Frank Hruska's Trivial Information

The reading was quite extensive and in my opinion over explained to people who already understand how far technology has advanced for an easier read which explains the future of technology and new media check out this website.

Brief Summary

            I was a little hesitant to write a summary on a 30 page document but while reading it I realized it was most of what we had already learned.  The article summarizes what new media is defined as and the advancements that have made new media possible.  New media is a relatively new term but it truly refers to the newest way to have media reach the masses.  He argues that at one time the printing press was new media.  He goes through all the steps that have allowed for the internet to be created starting with punch cards.  No one relates punch cards to the internet immediately but they were the first way of storing information to be retrieved later in a digital format.  Then he goes through the advancements of computers.  He warns us though that computers and media are advancing so rapidly soon there has to be a stopping point.  I wondered what he meant by this as it seems we would just keep on going infinitely until we are living like the Jetsons.  The fact is technology advances allowing for new ways to do old tasks.  He is for new media in the sense it is efficient and effective but he warns of the dangers of this.  That when so many people can contribute not necessarily in a positive manner technology may have already advanced too far.  Giving everyone access to an audience to say whatever they like may not be the best use of technology.  I have to say I agree as it is just a matter of time before literally anything is on the internet which we are already on the path for.  He also speaks about the people responsible for these advancements in depth but I would rather focus on how geniuses are not needed to use new media.  It takes a genius to make the software but to use it anyone with access to a computer can figure it out.  He likens it to when cars first came out everyone had to learn to drive.  In today’s world we all need to learn to use new media.  He elaborates on the development of theaters and how they provided an escape from reality while providing a new advertising medium.  Today it is hard to think of a world where there isn’t media flooding every facet of our life which is the main point the articles tries to make at which point is enough, enough.  He tries to give rules for classifying new media but the general guideline is if it’s a new way of reaching an audience that has not been seen before its new media.

Technology Advancement Timeline (http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2011/01/17/making-social-media-more-accessible-to-brands/)

Personal Experience

I know I write about being a writer for an SEO company a lot in my blog and for that I apologize.  This topic ties into SEO writing perfectly though. Search engines are where everyone turns to get their information now they are the epitome of new media.  The company I work for is always trying to find the newest most effective way to reach more people.  That is what we do for a living we make your piece of media accessible to more people.  The fact companies like this exist shows how much companies are willing to pay to make sure the internet recognizes them.  Before, companies relied on print, then radio, then movies, then television, it’s only logical they would advance online.  The problem is so much information is available online how do you make sure your piece of media is recognized.

Questions With Discussion

When will we consider are technology archaic?

Looking back most technological advancements are less than a hundred years old yet we consider them out of date and useless.  How long before we look at our technology and wonder how we ever used it.  I recently got a smart phone and within six months of having mine I wondered how I ever survived without it.  I use the term survive on purpose that my smart phone is not necessary for my survival but makes life so easy it is amazing how society operated before them.  This sounds pretentious but when you see someone using an outdated piece of technology you wonder why they would choose to do that.  How long before the gap of technology becoming out dated is within days of buying the state of the art product.  Now technology becomes out dated every six months and that number is only becoming lower as time goes on.  We live in a time when research and development are constantly pushing themselves to be at the top of the market cause falling behind would drop them into obscurity.

What do you think is the most important technological advancement in the past hundred years and why?

I’ll take the obvious answer of the internet as it has revolutionized the world around us.  Congress is currently trying to pass a bill to tax online sales because of how fast the internet expanded.  New laws on privacy and free speech have been debated.  Copy right law as we learned in previous lessons has become a major issue.  The internet is creating new and interesting ways to do just about anything and the legislative process cannot keep up.  As a legal geek these scenarios amuse me anytime someone can create something that laws do not apply to yet is highly interesting to me.  The fact the internet age has made politicians dumb founded is just a testament to who should be in office instead of the currently elected bodies.