Response to Posts

Brandy Lutz-Emerging Technology Blog
Great post. I think we are missing something here with omitting the traditional way of watching movies at the movie theater. You brought an interesting point that you can watch a movie at home and invited everyone over to watch it, yet people still go to the movie theaters to watch movies, for entertainment purposes. Do you think DVD's have done damage to this industry? The movie industry is still making billions of dollars on movies in the theaters even with the availability of movies from home.

Rodriguez Design:  Next Wave Technology
I love the statement about the strange attraction, I had not thought of that!  I too believe that digital media will replace hard technology such as DVD's.  It has all ready happened to the music industry and other media but there is the notion of seeing a movie on a huge screen for entertainment purposes.  Heck I can even watch movies streaming on my cell phone!  I have seen all the traditional video stores close their doors because the price of DVD's are driven down to the point where you can purchase a movie for price of a rental.  Redbox, which rents movies for $1 per night seems to have found a niche in the traditional market but I believe this will be short lived also with digital media. 

The entertainment industry is having a hard time switching from traditional media to digital and I wonder if it might be the issue of control.  With technology moving forward so quickly it is hard for the industry to keep up with all the security needed to protect the rights of the industry.

The Rise of Digital Media

Minority Report was a multimillion-dollar blockbuster produced in 2002, by director Steven Spielberg, loosely based on a Philip K. Dick story.  Originally thought to be a sequel for the previous Philip K. Dick story movie adaptation Total Recall, Spielberg and Cruise signed on the project in 1997, but because of scheduling difficulties, the film could not be developed until much later.  Spielberg developed a think tank of different futurist to accurately portray the future and the year 2054.  The film went on to be one of the top grossing films for the year.  I saw this movie at the theater and I actually own a copy of the DVD so I did not have to go far for a copy. 

The war between digital media and hard copies is certainly heating up.  I have several options at my house for viewing material in many different ways.  Netflix offers the option of watching movies on the computer or on my cell phone, both using digital media.  My DVD player streams media using Blockbuster and Netflix and the Wii gaming console allows the streaming of media with Netflix.  I see DVDs becoming a thing of the past with the use of digital media.  Digital media is changing industries such as DVD and music at an alarming rate.  According to the McLuhan tetrad, the DVD is almost to the point of obsolete.  With the rise of digital media, and the portability of digital media, especially in cell phones, DVDs are becoming a thing of the past such as VHS tapes. 

Internet Movie Database.  Minority Report.  Retrieved 8-10-11. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181689/

McLuhan, M., & McLuhan, E. (1988). Laws of media: The new science. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.

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Brandy Lutz
You are correct when you state people assume roles they were never able to do before.  There is a certain amount of anonymity that comes with virtual worlds and people can fulfill dreams beyond the real world in the security of a virtual world.  Our society is moving into the digital world quickly and the art of a personal conversation is being lost at an alarming rate.

Dorothy Fernandes
I agree Second Life will enhance our future but I hope it does not replace the existing world that we know.  I have seen presentations on Second Life and how it can enhance education and the possibilities are limitless.  It will be an exciting future with this technology in it.

Second Life an Augmented Reality

Second Life is considered to be a disruptive technology based on several reasons.  As Thornburg points out, disruptive technology is a wild card that comes out of nowhere and makes existing technology obsolete.  Such was the case with the vacuum tube and the transistor, with the vacuum tube being replaced technology by the transistor that will eventually be replaced by newer technology such as the LED and LCD. 

There is speculation that simulations could be the replacement for many different things such as education and training.  Simulation technology has been used by the military to help train and develop necessary skills.  Now simulations continue to grow especially in the educational field at the secondary level to help educate learners in techniques that are difficult to achieve with traditional means.  Mark Smith for Public Technology in his article shows numerous uses of programs such as Second Life as an educational tool and how valuable this tool is for the educational system.  According to the 2011 Horizon Report, a blended reality using programs such as Second Life creates new opportunities for learning.  This augmented reality is going beyond the traditional use of gaming opening up a new market for consumers. 

Second Life does not replace any existing technology as Thornburg describes as a disruptive technology but more as a wild card, coming out of nowhere.  This technology has unlimited potential that has only been just tapped in the educational industry but will continue to grow and develop as needed.  It will not replace existing educational material but enhance what is in place through the use of augmented reality. 

The 2011 Horizon Report from
http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2011/sections/augmented-reality/

Smith, Mark.  Augmented Reality
Its Future in Education. Public Technology.  15 November 2010 from
http://www.publictechnology.net/sector/augmented-reality-its-future-education

Thornburg, D. (n.d.). Disruptive technologies. Retrieved July 27, 2011 from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4930730&Survey=1&47=5513753&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Rhyme of History, Gaming

When looking at the Rhymes of History by Dr. David Thornberg, I was prompted to think about what technology has roots going back in time. Video gaming is a relatively new technology given games in general date back to approximately 3000 BC. Taking the leap to video gaming for traditional boardgames is huge but the essential entertainment value of gaming in general is the same. People have the need to be entertained by many means and playing games of any sort are deeply rooted in history. Many traditional games have been developed to be played using technology, even the simple Tic, Tac, Toe, which was developed by A. S. Douglas, called Noughts and Crosses back in 1952, according to PBS, History of Gaming.

With the development of Pong, video gaming just grew rapidly building a huge following of gamers always looking for new and inventive ways to be entertained. Technology has had an huge impact on the history of gaming dating back to 3000 B.C., bringing the entertainment value of playing a game into the 21^st century. According to Kevin Kelly, the first lesson of the Web is we have to get better at believing in the impossible, with virtual worlds gaming has taken gaming well beyond the 21^st century.

Resources

Kelly, K. (2007, December). Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the Web [Speech]. Speech delivered at the EG 2007 Conference, Los Angeles. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html

PBS, The Video Game Revolution.  Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/history/timeline_flash.html

Thornburg, D. “Rhymes of History”.

The Electronic Keyboard Tetrad

Tetrad 2:  The Electronic Keyboard

Enhanced:  The ease of inputting data into a personal computer   

Obsolesced:  The electric typewriter.

Reversed:  The keyboard is setting the stage for other input devices or perhaps even a virtual keyboard.   

Retrieved from past:  The printing press used to input the English language and output the printed word.

Electric Typewriter Tetrad

Tetrad 1: 

The Electric Typewriter

Enhanced:  The electric typewriter enhanced the distribution of the written word at a quicker easier pace.   

Obsolesced:  The manual typewriter.  Although still used, the electric typewriter was more efficient.
Reversed:  The electronic typewriter was setting the stage for the keyboard used in personal computers as an input device.   

Retrieved from past:  The printing press. Inputting information and outputting data.