniently.

A third major tool of media that has been used in the past, today, and in our future is the telephone. The phone is another tool whose future is uncertain. The first question is what is the future of landlines? The answer is that they will soon be obsolete.  With cell phones being used by almost every person at a very young age, home phones are becoming unnecessary, and an extra expense for families that they obviously do not want to pay. According to a study by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the number of households with landline phones declined from 96.2% to 94.1% between 1998 and 2003, and the number of people with cell phones increased from 36.3% to 62.8% (Evslin). The percentage of landline use has continued to drop since then. In 2008 an article in the NY Times stated that one in five homes do not have a landline phone (Hansell). Cell phones are taking over home phones. The cell phone has become popular among all people, and is more technologically advanced than many people ever imagined it could be, and it will only continue to get better in the future. In a recent commercial for the Motorola Atrix 4G cell phone, Motorola claims that the phone is just as much a laptop as it is a cell phone, showing the impressive technology that the phone holds. Again, it is hard to think how this piece of technology could continue to be improved.

Still, there are a few things that are starting to become popular that I feel will become standard in the future for phones. First of all, “Facetime” was put on the Iphone four giving you the ability to actually see the person through video while you talk to them. Now of course it has several glitches now, but in the future this very well could be the norm when talking on a cellular phone. One new interesting technology with cellular phones is the ability to lock, unlock, and start your car from your phone. Depending on your phone service and which car you have it is possible to get this technology for 29.99 a year, however, if you do not have the correct phone and depending on your vehicle this convenience will cost you somewhere from 299.99-499.99. It is only the beginning for the phone controller generation, and one can only imagine where it will go in the future. (Wells)

The Internet has now been around for forty years, and this technology has improved incredibly since its birth.  The question remains, what is next for Internet? An interesting concept that is beginning to make way in the world of the Internet is the idea of multi-touch technology. This technology started with the Ipad, and the ability to have a touch screen with a bigger screen then the average cell phone. The mouse will soon be a thing of the past, and this multi-touch technology could very well be a thing of the future.

However, according to an article written by Michael Moyer on the future of Internet in Scientific American stated “it is hard to say how the Internet will grow or if it even will grow due to the fact that the infrastructure of the internet is hidden.” Also, according to Kc Claffy, a professor at the University of California warns consumers that,  “We know even now that we are at some fundamental limits of what the Internet can handle.” The current addressing system of the Internet can hold about 4 billion IP (Internet Protocal) addresses, and the Internet is on pace to pass this number of addresses in about two years. Researchers are working on a system that can hold 6 billion addresses, however, if this is not achieved within two years, the Internet will be in serious danger (Moyer).

The last media topic, and in my mind the least valuable tool of media in today’s world is print. Print is something that is in extreme decline. One main cause of this decline is the fact that a consumer can get the news online at any moment. In the last ten years news websites have had an audience increase of 63%. The surge of online news and alternate media besides print may cause the print industry to come to an end. Tony Dearing, former editor of the Flint journal states that up and coming journalists need to be flexible for any type of media, and ready to work predominately in online media (Ramirez). This is happening all over, according to Anja Pasquay, member of the Federation of German Newspaper Publishers, “the advertising market in regional daily newspapers fell 12.1 percent with a similar decline in advertising-related sales” (Ramirez). If the newspaper companies can make money off advertisements, and companies are seeing a decline in papers sold, the companies are in a perfect whirlwind downward. The future of print does not look bright.

Media is a crazy medium because it is very unpredictable and has changed drastically since the beginning of time, and also in the last 100 years. Not only have the devices changed, but the overall media world as well. It is hard to believe the many improvements and discoveries that have been made since the beginning of time, however, it is even harder to think about what amazing, incredible, or even horrible things could and most likely will occur in the future. Digitaltrends.com doesn’t lie with their quote “The next great thing is well into its development cycle, even as were just starting to get settled in with current technological standards,” (Nickson).

Works Cited

Butler, Isaac. "The Future of Netflix." Parabasis. 20 Mar. 2011. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://parabasis.typepad.com/blog/2011/03/the-future-of-netflix.html>.

Evslin, Tom. "There Won’t Be Any Landlines in 2013." Fractals of Change. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://blog.tomevslin.com/2007/05/there_wont_be_a.html>.

Hansell, Saul. "Snip! Nearly One-Fifth of Homes Have No Landline - NYTimes.com." Technology - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com. 17 Sept. 2008. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/snip-nearly-one-fifth-of-homes-have-no-landline/>.

Moyer |, Michael. "Observations: The (good and Bad) Future of the Internet." Science News, Articles and Information | Scientific American. 22 Feb. 2010. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=the-good-and-bad-future-of-the-inte-2010-02-22>.

Ramirez, Brian L. "E-readers Promise Bright Future for Print Media | Business | Deutsche Welle | 28.05.2010." Home | Deutsche Welle. 28 May 2010. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5443144,00.html>.

Saul, Brad. "The Future of Radio - GLG News." Gerson Lehrman Group - The Expert Network. 8 Jan. 2009. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://www.glgroup.com/News/The-Future-of-Radio-31310.html>.

Smith, Jackie. "Journalists Discuss Future of Print Media | Central Michigan Life." Central Michigan Life | The Independent Student Newspaper of Central Michigan University. 22 Apr. 2009. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://www.cm-life.com/2009/04/22/journalistsdiscussfutureofprintmedia/>.

Strauss, Bob. "The Future of Film - LA Daily News." Home - LA Daily News. 15 Feb. 2010. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_14406966>.

Wells, Antonio. "Viper SmartStart Android App Allows Car Remote Start, Lock, Unlock, Plus More | Android Tapp. Android App Reviews." Android Tapp. Android App Reviews, Android Apps, News, Ratings, Interviews and Showcase. 29 July 2010. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://www.androidtapp.com/viper-smartstart-android-app-allows-car-remote-start-lock-unlock-plus-more/>.

Nickson, Chris. "The Future of Television and HDTV." Technology News, Product Reviews, Software Downloads | Digital Trends. 20 Mar. 2009. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. <http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-future-of-television-and-hdtv/>.

           

AT&T & T-Mobile Duopoly Raising Prices

The 5 Major Cell Phone Companies

In past years, cell phone companies have competed intensely for consumer usage. With major companies including T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Alltel, and lastly Sprint sparring for the leading position in sales. However, by the looks of it AT&T will soon be the head honcho in the phone market due to the duopoly between them and T-Mobile which is most likely soon to occur. According to International Business Times if the duopoly were to occur, AT&T would control 80% of the market and have somewhere near 2 million subscribers. The risk for consumers with this duopoly is the fact that T-Mobile was known for being the least expensive phone company of them all, so when they are bought by AT&T, the cheap prices of T-Mobile will be no more. However Sprint is doing what it can to convince regulators do not allow this merge, saying "This transaction will harm consumers and harm competition at a time when this country can least afford it" according to CED Magazine. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the cell phone market.
Article about merge of AT&T and T-Mobile
Sprints words on the merge of AT&T and T-Mobile

The PDA Device

The device that lead to the Ipad is the PDA. Invented by Apple, the PDA stands for a person data assistant, and was used to store your personal information. The first basic PDA's only had the ability to store information, however today new age PDA's can do things such as surf the internet, hold music, contain a GPS system, basically anything. Many business people would use PDA's in there everyday life, getting rid of the necessity to use pencil and paper. Now with modern age devices, there being used in hospitals, businesses, classrooms, and many more. Without the PDA, we would not have the advanced technology we have today.

Invention of Surround Sound

Movies have come a long way, and there are a lot of little pieces that are put together to make the movie perfect. One obvious piece of a movie that makes it great is the sound, specifically surround sound. The invention of Surround Sound was first thought of by the one and only Walt Disney. In 1940 when Fantasia was still being made, Walt wanted it to be set up so that during "flight of the bumblebee" it would seem to the audience that there were bees flying all around them. Fantasia became the first movie released that included some sort of surround sound in 1941.

Handheld 3D Videogame

3D is starting to make a wave in our world today. 3D televisions are well on there way to becoming the standard in all homes, and now video games are doing the same thing. The Nintendo 3DS has started a domino effect that I believe will soon begin. Now that the 3DS has come out with a handheld 3D gaming device, other competitors will attempt to create a product that is one step above this, and it will continue on as usual technology does. There is now 3D televisions and 3D handheld video games, so it is safe to say that in our future everything could be made in 3D.

Nintendo 3Ds commercial

2011 Chevy Cruze

In a recent commercial for the new 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, Chevy showed that this new vehicle has the capability to be started remotely from the cell phone. This is not the first item of its kind but it is the first to be shown in a commercial and advertised. It shows how advanced technology is becoming, and opens the door for the capability of the future cell phones. I feel that in the future this advance in technology will become standard in all vehicles, and there will be more conveniences created between with the connection of cell phones and many devices.

                                                                    

CHEVY COMMERCIAL

The Future of Photography

There is no better picture than the picture we get with our human eye. However, will there ever be a camera that will be able to compose images that compare to what we see with our everyday eye? Well according to about.com there is. Researchers at the University of Northwestern in Illinois and the University of Illinois have been developing technologies to hopefully one day create a camera capable of taking photographs that have an equal quality to the human eye. The main concept is creating a curved image sensor for the camera lens, that is equal to the curved human eye. This rises the question will cameras someday match the quality of the human eye? Also, can the camera image even surpass the quality of what the human eye can see?

about.com story about the curved image sensor

The Curved Image Sensor

The Digital Camera (Modern Day Camera)

In Todays culture, the most commonly used camera is the digital camera. It is a step up from the previously used film camera, due to the fact that you can display images immediately after you take the picture, it is capable of storing many photos on a small memory device that has the capability of deleting pictures at a moments notice. Digital cameras have even stepped up the game by combining the ability to take videos and pictures on one device. These two qualities are just the beginning of what these cameras are capable of today. The number one selling camera of 2011 is the Nikon D3100 14.2MP Digital SLR with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens. Now this is difficult to understand obviously, but some details about this camera in plain english is that it has a 3-inch LCD screen and can create HD movies. It is hard to think about what can be done next to top the cameras of today. a Review of the Nikon D3100

Kodak The Camera for Everyone

In 1888 George Eastman created the first Kodak camera and with it created the slogan "you press the button, we do the rest." This was the first time that the process of taking and getting pictures was made simple and easy, and available to anyone. Since then, Kodak has been one of the frontrunners for the photography business creating easy innovating ways to take and make great pictures. Kodak is even extremely involved in how business communicate with one another and their customers. This site below has an interactive history of Kodak, giving you an easier way to see how Kodak has become one of the greatest companies of the world. interactive history of Kodak Kodak Commercial from 1958

Photojournalism

Photos are an extremely important part of the media today, and has been important for a very long time. Not only can you take pictures to keep track of your family and friends, one main use of photos is the use of photos to show news in something called photojournalism. It started as soon as the printing press was invented, however printing presses could only publish from engravings till about 1880. The first photojournalist was Carol Szathmari who had photos engraved and published during and about the Crimean War between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in the time of the 1850's. In today's culture photos can turn a common news story into a bone chilling message. Some of these photos are examples of that.

Netflix

One major form of media that has been important for a long time are of course movies. However recently, one different form of media has been how we as viewers receive and watch these films. For a time in my life the top way of watching a movie was either seeing it in a theatre or renting it from a place like Blockbuster. This all changed in 1997 when Marc Randolph and Mitch Lowe created Netflix.

This changed the way we see people movies. On Netflix you can go online and pick a movie, and then have it delivered to your house the next day. It was later developed that you could stream a movie through a gaming device such as an XBOX 360 or your computer. Rental places are now starting to decline as Netflix rises. It is easy to see that a new generation of movie watching has developed!

Charlie Sheen's Rant

One thing that I find interesting is how much the actual media today can put so much attention on one person, and how in my opinion, the media can drive someone crazy. Recently Charlie Sheen had a radio interview with Alex Jones Sheen bashed his bosses at CBS which soon lead to the end of his job on his hit show "Two and A Half Men" and the show was then soon cancelled for the rest of the season.

Even after his crazy rant (Which I have attached a link for) the craziest part is that this has put him in a better position than CBS. He has sued Chuck Lorre for 100 million dollars, Sheen now has 20 concert dates set due to the fact that his rants are so entertaining, and CBS President and CEO Les Moonves wants Sheen back on the show. Most likely because this was the number one show on TV prior to Sheens dismissal. I feel this is connected to media because of the popularity of this occurence and how fast this incident spread. There are many places to find this video, however one of the most important media tools today Youtube has logged about 280,000 views on this interview.

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/25/charlie-sheen-rant-listen-here/

First Music Video

Before Michael Jackson hit the world with the "Thriller" video, someone had to make a video that could contain sound. William Dickson create a video that experimented with sound as he played a well known song titled "Song of the Cabin Boy" which was composed in 1877. This is a big step in media due to the fact that this was the first step to things such as MTV and like I had stated before famous music videos such as Thriller and many others.


http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2010/07/the-first-music-video-1895/

Invention of youtube

Youtube is one of the most important things to ever come to the world of media. It is an easy way to see a video of anything you want, a song, a movie clip, or a funny video of some guy falling. Youtube has changed the way that people look at media and search media topics. Many people today have become famous because of their video or videos that they have put on youtube. It was created in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim in their garage! It is crazy how something created in a garage can have such an impact on the world.




http://inventors.about.com/od/xyzstartinventions/a/YouTube.htm

Fact Checking Assignment #3

In the movie "The Fall of the Republic," a big topic is the idea that a large amount of our nation's money is going to foreign banks and foreign aid, however a source that says the opposite. According to one.org our nation actually spends less than one percent of our budget on foreign aid. This website has a few graphs and charts that show a little goes a long way in this situation, one of the many amazing facts on this website is that "USAID responded to 46 of 57 disasters in countries with assistance coming within 72 hours."

http://one.org/blog/2011/02/18/foreign-aid-where-is-all-the-money-going/

Fact Checking Assignment #2

In the documentary "The Fall of the Republic" narrator Alex Jones states that CO2 has no negative effect on the environment and that it does not effect climate change. However I have found some websites that disagree with this statement. An article co-written by Ken Caldeira states that "trees and other plants help keep the planet cool, but rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are turning down this global air conditioner. According to a study by researchers in the Carnegie Institute for Science, in some regions more than a quarter of the warming from increased carbon dioxide is due to its direct impact on vegetation." The article continues to talk about the issue, and there were other sites that said things similar to this. However, I figured this quote would be enough, because who would you rather believe... Radio host Alex Jones? Or the Carnegie Institute for Science?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100503161435.htm
(Link to see the article about Carbon Dioxide)

Fact Checking Assignment

There was one comment made by Max Keiser that really caught my attention. He stated that banks "purposely create artificial roller coasters in the market." So first I did some background checking on Max Keiser, and from the looks of it he is a reliable source. He is known for being a film-maker, broadcaster, and options broker. His resume includes being the host of on the edge which is a program of news and analysis, also he has his own tv show called Keiser's report. Now when trying to fact checking this statement made by Keiser, I could not find anything specifically. However, I could find an interesting story about banks purposely holding off the market a vast inventory of foreclosed homes found on wallstreetpit.com. The story talks about the fact that "banks that issued the past toxic loans are now purposely creating a housing shortage in order to artificially depress foreclosure numbers and in the process drive up the value of their inventory." This fact makes me believe the statement made by Keiser, and after reading this I have realized the extreme power the banks have.  

Shattered Glass Ops

Woody Balut

Shattered Glass Ops

Monday, February 21, 2011

Robert Larson

BIGFOOT LIKES RIDES TOO

           On December 14^th, 2010, Bob Dohl was doing his normal rounds at Disney World Theme Park. However, that night’s rounds would be slightly different than all the other nights of locking doors and turning off lights. As Mr. Dohl was locking the doors of the security room in Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, he heard quick footsteps outside that seemed to be running towards the outskirts of the park. As Mr. Dohl turned to see who was there, he spotted the back of the behemoth six foot eight furry creature we refer to as Bigfoot, Yeti, and Sasquatch. When Mr. Dohl was interviewed by WFTV’s Todd Ulrich Dohl stated, when asked, if he was positive that he actually saw this creature Dohl stated, “I knew it as soon as I turned to see it. I could catch a glimpse of his furry back that covered his body, and this thing looked tall enough to start for the Orlando Magic.” Now you may question the credibility of this Dohl character, however, when Todd Ulrich spoke to head of security at DisneyWorld Resort Dan Reshford Reshford stated, “Bob is a good guy, that has worked here for years, if he says that he saw him… he saw him.”

            The park was closed for two days in order for investigations to take place around the area. Nothing was found. The police stated that the chance of Bigfoot being there that night was slim to none, due to the fact that there was no type of evidence found during those two days. However Dohl stands by his word and still believes one hundred percent that Bigfoot was roaming the grounds that night. So who do we believe in this situation? Is Bigfoot just as sneaky as he’s rumored to be? Covering his tracks after realizing he had been spotted? Also, you have to take into account the fact that there is always the chance the police did not take this investigation and story into serious consideration. Or is this Mr. Dohl just a man searching for attention, hoping that his story, whether true or false, would make it into a magazine article like the one I am writing now? Well if that is the case you have succeeded Mr. Dohl. Nevertheless one must wonder is this creature a threat to mankind, Or just another thrill seeker trying to enjoy the many rides of DisneyWorld--we may never know.

             

SuperBowl commercials and Timeline Paper

Woody Balut

Media Literacy

Rob Larson

February 9, 2011

Media Timeline and Super Bowl Commercial Connections

            The history of media can be traced back many thousands of years, and I have learned in class thanks to my classmates that you can relate almost any invention, no matter how old, to the history of media. However, when relating these inventions to the thirty second commercials of The Super Bowl that are worth three million dollars, it is a little bit more difficult. However, after a further look into these two topics there are many comparable aspects.

            There is a lot more than meets the eye when talking about super bowl commercials. Companies spend numerous amounts of dollars trying to convince people to buy their product, or join their website, or whatever it may be. There are many different things that go into making a commercial, one specific thing that many commercials have is music. Now looking at our class’ timeline our earliest invention that we noted is a flute made in 33,000 BCE. Now obviously it is not certain for a fact that we know it was made in 33,000 BCE, it is obvious that this instrument was made many thousands of years ago. Now relating this ancient instrument to commercials during the Super Bowl, there are many things that you can talk about. One of my favorite commercials in the Super Bowl was the Chrysler 200 commercial that included Eminem in the commercial, and also one of Eminem’s hit singles “Lose Yourself.” Basically, this whole commercial was based off Eminem and his music, and the fact that he was from Detroit. It’s interesting to see that what was first created sometime around 33,000 BCE has evolved into such an important part of our culture today. It is a key element in some of the most watched 30 seconds on TV in our world.

            Paved roads were first created in India sometime around 4,000 BCE. Now it may seem that the inventions of paved roads has no relevance at all to The Super Bowl commercials. However, there are some things that correlate between the two. When looking at just the top ten commercials from The Super Bowl, u can make connections between four out of the ten to the invention of paved roads. The number one, five, and ten most liked commercials from The Super Bowl are car commercials. After knowing this, one can make the obvious connection because what does a car drive on.. PAVED ROADS! It’s as simple as that. Now getting more specific with vehicles, you have tires. The number two most liked commercial from The Super Bowl is a Bridgestone Tire commercial, and again obviously without paved roads tires would be much less likely to be “Super Bowl commercial worthy” in today’s world.

            In 1837 the first ever comic book was created in Switzerland by Rudolphe Topffer. It was titled “The adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck.” Now there obviously was not any commercials for this magazine being turned into a movie, however without this first comic the world of comic book would have never evolved to what we have today. Some of the more known superheroes first created in comic books are Superman Spider-Man, and one featured in a Super Bowl commercial named Captain-America. There is a Captain America movie that is coming out this July. So starting in 1837, evolving into more advanced comic books, and now one of those known superheroes has his there own movie that is important enough to get shown in a commercial during The Super Bowl. It is interesting to see how far we have advanced of these peoples’ first creations, and how important these advanced forms of media are in our culture today.

            The last piece of our class’ timeline that is comparable to The Super Bowl commercials is the telegraph, which was invented in 1835. However, I feel this invention can be compared to all The Super Bowl commercials, and the idea of the Super Bowl commercials in general. Just to be able to see the advances which have been made in our world since this first telegraph was invented is amazing. It’s crazy that at one point in time a phone was unheard of, people had to communicate using dots and spaces only capable of writing ten words per minute. Now we have commercials advertising a new Iphone that can video chat in the palm of your hand. CRAZY!

            At first glance the thirty seconds of greatness the world calls Super Bowl commercials and the random inventions that our class likes to call a history of media timeline may not look like they correlate, but after taking a closer look it is obvious that they are alike in more ways that one! 

Lie Detector Invented in 1902

http://inventors.about.com/od/fstartinventions/a/forensic_2.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-TZ8Z5S9rI

In 1902 The Lie Detector was invented by James Mackenzie, however the more modern version that could actually be used in police interrogation was invented in 1921 by James Larson, a student at the University of California. Even though it was invented in 1921, it was not fully used until 1924. This may not seem relevant to media, but it is. The lie detector has effected many people since it was first invented, punishing both the guilty, and possibly the not guilty. It may seem like something small but it has changed our world forever and our media also. I mean think about it, how many famous people have gotten in trouble and had to use lie detectors. After this, the news about this troublemaking celebrity is spread like wildfire. Not just on TV, radio, and newspaper, but on things such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and many other social networks. Now I could not find a video about the invention of the Lie Detector, however I did find the use of a Lie Detector in a TV episode of the Simpsons, proving that it has a large affect in the media. CHECK IT OUT!