Abstact - Video Essay: Transformation of the Cellular Communications

In this video essay, I will take a look at the history of the cellular phone and it's usage over the years, focusing on the transformation of a voice communications tool, to that of hand held miniature computer.  Specifically, I will look into how voice communications, while important, are now taking a secondary, if not tertiary role to facilitate communications.

To examine this issue in depth, I will conduct interviews with three separate generations of users: 1)  Teenagers, 13-19 years old,  2)  Adults, 20 - 40, and 3) Older adults, 40+.   By performing interviews,  I hope to shed light on how various age groups view the cellular phone and gain an understanding of how the technology is being used and where the technology might be headed.

Understanding Hybrid Spaces

In his essay, "Understanding Hybrid Spaces", Lev Manovich looks at the use of hybrid spaces in media by looking at the history of various pioneers in media hybridization.

Early hybrid media began with the fusion of text and video and as video technology improved, artists began to "remix" variations of what had already been. Over time, software innovations have allowed us to explore completely new ways of representing media.

Summing up his essay, Manovich concludes that the next step in all of this is to find ways to provide this hybridized media in aesthetically pleasing ways.  That is, it's fine to be able to do "something", but does it make it worth watching?

What Manovich doesn't come out and say is that Art and Science often coexists in parallel.  That is, they seem to be headed in the same direction, but rarely intersect.  I don't mean to imply that they "never" intersect, but they very often go about acheiving their own goals without consulting each other.

Perhaps the biggest reason is due to the challenges of understanding technology and how to use it.  Most artists, after all, aren't scientists.  It takes awhile for art to catch up to science and what we see in the interim is art attempting to get to the next level, or catch up to science.

So what does all of this mean?  Bottom line is that it's up to artists to take an active role in understanding and making use of technology.  Technology, in and of itself, is rarely beautiful.   It is artists who make technology useful, and in the realm of digital media, it's artists who make it worth watching.

A Better Pencil - Part 2

The remaining chapters of the book serve as a history lesson on how we've gotten to where we are today in terms of writing technologies.  The funny thing is, I have been apart of the revolution in technology since around the era of the typewriter.  


I witnessed the advent of the personal computer and saw first-hand how it slowly took over the roll of typewriter.  I say slowly, because for many years, even after the computer was firmly entrenched in offices, there was still a typewriter which was used to type out pre-maid forms.  Early days indeed.


This goes hand in hand with the idea that we're very mistrustful of new technologies as they're invented.  This is analogous to Thoreau dismissing the idea of wired communications and Plato lamenting about how writing couldn't be trusted.  However, in today's era, I see that technology is catching on at a much faster pace.  New communications mediums are being adopted and institutionalized at impressive rates.


A question I'd like to pose to the class is:  In the eve of video communications technology and voice recognition, is writing on it's way out?

A Better Pencil - Part 1

After reading chapters 1, 3, and 5 of Dennis Barron's "A Better Pencil", it's becoming clear that we have a predisposition to distrust new technologies.  While it didn't take reading his book to understand or internalize this, it did bring to light some interesting positions on writing technologies.

For starters, I found the history of the pencil to be extremely interesting.  Who knew that Thoreau was a pencil baron?  I certainly didn't.  What was even more interesting was how pencil technology evolved from early graphite deposits to complicated processes involving mixing of elements to create a variety of pencil styles.  

Having said that, I think the major point Barron's was trying to emphasize is that all writing tools are essentially technological inventions vying for a place in human history to help spread the written word.  As technology improves, we see time after time, a group of people (luddites?) who can't seem to come to terms with the newer technology and often take on the role of critic.

While I'm certainly reasonably skeptical about all new technologies, I often take a measured "let's just see how this plays out" stance.  As we've seen time and time again, just because it's new and improved doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be the next best thing (betamax anyone?).

For purposes of class discussion, I'd like to talk about how technology has affected various people in their academic careers.  Among the older (yes, that's me), has technology been an asset or a detractor?  Among the younger, do you remember NOT using a computer?

... I wish there were more fonts to play with...

"Webs as Pegs" Hits the Bullseye

In concluding his essay "Webs as Pegs", David Bell states that he is inclined to believe that attempts to define community should not be limited to what others say it is (pg 261). That is, everyone has their own definition and experience of what community means to them, virtual or not, and attempts to segregate, integrate, or castigate these meanings are essentially a waste of time.

I, for one, wholeheartedly agree with Bell's conclusion.  Everyone has their own definition of community and what works for one person, simply doesn't work for another.  Their are too many variables involved, such as cultural identity and literacy, (digital or otherwise) to lay claim to any single definition.

To illustrate this point, I'd like to use my loving wife, Brenda, as an example.  Having been married for a few years, and sharing the same socio-economic background, one would think that we'd have similar views on this subject.  After all, living in the same household and having unfettered access to the same technologies, wouldn't it stand to reason?  The truth is, we couldn't have different definitions of community if we had come from different planets.

Brenda feels that community, or at least her understanding of community, has everything to do with emotion and physicality.  That is, the physical emotion of human beings engaged in social interaction, in the flesh.  Tools of communication such as phones, email, and facebook are a means to the ends of communication.  They enable her to engage with her community, but they are not part of her community.  No one she doesn't know in meet space would ever be welcomed into her definition of community.   I'm just saying...

Myself, on the other hand, have a vastly different definition of community.  For me, virtual and meet space are one in the same.  I see technology as a tool to augment my ability to communicate in my communities.  Foursquare?  New community?  Nope.  It's a new tool to interact with people in a different manner.  Put another way, my definition of community is essentially any relationships I have.  I may engage in them using different tools and technology, or none at all.  I have friends that I see in person and those that I have never met in the flesh.  They are all part of my community.

If the definition and understanding is so different in one household, where all things are essentially equal (literacy, social standing, economics etc.), it stands to reason that this is just the tip of iceberg.  Do women view community differently that men?  Do hunter-gathers in Africa feel the same way about community as I do?  What about Eskimos living in igloos?   How about the person sitting next to you in class? 

I think that community has always been a matter of perspective.  You make of it what you will, and technology, for better or worse, will either change that perspective or it won't.  Bell has the right idea when he says "Stop worring!  Get over it!."

Things Fall Apart - Part 2

Looking at how the native Africans and the English dealt with each other, I couldn't help but start to think about the "digital divide".  Isn't this really an example of what we deal with today in terms of how there are those of us who have literacy and those that do not?

Those that possess the information, wield the power and control those who do not.  In "Things Fall Apart", it was the English that possessed the ability to read and write, build weapons, and sail across the world.  This knowledge allowed them to overcome the Africans with ease.  It wasn't called a "digital divide", but it's really the same thing.  In the world of colonialism and globalization, literacy trumps illiteracy every single time.

In today's world, we still deal with the same concepts.  We call it the "digital divide", because we assume that everyone at this point is literate.  Now that we have literacy (yes I know there are many who aren't literate), the playing field still isn't level.  With digital technology, we're seeing a brand new type of literacy...  a digital one.

Those that understand, use, and even control digital technology have infinitely more power over those that don't. To underscore this point, just look at the music industry.  At one time, it was all about records and CD's.  As technology progressed, music was digitized and became a cheap commodity, leading to a world of digital music that is owned and controlled by technology companies (Apple anyone?).  Record companies failed to embrace technology and were eventually "owned" by technologically superior people.

So, in a nutshell, the gap between those who are literate and those who are not has always existed.  We coin the terms in any way we want, but it still comes down to literacy.

Things Fall Apart - Part 1

It's hard to read "Things Fall Apart" and not talk about colonialism.  However, the story is ripe with examples of how an orally based society communicates not only with each other individually, but collectively as a society including it's unique social structure and hierarchy.

In revisiting this story with a lens on the language only, it's evident that they place a lot of emphasis on the elders of their community to interpret law and maintain order within the community.  They have strong customs and rules that are relayed through the elders and oracles of their communities.

This suggests that tribal knowledge is passed down from the elders to the younger members of the community.  As younger members grow older they participate in tribal affairs (assuming they are worthy of course) and the community perpetuates it laws and traditions.

The interesting thing about this is how they convey this knowledge to the people of the tribe.  By wearing costumes and portraying the role of gods, they act as conduits from the spirit world to the real world.  This allows their leaders to pass judgment and make rulings with an "air" of officialness.  Since they are conduits for the gods to speak, they in essence are the gods.

All in all, a pretty good example of how non-writing societies maintain order and peace while passing on the history and tradition of the tribe.