Happy Holidays.

The holiday season is a time to give thanks and appreciate the goodness of family and friends. Every Christmas, my family sends out greetings card with a picture of me and my sister to our family and friends, as a way to touch base and catch up. Although our hectic lives do not allow for everyone to come together during the holiday season,  this picture is a symbol of our love and holiday wishes.. By Christmas day, my house is typically filled with cards from out closest family and friends, in addition to significant others that my family has not spoken to in years.  This is an example of how greeting cards are a medium, as they are used to communicate a message or show thoughtfulness. Cards can be used to relay a multitude of messages, as they are sent to show love, express sympathy, birthday wishes, or wedding praise.. As McCluhan states, “media is the message”. Comparatively, cards spark emotions and relay messages that sometimes cannot be spoken in person.

In my first blog entry “Defining Media”, I spoke about media as a living breathing organism that has a perpetual circle of communication in which communication is passed. I feel that the greeting card fully embodies this definition. Cards are a tangible form of media that can be admired and kept as a keepsake. Cards help to cherish memories and recognize mile stones in life. I feel that cards are a timeless form of media, that appeal to consumers of all ages. It will be interesting to see if cards continue to be used as frequently in the next 20 years, considering the influx of technology. Many people today opt to send e-cards via email, which could drastically decrease the amount of cards sent in years to come. 

Avatars in the Workplace.

This semester I am taking a Human Resource Management course, where we are learning about how jobs use simulation programs to train employees for jobs. We recently did a case study about how IBM is creating management games to sell to companies in order to train their employees how act and react in certain situations in the workplace. This video game called Innov8, creates an avatar in which employees use to guide through game. IBM states that this game is designed to help tech managers understand the roles of businesspeople, where players navigate through a virtual business unit to test their skills at ventures, including redesigning a call center, opening a brokerage account, or processing an insurance claim. There are many questions and doubts surrounding the implementation of such programs in the work place. Many have posed the question as to why the world’s most buttoned-down organizations are encouraging its people and customers to play games?  IBM supports that the skills used and acquired through playing video games, such as World of Warcraft can be helpful when managing modern multinationals. IBM’s research has shown that those who are deeply immersed in online world that link millions of players were ideally suited to manage in the new millennium, as they were skilled at gathering information, making strategic decisions, and moving on to new challenges quickly. Although some research supports the use of gaming for learning purposes in the workplace, there will always be challenges to such data. I believe that tailoring simulations to specific jobs that include missions and scenarios that relate directly to the position can be useful for employees. Although media gaming platform is typically used for pure enjoyment, this is one example that shows how games can help acquire specific skills for the workplace. There will always be speculations about video game relevance, but could be useful when used effectively.  

Kinect.

Microsoft has recently released a new gaming add-on for the XBox that has literally made McLuhan’s observation of the media being an “extension of man” a reality. This console, Microsoft’s Kinect, reads body movement and does not require any remote controls. A camera reads the individual’s body movements and transfers them into characters in the game. Therefore, the body literally controls the media and movement that are on the television screen. A player’s every physical movement is relayed on the screen through a camera. CNN reports that the Kinect is part of a new wave of “gesture-based” technologies that are soon coming to the market. This technological movement will make human actions and reactions a reality though mediums, bridging the gap between media forms and their users. McLuhan writes that “That our human senses, of which all media are extensions, are also fixed charges on our personal energies, and that they also configure the awareness and experience of each one of us…” The Kinect is able to embody this statement, through its interactive technologies and allows users with the ability to control the experience of the media. The question can now be posed as to how successful this new add-on will be. Forcing players to deviate from controller use may cause some users to be turned-off by this product. This may take some adjusting but with time new technologies like the Kinect could truly revitalize the future of the media. This presents the endless possibilities of having television and computers that do not require key boards or remote controls, but are purely controlled by human movement. Human movements have the potential to control future development of new mediums.

Trick-Or-Treat.

Since its Halloween I thought it would be most appropriate to blog about costumes as a form of media. For this one day of the year, people are able to be whatever character, person, item, or thing that they choose to be. Costumes tend to further enforce stereotypes that society has created for men, women, race, and social classes.

Halloween costumes tend to sexualize women .This past weekend when I went to iParty, every females costume was either tight fitting, low-cut, or short. Theses costumes were extremely unrealistic and completely degrading for women. This relayed the message that woman were expected to look sexy and slutty on Halloween. Every year it seems that these costumes get tinnier and tinnier. Now granted, this isn’t saying that all women object to wearing skimpy costumes on Halloween, but it is interesting to notice the expectations of females that is portrayed through the advertising of such outfits.  Costume bags show model-like women wearing this outfits, creating that expected image of beauty and sexiness that advertisers hope to portray.  Male costumes on the other hand tend to display characters that are much more macho and “manly”. In retrospect, these costumes further exaggerate the stereotypes and expectations that society places on both men and women. Similar stereotypes can be found in television and newspapers as noted by Croteau and Hoyes (p. 212-214).

Nevertheless, costumes also allow people to defy such stereotypes and be whoever or whatever they want, without judgment. Costume opportunities are endless based on individual creativity. Regardless, advertisers tend to target and work-off of selling costumes that further enhance stereotypes because they know those costumes are likely to sell. This is similar to how television corporations tend to air shows that relay stereotypes because that’s what viewers find most enjoyable and relatable.

The Evolution of Gaming. 

           A fond childhood memory that I have is playing board games with friends and families. Overtime the advertising and playing of board games has been replaced with virtual gaming, such as those found online and with gaming consuls. Games such as Life, Monopoly, and Trouble are not as heavily advertised and played by kids today. This is because they are not as interactive as the games that are found on PS3 and Xbox. Today, children are being exposed to new technology at a lot earlier ages, leaving interest in dated board games. Video and online games create a virtual interactive reality allowing the players to be in full control of the game. Board games have restrictions to the actions that players can take, which may be a turn off for users.

          With the evolution of gaming has come an increase in violence.  As we spoke about in class, there is this constant debate as to whether video games promote violence. Allowing children to kill human beings and steal cars sends a false ethical message to children at a young age. It would be interesting to think about how violence would decrease among young adults had this wave of video gaming phenomenon cease to exist. Does violence instilled at such a young age really have an effect on the amount of teenage violence that exists today? There will never be a solid answer to this question but I do think that this really widens the gaps in generations. Board games which provided once provided innocent fun for children, lacks the technology and realism that video games provide for its users. It will be interesting to see the trend of board game sales in years to come, as new games and gaming systems begin to develop and enhance the user’s experience. I believe that as new games are released there should be better restrictions and ratings placed on such games, so that more violent games are targeted at older users and not in the hands of young children.

Concerts: A Live Media

This past Thursday I attended the Lady Antebellum concert at the Agganis Arena at Boston University. It was an amazing show and we had great seats! After the concert, I couldn’t help but think about concerts as a form of media and how it relates directly to the active audience theory.

Seeing performers and hearing their music live, makes the audience apart of the media and message that is to be trying to be set-forth through the art of the songs. As the active audience theory  states, humans feeds off of experience, sight, sounds and emotions. Live concerts are able to incorporate all of these different senses, making the viewer a part of the musical experience, which is much different then listening to must on an iPod or on the radio. Concerts allow for the media to interact with its audience members and feed off of their excitement. The performers are able to interpret the reaction to their music and see how it is received by their fans. Audience members are able to react to the music through clapping, cheering, and singing along, thus enhancing the experience for both fans and performers. While at the concert the other night, it was interesting to see how everyone interpreted the music differently. Some audience members opted to sit down and enjoy the music, while others stood up, sang along, and danced.  Seeing this interaction between a media form, concerts,  and its audience members is an interesting concept to explore and experience firsthand.

PlayPad vs. iPad.

Blackberry has recently announced the release of the PlayPad, their version of Apple's iPad. This "professional tablet" is targeted at business people and families alike that are looking for a convenient portable device to service the web, read a book, create a Powerpoint, or check email. Blackberry has strived to create a product that thrives on the failures of the iPad. This small compact device can be held in one hand and takes up little space. The PlayPad is able to multitask, has two cameras, supports Flash, can be synched with current Blackberry devices, and can support Microsoft Powerpoint and Word. 

I am curious to see how it will be received by the public and if it will be successful product launch on part of Blackberry. This idea does seem to make sense since many business people choose Blackberry for its capabilities and easy-to-use interface. However, I do not think that Blackberry established itself as a brand that has had much success with its touch-screen phones that it has released in the past. Unlike Apple, Blackberry does not use the same distribution methods of having particular stores to test products. This would force consumers to make specialized trips to service carrier locations in order to test the product, which may turn away potential customers.

This new medium has endless opportunities. It allows users to be completly interactive with their work and provides a convenient option to carrying around a heavy laptop. The introduction of this new product will create a potential media war between the PlayPad and iPad. Along with their similar names, both tablets have similar concepts and use the touch-screen interface. Now the question is how will Apple fire back? This media war will be interesting after the release of the PlayPad in early 2011. This product has recieved little media coverage in comparison to that of the iPad. The media that surrounds this new product will be a one of the deciding factors, as to whether this product is bound to be a hit or a miss.