Smartphones and Society

For my final research paper in new media class, I wrote about the good and bad effects of smartphones on society. I chose this topic because of the impact that my iPhone has had on my life since I purchased my first one in 2009. Almost everybody I know that owns a smartphone no longer know knows what to do without it. There are so many things that people use their smartphones for reference throughout the day. I was talking to my neighbor yesterday who fell out of his boat into a river with his phone in his pocket, and it is no longer works. He said to me that he feels "naked" without it. I totally agree with him. When I forget my phone I feel lost. In my paper, I cover the effects of smartphones on education, work, and personal life. Check it out at http://klconnors.students.noctrl.edu/drip/index.html.

Internet and the News

In class we learned about how the news industry has been effected by the internet. It is unfortunate that many of the newspaper companies have gone bankrupt due to online journalism, but after all the internet is a more effective way to get the news stories seen. The internet has allowed citizens to become journalists as well. Especially with all of the cameras people have on their phones. When events take place there are always people to document them. On top of this, people can look at the news whenever, where ever they are as long as they have access to a computer, tablet, or smartphone. This is great because people no longer need to wait for the stories to be printed, or broadcasted.

I love the fact that I can read the news on my phone. I think the majority of my generation agrees with me because it is a hassle to go out and buy a newspaper. Now we don't even need to leave the house. Before I had the internet I would rarely hear the news because I had to go out of my way to get it, or wait for the news to come on TV. I honestly didn't care enough to hear the news. Now, I am more up to date with whats going on locally, and around the world because it's right at the tip of my fingers.

Image from: http://people.howstuffworks.com/newspaper.htm

Transmedia Storytelling

Transmedia storytelling is when a story is told over several different platforms. Instead of just watching a movie, playing a game, or reading a book, part of the story is in the movie, part of it is in the game, part is in the book, and more is on the internet, or somewhere else.  This allows the person to either participate in only one and get part of the story, or get the more out of the story by involving them self in one or more of the other platforms.
One example of transmedia storytelling that we learned about in class is the Matrix. There are three movies, a game, and the animatrix, which is a collection of different artists that have their own story in the matrix universe. There was also an online game at one point, but it no longer exists because it did not become very popular. The Matrix is a story that that you will not fully understand unless you get involved with the different platforms. Other notable franchises that are also engaged in transmedia story telling are Star Wars, Xmen, Halo, Avatar, and Batman.
I think transmedia storytelling is awesome for people that fall in love with these stories and worlds. Transmedia storytelling is a great way for these franchises to make money off of the worlds that they create. They put so much time and money put into creating these worlds that they get so much more out of them through these different platforms. On top of this, the fans get so much more out of the stories too.

Image from: http://bridgeartsmedia.com

Music and the Internet

The rise of the internet has had a huge effect on the music industry. It is so easy now to download music for free or just listen to it online, that May people have stopped buying music. There have been laws put in place trying to stop the sharing of music and video files, but people are always finding ways around it. In my opinion, once the person has a considerable amount of copies sold. they should just let us download the music for free, it's not like they make very much off of each purchase. It cant be effecting the famous musicians that bad, considering they still have enough money to have million dollar houses, nice cars, and all the clothes and accessories they could want. And after all that, they still have more spending money. Many of these musicians make enough off of their shows and other promotions to survive off of. If they allowed us to download their music for free, they may get more fans because their music could be played by more people, more often.

Image from: http://w8themes.com/music-wallpapers/

Crazy Life

These past few weeks have been crazy for me so I haven't had much time to log on, so I apologize. In new media class we have learned about a variety of topics, such as the effect of technology on the music industry, transmedia story telling, and how the internet has effected the news industry. I think it's interesting to see  how everything has evolved due to the internet. In the next few posts I will talk a little about each topic, and later I'll tell you about my research paper I just wrote called The Good and Bad Effects of Smartphones on Society.