Final Essay

Ideas and strategies to communicate better have always been at the heart of conversations about innovation. From as early as humanity can remember, ways of communicating have always been important discussions. How could we easily talk to someone who is too far to visit every minute of the day? With more innovative ways of communicating come consequences. However, a big question many innovators and even sociologists ask is: do the pros represent the cons? How has society adapted to this new form of communication? Has it been a positive or negative impact? Whatever the answers may be, one thing is true: cell phones have made a huge impact on society and what it means to own one since the moment they came out. People who had the money rushed to pick up the first mobile device.

In April 3, 1973, Motorola created the first cell phone and mass produced the first handheld mobile cell phone that allowed for consumers to be able to use a phone without being bound to a specific area. These models were considered to be the Zero Generation phones because they were the first of their kind. This was the start of a revolution. As time went on, phones started to become more popular and accessible. They weren’t as expensive as they were before, meaning anyone could own a mobile device. However, it was clear that these phones were solely meant for communicating via talking.

It was not until 1992 when the first text message was sent. This was called an SMS, meaning short message service. According to Mashable, the first person to send an SMS was “Neil Papworth, a former developer at Sema Group Telecoms. Mobile phones didn’t have keyboards at the time, so Papworth had to type the message on a PC. Papworth’s text — “Merry Christmas” — was successfully sent to Richard Jarvis at Vodafone”. SMS wasn’t originally meant for communication between one person and another, and it was not available on mobile phones before 1992. In 1997, Nokia was the first phone company to produce a phone with a full keyboard to assist people who wanted to use SMS. Today, six billion texts are sent everyday in the United States alone. As texting became more popular, society adjusted. History, however, has always showed us that people want more than what they have. So phone companies had to think ahead to stay profitable and relevant.

In 2003, 3G internet speed was created and it allowed people to browse the internet- although, it wasn’t cheap and free as most have it now. This was considered a pioneer for smartphones because of the accessibility to quicker internet connections almost everywhere you go. Having faster internet service allowed for quicker ways of communication, and it became a vital part of creating mobile internet. Even though phones were now adapting to this faster internet speed, most were forgetting that mobile phones needed to have a more modern look for users to adapt more effectively.

2007 was the year that Apple, formerly known as Macintosh, produced the very first iPhone. The asking price was $499, which now would be equivalent to about $615. This was the start of touch screen smart phones. Apple became the inspiration for all touch screens that would soon become popular.

Cell phones, like any other technological advancements, has its benefits and drawbacks. Global communications are now possible. Before people only had the option of buying calling cards, but now there are free apps that (with the help of internet) one can communicate with another from all the way across the globe. Even if internet isn’t accessible to someone,  purchasing plans to talk to someone in a specific country are usually available depending on the phone company. More and more people are finding it easier to communicate with people who live far away from them, making it even easier to travel around the world and live in a foreign country without having to worry that communication with family and friends will be difficult. Another benefit would be the ability to make real and lasting relationships/friendships with people you have yet to meet physically. A drawback of that, of course, would be the phenomenon called “catfishing” where according to Urban Dictionary is when a “fake or stolen online identity created or used for the purposes of beginning a deceptive relationship”. There is a show called Catfish that is dedicated to finding out if online relationships have been real or fake and a waste of time. Here is the website of Nev Schulman, creator of Catfish http://www.nevschulman.com/catfish.

One more benefit would be that individuals around the world are able to create content based off of various subjects such as health and fitness, lifestyle, fashion, and even comedy. Creating a business has become easier because of networking, and there are even careers based off of being able to analyze the logistics of social media trends. Billie Eilish, a famous indie-pop singer, recalls how she started her singing career off of a popular app called Soundcloud (www.wmagazine.com/story/billie-eilish-new-ep/amp).

Despite these amazing accomplishments thanks to what phones have been able to give us, cell phones have been proven to be the cause of many health detriments. Cell phones have been known to cause cancer and be harmful to the environment, especially as they become more and more popular. Blue light that is emitted from cell phones are also harmful to our eyes, the light can permanently damage the retina. Also using a phone right before bed messes up your body’s natural circadian rhythm. This means that you feel more tired in the morning because it was harder for you to fall asleep the night before. The blue light doesn’t just affect one’s retina, but it also affects the amount of melatonin (a sleep hormone) produced at night.

As much as society has become more technology advanced in such a short time, the pace at which we are going at is concerning. Cell phones are the new reality and have been for a very long time. Without cell phones, we feel overwhelmed and lost- like we’re missing a very important body part. With cell phones, we still feel overwhelmed. I believe that it’s up to the individual to decide if owning a cell phone (or multiple cell phones) have been detrimental to their own life. Right now, cell phones are amazing but they also have a lot of downsides. As for the world as a whole, I believe that we need to slow down on all the technological advancements and be more appreciative of what we have.

Sources Cited:

https://twigby.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115010624828-What-s-the-difference-between-SMS-and-MMS-

https://www.thehits.co.nz/lifestyle/this-is-why-you-shouldnt-use-your-phone-before-bed/

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/phone-may-be-damaging-your-eyes

https://www.delivra.com/product/sms-text-messaging/

https://mashable.com/2012/09/21/text-messaging-history/

http://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/2007?amount=499

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=catfish

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/cell-phones-fact-sheet#q1

The Pager

Chayenne McPherson

May 11, 2019

MCS 244 – Communication in Society

Prof. Brucker-Cohen

Final

Call Me, Beep Me If You Want to Reach Me:

From the beginning of human history, the communication infrastructures set up between long distances had always been a challenge for both senders and receivers. Through the variety of systems set in place, the goal of creating an expansive network of connectivity was one that followed in close succession of innovations of the early 1900’s and historical events such as both World War I and World War II. In the technological era of communication today, technology has found itself more advanced than ever. The concept of having access to limitless resources within the palm of one’s hand is part of the many joys that few would experience however for some, it can be overwhelming. With a highly competitive market for the “Next Big Thing,” in cell phone technology, we often lose the nuances of what the main purpose of a cell phone is: to telephonically communicate. Constantly looking towards the future for the answers, innovators of the past had come to the realization: the simpler the design, the better functioning. By design, many of the devices that exist in this market emulate and often include the features of pre-existing devices. Of the innumerable methods of communication that exist today however, the device that served as the link between two generations is the pager.

The pager is one of the very few devices prior to the cell phone that is closely remembered by those across multiple generations. Known also as the beeper, the pager can be considered a direct antecedent of the cellphone. Unlike the cellphone of today, however, the pager had not immediately taken off in the global market. The first patented pager technology was perfected by engineer Alfred “Al” Gross. Growing up with a technological prowess as a teenager of the early 20thcentury, the world had succumbed to war, and distance. Despite many other methods used to communicate slowly becoming obsolete, Gross came to the realization that they could not communicate the way that they used to and that being able to communicate was a right for all. As a young engineer, Gross had an understanding of the need for making telecommunications faster, more succinct, and accessible. Seeing as though he also held the patents for the first battery-operated calculator, the cordless phone, the walkie-talkie and the Citizen’s Band (CB) radio, the concept of the beeper was born and added to his extensive resume of life-changing technology. While there were earlier versions of the beeper in the 1920s used by the Detroit Police Department, the first appearance most common form of it was used was exclusively in New York City’s Jewish Hospital in the 1940s. By 1956, paging technology began to gain traction in professions such as medicine and emergency responders (such as firefighters and emergency room nurses to get in touch with different physicians and doctors.) It was not until the mid-1970’s that Motorola was the first company to globally and commercially distribute the pager. By 1994, beepers had reached its peak with 61 million in use globally, maintaining its popularity as one of the primary means of instant communication until the early 21stcentury. Today despite the global overall shift towards the cell phone, industries such as hospitality, nuclear plant management, rare bird watchers, and emergency responders still use the pager as their primary source of communication between one another as well as their respective bases.

Coming in different configurations, this small device was one of the first portable devices that expanded the world’s telecommunications network. Two variations of the pager included the one-way (users are able to receive messages but had to respond with a phone call) and two-way (users are able to receive and send messages on the same device) pagers. Working hand in hand with the landline (and later, the earlier models of the cell phone), the pager used similar technology as the radio. The deciding factor that sets pager radios apart from radio broadcast is how far radio waves emitted by a pager are capable of reaching also known as limited range and wide-area. Using a small radio-type of a receiver, limited range paging is normally used in Hospitals in cases of emergency or during your visit to your favorite restaurant with a wait. Comparatively, wide-area paging is similar to national radio broadcasts that can go greater distances than the limited-range pager. This pager is the one frequently depicted in movies with a post-apocalyptic theme. With the use of radio waves, it allows for messages to get through in places that cell phone signals cannot normally reach.

Physically, the pager allowed for many to be contacted away from home or the office. Instant communication became possible with the advent of the pager. With many shorthand codes developed through numeric systems and later incorporating the alphabet. Seemingly more difficult to operate, beepers have proven themselves more reliable. In her ThoughtCo article “When Pagers and Beepers Were All the Rage”, Mary Bellis explains the advantage of beeper connectivity over the cellphone by explaining:

“… [T]oday’s smartphone technologies can’t compete with the reliability of the paging network. A cell phone is only as good as the cellular or Wi-Fi network off of which it operates, so even the best networks still have dead zones and poor in-building coverage.

While the telephone allowed for those further away to gain and remain in contact with one another, the pager added the novelty of convenience with its ability to relay a message from sender to receivers without having the receiver immediately pick up the phone.

Despite many of the great attributes of the pager should it decide to re-enter the mainstream, as an option for communications one of the roadblocks that the pager may face is its dependency on the phone. One of the things that make the cell phone such an innovative tool is its autonomy in access alongside its primary function of a phone. From an economic standpoint, cell phone developers such as Apple have created a vertical monopoly over devices because of their multiple capabilities. While it wasn’t made to compete with the cell phone and to work alongside it, the capabilities of a cell phone thoroughly outweigh those of a beeper. In Rachel Pick’s Vice article, “Why are Pagers Still A Thing?” she goes on to explain the benefits of having cell phones in the field:

“A smartphone would enable the sender to message a whole team of firefighters, medical staff, or emergency responders at the same time. It would offer access to valuable data like maps and medical info, and it could transmit a GPS signal if a first responder were ever in danger and unable to communicate. Also, the pager system can cause “bottlenecks” in hospitals: as WNYC notes, nurse’s stations are frequently slammed by a group of recently-paged doctors all waiting to use the phone, and whatever patients they were tending to are left in the lurch while they wait.”

 

Considering the trend of different technological industries to draw inspiration from past innovations to serve as reference points for new technology, I believe that the pager will find itself center stage in the mainstream once again. Based on the timeline of the pager, many tech companies prime demographic that is the focal points of their advertising (between ages 20-35) have at least come in contact with a beeper once in their lifetime. Providing a sense of nostalgia for many who have had come into contact with it at least once in their lifetime, the reincorporation of the pager into everyday use, allows for the evident addiction to smart devices to curb itself while still allowing for people to maintain contact with the world around them. The reintroduction of the beeper into everyday technology would also revive the need of remembering a number of those who are closest. App concepts for the iPhone such as ContactRot, which focuses on restoring the relationships of those who we have in our contacts while limiting our dependency on the “cloud,” can make the transition from reliance on cloud use to human memory easier. Many objections may arise, as it can seem like a reversion to the “stone ages.” With an update to its appearance and technology within, making it safer for users to send and receive messages safely, pagers will allow for people to find the complexity of simple mediums.

The human story of creating and maintaining connections has been one that has experienced numerous twists and turns. Methods spanning from smoke signals, foot messengers, and carrier pigeons, to the telegraph, two-way radios and the phone, the often-convoluted path that communication technologies feed the fire of innovation Continuously moving, reflecting into the past for inspiration, the two can possibly coexist. The idea of having limitless access to the world without having to leave your home, state or country can come as both a blessing and a curse. In the technological rat race of the various devices available at our disposal, the beeper is aware that it will not compare where it does not compete. Sticking true to its origins of the simple communication method, the pager continues to pave the way for complex yet simple telecommunications technology. Bridging the gap between two generations, the pager has proven itself in design and function to stand the test of time. By merging itself with the modern technology of today

Works Cited 

This Is Why Doctors Still Use Pagers, www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/this-is-why-doctors-still-use-pagers/ar-BBUrHyO.

Bellis, Mary. “When Pagers and Beepers Were All the Rage.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 10 Sept. 2018, www.thoughtco.com/history-of-pagers-and-beepers-1992315.

Benedictus, Leo. “Still Buzzing: the People Using Pagers in 2017.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21 Feb. 2017, www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2017/feb/21/peope-using-pagers-paramedics-lifeboat-crews-birdwatchers.

Brucker-Cohen, Jonah. “About.” ContactRot, www.contactrot.com/.

“Cell Phone vs Pager.” Diffen, www.diffen.com/difference/Cell_Phone_vs_Pager.

“How Do Radio Pagers Work?” Explain That Stuff, 4 Jan. 2019, www.explainthatstuff.com/howpagerswork.html.

Pick, Rachel. “Why Are Pagers Still a Thing?” Vice, VICE, 12 June 2015, www.vice.com/en_us/article/xyw9zq/why-are-pagers-still-a-thing.

Woo, Elaine. “Al Gross; Invented Pager, Walkie-Talkie and Cordless Phone.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2001, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-14-me-12311-story.html.

Television(Final Essay)

I researched the Televison which was a great invention. It helped change the world and how the world is entertain. It help change the acting landscape, because their was more jobs for acting since their had to be telvision shows, and televison movies to be made. But people say it messed up movies. In the article, ” How TV Killed Hollywood’s Golden Age,” by Erin Blakemore, it says, ” If you consider films like Rebecca, Citizen Kane or All About Eve to be cinematic masterpieces, you’re not alone. All three were born during Hollywood’s Golden Age, a wildly creative era in which movies dominated mass entertainment and their glamorous stars entranced the public. But during the 1940s and 1950s, that success suddenly evaporated. Movie palaces shuttered, once mighty studios closed down and some of Hollywood’s greatest actors, directors and screenwriters stopped making films. It was the end of an era and television was to blame: the new technology effectively killed Hollywood’s Golden Age.These days, you’re much more likely to turn on your television than to head to a movie theater. Here’s how TV captivated American audiences—and upended just about everything about the movie business along the way…  Then the war ended, and social changes turned a trickle of demand for television into a tidal wave. Americans had scrimped and saved since the Great Depression, and when men returned home from war, many families were ready to start spending. Often, their first purchase—with assistance from federal home loans—was a house in the suburbs. Between 1947 and 1953, the number of people living in suburbs grew 43 percent. Since these newly built areas weren’t close to downtown movie palaces and often lacked mass transportation options, people began to seek entertainment inside their homes.”

 

The first mechanical Television sets were made in the early 1800’s. These involved mechanically scanning images then transmitting those images onto a screen . The First Electronic Television Set was made in 1927 by a 21 year old inventor named Philo Taylor Farnsworth . By 1934, all TVs had been converted into the electronic system.Most people don’t sit and watch television anymore because of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu . Instead of people rushing home to watch TV shows, they can watch it on their laptops , tablets or phones . You can also watch Television on your Playstations, Xboxes, Firesticks and other other streaming services, making the uses of cable go down exponentially.

In 1968, Ivan Sutherland and his student Bob Sproull created the first VR / AR head mounted display that was connected to a computer and not a camera . Today Companies and Gaming Systems are making places where you can watch Virtual Reality shows and play Virtual Reality Games lowering the usage of television. In the article , “Virtual reality: Is this really how we will all watch TV in years to come?,” by the guardian, it says, “In 2017, these cultural touchstones are freshly in mind for the television industry, as it tries to understand whether real-life headsets can be used to deliver new forms of drama, documentary and storytelling.Multiple attempts in past decades to make VR a real-world success floundered. However, the release of a new generation of VR headsets in 2016 from Sony, Google, Samsung, HTC and Facebook-owned Oculus VR has brought the technology back to prominence. The promise: connect a headset to a games console (Sony’s PlayStation VR), a computer (Oculus Rift or HTC’s Vive) or your smartphone (Samsung’s Gear VR or Google’s Daydream View) and you can watch video, play games and explore virtual worlds, turning your head around for 360-degree vision, and interacting via a controller.” These are the new type of technology, that people are trying to make to have people get entertain in better and funner ways. With the use of VR changing the way we watch things, it has made making these technologies an important one in the modern world today.

In the article , ” Television’s impact on society and culture,” it says, ” There is no doubt that since television’s emergence, it has been a significant part of the American culture. When television was first introduced, its combination of sight and sound mesmerized a lot of people. Since then, the device has been a constant presence of millions of Americans. Because of its fast-moving, visually stimulating and very entertaining way of presenting programs, television commands a lot of people’s attention for many hours every day. While watching TV may seem a harmless pass time, too much of TV can be an unhealthy habit as well. Up until the age of the Internet, mobile gadgets and social media, no other thing could compete for a person’s attention with his family, friends, school and church than the “boob tube.”

In this article, there is multiple VR projects that is happening that there are trying to get done. Also Apple are making Apple glasses which are slated to come out in 2020. In the article,” Apple Glasses: What are they and when are they being released?” it says, ” Guo Minghao, an analyst at Tianfeng International Securities, issued a report stating that Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the key businesses for Apple’s future growth. He believes that Apple will become a leader in the field of augmented reality, mainly because it requires huge investment, software and hardware integration capabilities, and design innovative human-computer interaction capabilities. Guo Minghao also expects that Apple’s first-generation head-mounted AR device will be mass-produced in the fourth quarter of this year to the second quarter of next year, which will be an important milestone in the commercialization of augmented reality. Taking into account the technical limitations, Guo Minghao pointed out that the Apple AR device will be integrated with the iPhone, the iPhone is responsible for computing, networking, indoor positioning and outdoor positioning, and the head-mounted AR device plays the display role.”

Positives are that It’s a form of entertainment, making people not get bored. Because of television, networks started making television shows, making the number of actors go up, which created job opportunities . It can help young children acquire language at an early age. Negatives are that Television can make people lazy, because they can be entertain by not moving at all . Television shows a lot of violence, and people may try to copy the violence they seen on television. As I said earlier, people are moving away to watching shows on their phones, tablets and laptops . With more gaming systems being made, and more streaming services being added, the usage of television has gone down . According to Marketing Charts, 18-34 age group viewing Television has dropped by 17.2%.

Television has helped the world modernize to what we are now. This was before computers, laptops, mobile phones and gaming systems and etc. In the article, ” History of the Television,” it says, ” The world’s first television stations first started appearing in America in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The first mechanical TV station was called W3XK and was created by Charles Francis Jenkins (one of the inventors of the mechanical television). That TV station aired its first broadcast on July 2, 1928. One of the world’s first television stations, WRGB, has the honor of being the world’s only continuously operating station since 1926 to the modern day…1949: In January, the number of TV stations had grown to 98 in 58 market areas.
1949: The FCC adopted the Fairness Doctrine, which made broadcasters responsible for seeking out and presenting all sides of an issue when covering controversy. This act was a supplement to the Communications Act of 1934, which required broadcasters to give equal airtime to candidates running in elections… 1952: By the end of 1952, TVs could be found in 20 million households across America, a rise of 33% from the previous year. U.S. advertisers spent a total of $288 million on television advertising time, an increase of 38.8% from 1951… 1960: Four debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon were broadcast throughout the year across the country, forever changing the way presidents would campaign…
2010: 3D televisions start hitting the market, spurred by popular 3D blockbusters like Avatar.” All of these accomplishments happen because of Television and it changed the way we entertain ourselves now.

In the article, ” Smart TVs: Everything You Need to Know,” by BRIAN WESTOVER & JOHN QUAIN, it says, What is a smart TV? While regular TVs have been around for decades, these so-called “dumb TVs” only do one thing: Receive signal from an HDTV antenna, cable or another A/V source. That was great when those were you only TV viewing options, but today’s connected world expects something a little smarter.Smart TVs, much like smartphones and smart home devices, offer internet connectivity and support for a range of apps. This opens up a world of new entertainment options, from streaming video on Netflix and Hulu to playing games, checking social media, and controlling a whole house full of connected gadgets, including devices that work with Alexa and Google Home-compatible products.”

People are always coming up with new ways to get entertain and Television was the first one, and now VR is making a case to be the new Television in today’s wold. As the world keeps getting modernize, we will continue to come up with new ways to make Television better and if not come up with a new way to replace Television.

 

https://mentalitch.com/televisions-impact-on-society-and-culture/

https://www.history.com/news/how-tv-killed-hollywoods-golden-age

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/09/virtual-reality-is-it-the-future-of-television

https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/history.html

Final Paper: Emails

Noelle Duggins

MCS 244

Professor Jonah Bruckner-Cohen

May 21, 2019

Emails

Emails are messages that are sent from one computer user to one or more recipients via a network. Emails are the original group chats. A person is able to type a message and send it to one person or a group of people simultaneously. It allows the recipient to reply to just the sender or reply to all the recipients. When email was first introduced, the person needed to have a specific software specially designed for emails on their computer in order to be able to utilize their email. The first email was sent in 1971 on ARPANET which was the first step for electronic emails. Emails are becoming more unpopular due to many social media apps.

In 1775 the U.S. Postal System was created with the help of Benjamin Franklin. It was the foundation for the mail service that we know today. Before Franklin, many people use to make multiple copies of one letter and send each copy on a different ship with different routes in hopes of their letters reaching their destination. That type of  “postal service” was unreliable because people had no way of knowing if the person received the letter unless they got a response. The postal service made it possible to track letters and packages at any time to ensure the person receives the package.

The fax machine is a type of email that is sent from one machine to the next. The first fax machine was created in 1842. The fax machine allows a business to send photocopies to another fax machine by dialing the number of the machine, placing the pages on the machine that you want to photocopy, press start, then watch the papers be sent in less than a minute. This allowed businesses to send files instantly without having to physically be in the same office. This is a benefit because it allows businesses to communicate or even share people’s files with the click of a button without having to rely on the postal service or rely on people actually opening up emails.

The first precedent is AOL. America Online was one of the first companies to set up a type of online community using instant messaging that transmits billions of messages on a day to day basis. Their original name was Quantum Computer Services which was launched in 1989. In 1991, it was renamed AOL. When it was first founded, it was only available on Apple products. It was then expanded to Microsoft Windows computers in 1993. America Online officially became AOL on April 3, 2006. AOL failed because while the world was changing, they did not. They were unable to update with the new technological advances. Once AOL gained a certain amount of customers they were not interested in evolving their business model as quickly as the Internet.

The second precedent is Hotmail. In 1996, they were one of the first services to offer free web-based email to the world. In 1995, Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith who both studied at the University of Stanford had an idea about communication. They wanted to create a type of technology that allowed people to communicate through the internet without needing any other type of software and without the fear of being spied on. Their idea came to life when they decided to create a service that can be accessible and used by everyone and would be free, secure, simple, and easy to access. To start up Hotmail, Bhatia and Smith needed 300,000 dollars minimum to begin the Hotmail project. Neither of them had any idea on how to get that kind of money to create the alpha version of the program. Draper Jurvetson invested in this small idea because he saw a future for Hotmail. Bhatia and Smith both quit their jobs at Apple Inc. and bought a small office in Fremont, California. In 1996 Hotmail was released to the public as an online service through the internet. Hotmail got its name because of the original logo which spelled out “HoTMaiL” which was an acronym for HTML. A couple months after the release, Hotmail had a million users and many people were impressed that they were able to use Hotmail without the need of extra software. In 1997, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft was intrigued at how fast Hotmail grew and bought Hotmail for 400 million dollars. After Hotmail was bought it was renamed MSN Hotmail. In 2004, Google went into competition with Hotmail and released an email service that had more storage capacity and an easier way for people to attach photos and videos in emails. In 2011, Hotmail became Windows Live Hotmail and ended up losing customers. People were upset that with the change because they lost their old mail and they ended up switching to another email provider. On April 3, 2013, Hotmail was closed and changed to Outlook.

The third precedent is Yahoo. Yahoo was founded in 1994 by Jerry Yang and David Filo. Yang and Filo were Electrical Engineering graduate students who also had a website called “Jerry and David’s Guide to The World Wide Web”. It was an online catalog of websites that was renamed Yahoo! In 1994. The word Yahoo stands for “Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle”. Yahoo includes features like news, email service, search engine, and a directory. Yahoo failed because it took several losses in numerous opportunities such as purchasing well-known companies like Google, Youtube, EBay, and Facebook. It suffered a lot as a result of the dot com crash in April 2000, and Yahoo was never able to fully recover.

Gmail was launched in April 2004. Gmail became popular because from the startup, they were able to provide a search engine feature that was better than their competitors at the time. It’s main focus as a search engine set it apart from Yahoo, Excite, Lycos and other search pioneers that had recasted themselves as “portals”.  Google expanded to everything from weather to sports to games. Portals had a reputation for doing many things like that, but not necessarily doing them successfully. Gmail was a big deal because even though other free email services such as Yahoo and Hotmail were around, they were slow and offered limited storage and clunky user interfaces. Google has an effective software program that filters out any spam and unwanted emails. Gmail is highly popular in today’s world because it comes with so many other apps like google slides, google docs, google sheets, google drive, and google classroom. All of these apps allow the person to share it with others and all of them can work on the project simultaneously. Many students like to get gmail because of all the subscriptions that come free with it like google slides, google docs, and google sheets.

For the future, I believe there should be a more personalized take on emails. There should be a software that has automated replies ready for a person to send rather than the person having to sit there and type the response. This software would be personalized based on the person. Once you would open the email, you would hit the quick reply button and sentences would pop up and the person would be able to pick from there. For example, if your boss sends a mass email saying “REMINDER: Meeting at 10:30 on April 29 in the conference room. Be on time.” the person would click the auto reply button and see “Got it. Will be there on time.”, “Will be there but will be late.”, “Can’t make it.” or “Thank you for the reminder.”. The software will also add the event and time to your phone calendar and remind you the day before and the day of the event. This will make replying easier and helps a person who is always on the move and does not have time to sit and type a reply or add the event to their calendar. There would also be a virtual assistant that will cost nothing to use. This assistant would be able to read your emails out loud to you and listen for the person’s command. Whether it be delete, reply saying …, or block this sender. This assistant could also be programmed by the user to automatically send certain emails straight to spam or to the trash depending on the user’s preference. There would also be a software update that includes showing when a person reads the email. Many people who send emails worry about if the person opened it and have no way of verifying without bothering the other person by asking.

Email as a whole is declining due to a lack of popularity. Majority of the population use emails for school work only or promotions from businesses. For example, people give their emails when they shop to get coupons sent to them. This is a way to keep the customers spending their money at the stores and keeps the customers using their email accounts. Emails are slowly becoming unpopular because many people prefer to text in group messages or fax things over. Google is one of the companies that is keeping emails relevant and alive.

 

Works Cited

“A Brief History of Hotmail.” IndianWeb2.Com, 13 Sept. 2013, www.indianweb2.com/2010/01/07/a-brief-history-of-hotmail/.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “AOL.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 5 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/AOL.

Brandon, John. “Why Email Will Be Obsolete by 2020.” Inc.com, Inc., 16 Apr. 2015, www.inc.com/john-brandon/why-email-will-be-obsolete-by-2020.html.

“Gmail.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 May 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmail.

Tynan, Dan. “The Glory That Was Yahoo.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 20 Mar. 2018, www.fastcompany.com/40544277/the-glory-that-was-yahoo.

“U.S. Postal System Established.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 24 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-postal-system-established.

Final: The Increasing Unpopularity of Emails

Over the past few years, email as a whole has become widely unpopular as a result of new and improved technology that has made it easier for people to communicate in areas such as their job or personal lives. Before the creation of email domains, people communicated through the use of a fax machine and later on through writing letters.  In 1775, the U.S. Postal System was created and gave a faster way to send letters. It introduced a new method to write to people and ensured that they received the letter. A few years later, the fax machine was created in 1842 by Alexander Bain and allowed people to send messages and drawings within seconds, by scanning the original copy of the document onto the machine itself. In today’s society, fax machines are more popular in businesses as a file sharing process. The history of email began in 1972 when Ray Tomlinson picked the @ symbol from the computer keyboard to represent sending messages from one  computer to another. As a result of this new step for email, the first important email standard was developed called SMTP, Simple Message Transfer Protocol. It was easy to navigate, but was not as successful due to its naïve protocol which involved not attempting to find out whether the person sending a message via email, was the person they alleged to be. Forgery is an important downfall in email addresses because it is simple to produce/imitate someone’s email address and send scam-like emails to their family, friends, and co-workers.

Throughout the years, many email domains have made their appearance and have remained successful until a course of events or a lack of being able to keep up with the growing and improved technological world has caused them to fail. One of those email domains was AOL, which began in 1989 in Dulles, Virginia when Quantum Computer services launched its first instant messaging service. In 1991, Quantum renames itself America Online, but by April 3, 2006, the name America Online was shortened to AOL. AOL was one of the first companies to establish a strong sense of community among its users through buddy lists and instant messaging services, which transmit billions of messages daily. AOL offered users from across the world numerous services such as; email, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), AOL video, video search, news, sports, weather, stock quotes, and Map Quest used for directions. After discovering the many successes that AOL as a company has experienced, it was surprising that it also went through a severe downfall. An important reason why AOL failed would be that while the world changed with time, they didn’t. As a company, you have to consistently work to stay five steps ahead of the technological world because it is growing and improving daily. If the services that you provide are not able to compete successfully with newer technologies/services, they will fall into the past and the company will not make enough revenue to stay alive. Also, once AOL acquired a considerable amount of customers, they weren’t interested in rapidly evolving their business model to move away from the required separate application to connect to the Internet. They allowed their success in gaining millions of users make them comfortable as a company which is another reason why they failed because they were not putting in the work to advance and expand their services and their purpose as a company.

Another email domain that was widely popular and was used by millions of people across the world was Yahoo! Yahoo an acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle,”  was founded in 1994 by Jerry Yang and David Filo. Yahoo began as a simple collection of Yang and Filo’s favorite Websites. It was initially called “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web.” Before there was ever a Google or Facebook, Yahoo was what you call “the king of the internet.” It included features such as a search engine, an email service, a directory, and a news branch. Also provides users with online utilities, information, and access to other Web sites. Yahoo! is now owned by Verizon Communications since 2017 because Yahoo! began to develop growing financial struggles and the efforts to turn the company around through hiring new CEO’s was not successful. Verizon Communications purchased the company for $4.48 billion. However, it is important to note that many apps that we enjoy were either invented at Yahoo or took a settling there. Some examples include before YouTube, there was Broadcast, before Evernote, there was Yahoo Notebook, before Spotify, there was Yahoo Music etc.  Yahoo unfortunately failed even though it is still around because it took several losses in numerous opportunities such as purchasing well-known companies like Google, YouTube, eBay, Facebook. Also, it suffered as a result of the dot com crash in April 2000, and never fully recovered. The dot com crash involved people with a lot of money looking for a quick way to get even richer by giving money  to any company that had some creative idea to dominate some area of the Internet–selling toys online, virtual newscasters, etc. The plan was for the companies to give away something for free in order to gain popularity amongst the people in order to gain publicity for their company and the service. However, this failed because the companies were giving away free things, but were not making revenue in return to keep up with the money being given by the wealthy people, so they stopped investing in those companies. If Yahoo was able to purchase these well-known and now widely popular companies, it would have remained at the top of the email domain world.

The third email domain that was popular in the past was Hotmail. Hotmail was founded in 1996 by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith. It was later taken over by Microsoft in 1997 for approximately $400 million and is now known as Outlook. Hotmail was one of the first services to offer free web-based email in the world. It became popular and differentiated itself from other email domains because it worked completely online through its web page instead of users having to download a software specially designed to use an email account. The overall theme the creators wanted to accomplish was to have it be an email service that would be simple, secure, completely free and easy to access from any computer having an internet connection and browser, working completely online. Hotmail was the first email domain to do many things such as offer safety innovations like anti-virus scanning for attachments. Hotmail introduced the calendar service, spell check, web messenger, search etc. On April 3, 2013 Hotmail transitioned to Outlook which in turn forced users to upgrade to Outlook.com while maintaining their @hotmail.com email addresses, password, messages, folders, contacts etc. Hotmail failed as a result of the rise of Gmail because it couldn’t keep up with the newer services and aesthetic of Gmail. An interesting quotation states that “Gmail is to Hotmail, what Android is to Windows Mobile.” Microsoft purchasing the company and transitioning it to Outlook was the reason its usage grew larger and expanded to more people.

Gmail is currently the only email domain that is dominating in the email world. It has knocked off popular email companies from their high places on the ladder with its better, slicker, easier to use, and more useful services. Gmail was launched on April 1, 2004 by Paul Buchheit. It differentiated itself with its limitless storage, fast services, instant search and other advanced features. It may have been the first major cloud-based app that was capable of replacing conventional PC software, not just complementing it. The fact that Gmail began with a search feature that was far better than anything offered by the major email services profoundly shaped its character. It’s main focus on its search engine set it apart from Yahoo, Excite, Lycos and other search pioneers that had reworked themselves as “portals,” expanding to everything from weather to sports to games. Portals had a reputation for doing many things, but not necessarily doing them all that well, which can show why many of the past popular email domains failed and fell off the grid. Gmail was a big deal because even though other free email services such as Yahoo and Hotmail were around, they were slow and offered limited storage and clunky services. Also, it includes popular features within Google Drive such as Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides which are used my many students around the world to complete assignments. Gmail also has a very effective program to filter out spam and unwanted emails that aren’t considered spam. Overall, Gmail is capable of keeping up with the growing/improving world of technology, and that is the main reason it will possibly be the only email domain that will remain dominant for years to come.

It is estimated that within the next five years, email will become totally obsolete because email has become less and less important even in the workplace. Businesses are beginning to move away from email as a primary form of digital communication because you can now send a quick text message or a DM on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Emails are inconvenient because sometimes people don’t respond or they take long to respond. Also, the process of having to go through each individual email to read a delete each ones is tedious and time consuming. The future of emails can include a more personalized take such as automated replies. There will be a virtual assistant for google that reads emails that are sent to you and generates a reply, so that you won’t have to sit there and reply. This virtual assistant will also automatically delete emails from businesses that are considered spam to you, so you don’t have to sit there and delete them one by one which eliminates the time consuming process. It is predicted that a new communication channel will replace email in the upcoming years, but will it be possible to replace Gmail? The progression over the next few years will prove detrimental to the email world.

Sources Cited

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “AOL.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 5 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/AOL.

“U.S. Postal System Established.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 24 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-postal-system-established.

Brandon, John. “Why Email Will Be Obsolete by 2020.” Inc.com, Inc., 16 Apr. 2015, www.inc.com/john-brandon/why-email-will-be-obsolete-by-2020.html.

“A Brief History of Hotmail.” IndianWeb2.Com, 13 Sept. 2013, www.indianweb2.com/2010/01/07/a-brief-history-of-hotmail/.

Tynan, Dan. “The Glory That Was Yahoo.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 20 Mar. 2018, www.fastcompany.com/40544277/the-glory-that-was-yahoo.

Final: The Online Community and the Individual

Desiree Figueroa MCS 244 Spring 2019 Final Paper

According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, in order to achieve self-actualization our basic physiological and safety needs must be met. The next most vital human needs to be met are for love and belonging. (Mcleod, 2018) We live in a world full of complex interactions. The level of connectivity currently exhibiting itself our society is unprecedented. Certainly, people forty years ago could not have envisioned a world full of super-fast smartphones, virtual reality technology, video calling, and artificial intelligence software. All of this communication technology is designed to serve the purpose of bringing people together, of making our communication easier. These technologies break down the barriers imposed by distance and through them, we are virtually brought closer together.

One of the most impactful ways that technology has made us better connected is through the use of online communities. An online community is broadly defined as a group of like minded people who engage on the internet by way of forums, instant messaging, chat rooms (group chats.) The term was coined by internet forerunner, Howard Rheingold in 1994. (Maloney, Preece)

Now our needs for love and belonging do not have to be satisfied simply by our physical community, but a whole virtual community who often share more in common with us than those around us. We are now given the opportunity to connect with people at rapid speeds. We do not have to rely on our ability to occupy spaces with people in order to convene.

Online communities have gone through a series of evolutions since they first began. The general population has no idea how far these online communities have come and the history of their incremental development. It is very tough to believe that the online chat rooms date back to the 1980s. These chats were the first real instances of online communities. In 1989 AOL launched its own chatrooms. ( Lake, M.)

Being a kid in the early 2000s, most of us were very familiar with AOL as a medium for messaging and connecting with friends. From the perspective of someone growing up in the Bronx, I know I for one especially enjoyed having the ability to simply chat with all my friends at once for three main reasons: in the winter months when it was far too cold to go outside and interact, at times when I could not go out alone because it was too late, or when there was simply no place for kids to be out together safely. Because of early online communities like AOL chat rooms or AOL instant messenger (AIM.) I and many young children like me were provided with a “space” for communication with a group of friends that was safer than the physical spaces that we had available to us.

This has been an invaluable effect of online communities on individuals. I find, however, that this effect is often overlooked and detracted from. There are many people who are of the opinion that the use of online communities somehow lessens the strength of physical communities and promotes poor social skills. They do raise a strong point. Anyone can go into a public space and observe a crowd of people mostly looking at their phones while they are actually with their friends. What the detractors do not take into account is that although young people are outside and connecting with people in the virtual world those connections transcend into their physical communities.

Through the use of online communities’ people become inspired to create, to push for changes that they think need to be made, they share resources and information. A prime example of an online community for personal development is discussion board or class blogs. Here students are able to gain an insight on what their fellow classmates feel about the work they are studying and exchange ideas. Some students who are not as inclined to be vocal in class have a chance to voice their opinions and do so in a way that may suit them better. So not only are online communities fostering closer friendships between people, but it is now also a method to streamline the learning processes.

As people learn more and have access to a myriad of information through the sharing that online communities promote, they then become more motivated to question the society which they live. We have seen this specifically with the Black Lives Matter Movement, which began as a reaction to the acquittal of George Zimmerman who shot unarmed black young man, Trayvon Martin.  The black lives matter movement had gained a lot of its initial traction based on people expressing their outrage for Zimmerman’s acquittal as well as police brutality through online forums and social media. There is now a website dedicated solely to the cause. In the about section of the site, it is stated that “The Black Lives Matter Global Network is a chapter-based, member-led organization whose mission is to build local power and to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.”

The movement is a cause that bears so much importance to the future of the American justice system and has been able to gain a great deal attention due to a heavy online presence. People no longer need to travel to organize or get coverage for their cause. They can do it right from their homes. You can simply post a tweet with the hashtag for your cause and you may reach hundreds, thousands, or millions of people. In fact, according to ‘a Pew Research Center analysis of public tweets, the hashtag [#blacklivesmatter] has been used nearly 30 million times on Twitter – an average of 17,002 times per day – as of May 1, 2018.’ (Anderson, M., Toor, S., Rainie, L., Smith, A., Anderson, M., Toor, S., . . . Smith, A. )  The hashtag increases in use in response to news stories of issues that deal with racism. This is another example of how the online community transcends the virtual world. People are using the online community, specifically, Twitter to engage with others on an issue that they care about and are seeking justice for.

You can even consider a social media site like  Instagram to be a type of online community. The people you chose to follow and the people who follow you will have somewhat of an influence in the way you choose to live your life. The ability to take quick photos constantly and share them on your phone is saturating the population with media. Yet at the same time, it encourages innovators to come up with ways of engaging people outside of the realm of the online community. Some of these innovations include: “Descriptive Camera,”  created by Matt Richardson in 2012, which once the shutter has been pressed a description of the picture is sent to a thermal printer. (Brucker-Cohen, J.) This encourages a new type of interaction with photography and among individuals who do not even know each other.

Social media sites and online communities will help foster physical communities by creating a stronger demand for authenticity, creativity, and innovation. Although it seems counterintuitive, they also motivate people to want to go out into the world. I predict that the future of the online community will continue on the path that it is headed, which is bringing people closer together. Instead of hindering people from real world communication and connection, it will force people to go out and explore the world, even if only to compete.  Curiosity is in human nature, now we have the technology to satisfy our curiosity in ways that were unimaginable years before.  The technology is here, but the challenge is maintaining control over the technology. If an online community becomes a necessity and not a tool for obtaining the desired outcome then perhaps it is not positive. It is up to the individual to make the choice of how they will communicate, for what purposes they will communicate, and when they will communicate.

 

Citations:

About. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/
Anderson, M., Toor, S., Rainie, L., Smith, A., Anderson, M., Toor, S., . . . Smith, A. (2018, July 11). Activism in the Social Media Age. Retrieved from https://www.pewinternet.org/2018/07/11/activism-in-the-social-media-age/
Brucker-Cohen, J. (2012, May 15). Picture This-Reinventing The Camera As A Social And Anti-Technological Object. Retrieved from https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4x4zzg/picture-this—reinventing-the-camera-as-a-social-and-anti-technological-object
Lake, M. (2009, July 15). Timeline: The evolution of online communities. Retrieved from https://www.computerworld.com/article/2526581/timeline–the-evolution-of-online-communities.html
Maloney-Krichmar,D; Preece,J. //pensivepuffin.com/dwmcphd/syllabi/insc547_wi13/papers/qna/maloney-krichmar-healthcommunity-TOCHI.pdf

Impact of Cell Phones (FINAL)

Aaron Watkins

Media Communications

Communications in Society

 

The Impact of Cell Phones

 

 

Communication strategies around the world have taken on many forms throughout the history of civilization. Whether it was a smoke signal, a telegraph or even a carrier pigeon that may or may not have made it in time; the desire to extend our lines of communication and the idea of a more seamless transaction never left our imagination. Fast forward to today’s society, you can call someone literally lifting a finger to press a button just by speaking to your phone and asking it to do so. The transition was one that took on an entity of its own, but the impact of cell phones is now beginning to show a duality of effects in the modern era. So, what did the existence of cell phones impact…? Technically, everything we do as humans involve our phones but let’s take a step to see how cell phones came to be.

Chicago-born Martin Cooper is the man who created the first cell phone. April 3rd, 1973 the first cell phone was introduced, and the phone call was made to a business rival to gloat about the new product that would take a grasp to society as a whole. 10 years later, consumers were able to purchase the first cell phone created by Motorola for the whopping price of approximately $4,000. The phone was a massive success and would have the masses gravitating towards a newer way to socialize. It’s seen that more than half of the world’s population are cell phone owners and use their phones multiple times a day because it’s a major convenience for many people around the world.

In 1992, cell phones will go in a direction that many haven’t anticipated. The first SMS (short message service) text was sent and the first message said “Merry Christmas” to be a surprise during an office party. In today’s society, we send nearly 6 billion texts a day and that is astonishing compared to what was required to even have a cell phone send a text. We now have the ability to be able to send a text saying anything to anyone and have them receive it in a matter of seconds. This is a feature people may often take for granted because this is something that has become so widely accessible with an easy-going experience for both and/or more parties involved. Not too long ago, people used to communicate by sending letters and postcards to keep in touch with someone you may not have seen in a while but now you have the option to open your phone and check Facebook or even video chat through Skype. We’ve grown so much in how we communicate with cell phones in terms of seamlessness and capability, but there’s more that cell phones have done to impact our lives.

The internet is everything, everywhere and everyone uses it to watch YouTube, to learn a new skill or even catch up with emails; cell phones made this experience mobile. The first cell phone with 3G internet speed was created in the 2003. The UK was the first to experience this new expansion one’s personal cell phone. This also has had an impact on today’s usage because everyone’s using their internet for anything they want. The power of having the ability to browse the internet as if you were on the computer within your pocket, easily provided a whole new experience. So now that this new feature exists, society had to keep up because keeping up with the trend was important but the phones that were out didn’t have the ability to do these things. A new phone will be manufactured while maintaining its individual style but completely dominating today’s market.

In 2007, the iPhone was born and grasped the world’s attention because of its simple one button design. No one has ever seen a phone with that type of design seeing that the dominant phone at the time was the Blackberry. This phone would change the course of how cell phones were designed to be more touch screen, sleeker, smoother and faster processors to be able to maneuver better. This phone has had the biggest impact on society because pop culture accepted it as a whole, people of higher social status making references and people are using this phone to create entire films off of their cell phone. Apple made sure to cater towards the consumers interests and fed into their minds by making them feel “better” about themselves with the product.

Apple has made one of the biggest impacts through their technologies, from the 1st Macintosh computer to their iPod which was available with either 5 to 10 gigabytes of memory which translated to approximately 2000 songs. They’ve always made sure that their products were not only “cool” and with the trend, but they were productive as well. The iPhone changed how everyone viewed cell phones. In this day and age, iPhones are common in society and people have “unofficially” made the iPhone the most user-friendly phone for the masses. Also, there’s a level of attachment that iPhone has on the masses as well.

The social impact of cell phones hasn’t been too positive because as people are excited about the new impact of the new technology, there are people who are having a terrible experience with it. Cell phones have been linked to certain behavioral changes amongst the masses because what was available to them and the effect of what these technologies can have on the user’s mind. This technology is essentially something new to people who haven’t had this experience before, so there will always be a drawback.

In the article ”Why It’s Bad to Use Your Phone Before Bed”, it states “Studies have shown that being exposed to the blue-and-white light given off by phones, laptops, and other electronic gadgets at night prevents our brains from releasing melatonin, a hormone that tells our bodies it’s nighttime. Some experts suggest not using our devices for roughly an hour before bed could help us fall asleep faster.”. This is showing how people have been overly connected to their phone throughout their everyday lives and with that, there’s a toll for it. People are developing sleeping issues because they’re up scrolling and keeping their sleep postponed not understanding it’s taking a negative toll on their health.

Cell phones also have effect socialization in the masses because the phone their source of knowledge when curiosities are lingering. People aren’t being as connected in person seeing that you can access anyone you know if you have their contact information then it feels strenuous and pointless after a certain point in time. Everyone’s has had a moment where they were receiving a phone call and ignored because they don’t want to talk because they would rather carry out the conversation via text. Even though this may be an effect, there are several opportunities being created because of the advances in cell phone technology and social media played a significant role in this change.

Global communication was an entire process of buying a calling card, then making sure you have the right number and using that to maintain an international dialogue, those days are now obsolete with this technology. You have the ability to download an app onto your phone and instantly text whoever you want for FREE, with an app such as “WhatsApp”. This is something people from different countries value greatly because as long as you have the person, you’re trying to contact’s phone number and they have the app downloaded then its ready to go. There’s no more worrying about getting a calling card or using long-distance minutes that may have a great impact on your next phone bill when all you need is a cell phone and internet. Social media is the biggest thing involved with cell phone usage these days because so many people have found a lane of entrepreneurship with it.

Social media has allowed for people to showcase their unique skills and talents to the internet, but some understood the power that social media has then created a living from it. The term “influencer” is used on a daily basis because of what goes on social media, who’s being followed, what are they being followed for and how can they capitalize off of it. A well-known Instagram comedian by the name of “Terrell Davis” is from a small town in Detroit but is known by many of the biggest names in pop culture from Snoop Dogg to Jay Z “Click Here” because of how he presented himself on social media. He is now on a comedy tour around the Midwest showcasing some of his newest sketches and idea in front of a live audience, all because of a cell phone and an idea. The power of cell phones is evident, and the issue is to understand and/or predict where it goes from here. Will it be a detriment or an attribute when it’s all said and done?

Personally, I’m just hoping for the best because what I’m worried about is the way people are attaching themselves so greatly to these devices not realizing that they’re losing themselves and brain power in the process. There’s such a big difference in the good cell phones have done for one’s personal convenience and the bad it’s done for one’s self-esteem and confidence. People are becoming are more aware of cell phone usage and its impact on the world but what will people do when a shift happens with this technology? Will we retain the old skills we used to exercise before the era of technology implanted its way? Can people have the power to think back to their memory versus searching on Google? How much are people willing to give up in order to keep up with the newest devices?

This is all a lot to me seeing that we’re the generation that is tech savvy but really can’t see the long game that these corporations have in mind. We all want to make money but at what cost? Also, too often people are in some drama trying to impress others with their cell phone usage. People are trying left and right to be as outlandish as possible to go viral and nowadays it feels like people are trying to be acknowledged on an app more than being knowledgeable of life. The one of the toughest realities to be aware of is things will get worse before they get better, so now it’s a game of patience to see what happens next…

 

 

Sources Cited

“Cell Phones Are Changing Social Interaction.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-mishaps/201401/cell-phones-are-changing-social-interaction.

Gregersen, Erik. “Martin Cooper.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 22 Dec. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Cooper.

“History of Mobile Phones | What Was the First Mobile Phone?” USwitch Mobile Phone Deals, 21 Feb. 2019, www.uswitch.com/mobiles/guides/history-of-mobile-phones.

Kyle Media LLC. “Apple IPod (Original/Scroll Wheel) 5 GB, 10 GB Specs.” IPod (Original/Scroll Wheel) 5 GB, 10 GB Specs (IPod (Original), M8541, M8513LL/A*, 1910): EveryiPod.com, 15 Feb. 2019, everymac.com/systems/apple/ipod/specs/ipod.html.

Lusinski, Natalia. “12 Ways Your Smartphone Is Making Your Life Worse.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 7 June 2018, www.businessinsider.com/12-ways-your-smartphone-is-making-your-life-worse-2018-6.

final essay

Ninoska Zarzuela

Prof. Jonah Bruckner

Final Project

In 2005, a time when the internet was still in its infancy stage was introduced to a creation that would help in molding the way we share videos and express ourselves. YouTube founded by 3 employees of PayPal, was a technology within the computer that would help shape the future of internet as we know it. The initial purpose of youtube was simply to upload videos of everyday things and people would watch them for majority entertainment purposes. Companies soon looked at this media as an opportunity to advertise and spread their message to viewers. Nike gaining the first video to reach 1 million views.

What I feel makes Youtube ultimately so unique is its ability to adapt with the way we use many other technologies. Once having a diary or writing a how-to instruction manual, has now transformed into blogging and instructional how to’s on practically how to do any and everything. This platform has also created enough revenue for these brave souls to create not only a persona but also serve as their main source of income. Using this platform essentially as the middleman people have seen success far greater than those we see on a day to TV. Giving people a sense of expressionism that has never been seen. This coupled with the potential of reaching out to over millions of people turned YouTube into a career for some as they were able to make a living purely off of their specific interest or hobbies.

The benefits of Youtube over the years far exceeds the ramifications it has also brought. With anything that gains overnight success people looked to Youtube to post videos ranging from real life events like children growing up, to videos of weddings, and people doing outrageous stunts to gain popularity.  In 2006, companies such as NBC took to this media early in its years as a way to bring their news not only to TV watchers but to the person who uses Youtube as a means to keep up with the news. This helped a traditional media company enter the digital age. Many companies were to follow. Youtube catching on to this attention decided. In 2006 Google saw the potential in what YouTube was and purchased the company for 1.65 billion dollars. Backed with about 65 employees, Youtube began paying people for videos going “Viral”. This was another influential moment in Youtube history as people began to really tap into their personal selves. Often most people who typical were introverts in the real world were able to tap into their alter ego and get paid for their uniqueness and individualities. In 2007 YouTube continued its success, we saw the first ever internet driven presidential debate where majority of the conversation around this was through the media outlet YouTube. Many people such as millenials took to this as a fresh take on what in the past was a very dull and mundane process. It gave a voice to the people allowing for them to speak out about what was going on. Within this year we also saw the first successful family who saw revenue of over $150,000, with their heart warming son expressing discomfort from his brother biting him (https://youtu.be/_OBlgSz8sSM). Rounding out what was a great year for Youtube backed by Google saw that allow for paid partnerships and integrated ads into their website was what would really take this up and coming start into the future and beyond.

With all good there is also the bad. With all the success of youtube many people also sought to take advantage of this to spread hate and propaganda. With everyday use of tablets, many kids took to Youtube to watch many videos of childhood cartoons, or shows catering to many characters they associate with when it comes to movies, games, etc. Videos that sought to frighten or excite children became the most viewed videos. Backed behind people who specialized in creating algorithms driven demand was able to embed their videos based on what kids watched. Youtube took a lot of backlash over the years as many stories such as the “MoMo Challenge” which was a video that would sneak in to the auto play rotation of a kids viewings told young  easily influenced kids to do harmful things such as put objects into the wall socket or turn on the stove gained immediate attention and many people sought for justice. YouTube has since vowed to better police what is posted on its site. This form of social media has also been characterized as what is preventing today’s youth of having a “real social life”. Caring more about how many views or likes their video gets rather than going out and enjoying life through their eyes and not the screens on their phone has slowly taken over. Many people feel we are slowly losing the art of human interaction as everything is now done with a swipe or like with little to no human interaction. And sadly Youtube is at the forefront of this. What has been since created to help overcome these ramifications is the ability to monitor the time spent watching videos within the settings. Youtubers can set time limits for their kids as to how long they can watch videos on a daily basis thus not making them feel consumed within their devices.  This along with tighter security measures continues to give YouTube the positive outlook that overshadows the darkness it brings.

Many of these innovations along with the expansion of Youtube across the world, where permitted, allowed for Youtubers innovations to be almost limitless. With the ability to live stream content such as what is projected from a drone camera while hiking, to for the first time ever in 2012, having the olympics live streamed through its own channel allowed for people all over the world to view as one. These inventions allows for many people across the world to be intuned with social and economical issues going on around the world. In best case scenarios helping aide in a cause for action to support. For example, many social issues such as anti-bullying has an even formidable foe, social media, as it has since gained alot of media attention with a call to action, Many people with huge notariety have used YouTube to band the world together against this. Along with this, while gaining insight on what a viewers history future Youtubers will have all content that interest them fed to them in a way that allows the service to essential pre plan what a viewer may be interested in. Thus making youtube essential a one stop destination for all your mainstream content both personal and professional. Going with the theme of tradeoffs with advanced technology such as this some feel this can also act as invasion of privacy as the viewer may feel this intrusive process bleeds the lindes of “big brother” watching their every step.  Today’s Youtube celebrities are also shaping up to be tomorrow’s moguls. By the year 2025 many YouTube celebrities, such as PewDiePie will see themselves in the upper echelon of the forbes list. (see youtube in 10 years).

As we continue to scratch the service of this technology and what its potential may bring. I feel we will only continue to see the benefits behind YouTube and its ability to spread information within a click throughout the world. With competition such as hulu, Netflix, and streaming services such as HBO and Showtime. We see more of a reason for Youtube to continue to reshape its platform as staying stagnant for the least bit of time could potentially make what we consider a power house to turn into a thing of the past, i.e. myspace. With earnings going up year over year it’s only helping YouTube promote more of its own specific content and services similar to Netflix. Youtube now with over 40 billion views per month is at the forefront of being able to put out content based on what their viewers interest are or what’s “trending”. With content that feels fresh, and current, especially with the attention spans of today’s viewers, Youtube can continue to leverage new and information in a quick less lengthy way also utilizing the personalities that have become so famous to convey whatever messages they wish so long as they comply with their regulations.   I see this only making us as a world more diverse and understanding the so many different walks of life. Youtube is a great way for us as people to be more self sufficient and also finds its way as an educational platform. Even mainstream america has since seen the benefits of streaming the Youtube TV giving viewers a space to socially watch live events with friends and family across the world regardless of travel and or time zone restrictions. As we continue down the path of future technology such as AR or augmented reality what’s most exciting is seeing how YouTube can integrate these forms of technology into what it still such a new source of information and entertainment. Youtube will continue to find its niche in mainstream america like its done over the past 14 years.

 

Works Cited

 

The History of YouTube – Ace X

 

https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/10/the-history-of-youtube/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAq4A5zl99ouKkVh2hZlR-nOVfZ8F8IhG-nbTnOXNi-H6dD-VGXZqWcix4_O_WfNAYhBin1wWIN4T7TA8vlPFzJ_xLQECzJNATA3jaFLCJUMEvI7KUtdigTGhYJG36UeHu2Jp7mn8Q2f1VOKYm5EmM1BCT_R0W-uVTCjiD8KFJCv

 

The 22 Key Turning Points In The History Of YouTube – Megan Rose Dickey

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/key-turning-points-history-of-youtube-2013-2

 

What’s The Future Of YouTube – David Price

 

https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-future-of-YouTube

 

Social Impact Of YouTube – Wikipedia

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_impact_of_YouTube

 

Final- The Effect of Texting on Communication

Sureiny Fermin

Professor Johan Cohen

Communication in Society

May 20, 2019

The Effect of Texting on Communication

History

The communication technology I have chosen is texting. Texting is a modern phenomenon that has transformed the live of billions. SMS stands for short message service and was developed during the GSM technology. According to “A SMS History” by Alex S. Taylor from Microsoft Research Cambridge, the SMS concept was developed in the Franco-German GSM cooperation in 1984 by Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert. GSM stands for global system for mobile communications. Taylor writes, “in the process of the network design and development in the 1980’s, it was recognized that it would be possible to send short data messages at the same time as speech using what is known as the “signaling channel” or “layer” of the network.” It was not originally intended for the end user to be a mobile phone so there various flaws. SMS was not expected to be popular so the mechanism behind it was lacking until it was realized it was becoming well-accepted within different communities. The very first text message, “Merry Christmas”, was sent in 1992 from Neil Papworth. He was a former developer at Sema Group Telecoms. Since phones did not have keyboards at the time, Papworth had to type the message on a PC. After keypads were developed, mobile phones usually had a 0-9 keypad, so sending messages was time consuming and a bit irritating. To type one letter you had to press a single key more than once and to get a different symbol in the same key you had to press it twice or more.

Taylor writes, “because SMS was thought unlikely to gain mass appeal, little initial effort had gone into establishing a model for charging those using pre-pay or “pay-as-you-go” options; pre-pay packages from the network operators made no reference to SMS and, more importantly, no mechanism had been put in place to link pre-pay billing with the use of the short-text message service.” Since there were loopholes with the system, some operators gave pre-pay users the chance to send messages for free and of course people abused this. This led a lot of young people taking advantage of free text messaging, which made it popular. However, operators put billing systems into place to avoid people abusing the free messages they had. You used to only be able to send messages to people with phones on the same network but soon operators agreed to allow for messages to be sent despite which network your phone was connected to. In 1993, Nokia was the first manufacturer whose GSM phone line supported user-sending of SMS text messages. It was also the first manufacturer to produce a mobile phone with a full keyboard: the Nokia 9000i Communicator in 1997. It was also in 1997 when full keyboards were introduced with the Nokia 9000i Communicator. The first “smartphone” can be dated back to 1992 when the IBM Simon, a handheld touchscreen PDA, was launched. Apple introduced the first iPhone  (smartphone) in 2007 and it had features such as the virtual keyboard. The virtual keyboard is what we are accustomed to today for smartphones with automatic spell check and predictive text technology.

Effect on the brain

Text messaging has affected communication from the beginning of its conception. Recently, scientists have noticed the impact texting is having on our brain, which is responsible for many key life functions. The brain is the command center for the human nervous system and is one of the most important organs in the human body. If texting is affecting our brain then it is definitely changing the way we communicate. The brain controls language, speech, our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, analyzing information, memory and more.


                                                                                                                       This video above describes the effects of texting on the brain.

According to the psychologist Susan Weinschenk, a unique pattern of neural oscillations or brain waves appear when people are texting. She attributes the addiction of texting or finding it impossible to ignore emails and notifications to dopamine. In her article, Why We’re All Addicted to Texts, Twitter and Google, she writes, “Dopamine is created in various parts of the brain and is critical in all sorts of brain functions, including thinking, moving, sleeping, mood, attention, motivation, seeking and reward.” She states that according to the latest research dopamine causes seeking behavior. It is the culprit that causes you to want and desire. It does this by “increasing your general level of arousal and your goal-directed behavior”. Texting makes it easier to talk to someone who is far away, in a different country, or continent. It allows you to keep up with your loved ones and further develop relationships. If you want to contact someone, you would just send them a text message and might get trapped in “a dopamine induced loop”. Weinschenk writes, “Dopamine starts you seeking, then you get rewarded for the seeking which makes you seek more. It becomes harder and harder to stop looking at email, stop texting, or stop checking your cell phone to see if you have a message or a new text.” Your phone and certain applications might have set mechanics that induce this seeking. The number of text messages you have appears on the right top corner of the text messaging application on iPhones. The auditory cue when you receive a text message immediately distracts us and affects our dopamine system. It is suggested to try and eliminate these cues by putting restrictions on your phone in order to prevent getting distracted and ending on a dopamine loop.

Effect on communication

Humans are social beings. People use texting to talk to friends, family, even strangers. People also use texting to get dates and plan events. Texting is fast and convenient but is it negatively affecting us? The answer is yes, to an extent. Texting has become a form of addiction and is affecting face-to-face communication and interactions. I see more and more students not paying attention in classes because they are texting people or checking social media. Some positive effects of texting include having a means to communicate ideas and thoughts in almost no time, multi-tasking, replying to others when you have time or want to, having control of the conversation, requires less energy, and provides less pressure among other factors. However, it is also causing people to lack physical communication skills. Face-to-face human interaction is suffering because spending quality time with your family and friends is no longer the same. Misinterpretations are also frequent because of lack of emotion with text messages. Sometimes, texting might be an unrealistic form of communication, since it lacks the touch and visual components needed to form close relationships. The language used in texting is also infiltrating professional environments. Students are using slang in scholarly papers and professionals might start implementing it in their work.


This video above discusses the unintended consequences of electronic communication.

https://www.adcouncil.org/Our-Campaigns/Safety/Buzzed-Driving-Prevention

The article above describes a campaign called “Buzzed Driving Prevention” created by Ad Council with the message “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving.”

According to the research paper, Impacts of Text Messaging on Adolescents ’             Communication Skills: School Social Workers’ Perceptions, by Jacqueline B. Graham, “Approximately 63% of adolescents report text messaging an average of 60 times per day (PEW Internet and American Life Project, 2012). Adolescents dedicate approximately 90 minutes daily to text message communication.” Texting is becoming the preferred form of communication with young adults. They use it at home, with friends, and in school. They take their phones with them everywhere so the texting application installed on their phone or other texting applications are always available. Graham also writes, “The impacts of texting among adolescents can lead to problematic outcomes such as poor school performance, interruption in sleep habits, bullying through text messaging, texting while driving, sexting, and other negative effects on communication skills.” While texting does provide students with the opportunity to reach others faster, the negative effects that result because of texting are outstanding. Texting done in moderation is the best way to solve this predicament.

In conclusion, texting has changed the world by providing a way to instantly connect with anyone. It has also affected socials skills and communication. Texting allows for easy communication between people and is ultimately convenient. Texting is fairly new but is now used by billions of people and by different age groups around the world. It has become an integral part of many people’s daily functions and many cannot live without it. It seems as if texting is as normal as brushing your teeth. It is convenient so it is no surprised it is such a largely used form of technology. If we do not pay attention to the potential threats texting and cell phones in general present, we might be on our way to raising a generation dependent on technology. Technology has impacted the media industry massively. It seems as if media can no longer exist without technology. My prediction for the future of media and digital culture is that there will be more applications to enhance communication. However, these advances in technology will continue to have an effect on communication. It is important to teach the youth of today the advantages and disadvantages these technologies have to prevent addiction and poor communications skills that are essential for daily life.

Sources:

Erickson, Christine. “A Brief History of Text Messaging.” Mashable, Mashable, 21 Sept. 2012, mashable.com/2012/09/21/text-messaging-history/.

Graham, Jacqueline. “Impacts of Text Messaging on Adolescents ’ Communication Skills: School Social Workers ’ Perceptions” St. Catherine University. 2013. https://sophia.stkate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1185&context=msw_papers

Taylor, Alex. “An SMS history.” L. Hamill, A. Lasen, January 2005,  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226340906_An_SMS_history

“Why We’re All Addicted to Texts, Twitter and Google.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-wise/201209/why-were-all-addicted-texts-twitter-and-google.

FINAL: Social Networking and Future (VR and AR)

Mariano Montague

MCS 224

Professor Brucker Cohen

5/19/19

Social Networking and The Future (VR & AR)

In 2019 communication and their technologies have been a major  impact in today’s society. Communication technologies have dated back to the 1800s so it is no surprise that many years later we have advanced to half the entire population using the internet, and that doesn’t include the basic ways of communicating using these technologies. Since the 90s, the use of social networking have been very beneficial to society by uploading a profile and making/meeting new friends. Today, one of the major ways of communication is by social networking. I believe virtual reality and augmented reality will play a huge part in social networking and become the next utopia of connectivity.  

With social networking, connecting to users across the world has never been easier. For businesses, and people trying to creating their own business, the use of meeting people on social media has been extremely important and beneficial. Since almost everyone has social media, it can be used as a way for the business or company to gain awareness and be familiar to other users since 60% of people on Instagram say they discover new products on the platform according to the Facebook business website. Businesses with social media feel more authentic because it makes the page more humanized when users view it. Real business relationships can be made because of this, and you can show examples of how real existing customers have gained from it. Not to mention, The use of putting ads on social medias can help reach thousands of people across the world and send them to your website or anywhere else you would like to redirect them. Lastly, partnering with other influencers is the most important benefit you can get. When you meet someone with similar goals and ambitions as you, you can share and receive any new information you didn’t know prior, as well as collaborating and giving shoutouts. Shoutouts can multiply the amount of traffic to your page and more people, brands, and celebrities could be able to discover you and want your product.

In the healthcare and clinical world, social networking has been taken into effect. One way of this has taken place was the use of spreading information and data to improve the way that it is practiced in the community and in the public. In the article “How social media is shaking up healthcare”, Shannon Dosemagen speaks on the key effects social networking has in healthcare. She states that “ Social media can both help facilitate information sharing and be problematic in spreading rumors during normal (or seasonally expected) health events and health crises. Public health agencies and other organizations can use social media to disseminate time-sensitive health information, promote information sharing to encourage behavioral changes (including corrective changes during potential health crises), be a platform for conversation between agencies and constituents (rather than just as an information provider) and allow the public to provide useful information and feedback”. Important ways this is effective include the use of providing education on a global scale, giving patients access to videos explaining  rare diseases, making online support groups, and speaking to other medical professionals about the challenges being faced with the public health. While social networking has many benefits, it also has its drawbacks. Shannon Dosemagen also mentioned “ social media is a two-way street, and allows non-experts to share information just as rapidly as health agencies, if not more so. Managing misinformation during health crisis is an important role that health agencies and other organizations have been forced to take on during events such as the 2014 Ebola crisis”. It is very important that public health agencies and organizations have strategies before major problems and have, educational material, and a social media management plan to counter information that is not true.

When we talk about about the ramifications of social networking, the number one issue that is revolved around it is how the use of social networking affects the mental health. Social media can be shown to be very addictive. In the article “ 6 Ways Social Media Affects Our Mental Health” by Alice G. Walton, she says, “ …neglect of personal life, mental preoccupation, escapism, mood modifying experiences, tolerance and concealing the addictive behavior, appear to be present in some people who use [social networks] excessively.” (They also found that the motivation for people’s excessive use of social networks differs depending on certain traits…”. It can also cause more sadness, being more socially isolated. When your on social media and networking, you see the lives of many other people. Constantly comparing your live with other peoples online. Many people get stuck doing this, and start to judge their own worth. Even when you think you’re better than someone it still gives you depressive like symptoms. This leads to the jealousy factor so the user would try to make their life look better than what it really is. The authors of one study, looking at jealousy and other negative feelings while using Facebook, wrote that “This magnitude of envy incidents taking place on FB alone is astounding, providing evidence that FB offers a breeding ground for invidious feelings.”

With the use of social networking, we tend to forget how to interact with others face to face due to the feeling of social isolation. I would like to build a social network where people can be productive, and use new innovations while actually having a sense of better social skills and public speaking. I want to create an app that involves virtual reality and augmented reality by connecting to people in real time so that social networking can feel as realistic as possible, and people will feel more comfortable if they were to meet in face to face. With this VR & AR app, you are able to realistically communicate to someone showing body language and emotion with the convenience of being in your own private space. Business interviews can be used by this as well as school lectures if you’re sick and unable to make it. We have already began to use VR and AR in college. In Lehman college we have free public speaking virtual reality sessions where you can practice giving presentations while getting graded on your speaking skills. With virtual reality, social networking’s mental health issues can decrease. You won’t be feeling socially isolated since you can become virtually connected to your peers. It will give you the therapeutic effect of spending time with your friends in real time, while being virtual. There will also be less jealousy. The VR and AR app will have virtual worlds where you can be the person you want to be, making everyone have equal freedom so there won’t be comparisons within one another.

VR and AR can help the social networking of business improve as a whole. In the future there can be ways to promote products through VR and AR so that you can see what you’re potentially going to purchase. Also virtual tours can be the next business move. People can pay to virtually travel the world to have a short experience to make sure its worth it. This method will be more cost efficient instead of actually paying for expensive flights and not enjoying the travel. Also this can accommodate people that have disabilities and aren’t able to travel anywhere easily. Eventually there can be schools and training programs that can be offered through the VR and AR system so that education can be offered, being in the comfort of your own home. This can help people get certifications to jobs and also give opportunities to people who don’t have a high school diploma or GED.

VR and AR will also be beneficial in the health field. Surgeons can network, meet and train on replica humans to perfect their skills on operations in the real world making better trained, and better performed surgeons. “Medical students can perform ‘hands on’ procedures but in a safe and controlled setting. They are able to make mistakes – and learn from them but in an environment where there is no risk to the patient. They interact with a virtual patient and as a result of this, learn skills which they can then apply in the real world”. According to the article, Advantages of virtual reality in medicine, “ virtual reality isn’t only confined to medical schools. Dentistry is another area in which it plays a part. For example, there is a system known as ‘HapTEL’ which is based upon haptics (Greek for touch) in order to train new dentists. This virtual dental chair includes a training scenario in which the student is shown a 3D set of teeth that they work on. They perform a range of procedures, e.g. a filling using a virtual drill which replicates the movement and pressure of a real drill by means of force feedback. This feedback takes the form of subtle changes of pressure which enables the student to adjust their technique accordingly.

Works Cited

“Advantages of Virtual Reality in Medicine.” Virtual Reality Society, 28 June 2017, www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality-healthcare/advantages.html.

“Create Awareness.” Facebook Business, www.facebook.com/business/goals/build-awareness.

Dosemagen, Shannon, and Lee Asae. “How Social Media Is Shaking up Healthcare.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/04/how-social-media-is-shaking-up-healthcare.

“Virtual Reality Training Academy & Development Lab.” Lehman College Virtual Reality Training Academy & Development Lab, lehman.edu/vr/.

“Virtual Reality Uses for Business.” Business.com, www.business.com/articles/virtual-reality-business-use-cases/.

Walton, Alice G. “Jealous Of Your Facebook Friends? Why Social Media Makes Us Bitter.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 23 Jan. 2013, www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2013/01/22/jealous-of-your-facebook-friends-why-social-media-makes-us-bitter/#338a361a35cc.

Walton, Alice G. “6 Ways Social Media Affects Our Mental Health.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 3 Oct. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/06/30/a-run-down-of-social-medias-effects-on-our-mental-health/#70996bb12e5a.