"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