The Landscape of 2021 A.D. document discusses communication technologies and their evolution over time. It provides examples of how communication has progressed from early speech to today's highly sophisticated digital communication. Future communication is predicted to be even more advanced, integrated into our daily lives, and ambient in nature. Devices may become embedded in everyday objects and interaction could become more natural and fluid.

1. The Landscape of 2021 A.D.
Final Project, Selenia Detweiler, Com 303-50, December 5, 2011

2.  We‘ve come a long way since the very first
instances of verbal and written communication.
From the early stages of speech, along with the
primitive use of symbols and pictures to
convey messages to one another, we‘ve
evolved into a communications powerhouse.
Data has never been transferred faster and
communication has thus never been more
sophisticated than it is right now.

4.  When I think about technology and the use of the umbrella perspective I think about
Facebook. Some of the enabling factors for me and the use of Facebook is
personalize, communication, availability. When using Facebook you have the ability to
adjust your profile to reflect only the things you are willing to let others know about
you. These setting can be private, semi-private, or open. Along with setting you choose
who you want your friends to be and what exactly they will be able to see when viewing
your page. You can also choose which, if any, games to play with friends. Facebook
gives you the ability to create groups, join groups, etc to promote ideas that are
meaningful to you.
 Facebook was originally established as a means of communication. Set up for college
students to stay connected to friends. Communication is a motivating factor. Now that
it has gone public many people of all ages use Facebook as a means to stay updated with
their family and friends.
 Another motivating and enabling factor is availability. Smart phones, lap tops, and desk
tops allow people to connect with Facebook more often and much easier. I did not log
on to Facebook a fraction of the number of times I do now because I am able to log on
using my phone. Sitting on a bus or at a stop light allows me to check up on friends any
time and any where. I am also able to update my ―status‖ whenever as well. Letting my
friends and family know what I am doing.
 (http://ewheeler82.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/umbrella-perspective-of-
communication-technologies/)

5. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/social-
networking

7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations

9.  The networked classroom
Tiny Branson, Colo., is proof that the information highway
can take you anywhere. Faced with declining enrollment at
its traditional schoolhouse, Branson started offering an
online public school education to students in far-flung areas
of the state.
 Branson‘s population may be just 100, but via the
Internet, 850 children go to school there. One of them is
Riley South, an eighth-grader who ―attends‖ class from his
family‘s ranch 165 miles away in Penrose.
 Riley gets up on his own and is on the computer between
6:30 and 7 a.m. everyday. ―The best part is I can get my
school work done earlier and I can get my horse exercised
and rode every day,‖ he told NBC‘s Kevin Tibbles.
 (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18664322/ns/nightly_ne
ws/t/what-will-world-look/#.Tt1U27JCqU8)

10.  The Integration of VoIP
 VoIP allows you to make phone calls in three different ways.
You‘ll need a high-speed broadband internet connection for all
three options. First, you can still make that phone call through
your computer using a microphone and headphones/speakers, or
a headset that does both. Second, you can actually still use an old
phone you have lying around your house to make an internet
phone call with the help of a VoIP adapter that hooks up to a
broadband connection. A third option, (mainly for businesses that
have multiple incoming/outgoing calls) is to buy a special VoIP
phone that is just like many other businesses phones but it plugs
directly into a broadband connection. It has all sorts of special
features right on the user interface so that you can easily answer
and transfer calls multiple phone calls. Picking the option that best
suits you depends on what your intended use is.
 (http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2008/11/the-evolution-and-
future-of-communication-technology/)

12.  According to Moore, the marketer should focus on one group of
customers at a time, using each group as a base for marketing to
the next group. The most difficult step is making the transition
between visionaries (early adopters) and pragmatists (early
majority). This is the chasm that he refers to. If a successful firm
can create a bandwagon effect in which enough momentum
builds, then the product becomes a de facto standard.
However, Moore's theories are only applicable for disruptive or
discontinuous innovations. Adoption of continuous innovations
(that do not force a significant change of behavior by the
customer) are still best described by the original technology
adoption lifecycle. Confusion between continuous and
discontinuous innovation is a leading cause of failure for high tech
prod
 ucts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm_(book))

15.  In the future, the ―cell phone‖ could be an
extension of our bodies and senses, where
information could be exchanged and
communication could be achieved through
universal gestures. Moreover, embedded
technology could become more
accepted, designs could be more varied and
shape-shifting technologies could enable
people to adapt devices for different needs.

16.  While critical mass can be applied to many different aspects of
sociodynamics, it becomes increasingly applicable to innovations
in interactive media such as the telephone, fax, or email. With
other non-interactive innovations, the dependence on other users
was generally sequential, meaning that the early adopters
influenced the later adopters to use the innovation. However, with
interactive media, the interdependence was reciprocal, meaning
both users influenced each other. This is due to the fact that
interactive media have high network externality[1], where in the
value and utility of a good or service increases the more users it
has. Thus, he increase of adopters and quickness to reach critical
mass can therefore be faster and more intense with interactive
media, as can the rate at which previous users discontinue their
use. The more people that use it, the more beneficial it will be,
thus creating a type of snowball effect and conversely, if users
begin to stop using the innovation, the innovation loses utility,
thus pushing more users to discontinue their use.
 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_mass_(sociodynamics))

17.  Blumler and Katz‘s uses and gratification theory
suggests that media users play an active role in
choosing and using the media. Users take an
active part in the communication process and are
goal oriented in their media use. The theorist say
that a media user seeks out a media source that
best fulfills the needs of the user. Uses and
gratifications assume that the user has alternate
choices to satisfy their need.
 (http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/mass/u
ses.htm)

18.  Media Systems Dependency Theory (MSD) was first
proposed by Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin DeFleur in
1976, and consists of a complex system in which the
media, individuals, their interpersonal environment, and the
social environment have dependency relationships with
each other; Each component depends on the other
components in a system by drawing on resources in order to
satisfy goals. Particular attention is given to the resources of
media systems in modern society and the consideration of
conditions which will increase or decrease individuals'
reliance on media systems.The more complex (specialized)
the society and differentiated its culture, the broader the
scope of personal and social goals that require access to
media information resources
 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_systems_dependenc
y_theory)

20.  — Communication could be ambient, always
on, and people could live online
— Computers and mobile devices could be
embedded in the ordinary
— ―Using Software‖ could vanish; only interface
and human interaction would remain
— Device interaction could become
natural, predictive, and fluid
— Mollecular manufacturing could revolutionize
production
— Objects could access ‗The Cloud‘ at will
 (http://www.designworldonline.com/articles/43
31/What-will-communication-devices-look-like-
in-2033.aspx)

21.  Social cognitive theory, used in
psychology, education, and
communication, posits that portions of an
individual's knowledge acquisition can be
directly related to observing others within the
context of social interactions, experiences, and
outside media influences.
 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_cognitiv
e_theory)

23. The theory of the Long Tail is that our culture and
economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus
on a relatively small number of "hits" (mainstream
products and markets) at the head of the demand
curve and toward a huge number of niches in the
tail. As the costs of production and distribution
fall, especially online, there is now less need to
lump products and consumers into one-size-fits-all
containers. In an era without the constraints of
physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of
distribution, narrowly-targeted goods and services
can be as economically attractive as mainstream
fare.
(http://thelongtail.com/about.html)

24.  The Principle of Relative Constancy is a complex
idea with very simple implications. What at first
seems like a curio – that advertising is a fairly
constant proportion of Gross Domestic Product –
turns into something that might define an
industry: media are playing a zero-sum game and
have no choice but to eat their competitors‘
revenues. Or see theirs eaten.
 The precise mathematical process of determining
constancy is less interesting than it general use as a
benchmarking tool. We can use it to figure out just
how much advertising exists.
 (http://economicsofadvertising.com/?page_id=42

25.  Tension free needs:
 People sometimes use the media as a means of escapism and to relieve from
tension
 For e.g. People tend to relax watching TV, listening to radio and for satisfying their
need for entertainment there by relaxing from all the tension, people watch
films, films on TV etc
 Note: The needs are individual in nature, and how u satisfies the need is
individualistic.
 E.g.: That‘s why some watch news to relax and some get more tension by watching
news, Program is same but people use it for different needs.
 Taking TV today, most people watch reality shows because
 It is more realistic
 For entertainment
 Interesting
 New concepts (different from other programs)
 In a way you can participate
 Controversy, people crying
 Sensationalism
 (http://communicationtheory.org/uses-and-gratification-theory/)

26.  Social Integrative needs:
 It encompasses the need to socialize with family,
friends and relations in the society. For social
interaction now a days people do not seems to have
social gathering in weekend, instead they do such
social interaction using media like the social
networking sites like my space, facebook, orkut etc to
satisfy their need.
 Another example is you may not watch the particular
serial regularly but because your friend watching, you
also start watching so that you have common topics for
discussion.
 (http://communicationtheory.org/uses-and-
gratification-theory/)

27.  TECHNOLOGY MOVES FAST
 The pace of technological development is
moving fast — really fast. New tools are being
developed at an astounding pace, the cost of
hardware and software continues to
decline, over 90% of the world is now covered
by a cellular network and 25% of the world has
access to the internet.

29.  http://ewheeler82.wordpress.com/2011/01/1
8/umbrella-perspective-of-communication-
technologies/)
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/social
-networking
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_in
novations
 (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18664322/n
s/nightly_news/t/what-will-world-
look/#.Tt1U27JCqU8)

30.  (http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2008/11/the-
evolution-and-future-of-communication-
technology/)
 (http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2008/11/the-
evolution-and-future-of-communication-
technology/
 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_
Chasm_(book))
 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_mass_
(sociodynamics))

31.  (http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/mas
s/uses.htm)
 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_system
s_dependency_theory)
 (http://www.designworldonline.com/articles
/4331/What-will-communication-devices-
look-like-in-2033.aspx)
 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_cognitiv
e_theory)
 (http://thelongtail.com/about.html)

32.  Final Project
 Selenia Detweiler
 COM 303-50
 December 5, 2011