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Chapter 2

Chapter 2. Media Convergence: The Internet. Metaphors for new technologies. ROAD SYSTEM metaphors ( superhighway ) FRONTIER metaphors ( homesteading ) SPACE metaphors ( cyberspace ) B. Diane Ravitch, Former Secretary of Education for George Bush.

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Chapter 2

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  1. Chapter 2 Media Convergence: The Internet

  2. Metaphors for new technologies • ROAD SYSTEM metaphors (superhighway) • FRONTIER metaphors (homesteading) • SPACE metaphors (cyberspace) B

  3. Diane Ravitch, Former Secretary of Education for George Bush “In this new world of pedagogical plenty, children and adults will be able to dial up a program on their home television to learn whatever they want to know at their own convenience. If little Eva cannot sleep, she can learn algebra instead. At her home-learning station, she will tune in to a series of interesting problems that are presented in an interactive medium, much like video games. Young John may decide that he wants to learn the history of modern Japan, which he can do by dialing up the greatest authorities and teachers on the subject, who will not only use dazzling graphs and illustrations, but will narrate a historical video that excites his curiosity and imagination.”

  4. Predictions about social impact:positive/negative • Utopian global village, worldwide community • Too much information, much of it faulty • False communities, less face-to-face interaction • Unequal access will create new class distinctions

  5. Three Key Developments • DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY • digitizing traditional media forms • MICROTECHNOLOGY • smaller and lighter tools, such as laptops and palmtops • FIBER OPTIC CABLE • can carry more information much faster

  6. Development of the Internet • U.S. military-government planning in 1950s: goal for national security • late 1960s: Defense Department launched ARPAnet for military and research • decentralized to protect security • development of e-mail and bulletin boards

  7. Entrepreneurial Development • 1982: National Science Foundation network launched • late 1980s: end of military involvement (ARPAnet) at end of Cold War • 1993: multimedia capability a reality • rapid spread beyond government and academic worlds through increasingly computer literate households

  8. Commercialization of the Internet as a Mass Medium • by 1998, over 100,000 regional networks and 36 million servers (hosts) • companies seek to turn Net users into consumers through ads and Web sites (E-COMMERCE) • government and non-profit presence on Net: disseminating information, documents, services

  9. How is the internet different from earlier forms of mass media? • Revolutionary ways that data is stored and retrieved • Increasing convergence of mass media: • newspapers • books • TV news • magazines • movies • music • interactive games

  10. Distinctive Innovations: • INTERACTIVE • receivers can respond to messages immediately • Individuals can be producers, not just consumers, of media content • MULTIPLE CHANNELS OF DELIVERY FOR TRADITIONAL MASS MEDIA • users can read magazines & books, while they listen to CD’s online

  11. E-COMMERCE • Advantages • 24-hour • Discounts • No geographical barriers (often no taxes) • Convenience of online catalogues • Disadvantages • Potential fraud • Technology glitches • Lack of customer service • Too many service duplications--profit hard to achieve

  12. COMPETING VISIONS OF THE INTERNET Free and Decentralized For-profit and Hierarchical

  13. WHO—IF ANYONE—WILL OWN THE INTERNET? • Media mega-corporations • Computer hardware/software companies • Internet access and service providers • Phone and cable TV companies • Internet search engines, portals, and Web browsers • TV networks

  14. Should the Internet be governed? If so, who should be in control? Can the public interest be protected and maintained?

  15. The Congress and Regulation Passing the Communications Decency Act of 1996, and then publishing the Starr Report in 1998 is “more than hypocritical. There’s a total disconnect here with many members of Congress. It’s predictable and sad that Congress would go ahead and publish the most popular piece of sexually explicit material ever published on the Internet. They themselves have become, in their terms, the most successful pornographers on the Internet.” (Barry Steinhardt, director, Electronic Frontier Foundation)

  16. Possibilities for Democratic Dialogue • Wide accessibility for all citizens • Decentralized social network • Development from “bottom-up” rather than “top-down” • Major involvement of amateurs • Massive sharing and storage of useful information

  17. Static in the Dialogue • Increased circulation of “cyberspace litter” • Lack of editorial control for accuracy –leads toproliferation of misinformation • Concerns about security, child protection, hatemongering • Knowledge gap between users and those without access

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