Introduction : Evolution of Digital Technologies

COM546 : Evolutions Kathy E. Gill 29 March 2011

Our Brave New World
We’ll set the stage for the quarter with EPIC2015
We’ll define technology & communication
We’ll talk about “what’s new” in new media

What is “technology”?

Technology Is …
1: technical language; 2a: applied science ; 2b: a technical method of achieving a practical purpose; 3: a totality of the means employed to provide objects necessary for human sustenance and comfort

Technology, Simply Put
Knowledge used to solve problems and extend human potential.
Technology is about enabling change and amplifying its direction.
Think of it as facilitating the journey not (necessarily) setting the destination.

Technologies Facilitate
Dominance/influence of any technology is a function of many things (later!)
The ones we care about have an impact on communication

Communication
A process in which participants create and share information with one another in order to reach mutual understanding (Rogers, 1995).

Non-Mediated

Cave Painting Repro

Printing Press - Type

“ Newspapers are energy- inefficient…Newspapers can't last because of the situation of energy in this country.” ~Ted Turner, 1979, on launching CNN

Mediated – Personal - PDA

1. Concept of Scarcity
Gone!
Bits can be easily shared; atoms cannot
Implications for intellectual property (content owners now use digital rights management)
Implications for business models (Skype)
Potentially devastating for an economic system built upon scarcity

2. Distance
With global networks
Work becomes independent of geography
Consumption becomes independent of geography
Social groups become independent of geography
Anything else?

3. Time
Time Shifting facilitates asynchronous communication
Podcasts
Tivo, ReplayTV
E-mail, voice mail (not IM)
Directly impacts the advertising model for TV, radio
For work
Distributed teams
24x7 work flow
Anything else?

Credits
Presentation by Kathy E. Gill
CC share-and-share alike, non-commercial use
[email_address] , @kegill
Flickr CC Images:
Pencil: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ozlady/3353025268/
Two men: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosimoes7/174516788/
Cave painting repro: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/116025048/
Printing press type: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/172495285/
Telegraph pole: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spodzone/754711341/
UNIVAC: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marals/3821484254/
Girl with PDA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drew/3127318/
iPad : http://www.livestream.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/ipad1 .jpg
3 : http://www.flickr.com/photos/49968232@N00/88615334/
“ Reflection”: http://csem.flinders.edu.au/courses/Computing/DigitalMedia.jpg

Introduction : Evolution of Digital Technologies

by Kathy Gill on Mar 29, 2011

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