Discussion Leader Citation

Here is the APA citation for the article that I used for my discussion leader presentation:

Cassidy, W. P. (2005). Web-only online sites more likely to post editorial policies than are daily paper sites. Newspaper Research Journal, 26, Retrieved January 31, 2007, from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=826105271&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=4&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1173215117&clientId=8991

Week 10 Blogging Excersize

I think that there is no one most important thing that I have learned in this class- all of the content was very informative. I took this class to challenge myself because I am not a technical person, AT ALL, and I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone and find out what all the buzz is about. Before I would always hear people talking about new innovations and I would never have any idea what they were talking about, and now I feel that I have a slightly better idea of what is going on, and that to me is the most important thing that came out of this class. Just being more informed about what is out there, especially the things that are available to everybody and that I can use right now, like RSS and YouTube.

I am double majoring in COM and marketing, so I would have liked to spend a little more time discussing the effects of new media on marketing and advertising. I’m sure that there are some interesting implications and innovations that are going on. Although we did touch on a few things and I did my final Podcast on this, I would have liked to spend some more time on that topic.

I didn’t really find any particular topic uninteresting. Everything was pretty informative in one way or another. Some of the readings were a little hard to get through, but in the end I am glad that I did them because they helped me understand the ideas more clearly. Some of the subjects that were more technical were a little difficult and maybe a little boring at times, but I think that is because I don;t really understand that sort of thing so I just have a hard time grasping it.

VoIP

I went to the Vonage website to see if I could sign up for VoIP. It was really easy and it actually would have probably only taken me about five minutes if I went through with the whole process. They said that service was availbale for my home in Seattle and I could keep my phone number. The cost is $24.99 a month (plus tax) and the equipment was free with a rebate (originally $49.99). They had a few other options for equipment that I would have to pay for but I figured that the free one was good enough.  I don’t know if there are any activation fees- that would be a good thing to know becasue it could be expensive. It was all super easy and if was actually doing this I would be really happy with it. One thing I liked was that they said not to call your phone company to disconnect your service, so I’m assuming that this means they will take care of the “breaking up” for you. I don’t personally see any benefits for myself with VoIP because I just use a cell phone fo all my calls, so I would have to see some tangible benefits if I was going to sign up for it.

Week 9 Reading

I think that VoIP may potentially disrupt the current telephone system, but it still has a very long way to go before it can take over and replace the existing system. As Robert Valdes points out, VoIP still has a lot of bugs and kinks to work out. The issue with 911 calls is a big one. The lack of reliability as a whole is also a huge concern. With the speed of technological innovation constantly increasing, I don’t doubt that many of these issues will be resolved in a matter of time, maybe in just a few years. Valdes predicted that in about 10 years VoIP will replace traditional phones entirely- I don’t know if it is possible to make such a prediction. There have been so many innovations in the past 10 years, who is to say that something even better won’t come along in the next decade? I think that cell phones are more likely to replace traditional telephones, at least based on my own experience. I have recently moved and we haven’t gotten a real phone installed yet- and I haven’t even noticed because I hardly ever use it- I always rely on my cell phone. I think increasingly people are not getting home phone and are just using their cell phones. When I read about how VoIP works and how to use it, although it sounded fairly simple, I just thought it was too much effort. Its one of those things that sounds like an interesting idea, but I’m just not going to put in the time to do it. I think that a lot of people feel this way. Many people are slow to adopt new technologies and pretty much hold onto the old ones until the very end. Cell phones have been around longer so I think they have a better chance with the slow adopters. If VoIP does break through the barriers and become a dominant technology, the government will find some way to regulate it.

Discussion Questions:

1)      Do you agree with Valdes’ prediction that VoIP will one day replace the traditional phone system?

2)      Do you or would you actually use VoIP?

3)      Do the benefits of VoIP outweigh the problems?

Week 8 Reading

After reading the article I was conflicted with two feelings. On the one hand, I was glad that people in developing counties were getting to leapfrog through technological innovation and take advantage of wireless technology rather than having to invest in expensive infrastructure. This has tremendous potential to help people in education, business, health care, and other various fields. Developing countries can take advantage of the latest technology rather than spend huge amount of capital on getting wires to remote towns and villages. This will help to bridge the gap between technologically developed countries and those who have not yet reached their technological potential.

At the same time that I envision all of the positive things that this can bring, I am thinking of something a bit more skeptical. Even if people have the technology, will they know how to use it? Will they even need it in their lives? Many people in developing countries are concerned with feeding and sheltering their families. People needs must be met in order- first the basic biological needs and then everything else. People in developing countries must be provided with safety, clean water, food, and necessary medicines. After that we can begin to think of communication and information. Until we provide the basic necessities for everyone in the world, it seems ridiculous to think about anything else. Another point is that people must be provided with the proper training and education so that they can utilize the technology. It       doesn’t matter if people have access to the latest and greatest innovations available, they are useless if people don’t know what to do with them. Such mass education and training will require almost as much investment as physical infrastructure.

Either way, we must be supportive of cresting universal access for everybody. It is not up to us to decide if other people will benefit from it or not. Everybody deserves the same chance to succeed, and we must do everything in our power to level the playing field. I can’t really say weather a farmer in
Bangladesh will benefit from wireless networks, because I have nit lived his life and I don’t know about his daily struggles.

 

Discussion Questions:

1)      What can we do to make sure that everyone has access to the same technology that we do?

2)      Will technological innovation in developing countries threaten the position of the
United States as the “world super-power”?

3)      Will there ever come a time when everyone in the world has Internet access?

Week 8 Reading

After reading the article I was conflicted with two feelings. On the one hand, I was glad that people in developing counties were getting to leapfrog through technological innovation and take advantage of wireless technology rather than having to invest in expensive infrastructure. This has tremendous potential to help people in education, business, health care, and other various fields. Developing countries can take advantage of the latest technology rather than spend huge amount of capital on getting wires to remote towns and villages. This will help to bridge the gap between technologically developed countries and those who have not yet reached their technological potential.

At the same time that I envision all of the positive things that this can bring, I am thinking of something a bit more skeptical. Even if people have the technology, will they know how to use it? Will they even need it in their lives? Many people in developing countries are concerned with feeding and sheltering their families. People needs must be met in order- first the basic biological needs and then everything else. People in developing countries must be provided with safety, clean water, food, and necessary medicines. After that we can begin to think of communication and information. Until we provide the basic necessities for everyone in the world, it seems ridiculous to think about anything else. Another point is that people must be provided with the proper training and education so that they can utilize the technology. It       doesn’t matter if people have access to the latest and greatest innovations available, they are useless if people don’t know what to do with them. Such mass education and training will require almost as much investment as physical infrastructure.

Either way, we must be supportive of cresting universal access for everybody. It is not up to us to decide if other people will benefit from it or not. Everybody deserves the same chance to succeed, and we must do everything in our power to level the playing field. I can’t really say weather a farmer in
Bangladesh will benefit from wireless networks, because I have nit lived his life and I don’t know about his daily struggles.

 

Discussion Questions:

1)      What can we do to make sure that everyone has access to the same technology that we do?

2)      Will technological innovation in developing countries threaten the position of the
United States as the “world super-power”?

3)      Will there ever come a time when everyone in the world has Internet access?

Newspaper Data Asssignment

Some of the newspapers that I looked at were easy to navigate and the Blog and RSS links were easy to find. The Des Moines register, however, was really confusing. Th Blogs were under a tab called “Juice”, which makes no sense to me what so ever. I almost didn’t find them, and the only reason I did was because I clicked on it by accident. It seems to discourage new people from discovering the blogs, because if you have never been there you don’t know what it’s called and you will never find it. I wonder if that is their actual intent, to create a more exclusive community, or if it is just bad design… Another thing that I noticed about the Des Moines register is that it was the least like a newspaper out of all of the sites I looked at. It was more like Myspace and CitySearch combined than a newspaper. they had a guide for what bars to go to and ways to meet people online, it was  a little ridiculous to me. I guess they are trying to imitate the more successful media, but they are definitely losing somethings in the process.

Podcast Project Update

So far I have just been working on additional research for the podcast and putting together a rough outline of what I want to talk about. I have also visited several online shopping sites to analyze their personal recommendation features, since that is what my project is on. I am trying to narrow it down to three sites that I will actually talk about. So far I am thinking Amazon and Overstock, but I have not decided on a third one as of now. I am also making arrangements to check out a microphone for the actual recording process.

Week 7 Readings

The article about Joe Trippi was interesting in the way that is demonstrated how politics and campaigning is largely the same as marketing and advertising. A politician researching the demographics of the people who are most likely to vote for them and then exploiting the data is not any different from a corporation doing market research and then creating an ad campaign to appeal to their target market. The only difference, I believe, is that with politics the stakes are much higher. A company that wins our dollars will have less influence than a politician who wins our votes. The effect of the internet on politics has also been largely the same as its effect on marketing and advertising. The internet allows for greater interactivity, making the voter/consumer feel as though they are a part of the process and their opinion is being heard. This, theoretically, should increase participation and enthusiasm, leading to higher support, be it political or financial. In the end, the outcome is still the same. The public is convinced of something. The only thing than changes is the strategy, and with it the effectiveness. Creating online groups is definitely more effective and far reaching than lemonade stands, but they both accomplish the same thing. The idea is not any different than it was in the 19^th Century. To say that this is revolutionary may be a bit far fetched. Even with all of Trippi’s Internet strategy, Dean did not even make it into the general election.

The article comparing the Bush and Kerry websites demonstrated an interesting point. Although the 2004 Presidential election was not that long ago, the past three years have brought many significant changes the content and use of the Internet. The Bush and Kerry websites are described as being not very used friendly or even user centered, and very blatant in their agenda pushing. In the past few years website creators have started to realize that what draws people to the Internet is the control they have over the medium, coupled with the interactivity, personalization, and general usability. I think that the 2008 Presidential campaign will not only utilize the Internet more than ever before, but also build websites that are more user centered than they have been in the past. We have already seen some of this with more and more candidates making video announcements via their websites. What effect this will have on the 2008 election, I don’t know, but it will definitely be different from past elections.

 Discussion Questions:1)      Are today’s elections in any fundamental way different from the elections of 50 or even 100 years ago?2)      Should a set of rigid standards be imposed on the websites of Presidential candidates to make sure that their design does not exclude the disabled or economically disadvantaged?3)      Can a badly designed website have dramatic implications on a Presidential campaign?

Week 6 Discussion Leader

The article that I chose to discuss is titled “Web-Only Online Sites More Likely to Post Editorial Policies Than Are Daily Paper Sites”. It was a study of how many online news sites posted “credibility statements” on their websites. Credibility statements are explanations of a site’s journalistic principles, values, corporate affiliations, and so on. The study concluded that web-only news sites were more likely to post such statements than traditional newspaper sites. This is probably because they do not have the backing of a traditional medium and they have to work harder to establish their reputations.  Overall,I enjoyed this experience. The article made me think about online news in a slightly different way and I also enjoyed making the power point, largely because I just like power point. I do wish that the article had taken its  a bit deeper, but other than that it was a very interesting experience. Definately a nice break from my other COM class where all I get is non-stop lecture from the professor.