Tagged: Networked media

Reading week 6: The End of Books? – Or Books Without End?

Extract from Douglas, J. Yellowlees. The End of Books — Or Books Without End?

I found this weeks reading very thought-provoking because the subject matter is very topical as we are living in a time where nearly everything be becoming ‘modernised’. We’re told that the death of print media (and possibly print-everything) is probable in the near future, so what will happen to good old fashioned books?

I myself have recently rediscovered the joys of reading for pleasure while on holiday in Vietnam. If I could be teleported anywhere right now, it would be the muggy beach of Nha Trang sipping on a coconut while reading.

Victor Nell’s definition in Lost in a Book: The Psychology of reading for Pleasure is very accurate “lucid” is the sense of becoming so immersed in a narrative that we become ‘lost in it’. There is a trance-like state of emersion on a novel that engaging readers find pleasurable.

 

Part of the concept of the book is bound up in its fixity, the changelessness of its text. I found myself agreeing with this point. As much as I enjoyed the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books at the library as a kid, I think there is some element of the reader choosing the outcome as a fixed narrative. Besides, I would always read all of the options in those books and then choose accordingly…cheating on the purpose of the books I suppose.

I can understand the desire to select an ending that pleases you, but each person has their own way of interpreting novels and that’s why some people would classify Romeo and Juliet as a love story, and others a tragedy.

Many people prefer the original book than the film that follows. Often it is not interpreted as the reader imagined, or they are disappointed. This is because one of the joys of reading is that even if you can’t choose the outcome, you are engaging with your imagination and creating your own movie version of what you’re reading. Sometimes watching a film based on a book you’ve read can be frustrating, as the characters don’t look the way you think they should.

Hypertext and modern technology bring up many questions in relation to books. Such as what is a book? Is a blog a book? How about an eBook? Personally, I enjoy holding a physical book, but I also quite like the idea of never-ending stories/books and the possibilities that arise as a result.

 

 

 

 

Reading week 4

As We May Think by Vannevar Bush

It is quite strange to read this article, written in 1945, and realise that Bush is discussing technologies we use on a daily basis, and has pretty much predicted the future. Advances in science and innovation in technologies are usually taken for granted by us Gen Y’ers, but it really is amazing how reliable the technology is that we have so openly integrated into our lives.

This quote stood out for me

” For  years  inventions  have  extended  man’s physical  powers  rather  than  the  powers  of  his  mind.  Trip  hammers  that multiply  the  fists,  microscopes  that  sharpen  the  eye,  and  engines  of  destruction and  detection  are  new  results,  but  not  the  end  results,  of  modern  science.  Now, says  Dr.  Bush,  instruments  are  at  hand  which,  if  properly  developed,  will  give man  access  to  and  command  over  the  inherited  knowledge  of  the  ages. “

This is so true of ‘recent’ technology. The internet comes to mind straight away. We are so lucky to have “access to and command over the inherited knowledge of the ages”.

I will often claim “what did I ever do without the internet?!” sure, I was in Primary School and preoccupied with climbing trees and writing in my *physical* diary, but for older people being introduced to the internet must have been like opening a huge door of information. Even though I tend to waste this privilege by watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians online (hardly brain-expanding, but hey, it’s my guilty pleasure), I do appreciate the wealth of information available online.

This also makes me question the future, how can we expand these technologies even further? What else is left to expand of the human experience now that we have covered physical and mental expansion?

Un-lecture week 4

This week’s un-lecture was symposium style. I’m not usually a fan of the whole question/answer system, speaking up in a lecture theatre scares me, but I think that it is a relevant style of learning for Networked Media.

I guess it comes back to the reading about double-loop learning. I am slowly starting to appreciate what Networked Media is demonstrating by being so open and experimental.

I enjoy this type of learning more than I thought. When everyone is encouraged to contribute, I sometimes surprise myself and do have something to contribute. In classes like cinema, where the classroom is very open (everyone sits in a big circle facing in), it feels more like the tutor is a part of a team discussion, rather than being at the front of the class. As daunting as it may seem, it is pretty good for building confidence when you have a lightbulb moment and realise you have something valuable to add.

I also got thinking about work environments and immediately remembered the Youtube videos we were shown during our first class for Client Relationships this semester. The videos were from a series called ‘Cubes’ – think MTV ‘Cribs’ but for workplaces…The first video was about Google, and wow, they have got the whole ‘happy workers are productive workers’ mantra down-pat.

It really makes you think about working and learning in a different way. It’s 2013 – maybe we should be taking a more experimental approach in order to be more innovative.

I’m on a boat

“I got a nautical themed pashmina afghan.”

What is Networked Media? That is the question…The answer is much less straightforward.

It appears that Networked Media is a boat that sits on top of a sea of infinite ideas.

Now, I’m not the sailing type. I can appreciate the outdoors, the beauty of Mother Nature etc, but I’d definitely call myself an indoor person. Perhaps I used up all my time outside as a kid growing up on a ‘farm’ in the bushlands of a town called Buln Buln East (I know, lol).

It’s much more comfortable indoors and instead of bobing, floating and weaving through an ocean of ideas, they are all readily available and easy to Google on my Macbook. Simples.

Although I also realise that my current method of learning is lazy. Regurgitating information that was spoon-fed to me in lectures defeats the purpose of being ready for employment in just about a year.

I can relate to the idea of currents and waves being like thoughts and ideas. Some are stronger than others, some don’t really lead anywhere, sometimes you follow an idea down its ‘current’ and it brings you to another idea. Ideas are fluid; water is a fluid…Ok that’s enough.

I expect my Networked Media experience to be more of an opportunity to explore and discuss (if only with myself) a mix of ideas from the readings, ‘unlectures’ and ‘other’.

Let’s just hope I don’t find myself ‘up shit creek without a paddle!’