Sunday, January 30, 2005
Will 3G take off?
MMO2 have announced plans to launch their 3G mobile phone service. 3G will offer significantly faster connection speeds to mobile users, and so will enable things like video calling and fast data transfer. If you can get the signal coverage. Vodafone seem quite pleased with their 3G performance so far and predict a large uptake in the not too distant future. The statistics on full-length music downloads (600,000 so far in Europe using Vodafone's 3G service) is a useful one when thinking about how the capabilities of 3G will be used. I just pray a full length version of the crazy frog tune isn't offered...
Can music really be Easy?
The people behind EasyJet are now offering EasyMusic. The theory sounds great, but the details at the end of the article from the BBC is revealing about profit margins: just 4 cents per 99 cent track goes to Apple for each track sold from its iTunes Music Store. Unless you've got a fancy-pants player to sell as well, it looks like a risky business trying to compete. We'll see. There's perhaps a growing market for legitimate downloads, though, with more news of legal action against file-sharers.
Radio via the internet
There's a good article here about the popularity of the internet for broadcasting radio. A note on jargon: 'streaming' is the term used when material is playable from the internet without being available to store on your computer. There's also some useful material further down the article about the BBC's plans for TV to be available online in a similar way to its radio output. At the risk of sounding like a cracked record, the inevitable question is: 'Where does this leave the concept of scheduling?'
Thursday, January 27, 2005
TV via the internet: should it be regulated?
Ofcom, the body resposnsible for regulating and policing communications has raised the issue of regulation of TV in an internet age. This has been an issue for some time, with critics of regulation arguing that watersheds (and even film/video classifications) are meaningless in an age when viewers can see far more extreme content any time of the day on the internet. Now, however, more TV content is being delivered via the internet, further blurring the boundaries between the two. Should the internet be more strongly regulated, or should TV be freed from regulation?
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Mobisodes
It looks like short, specially created pieces of TV/film for mobile phones are the next big thing. 24 is one high profile programme offering such material and it looks like more could be offered. It is a sign of the increasingly fragmented nature of much output: special edition DVDs, interactive 'extras' on TV, parts of films told via console games are all examples of how media output is being varied (and re-sold) to audiences.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Child of Our Time
Those of you who watched Child of Our Time on BBC1 tonight will know it was an interactive programme. Digital satellite viewers could 'press the red button' and interact with the programme by choosing numbered answers for a series of questions posed at intervals. What was striking - and useful for your research - was the way in which different audio was played according to viewers' responses. If you got it right, the voice of the presenter congratulated you. So unlike the 'bolt-on' Who Wants To Be a Millionaire interactive offering, the content of the programme varied with interactions; arguably a much more personalised experience.
Is there anything not Googleable?
Google are to offer a service that allows users to search TV programmes. This sort of linking of TV and internet technologies can only increase, especially if broadcasting via the internet takes off. This is yet another sign that media technologies are increasingly interlinked and that scheduling as we know it is unlikely to last.
Monday, January 24, 2005
Digital TV is 'killing the planet'.
In an opinion piece in today's MediaGuardian, Emily Bell questions the poor level of public consultation over the switch off of the analogue television signal. Interestingly, not only does she cover the impact on consumers, but also the environmental impact of all those extra set-top boxes. The switch off is due in 2012, but it looks likely to start soon in some places.
Everyone's at it!
It seems blogging is taking off in education circles, with classes being encouraged to use blogs to record the progress of their research. What a good idea... The Internet is particularly important for the way it allows 'normal' people to express themselves to a wide audience. Some argue that it is a very democratic tool in this respect, perhaps why some seek to monitor and restrict its use.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
The sharing of files over peer-to peer (P2P) networks looks set to gain legitimacy, and perhaps a new lease of life following the hard times of prosecutions and attempts to close them down. Being able to access any material at any time - and do so legally - is a revolutionary idea. As with on-demand systems mentioned previously, it's a distribution system that may take some getting used to for audiences and institutions. All of these changes will require much faster broadband connections and are some way off maturity, but with money at stake - as well as a strong public appetite - we shouldn't have to wait too long.
Friday, January 21, 2005
Visual radio?
To some it may sound a bit bizarre, but visual radio looks set to become widely accessible. Nokia have annouced plans for handsets that will receive radio and visual information, including pictures and text. It is suggested that listeners could interact with radio broadcasts using the technology, perhaps even buying tracks they hear directly from their handsets. Here's a .pdf file from Virgin Radio that looks pretty, as well as having some useful statistics and ideas about what's in it for listeners and institutions. If you want to be first to 'experience' visual radio you'll need a Nokia 3230 or 7710.
Gaming is good for you!
News here and here suggests gaming could be part of mainstream education in the form of 'lite' versions of popular games. Hopefully now gaming won't be dismissed as mindless entertainment. For your research you could fruitfully investigate the perception of gaming; the tabloids are likely to be outraged at this current suggestion, for example. Although students at Robert Smyth School aren't given the option, OCR's AS Media Studies specification does offer the chance to study games, evidence of a growing (if reluctant) acceptance of the relevance of something already having an impact on audience leisure patterns.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
An on-demand future?
The BBC has an article which is an excellent one if you're interested in the future of new media technologies. Having instant access to whatever you want has implications for TV scheduling, as the article states, but it could be an issue for the DVD format; if films are available whenever you feel like watching them, why bothering buying them? Especially if the extras are offered on-demand as well. This development is comparable to Napster's 'rented music' idea.
Key Concepts
The majority of your work in this unit will involve gathering research into general NMTs and your chosen case study. However, there are some key concepts that will help to guide your thinking as you go about this research.
- Convergence. This is the term to describe the process of multiple technologies being brought together to form a new product. Games consoles are an excellent example of this as they frequently fuse gaming technology with DVD playing, CD/audio playing and recording, accessing the internet, and camera usage.
- Personalisation. A characteristic of many NMTs is their ability to offer users a personalised experience. For example, Sky+ allows users to personalise their viewing schedule including the ability to pause live TV and automatically record their favourite programmes. iPods and the iTunes store allow music to be more personalised than ever, with users enjoying the ability to buy just the tracks they want from an album and then listen to them anywhere.
- Interactivity. Interactivity is a two-way communication and in the context of NMTs means content that is reactive to the audience's choices. Traditional TV is very un-interactive, whereas interactive TV encourages the audience to be less passive. The truth is even interactive TV isn't very interactive in that the choices are limited and the influence of the audience on content minimal. As a concept, though, it's important: look out for examples of how audiences are encouraged to engage with media rather than simply consuming.
- Linear / Non-linear. Linear experiences are those that move in a straight line from start to finish. Watching a film at the cinema is a very linear experience in that you start watching at the beginning of the film and finish watching when it ends. Interactive TV allows the audience to experience programmes in a number of ways by offering features such as an alternative voiceover, extra video footage or explanatory text. When used, each individual will have a unique experience of the programme depending on when he or she presses the red button. The viewing experience therefore can be described as non-linear.
- Democratisation. The ability to communicate your opinions and ideas, or share your creative output has never been easier thanks to new media technologies. Blogging, the creation of your own TV schedule, on-demand and personalised content are all examples of how some power is now in the hands of ordinary people. The digital divide shouldn't be forgotten, however; not everyone has internet access never mind a blog.
- Digitisation. At its most basic form all digital material, whether it is a picture, plain text or a movie, is made up of a (long) series of 1s and 0s. You don't need to know much about this other than having an awareness that this means the material can be reproduced perfectly by a computer (or computerised system, like a Sky+ box) and transported more effectively, across the internet, for example; the material can arrive in any order because the receiver can reorder it and, because it is digital, it will be reproduced perfectly.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Unit 2732 explained
The exam
For OCR's Audience and Institutions unit (2732) you are required to answer a series of questions on New Media Technologies. The exam is one hour long and can be seen as two halves:
You need a general awareness of all new media technologies. One of these should later be researched in more detail to provide you with a case study (see below). A selection of the technologies are:
Your case study
To prepare for your exam you need to focus on one of the areas outlined above. This will require you to be active in researching. Using a blog to organise your material is highly recommended. In general you need to find information and statistics under five headings (although there are some overlaps between these):
For OCR's Audience and Institutions unit (2732) you are required to answer a series of questions on New Media Technologies. The exam is one hour long and can be seen as two halves:
- In the first half there are a series of questions arising from a passage of text. These questions begin by requiring shorter answers then develop to ask broader questions.
- The second half is an essay style question that requires you to apply findings from your case study to a given topic. You have a choice of two questions in this half, usually one based around audience and the other around institutions.
You need a general awareness of all new media technologies. One of these should later be researched in more detail to provide you with a case study (see below). A selection of the technologies are:
- Digital interactive TV
- DVD and home cinema
- Music and the internet
- Mobile phones (careful with this one)
- IMAX and digital cinema
- CGI
- Games consoles and online gaming
Your case study
To prepare for your exam you need to focus on one of the areas outlined above. This will require you to be active in researching. Using a blog to organise your material is highly recommended. In general you need to find information and statistics under five headings (although there are some overlaps between these):
- Technology. Although you're not doing an IT or electronics exam, you need to know what the technology allows. For example, it is enough if you understand that MP3s are computer files that contain audio in a compressed format (the computer file will end with .mp3). This means it is more easily transportable across the internet or it takes up less space on a portable player. Most important is that you understand what the technology allows audiences and institutions to do that they couldn't before.
- Institutions. This isn't just about gathering a list of companies who produce electronic products. You need to find evidence of new media technologies allowing institutions to work in new ways, reach their audience in new ways, make a greater profit and so on.
- Audience. What are audiences doing with their new media technologies? How are traditional experiences of the media changing? What are audiences not doing so they can spend more time interacting with new media technologies?
- Issues. Does the new media technology encourage illegal activity, or increased spending, or harm children? Will shops close or people lose jobs as a result of the new media technology?
- The future. If the technology is extended, what could happen? For example, could the BBC make TV programmes available on its website for a week after transmission as it does with radio broadcasts?
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