Blog Critique (extra credit)

Before taking this class I have never used blogs before.  At first I wasn’t sure how I would like it, but I actually found it to be a helpful educational tool and it was easy and fun to use.  I never really had any difficulties using the program, however sometimes it was hard to arrange and format pictures that I uploaded.  All of the prompts were pretty straight forward and applied to the lectures or readings we had.  I really enjoyed the prompts that asked you to relate what we have been learning in class to the media in society today, such as the advertisements and commercials we see everyday.  I would recommend using blogs for this class and for other courses here at UT.  Writing papers is a traditional form of writing, but blogs allow you to express more and gain critique from other students/general public who view your posts.  It also gives you a chance to see how other people construct their blogs and how different writing styles are incorporated.   The only thing I would suggest to change is to maybe not give prompts for some of the posts and just let students come up with some that apply to the content, allowing them to express their own ideas about the media and how it relates to their lives.  Overall, I enjoyed having a blog for this class and I feel like it served its purpose as well as introducing a new type of media that has become more popular and widely used in today’s society.

"Yes, you can use my blog in a paper or report". 

Global Media

To me, Globalization is basically the integration of different nations by combining the different cultures and developments of many different societies all into one that is commonly used by people all over the world. 

A specific concept of globalization is hybridization, which is when two separate cultures are integrated together over time, resulting into a new culture that possesses qualities of each. 

An example of this can be show by the increased popularity of being to able to access different episodes of television shows whenever you want.  Services such as Hulu in the United States and BBC, by use of the iPlayer, in Britain, allows people to watch their favorite shows and past episodes through access of the internet.  These two countries have sparked the attention of others around the world that want to have access to these same services.  Through this type of globalization, Germany has come up with a new system where viewers can purchase these special television sets, called hybrid TV’s, that allow viewers to pick and choose their favorite shows and episodes to watch.  This will overtake the internet and will be like having Hulu on your television set.  This new service will also be able to calculate your personal preferences of television shows and will provide suggestions for different types of shows that you may also like.  This is sort of like how Pandora works for music.  This shows how two different countries kind of formed together and produced a new type of television service that one day might be used all over the world. 

 





sources used:

Pfanner, Eric. "Hybrid Internet- TV Makes Progress in EuropeE." Editorial. New York Times 21 Sept. 2009: B6. 20 Sept. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/technology/21canvas.html>.

pictures found at:

http://www.itvt.com/files/u3/HuluPlus-iPad-2-2010.jpg

http://images.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/165343_S/Hulu-No-PS3.jpg

http://modmyi.com/images/wiley/bbc_iplayer_beta_screenshot.jpg

Advertising the Droid 2!

          In today’s advancing technological society, everyone seems to be obsessed with their cell phones.  People are always comparing what types of phones they have with their friends and family.  And the focus always seems to be who has the fastest, coolest, most expensive, or most popular phone that does, as they say, “everything.”  That is why so many advertisements try to portray the newest version of a phone as better than all the others ones out there.  For example, the commercial for the new Droid 2 cell phone.  After seeing this commercial, one tends to think that this phone is “the best” and that they need to go upgrade their current phones A.S.A.P!   This commercial does a good job of persuading the viewer that they need this phone because it is the fastest one on the market, and that they can get things done a lot quicker.  Since today’s society focuses on how to be able to multitask and do as much as one can do in a day, showing how the Droid 2 allows for more productivity and fast and easy access to the web, e-mail, and other social medias, it is considered a powerful advertisement.  Especially when the human is being compared to a robot that can accomplish tasks faster, when using the Droid 2.

            In order for an advertisement to be effective it has to appeal to the audience and have style, which presents amazing claims to the viewer.  It also has to be ubiquitous and be able to catch the attention of the viewer so that they will be interested in what is being sold.  Also, the use of sensationalism and having a “wow factor”  contributes to how someone will view the product.  If something is seen as amazing and useful to the viewer then they are more likely to want to purchase it. 

            For the Droid 2 commercial, the claim that they focus on is the new profound speed of the device and the capacity of information that it can hold.  It catches the viewers attention by showing a business man in a important meeting being able to use his phone to look up information so fast that the rest of the people don’t even notice.  Again the sensationalism is that the human can become like a robot when using the Droid 2, which leads to more productivity.  In my opinion this advertisement does a good job of relating the product to the public and getting them to think that they need this new upgraded phone.  In fact, I think that I do!

      

Watch the Droid 2 Commercial here!

picture found on google images at:

http://turbo.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2010/08/droid2_moto.png