The Long Tail – Networks
(word count 516)
Anderson, C 2004, ‘The Long Tail’, Wired, viewed 20 March 2020 <https://www.wired.com/2004/10/tail/>
This article explains an economical model that changed the media and communications industry. The business model encourages companies to reach a wider audience through selling niche content even at low rates along with the most popular ‘hit’ content. Anderson compares this method with previous business models that focused only on a relatively small selection of top hit content sold at high volume. Therefore, the market reach can be increased by offering niche content and the many small purchases can add up and compliment the hit content. The article was published in 2006 and refers to mass-market entertainment media such as music, CDs, DVDs, books, films and television. The business model provides the tools and conditions for companies to follow to capitalise on this method including; providing customers with access to a large database of media, lowering prices and unit size to stimulate higher volume of purchases and creating links for consumers from popular content to niche content. To utilise this economical model entertainment companies, need to use a digital network, such as examples in the article including Google, Amazon, Rhapsody, i-tunes, Netflix and MP3.com. Anderson concludes that with improvements in technology the market will shift from retail purchases and pay-per-view content to streaming and flat-fee subscriptions.
Anderson is considered a credible source on the media industry, economics and technology and is the former editor of Wired magazine in which the article was initially published, with the topic expanding to his blog and later a book The Long Tail: Why the future of business is selling Less of More (2008), awarded the 2007 Gerald Loeb Award for Business book of the year. His understanding of the industry combined with his strong background in technology is noted by others including Barry Ritholtz (2017) and Adam Hayes (2019). The article discusses many of the cultural impacts and benefits of the new business model for the industry and consumers, such as a greater diversity of content, expansion of distribution and exposure for up and coming artists. Although the article outlines practical advice for businesses, these cultural impacts are perhaps this most interesting and insightful. It could be criticised that Anderson lacks hard financial data in this article focusing on anecdotal success stories and cultural effects as discussed in Harvard Business review by Anita Elberse (2008). The article speaks to a small range of examples of platforms, as Elberse suggests, meaning Anderson could be ignoring the wider network of platforms in order to promote this model.
The Long Tail provides a comprehensive foundation of the economic models within the media and communications industry. The potential value of niche content is reaffirmed by outlining the use of digital networks. The article will be useful for my research topic specifically in giving context to the methods of distribution of media. There are strong examples of successful companies in the article that I will be able to discuss their evolution in relation to my topic. The business model that Anderson presents in 2004 can be cross-referenced with current platforms including Instagram to analyse the impact the change in economic models had on media and communications.
Technology affordances
(word count 529)
Gaver, B 1991, ‘Technology Affordances’, Proceeding CHI ’91 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp 79-84.
The article explains affordances in detail and how and why they can be applied to the design of technologies and user experience. The introduction provides the history and background to the concept of affordances, specifically mentioning psychologist, J.J. Gibson’s theories in relation to cognitive approached and ecologically approached interactions. The article continues by explaining links between affordances and design, which is the interaction between technology and the user, making a brief reference to Norman’s application of affordances to design. Gaver describes affordances in detail, using examples of everyday mechanical interactions showing the relationship between affordances and perceptual information. This relationship allows us to categorise affordances into false affordances, perceptible affordances, hidden affordances and correct rejection if there is no affordance with no perceptual information. With the concept of affordances established, Gaver focuses on affordances for complex actions. The article explains complex actions as; sequential affordances, where one affordance leads to another and nested affordances where independent affordances are grouped together resulting in complex actions. Some examples are provided of how complex actions relate to media, such as the combination sound, graphics and ‘transparent interfaces’ in computer systems. Gaver concludes that ‘the role of a good interface is to guide attention via well-designed groups of sequential and nested affordances’ (p.82), highlighting the importance placed on complex actions in this article. The article ultimately presents the combined interaction between technology and the user in technology design.
The article provides a concise background to affordances, with credible references to Gibson and Norman whom are often quoted along with Gaver in studies on affordances. The theory and concepts of affordances are explained in detail with mechanical examples, although this makes it easy to understand the concept the article does not give many useful examples that relate to technology. However, Gaver does not place much focus on the users learning ability compared to Norman, which Istan agrees (2013, p.5). When examples of technology are made, Gaver seems to have a limited perspective on the future of technology such as his references to video communication. The importance of the relationship between affordances and perceptual information is highlighted well helping to easily understand and distinguish different affordances. Gaver’s insights into complex actions, detailing sequential and nested affordances, emphasise their value on technology design. We can easily understand the links between these concepts and interface design.
Although this article from 1991 is limited in its examples of current technology, the simplified history and context of affordances are useful for explaining these in a concise way. The most valuable information in this article for my research is affordances in complex actions. This will provide me with the foundations of interface design that are made up of many complex actions, in a way that is easy to understand. I can apply this concept to current technologies and interfaces to analyse their design and the influence of affordances. This framework will also be helpful to understand ‘transparent’ layers of interfaces of current technology that may be complicated and technical. As Gaver concludes the research on affordances in technology as the fundamental interaction between users and technology (p.83), this will give me a strong filter to analyse media in my research.
New media and new technologies
(word count 533)
Lister, M et al 2009, ‘New Media: A Critical Introduction’. Routledge, New York. (pp. 16-21)
This article explains the evolution of media from analogue to digital and the development of new media and new technologies. Digital is defined as input data stored as numbers which can output in the same form from online sources. Analogue is the physical properties stored in another analogous form. To understand digital processes, the article explains the different processes between analogue and digital, using case studies such as printing presses in the 15th century compared to digital printing methods of the 1980s. Dewar also makes this connection to analogue media and changes in the printing process. The article continues by discussing these concepts in relation to media. Beginning with analogue media, which is described as physical analogue properties of image, text and sound converted into further analogues and mass-produced, for example, photographs, films, newspapers as well as broadcast media. As media transitions from analogue to digital, this is described as an evolution of technique from physical artefact to signal. Lister goes into detail to explain digital media, outlining the technical process of converting data into binary information, the history of digital technology until the application to media and communications. The digitalisation process is detailed, for example; Media texts are dematerialised, data can be compressed into very small spaces, accessed at very high speeds and in non-linear ways and manipulated easily than analogue forms. The article compares the ability and effects of making changes to analogue and digital media, highlighting ease and flux of digital, commenting on the disappearance of the signature of the original. The user experience is also mentioned, moving from passive consumption of analogue media to interactivity of new media.
The article provides a useful background of analogue and digital, explaining the differences in processes between the two methods. The relevance to media and communications is the focus and the notion that analogue to digital is an evolution of the process, rather than two separate ideas. Lister presents some of the advantages to digital media, including the ease of upscaling production, and the interactivity for consumers; both of these allow for more content and choice, ‘The scale of this process made a qualitative change in the production, form, reception and use of media’ (p.18). Some challenges of digital media are mentioned, such as the consumer’s ability to access technology and services could be determined by their wealth. Although advantages and disadvantages are discussed, they are generalised and without specific examples of platforms and interfaces, which Lievrouw also notes (2010). Therefore, further research may be needed to apply these ideas to current media, however, the generalisations help the article to avoid becoming too outdated.
This article will help me with my research by providing a framework of analysis for the advantages of new media in relation to Instagram. The background information on the evolution of media from analogue to digital will be useful to provide context for current platforms and interfaces. As the article focuses on publishing and distribution of media, I may be able to use these examples in relation to the effects of affordances of Instagram on these aspects of the network. For example, the technical impacts of publishing and distribution in digital media can be applied to Instagram and other current platforms.
