A contiuation of my project

I've started to research the history of digital media and how it all came about. The concept of digitalizing media came about in the 80s but hasn't really caught on until recently (I'd say the past 4-5 years). That's why the timeline so far for my project is short, even though the concepts are older. Prototypes and concepts for computers and the Internet have been around for 15-20 years. Little did we (the general public/consumer) realize what would become of the Internet and technology.

An interesting idea that Walt Disney came up with was that of a place (Disney World) was to represent a physical Internet, a place where worlds could meet in one place, a place accessible to any one.

Just an idea I had.

I'm also still factoring in the educational tie in as well as the consumer-relation part (ie ebooks/readers, online newspapers, Internet, online publishing with Google books and blogs).

Begin the Begin.. An Intro to my Tech presentation

I've been continually been researching my topic through my Google reader. Right now I'm looking at how digitalizing books and other various media (newspapers, movies, etc) are accessible to the average consumer. I'm also going to finish researching the history of digitizing media (the timeline) and hopefully sometime next week I will develop a thesis statement for my topic. I want to have Miller review it and see if it needs to be tweaked at all, additions/subtractions, etc.

I found out that one blog on my reader, Booksquare, has a lot of info about trends in digital books, etc. Very interesting stuff b/c it talks about current and classic books as well as dig. docs. Hopefully I can get in contact with one of the contributors so we can discuss the trends and ins and outs of technology and books. We'll see where that goes.

I've tried to come up with a rough thesis statement for this project. I'm willing to take any suggestions as I post what I was thinking. Also, I came up with a basic outline, going from the history of digital media to current events and all the fun info in between.

Connections all over

Social networking is the new way for people who have adapted to communicating and socializing in the 21st century. People are able to know what other people are doing within seconds. It's pretty amazing to think about. If my friend in England updates her status about her trip to France, I can know about it within the minute she posts it. The whole definition of social networking has been altered and it hasn't been until the last few years that we as a tech based society have realized and really seen how this has come about. Internet social networking is a concept that people living in the 21st century need to grasp. It makes life so much easier. It makes forming a relationship of any kind a little less painful and a little more exciting. The downside.. it's a little less personal. Well, it's really just a matter of taste whether you like sharing anything and everything about yourself on the Internet or not.

Kindle Has New Competition from All Over the Place

Amazon better watch it's butt b/c Barnes and Noble has introduced a new, better, awesomer e-Reader... The BN e-Reader or the nook(tm). This thing is so cool, it has a lot more exciting than the lame old Kindle. It has a separate screen that is also touch screen that shows the titles of books you have and so on.

There's also a brand new concept e-reader/mini netbook being introduced to a select market. This cool, practical devise combines an reader and a net book you can use on the Internet. CNN says it will run off of Google Android and you can browse the Internet and download apps and other programs. Of course you can download the books right onto the reader, making it 10 times easier to use/that much more user friendly.

BBBBBB Back it up

I've been reading hard news stories about tech and I've found that there's a lot of controversy that surrounds the rising amount of tech in the world. A huge percentage of people in the world have iPhones, Kindles, etc and have instant access to any digital docs they want.

Companies like Amazon with the Kindle and Sony with their Reader are companies that specialize in that one field. But now the iPhone has become another reader in the wide market of readers. Customers can read the latest New York Times article as soon as it's posted on their website. This crazy technology has had it's ups and downs. On one blog I read on the Kindle many commentators felt that the actions of Amazon and their deleting books from people's Kindles was a bit "Big Brother like" and felt that their privacy was in jeopardy. This raises the question "How much privacy do we really have when we wrap our whole lives around technology and adapting to the new digital age?" Will we ever really know?

Well for now people will just continue to use this crazy (and frankly awesome) technology. I know I will.

Digital Publications: Some like 'em, some don't

The ebook has been making its way onto the digital scene for the past couple of years. But now we also have digital books and books online that are in a sense sweeping the nation. I found a blog about all things about digital books and all digital pubications. Teleread.org is a site that discusses how to make ebooks and digital media accessible to the average person, someone who isn't so techy.



One article I saw that was cool was about how Japan is bringing digitalized books to its people. The libraries in Japan have been given permission to put over 900 texts online.



All over the world people are beginning to use ebooks in the home, on the go, and in the workplace. On Slate.com, there's an article that talks about how the Kindle will change the world, one book at a time. I think that in 20 years, people will still be reading hard copies of books and some people will use the Kindle. It all depends on preference.

ebooks- The New Way of the Library

The innovative technology behind electronic or e-books is something that has revitalized many people's interest in reading. In our culture, many people have slowed down on the amount of reading they were doing. They simply lost interest or were tired of the same old boring format of the conventional book. With the introduction of the smart phone, people have gained an insatiable appetite for all things technology. People began to spend more time checking their stocks and reading articles on their iPhones than picking up a newspaper or buying and reading a book.

The introduction of the Amazon Kindle has totally changed reading for the 21st century person. Instead of browsing the shelves of your public library, how about thumbing through some e-books online in a matter of seconds, pay a small fee, and own your own e copy of your favorite book for as long as you like? Now you can. Gadgets like the Kindle and Sony Reader have made this possible.

Teens may find ebooks interesting for a few reasons. They can download their current assigned books and take them anywhere and read them on the bus, at the beach, or in the car. They are new, and that is something teens like (I know, I am one).

The Demise of the Paperback- Technology and Its Side Effects

As someone who surrounds themselves with books, the topic of ebooks and the demise of the paperback seemed to be a poignant topic. Technology plays such a pivotal role in today's society and economy. Great technological advances such as encoding hard copies of books and transcripts on the computer have become part of the norm.

The digital age is here and it is important for everyone to be able to adapt to the changes that are being made. Google is one of the main companies that is helping consumers adapt to the 21st century. They are putting rare copies of books and various texts online for the public to read for free. Amazon is also making headway by providing digital books on the Kindle. News sources like CNN and New York Times also provide many current articles on the subject of technology and digital books.

BLAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGG!

Blogging has become revolutionary in the way we as a technology based world communicate with one another and share our ideas. Anything that pops into our heads can be instantaneously put up on the Internet for the whole world (theoretically) to see, a crazy, mind-blowing concept.

A concept that 10, or even 5 years ago, was very foreign to us all.

Blogging in the classroom is a cool concept in itself, an innovation that has become quite popular throughout the country in recent years for a few reasons. Teachers and students now have the ability to communicate with each other over a topic discussed in class. Blogs are also a way for teachers and students to collaborate on a common blog where every one's ideas can be compiled on one blog.

For example, if a class is discussing the Yale incident(1) in class, students can, on their individual blogs, write about their reaction to the incident and maybe hyperlink to news stories about it/ on incidents like it. A very interesting pro to blogging.

With all of this new technology there are bound to be some drawbacks. With having a blog, there is the issue of privacy. You may not want EVERYONE to read your blog, just some. It's difficult to control your readers. Also, people feel free to write whatever comes to their minds. This power could be abused and opinions may be found offensive to certain readers.

Footnotes:

1. Hyperlinking is another unique feature of blogging. Bloggers are able to connect something from the Internet (pics, videos, articles) into their blog posts like I've done here.

Pic from Google.com

Hyperlinking 101-- A beginner's guide

The most important thing I have learned so far in journalism class is how to physically set up a news story. By putting the summary of the whole story in the first sentence, the reader has an idea of what they will be reading. I also have learned that there are different types or styles of news stories that a journalist can report. The most popular, I have noticed, are the kinds of news stories that somehow relate to the reader whether it be by geography or by a person.

I learned about web 2.0 and how websites like Twitter and Blogger are used to present the news to people in an appetizing way. I've learned that more people are likely to read a blog entry (someones personal take on a news story) rather than the hard facts written in plain format.

I would like to learn more about how to organize my writing and where to put certain facts (who, what, when, where, why, how).

Job losses ebb, but unemployment up

http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/04/news/economy/jobs_august/index.htm?postversion=2009090408

In the U.S., the economy has been suffering for some time now and people all over the country have been suffering along with it.

The amount of layoffs and job losses in the U.S. have decreased in the past month or so, a sign of relief perhaps?

Unfourtunatly, the unemployment rate has still increased, says CNN furthering the amount of financial stress in our country. In a time of economic crisis, we need to see more people finding jobs instead of losing them/ not having them at all.

This article is newsworthy for a few reasons. It presents prominence, it deals with an issue that affects everyone in America somehow. Job losses and unemployment are two issues that 1. go hand in hand and 2. has consequence, another factor that makes it newsworthy. Timeliness is also a factor. This article wouldn't really be relevant in about 2 weeks.