New New Media and 21st Century Business

Business has become more interactive in the 21^st century, and that change is due to “New New Media.” The term Web 2.0 is often criticized because the web is always changing. In “New New Media” by Paul Levinson, Levinson explains the problem with using numbers to describe new media by saying, “...Unlike words, they have no semantic content and therefore convey no meaning, other than a comparison with something before or after but with no clear indication of the basis for that comparison (pg.4).” Web 2.0 is a term that was coined by Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media and Media Live in the year 2004. It refers to the new two way communication between internet users. Both terms refer to the same context but are disputed due to their implications. However, no matter what term we use to describe this new found interactivity, it is obvious that the days of internet users being limited to just reading information and not being able to respond to it or correct it have been over for a long time. Now internet users have control over the internet. By control, I am referring to the power to offer an opinion on virtually anything and be heard. However it is not just a medium for consumers and other non-corporate internet users to provide their input. It has become a medium that allow businesses to build rapports and strengthen relationships with existing and potential clients or customers. It has become a way for businesses to reach out to the public to get a better grasp on their public image.

            The interactivity allowed by “new new media”, has given businesses the opportunity to gage the interests of their target audiences, to repair damaged reputations, and open up a forum that allows users to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the company. In this report, I plan to examine the use of “new new media” on 21^st century business. I will also examine how it is utilized through social networking sites, with a special emphasis on the social network, Twitter. Before going into a detailed case analysis of new new media and social media in many different companies, I will provide you with a little background on “new new media” and its influence on 21^st century business from a general perspective.

            Techtarget.com defines “new new media” and Web 2.0 as “popular terms for advanced technology and applications including blogs, wikis, RSS, and social bookmarking.” While Paul Levinson defines New New Media as a roster including blogging, YouTube, Wikipedia, Digg, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Second Life and podcasts (page 5). Although there are many terms for and definitions of “new new media” available on the web, this is the one that is the most collaborative or agreed upon by all. It differs from the traditional World Wide Web (often referred to as Web 1.0) because it encourages users to interact with one another. In a sense, it serves as a stage for collaboration between internet users, enterprises, and content providers. Web 1.0 limited its users to viewing and downloading information. Since the integration of “new new media”, users have more capabilities to give to the nature and scope of web content and often have same-time control. Examples of “new new media” innovations are Mash-ups, blogs, RSS, wikis, advanced games, social networking sites and more.

            “It is true that there are major changes afoot – the industry is currently developing quickly ahead of an undoubted period of consolidation. As a result, I am constantly looking at the variety of social media which now exist, of which a business blog is certainly one. In the future, while the number of potential avenues for social media continues to expand, I still see a blog playing the central role for companies wanting to engage with customers and prospects using social media and general online method (Mark White).” Blogs are often referred to as online journals. There are sites that allow internet users to start their own online journal to discuss virtually any topic. Blogs can be updated at anytime, but many choose a consistent period for updating such as daily or weekly. Each time the blogger updates the blog with a new journal entry, it is referred to as a “post.” They allow anyone with a computer to be a reporter and report on whatever they want, whenever they want (Levinson 19).

            A business blog typically consists of some sort of social networking; i.e. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc, podcasts, video sharing, and other interactive mediums. Below is a chart of the typical business blog and the many different mediums that it entails.

(http://www.betterbusinessblogging.com/)

           

Twitter is a micro blogging site. It allows users to communicate by posting status updates that are one hundred forty characters or less, hence the term “micro-blogging.”

“You can disseminate whatever information you please, to whatever portion of the world you like, as long as the people in that portion have accounts on Twitter. That would be 32 million people in the world at large as of May 2009, with Twitter growing faster than any other social medium, , and the first tweet from outer space on May 12,2009 (Levinson, 133).”

Many companies use Twitter as a means of getting the word out on new promotions, products, and contests. It also gives the users a chance to respond to the statuses. The “posts” or “statuses” on this topic are called “tweets.” Users on Twitter have the opportunity to “follow” other users. This helps many companies contact not only new clients or customers, but also to build a rapport with their loyal customers. Following is a feature that allows users to be notified in real time of every tweet that is sent by a person or persons of the user’s tweet. For example, if I chose to follow Pepsi’s Twitter Account and they tweeted about a “2 for 1” deal at every location that sells Pepsi Products, I would be notified as soon as they sent it. Since most people choose to “follow” more than one Twitter account, these tweets are presented in a list format in order from most recent to oldest. This list is called a timeline.

            “Twitter is a communication platform that helps businesses stay connected to their customers. As a business, you can use it to quickly share information with people interested in your company, gather real-time market intelligence and feedback, and build relationships with customers, partners and other people who care about your company. As an individual user, you can use Twitter to tell a company (or anyone else) that you've had a great—or disappointing—experience with their business, offer product ideas, and learn about great offers (Twitter.com).”

            There are many examples of customers reaching out to companies through Twitter for resolution with their bills and other problems, but there have also been numerous cases of companies benefitting from Twitter. “When people working in the Empire State Building twittered that they were craving ice cream delivery, New York local chain Tasti D Lite was there to listen and meet their need. When electronics buyers look for good deals, the Dell Outlet Twitter account helps them save money with exclusive coupons. When Houston's coffee drinkers decide where to get their daily dose, many choose Coffee Groundz, which lets them order via Twitter (Twitter).” These examples show how Twitter has become an aiding force in gaining business and has given businesses an opportunity to be a fly on the wall of many conversations concerning their business. This helps the companies to project a positive image, because they can get an accurate view of the image they send to the public and repair it if necessary.

            Companies such as Best Buy, Jet Blue, and Pepsi have found Twitter to be a great way to gain business, communicate with their customers, and improve their customer relations. Best Buy created a group of employees specifically for Twitter. This group is called the Twelpforce. The Twelpforce is a group of Best Buy employees and technicians, who will answer any questions regarding Best Buy and/or its products and services. The user must simply direct the the question to the Twelpforce by writing @Twelpforce in the question or “tag” the question “ #Twelpforce.” Tagging refers to a simple term, usually preceded by a number sign that allows members to search it and see all of the tweets pertaining to that topic. As of January 11, 2009, Best Buy had answered more than 19,500 customer questions via Twitter. They also had 2,300 employees signed up to answer questions (Twitter).

            “It also provided an opportunity to expose employees and the Best Buy Brand to social media. Through conversational employee/customer interactions via Twitter, they hoped to humanize their entire organization. Twitter let the employees be authentic, transparent, and bring more of "themselves" to the table. They felt the @twelpforce initiative in particular was a game changer since it was the first time a company used Twitter to create real-time customer service (Twitter).” I found this quote to be interesting, because it relates to transparency and disclosure which are areas we have discussed in class. Best Buy has allowed customers to ask them anything and to have employees answer without being coached and going through a publicist. This builds a reputation for honesty for the company, which encourages customers to trust Best Buy more. It also allows them to stand out from the competition since they were the first company to attempt this act of real-time communication. By searching to see what people are saying about their company and attempting to solve any problems customers may have with Best Buy, the company is showing they care about the customers and want to provide grade A service. This not only attracts new customers, but helps retain old customers building brand loyalty.

            Jet Blue was one of the first companies to join Twitter in spring of 2007. Today, the company has nearly a million followers. Twitter’s business site refers to Jet Blue as one of the smart corporate twitter users. The company makes it a point to ask the members of Twitter what it is that they want from the Twitter account. Are they looking for great deals, resolutions to travel troubles, or resources? Most of the users responded that they just want to be able to give Jet Blue ideas on how to improve their service. Jet Blue also searches their name often to see what users’ concerns are. In the beginning, they saw many complaints about traveling with the airline, so they contacted these users to resolve the problems.

            Pepsi holds two twitter accounts, one for the soda and another account for Pepsi products. Although Pepsi has had a hotline for quite some time to gain customer feedback, they find the Twitter accounts to be much more helpful. “Interestingly, the company finds the conversations on Twitter are different from those on the toll-free line. The callers, says Irazabal, tend to focus on products. Twitterers, on the other hand, tend to have opinions not just on the products, but on  promotions, too. “They feel they’re invited to give their opinions on the how the brand should move forward, and they’re very detailed.” (Twitter).” Pepsi has even implemented a process to handle customer complaints on Twitter to save the image of the company and provide the best service possible to the customer. ““We try to gauge the overall tone and type of problem,” says Josh Karpf, manager of social and emerging media for PepsiCo. If somebody doesn’t like a piece of advertising, the company accepts that. But if a person has had a problem with a product or is attacking the company in some way, Pepsi has a process in place to resolve the issue directly. The company responds once in public, and if the person stays negative, they switch to DM and then to email or phone if needed. Internally, a cross-functional team can help solve problems (Twitter).”

            With Social Media revolutionizing corporate America, it is no surprise that Pepsi has a manager of Social Media, along with a whole team of people just to handle social networking sites.  Rachel Mills is Pepsi’s marketing manager. She works with two agencies to run Pepsi’s Twitter account. One agency deals with the daily twittering activity. The other agency is in charge of setting up and organizing digital promotions three months ahead of time. This agency also suggests the tone of voice used in tweets and how the company responds to comments. The close attention and detail in the way in which the company tweets attempts to give it a global voice that is the same no matter where or how you interact with the company.

            “Lots of companies are now using web videos to reach out to current and potential customers. They're building more personal relationships with their client base and reaping the benefits of this creative indirect marketing strategy (Male, 2010).” The biggest benefit for companies using web videos is that most of the time, it’s free. The most popular web video site is Youtube. It costs virtually nothing to put up a Youtube video. The company just needs a camera and they can upload the video for free. Many companies upload existing television commercials, press confrences, or other visual media concerning their company. There is also a choice for the company to enable comments for the videos. This way they can interact with their target audiences and others. If the comments are enabled, the company can reply to the comments and view the comments of people who viewed the video in a message board environment. The popularity of Youtube is largely due to its accessibility to millions of videos. According to Paul Levinson, Youtube is has become the medium of choice for people to catch the recording of an event after it has been played on television

“The relationship of Youtube to television in the coverage of public events complements the relationship of blogging to newspapers and helps pinpoint the position of new new media in our culture. Blogging provides commentary far faster than the op-eds of any printed newspaper. Youtube provides audio-visual records of events on television that would otherwise be gone the instant they conclude… (Levinson, 66).”

            The Miller Beer Company cites the three main goals for any business to meet in corporate videos are to inform, educate, and entertain. The goal “to inform” concerns communicating the viewers with facts and information on the company. Examples of the correct execution of information in a corporate video are providing the viewers with the company’s mission statement, a special promotion, or corporate news that may affect them and definitely affects the company. The next goal is to educate. This is very similar to the goal of informing because it also provides factual information. However, educating is meant to provide some sort of service to the viewer. Examples of educating through corporate video are how-to tapes and product demonstrations. The third goal is to entertain. Corporate videos whose purpose is to entertain, try to attract the viewer by exciting or enticing him in some way. They usually appeal to humor, interest, or emotion.

            Although many companies choose to use web videos as a marketing tool, it does not mean that they all do a good job. According to BusinessInsider.com, there are five rules to great corporate videos:

 1. Good content. You want to tell the consumer important information in an engaging way and make them want to share your video with their friends, Nand tells us. And above all, you should try to entertain your viewers -- whether you shock or surprise them, or make them laugh, or cry.
2. Plan ahead. Start out with a clear vision of the reason you're making the video, and what you want to end up with. If you go into it with a plan, you'll save time and energy and make better content.
3. Don't blatantly market yourself. You can't just put a commercial up and call it a day, Miller says. People don't come to YouTube to watch commercials (SuperBowl ads aside). Your videos have to be a "soft sell" -- entertain them or offer them some information of value, and market yourself indirectly.
4. High-quality production. For YouTube standards, all this really takes is a basic video camera. A tripod can help, too.
5. Keep it short! The audience on YouTube has a very short attention span. Keep your video under two or three minutes, Grenney advises. If you need to make longer videos, break them up into separate segments, each on a specific element of the larger topic. (BusinessInsider.com)

            No matter if the medium used is a corporate blog, Twitter Account, or a Youtube video, there is no doubt that New new media has revolutionized the world of business. Corporate America is no longer untouchable by the consumer. We can now interact with businesses and each other at the click of a button. This has its negatives because it is easier for people to spread the word on business they are not happy with and people can say hurtful things without fear of reprimand behind a computer, but it also has just as many, if not more benefits. Companies can better understand and detect the needs of their target audiences. Consumers feel like they have a voice in the products and services that they spend their hard earned money on. No matter which side one may take, it is evident that New new media and social media have had a major impact on business in the 21^st century.

Check Out these links to see just how much consumers are influenced by social media and vice versa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8&feature=related   ßSocial media

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH5R56jILag  ß Dominos Pizza’s Youtube video

http://twitter.com/#!/twelpforce  ß Best Buy’s Twitter

New Media Killed the Radio Star (to the tune of Video Killed the Radio Star)

New Media Killed the Radio Star

First came the ability to print in mass quantities. Outside of speaking in a public forum, this was the first time in communication where one could send a message to a mass audience. The problem, which still exists today, is the time and resources spent on printing. If only there were a way to send messages to mass audiences, across great distances, instantaneously without wasting resources? Voila, radio to the rescue! Radio changed the landscape of communication. The term “broadcast” earned new meaning. What once meant to cast or scatter abroad over an area, as in planting seeds, (Dictionary.Com) now included the idea of casting messages to a mass audience. It was the first of its kind in electric mass media, which lead the way for television and new media to follow.

In many ways, Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection can be applied to certain technologies and media forms. We see it constantly as in the death of the VCR. New technologies evolve, like the DVD in this case and replace the less efficient ones. To this point in history, the mainstay forms of mass communication, like print, radio, television and film have survived although new media technologies do threaten their existence. Mass Media send its messages using any combination of these three tools: Image, Sound and Text. Just happens to be the title of Fairleigh Dickinson University’s introduction to communications course. Radio is one of few media formats that only can use one of those tools. Unlike, television which at times uses all three and print forms which can use two at a time, radio can only communicate using sound. This puts radio at a disadvantage for many reasons. One of the biggest disadvantages is also one of it’s biggest advantages in radio’s competition for our attention. In the car or at work, people usually don’t have the option to watch TV or read, so they listen to something in the background. This is where radio had it’s captive audience. The disadvantage is at home a majority of people turn off the radio and turn their full attention to other media formats like TV or a magazine. But, in the car and at the office it was the radio that had your ear, you didn’t have a choice early on.

As time went on and technology developed, more choices became available on how people received their media content. Now mass media would compete with each other like corporations would for the people’s attention or business. Each time something newer and better was introduced, the older media format lost some of it’s audience. It is logical to think that print media would be the next to become extinct considering all of it’s new competition. With a more environmentally conscious society, it is no longer feasible to continue printing on paper, especially considering the options new media has introduced. Nearly all newspapers and magazines have a web and mobile presence. The convenience of having the transportable paper to carry around has been answered by smart phones and tablets. E-readers like the Kindle are taking the convenience of carrying a book around and making it an inconvenience because you can store multiple books digitally on one light weight device. Considering all that, will printing on paper every really become extinct? If so, what media format would be next? The next logical choice would have to be radio.

There is no telling what the future holds. So, is it prudent to predict the extinction of a media form? Probably not. Even with all the advances in technology, will there always be a practical need for paper printing? With all the reasons new media gives people not to waste paper, Multifunction Printers are some of the hottest selling electronics today. There was a time not too long ago when many said computer printers would be extinct. So it is impossible to predict the future, but it is possible to notice the trends. Print media is on the decline and right there with it is terrestrial radio.

We noticed the process of these older mass media technologies like radio and print media being phased out and we must accredit this to the increasing competition brought on by new media. The really interesting part is the evolutionary responses of these older forms, specifically how they adapt to survive. This process is known as remediation, the making of new media forms out of old (Bolter, and Gromala ). We see print media putting out a great effort to remediate the paper and ink methods of yesteryear in to new media technologies. As for radio, it seems as though competing companies are remediating the idea of radio and creating new options for the public using new media, while terrestrial radio was slow to react to the quickly changing media environment. Now just about every commercial radio station has a web stream and a smart phone application, but new media organizations like iTunes and Pandora have already established themselves as dependable and in many cases preferable alternatives.

Will terrestrial radio technology ever really go extinct? Probably not. Even though new media technologies have improved communication so much, there will always be a need for radio technology in communication. Why is that? Because it is reliable. Whenever a disaster happens, like the earthquakes in Japan and Chile, new media communication technologies inevitably fail, but radio always allows for communication to the affected area. For this reason alone, terrestrial radio will never completely die. However, terrestrial radio as a media business is on the decline just like print media. Radio stations, as we know them today must adapt to survive.

As mentioned early on radio only has the ability to compete for the public’s ear. This is a disadvantage in the sense that other media formats are more attractive to the public because they offer more stimulation to other senses. Let’s not forget a picture is worth a thousand words. The big advantage for radio is there are some places were people cannot devote the attention of their eyes and ears simultaneously, like in the car and at work. The problem for radio is when other media forms compete for your ear at those times. At first the process was slow moving, but now new media has introduced countless options that directly compete with terrestrial radio.

It is said the first car radio was introduced in the 1930s. This was a huge relief for travelers who now had something to listen to in the car. Car audio continued to develops as travelers were given more options. Early on people had the option to play 45 records while driving, while impractical it was the first competition for radio in the car. Then technologies developed that allowed drivers to listen to 8-Track and Cassette Tapes while driving. The last development before new media inundated travelers with audio options was the introduction to the CD player to the automobile. It’s arguable that the CD player can even be considered new media because it’s the first digital medium of it’s kind. Now the radio had direct competition for the public’s attention in the car and at work (Wikipedia).

Another one of radio’s disadvantages is it’s limited supply of content and the fact that the listener doesn’t have a choice, other than changing the station, in what they listen to. The radio stations determined their content and the listener had little say outside of the request line. Introducing new media formats to the car and office that gave the listener a direct choice in what they were hearing is the biggest competition factor for radio and other media formats battling for your ear. Now anyone could listen to anything they wanted right out of their own audio collection according to their own individual tastes, not the taste of their collective demographic. The problem for these media formats competing with radio is that it involved physically carrying what you wanted to listen to. Cars and offices would surely become littered with tapes and discs. And God forbid you lost one. So, even with all these new options, the radio was still convenient to listen to because it didn’t involve all of these other moving pieces.

With all the technological developments of the 20th century, radio still had it’s place and was safe amongst all the competition. However, as we transitioned into the new millennium new media would answer all the problems older media formats had in their competition for the public’s attention. In essence, it was the digitalization of our world that made it possible along with the almighty power of the internet.

New media has opened new doors in the realm of audio. As mentioned before, radio which was only competing with few alternatives now is competing with countless ones. As a result, many small radio stations around the country are going out of business. The radio stations that are left are a part of massive media organizations that are for the most part, are distributing much of the same music, talk and information across the country. New Media, more than anything has given people the choice and the voice. The choice to listen to whatever they want and the voice to let the world know. Terrestrial radio stations have no choice but to broadcast whatever gets them the most ratings.

Before new media it was easy to see which media formats were directly competing with each other. Radio stations for the most part competed with other radio stations. Now it is completely different. It is hard for some people to think that a terrestrial radio station is in direct competition with John Smith’s iPod, but it is. New Media has introduced so many options to the public that directly compete with terrestrial radio that it has threatened the existence of radio as we know it. The following will explore many of these new media options in detail and explain how exactly they are stealing radio’s audience.

The invention of the Sony Walkman in many ways can be likened to the invention of the transistor radio. Before both of these technologies you had to be next to a radio or record player to listen to music. Once the transistor radio came alone there was instant portability. Families could go to the beach or wherever and bring along their little transistor radio and have entertainment in a place where you were usually responsible for entertaining yourselves. The Walkman was exciting because it offered that same portability, with a choice in programming, but as mentioned earlier it included the hassle of carrying around cassette tapes or CDs. So, even though the Walkman was a popular and successful item, radio and specifically the transistor radio still had its place (Wikipedia).

The eventual stake in the heart of the transistor radio and Walkmen was the development of the MP3 (MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III). It is an audio format for digital audio encoding. Now, it is not the first digital audio file ever created, remember because CDs had been around several years before the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) patented the MP3 circa 1993. If CDs have been around so long then why was the MP3 such a major phenomenon? The digital audio files used to make Compact Discs were called WAV (Wave) files. These were heavy duty, high quality audio files that took up a lot of memory, which is why you can only have so many tracks on a CD. At that point in time, during the early development of dialup internet, it would have taken a lifetime to download a complete WAV file. MP3s however, are compressed audio files designed to require significantly less data. The great thing was, to the untrained, non-superhuman ear, you couldn’t tell the difference and you had an audio file approximately 11 times smaller than you would on a CD put out by a record company. With this technology CD-Rs (Compact Disc-Recordable) started to replace cassette tapes as a way to create the popular “Mix Tape.” Still at this time radio wasn’t seeing the great effects this new technology would eventually have. The first industry to be hit hard was the music industry. However, radio would see the start of this new revolution in the not too distant future (Wikipedia).

As mentioned earlier, the Sony Walkman technology was kind of like the second coming of the transistor radio and we’ll see more and more that many new media technologies had that same effect. In 1996 the first portable Digital Audio Player (DAP) was introduced to the market. The term DAP never really caught on. Most people have refereed to these devices as MP3 Players even if the device supported other audio files like WAV or SDII. Now days, no matter what company makes the devices many people are inclined to call it an iPod much like other brands that have claimed the name of one of their products (Band-Aid, Q-Tip). These MP3 players were the eventual stake in the heart of radio, because it led to the iPod. Now people could store several CDs worth of music onto one device and carry it around with them wherever they go. The hassle of carrying around tapes, records, disc was alleviated. Even the hassle of burning CDs was solved by the invention of the Digital Audio Player (Wikipedia).

At the turn of the century, a two year phenomenon took place that would affect the future of radio and the entire music industry forever. The phenomenon that only lasted two years was Napster. It was an online community with an easily understandable interface that allowed users to share MP3 files for free. Now it all ties together. Assumably before Napster, it was more difficult to build up your MP3 collection for your MP3 player. Now nearly every piece of music, even rarities where available on Napster for download with absolutely no charge. No more buying CDs, no more listening to the radio. You are your own music director, you program your own radio station exactly to your tastes and you don’t have to deal with commercials, not mention your not spending a dime. Of course this was all illegal, which is why it only lasted from 1999 until 2001, but it opened up a Pandora's box for terrestrial radio and the music industry alike. New file sharing companies like Limewire and Kazaa started sprouting up and practically no one was buying music because it was too easy to get for free. Before MP3s and Napster, if someone wanted to hear new music they would listen to the radio. If they wanted to hear it again they would buy the record. The radio station and record companies were happy. They had a symbiotic relationship. Napster and MP3 threw a giant monkey wrench into the situation and change the culture forever (Wikipedia).

Earlier, MP3 and MP3 Player technology was referred to as the eventual stake in the heart of terrestrial radio. The true stake was crafted and administered by a man named Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc. In the late 1990s Apple was struggling. Their computers weren’t selling as well so they desperately needed a new product to stay afloat. In 2001 Apple introduced two major developments, the iPod and iTunes. It is safe to say these products saved Apple and launched them to their increased popularity and success today. The iPod was nothing new because the MP3 player had already been developed. The problem with most MP3 players were that they weren’t easy to operate. They usually had many buttons which made it a complicated device. The iPod had solved all the problems of earlier MP3 players. Just four buttons and a wheel, which seemed complicated considering all the iPod could do but it was extremely user friendly. Not to mention, the design was sharp. The thing looked cool and people wanted to have it. It also had the ability to store much more music than any other MP3 player before it. iPod users could digitally store up to 10gb of music on the original product. Along with the iPod came the development of iTunes and the iTunes store. It was in the wake of the Napster lawsuits and the eventual shutting down when iTunes came out in an effort to legitimize downloading music online. In a time where most people weren’t paying for music, Apple figured out a way to distribute music where record companies and consumers alike were happy. Today, iTunes is the industry standard. When measuring the success of a recording artist today no longer do we reference how many records sold, we reference how many downloads they had on iTunes. With the introduction of the iPod and iTunes, terrestrial radio was dealt a serious blow. Before MP3 players were there but never really took off until the iPod, which just made everything so convenient for users. Now people had a small, portable item that they could take with them anywhere that stored hours and hours of commercial free music (Wikipedia).

One thing that radio still had going for it was it’s information and talk programming. When it came to music, radio was losing the battle. Many people don’t enjoy endless commercials and music picked by someone they’ve never met. However, news, sports and talk programs still had their niche on radio. Yet, there is still problems. In order to listen to these programs you had to be near a radio for the live broadcast. Also, at this time the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was really coming down hard radio personalities. It got to the point where Howard Stern, regarded as one of the most popular broadcasters in history was fed up and left for Sirius Satellite Radio in 2006. More on Satellite radio to follow. In late 2004 Podcasts or webcasts became more and more prevalent. These were non-live shows that users could download and listen to at their leisure on their PC or iPod. They also weren’t regulated by the FCC. In 2005 Apple released iTunes 4 which supported podcast downloading, then it really took off. Podcasting included both video and audio programs, some were rebroadcasts and others were completely original (Wikipedia). The most popular podcast today is the Adam Carolla Podcast. It gets downloaded hundreds of thousands of times on a daily basis. This proves that a talk, news or sports show doesn’t need radio to be successful. What was once the niche that radio had is slowly turning toward new media as it’s vehicle (Lewin).

It is becoming more and more evident that Apple Inc and all of its new developments of late have much to do with the slow death of radio. However, before we get into more modern examples of how Apple is revolutionizing new media and in turn killing terrestrial radio and other older mass media formats, it is important to discuss satellite radio. Is satellite radio a part of new media or is it just a remediated form of old radio? The answer is a little bit of both. Many of the ideas behind satellite radio are adapted methods of terrestrial radio. For instance, there are many different stations to chose from each with their own individual format and the individual stations are programmed by a program director and/or music director (if a music station). So like radio, the programming is determined by someone else but the listener still has the choice to change the channel. The biggest difference is that it is a subscription service, which allows for commercial free music programming and no regulation from the FCC. However, the biggest reason Satellite radio should be considered new media is because it is completely digital. Not to mention, Sirius XM programing is available online and via smart phone applications. The smart phone applications for Sirius XM again is like a second coming of the transistor radio. Now satellite radio is available in all the places radio was most listened to; outside, in the office and especially in your car. Sirius XM has a deal with nearly all auto manufactures that make Sirius XM standard in all new cars with a free trial. For those people who do not want to be bothered by creating their own playlists and enjoyed other people providing programming, but hated commercials and censorship, satellite radio is for you. This was another huge blow for terrestrial radio. Not only did regular radio lose it’s most popular DJ to satellite, but all the reasons mentioned why one would stick with terrestrial radio have been bested by satellite radio. However, regular radio still had one thing going for it. It was free.

The last few examples deal strictly with the internet in some way, shape or form. Two companies particularly have really added to the battle for the public’s ear lately. These companies stream music to listeners using the internet. The first is Pandora. This unique service, like radio picks the music for you, but unlike radio selects musically specifically regarding your tastes. It uses one of the key staples of new media, artificial intelligence. Like radio this is a free service and yes you do have to deal with the occasional commercial, but the user is more in control. The second company is Grooveshark. It is amazing this service is still available because it allows you to stream virtually any song you want, whenever you want. Unlike Pandora, which choses the specific songs for you and must run ads to pay artist royalties, Grooveshark puts the user in total control and never interrupts with a commercial break. For both of these services the user is not able to download the songs only stream. These two services have put a considerable dent in regular radio’s audience because they are easy to use and very convenient for music lovers with wide tastes. However, it is not necessarily their websites that are having the great effect on terrestrial radio, but the smart phone applications. Again, reinventing the transistor radio (Wikipedia).

Back to Apple revolutionizing new media. The introduction of the iPhone and other smart phones that followed is truly the death of radio as we know it. New media and the internet have done a tremendous deed for humankind. Before, one had to go out to discover the world. New media and the internet bring the world to you. The development of smart phones and their applications not only bring the world to you, but now you can take the whole world with you wherever you go. The iPhone opened up a whole new world in communication. The technology has become almost common place now but the fact that the internet is available via 3G and 4G wireless services is truly incredible. These smart phones incorporate everything mentioned as competing factors to terrestrial radio and pretty much all earlier forms of mass media. They can store and play MP3s, they offer applications like Pandora and Grooveshark and they even can play regular radio through individual station’s own websites and applications. Again, new media technology has taken all the problems of terrestrial radio and solved them .

With all the advancements in new media technologies radio is still surviving. The biggest reason is because people like to listen to radio in the car. With iPods and smart phones you still needed headphones or you were forced to listen out of the weak built in speakers. Perhaps the biggest factor in radio demise is the increased amount of auxiliary inputs installed in new cars. The tiny hole next to the car’s center display that looks like a headphone jack is the auxiliary input. It is an 1/8” phono jack that takes audio from the headphone jack of your device and plays it through your car’s speakers. It was mentioned earlier that satellite radio is just about standard in all new cars. Now it seems as though the auxiliary input is also become standard. This technology has been around a long time but because of the increased use of iPods and MP3 player is now becoming more prevalent. Now radio must be worried. The one true place where they had a captive audience now has multiple options competing with the dial.

More improvements in new media and internet technology are threatening radio in the car. More cars are being developed with internet capabilities built in, so applications like Pandora and Grooveshark come directly though your sound system. It was an option for Howard Stern when recently negotiating his new contract with Sirius XM. Stern seriously considered leaving satellite for a new venture in this arena, but realized the technology is not there yet and resigned with Sirius XM at the end of 2010.

The fact of the matter is that this is where technology is taking the medium of sound. Society is becoming more global and radio technology is limited in that sense. New Media and the internet have the ability to reach across borders where terrestrial radio simply cannot. Will radio be gone soon? Probably not. Radio will still be around for a life time or two. There is simply too much money invested in it at the time. However, these new media technologies inevitably will become more available to the public and slowly phase out terrestrial radio technology as a way to transmit sound.

As mentioned earlier, the technology will still always have its place in society because it is so reliable, especially in cases of disaster. But, there’s the idea of radio, even with its problems that will be around for a long time to come. Yes, the technology may fade and be remediated into new technologies that will be used as the vehicle, but people will always need the medium of sound. As long as automobiles are operated by human beings, not automated systems, there will always be a need for the idea of radio. When drivers no longer need to keep their eye on the road than the idea of radio is in trouble, but the idea of preprogrammed material transmitted in someway whether through radio or new media technologies until then should have a place in the media.

Cool Links

Below are some cool links to some online videos that dive into the subject matter of my paper.

“The Future of Radio and Digital Music”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhjRLmkhJ6k

The Loop: Is Terrestrial Radio in Sirius Trouble?

http://www.g4tv.com/videos/15307/The-Loop-Is-Terrestrial-Radio-in-Sirius-Trouble/

XM and Sirius Satellite Radio Merger

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/204602-1

Prometeus - The Media Revolution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj8ZadKgdC0

Works Cited

Bolter, Jay David, and Diane Gromala. Windows and Mirrors Interaction Design, Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency. 1st. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2003. Print.

Lewin, James. "Adam Carolla Podcast Makes Radio Irrelevant." Podcasting News. 01 Mar 2009. Web. 20 Apr 2011. <http:// www.podcastingnews.com/content/2009/03/ adam- carolla- podcast-makes-radio-irrelevant/>.

"Podcast." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 2011. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast>.

"Pandora Radio." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 2011. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_Radio>.

"Grooveshark." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 2011. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grooveshark>.

"MP3." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 2011. Web. <http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3>.

"Digital Audio Player." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 2011. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Digital_Audio_Player>.

"IPOD." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 2011. Web. <http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipod>.

"Itunes." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 2011. Web. <http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itunes>.

"Walkman." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 2011. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkman>.

"Car Audio." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, 2011. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Audio>.

Kerr, Jim. "Five Trends for the Future of Radio." Mediabeat. Venturebeat, 12 JAN 2011. Web. 22 Apr 2011. <http:// venturebeat.com/2011/01/12/future-of-radio/ >.

West , Joel. "The Uncertain Future of Radio." Seeking Alpha. 28 May 2009. Web. 20 Apr 2011. <http://seekingalpha.com/article/ 140094-the-uncertain-future-of-radio>.

Videogames as a Medium.

Videogames as a Medium

The terms describing media have been evolving constantly through the years and alongside the evolution of media there has also been a concurrent evolution of the medium used to convey that media. Mediums like Book, Radio, Television VHS,DVD, Bluray and the Personal computer have all been accepted forms of media-medium evolution. Mediums that as they’ve come and gone we, as a society, have come to embrace each of them in one form or the other.

One form of media/medium that has evolved concurrently is the Video Game, once deemed only for children, The video game itself has seen a long history of evolution starting out as simple blocks on a television screen to full 3D capabilities in palm of your hand.

Video Game Consoles, which would be the medium, have gone through changes that have now made them rival even the eldest of mediums (such as television and even films). Though once cited as the underdog or “children’s toy” videogames have now branched out and become accessible to everyone ranging from children to adults and even the elderly.

The medium and media have both changed so drastically from their roots that a look at the major players, such as Nintendo,Atari, Magnavox and later contenders like Sony and Microsoft and how they played an integral part of ushering gaming into the age of online computing and electronic socialization and forever changing video games into a form of new media. History

To give credit where credit is due gaming grew out of the same pot as the computer, much of what gaming is today is based off computing in some way or form. The first video game was created in October 18,1958 called “Tennis for two” and was built from an analog computer and used an oscilloscope for a screen.

The creator, William Higinbotham a nuclear physicist worked at Brookhaven national laboratories instrumentation division originally created the game to “Liven up” the facility at which he worked he was quoted as saying “It might liven up the place to have a game that people could play, and which would convey the message that our scientific endeavors have relevance for society."

Tennis for two became a hit at Brookhaven labs, being the first of its kind it brought in large crowds who marveled at this new interactive “toy”. Several years later in 1961, a student of MIT name Steve Russell created the game “Space War” the first interactive computer game, the creation of this specific game influenced a young entrepreneur named Nolan Bushnell, who in 1972 created the world famous videogame company Atari, which produced the equally as famous Pong arcade machine.

The release of Pong and many other arcade titles in the late 70’s marked the beginging of the Video Arcade era, The video arcade was a venue where people(at the time children and Teenagers) went to play arcade based video game titles that were housed in cabinets. The cabinets consist of a video monitor, controls (often a joystick and buttons), computer hardware and software, sometimes including sound hardware and a coin-, token-, or magnetic card-based payment mechanism.

Arcades in and of themselves became popular meeting places for Teenagers and children, usually Arcade vendors provided food and drink to patrons and if not the Arcade was usually located within a shopping complex allowing for easy access for people who were tired of shopping.

Aside of the early social aspects Video Arcades often had different types of games that could be played single player or with two players. Arcade centers in the late 70’s quickly grew into popularity with games like, Space invaders (which broke sales records at the time )and Galaxian paving the way for more famous titles like Pac man and Centipede (80’s) the arcade scene became increasingly popular.

By the time the 80’s rolled around Arcades had almost reached their pinnacle, dubbed as “The Golden Age of the Arcade” one of the biggest games of that era was the famous “Donkey Kong” arcade game, released in 1981 ,one of the first games created by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto of the Japanese company Nintendo, Donkey Kong goes on to be one of the most played games of that year. AS a whole Arcade games had reached a $5 billion revenue and at this time Americans were spending more than 750,000 hours playing videogames.

Around this time manufactures’ began making videogame consoles developed specifically for home use. These consoles though smaller than there Arcade counterparts allowed for gaming to be done at home. Though less powerful than arcade cabinets, Home consoles allowed for games to be played at home for a significantly cheaper price.The proliferation of Home consoles slowly brought about the decline of the popularity of Arcades Companies like Atari and Maganvox created a flood of consoles like the Atari 2600, ATARI 5200, ATARI 7800 and the ATARI JAGUAR as well as the Magnavox’s Odyssey. As expected consumers jumped at this new marvel, “An arcade like experience in the living room?” Sales were at an all time high, game developers also jumped at this chance to make money basically flooding the console market at the time with games that were low in quality, combined with the flood of different home consoles these series of events lead to what many have dubbed “The Great Video Game crash of 1982”.

With all the different consoles and games being flooded into the market (many games were subpar) and with retailers being overwhelmed by having too many copies of certain games the market literally collapsed on itself. Companies like Atari and Magnavox which at the start had pioneered home consoles, suddenly had to drop from the home console market due to lack of interest from the consumer. For a time in the United States gaming, Arcade and home console seemed to be all but done for. For a period of 2-3 years that was the exact case. It wasn’t until a company Called Nintendo launched its first Home Console that things started to look up for Gaming in the United States.

Nintendo Enters the Market

During the Great Video Game Crash in America, On the other side of the planet A Japanese Card game company launched its first Home console, The Nintendo Family Computer Also known as the Famicom. Nintendo was aiming to launch the Famicom in the United States, initially a gambit Nintendo releases the Famicom. (Renamed to the Nintendo Entertainment System) in limited quantities

Since critics and retailers were wary of home consoles after the crash so wary that Nintendo was put under contract to buy back any unpurchased systems and games if they didn’t sell. Nintendo’s gambit worked and the system became a hit

With the introduction of the NES and stellar games like Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda and of course the Super Mario Brothers Nintendo all but revitalized the videogame industry in America.

Along with bringing the arcade like experience back into the home Nintendo also marketed gaming on the go in the form the Nintendo Gameboy an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in America on July 31, 1989. It was the first handheld console in Nintendo’s line of handheld electronic gaming devices and was created by Gunpei Yokoi and Nintendo's Research and Development.

The Gameboy’s design was partly based off an older lcd based gaming device the Game & Watch. The gameboy quickly became a hit owing much of its success from having ports of several popular games from the Nintendo Entertainment System. Nintendo made the decision to package the handheld with the puzzle game “Tetris” making

With the videogame industry slowly but surely other home console developers decided to get a piece of the pie. Atari and a new player, Sega, Though Nintendo continued to hold a Strong almost stranglehold grip on the industry.

The Next Generation

By this point the technology in game consoles had advanced to the point that they (depending on the title) could rival some of their older arcade counterparts. In the 1990’s Nintendo introduced the Super Nintendo Entertainment system.

A much more powerful system than its predecessor it allowed for more vibrant colors and more engrossing games than the Nintendo Entertainment System. A game like Star Fox, a futuristic space shooter, was released in the spring of 1993 for the SNES. was the first three-dimensional Nintendo videogame, and one of the only games to include the Super FX chip, a co-processor used to accelerate graphics display. The complex display of three-dimensional models with polygons was totally new and uncommon in console video games, and the game was much-hyped as a result. (Snes)

With the development of better hardware, games increased in quality, they had moved from mere blips on the screen to full blown experiences, games had become more interactive. Players were becoming immersed in brighter more colorful worlds. Games became deeper, with the larger cartridge space games could become larger and incorporate more. ("Snes specs")Over the next several years Nintendo would remain on top with Sega’s Genesis trailing not too far behind. The greater hardware hand in hand with greater software allowed for Nintendo and its SNES to hold the interest of gamers worldwide.By the Mid 1990’s Nintendo was set to release their next Home Console, The Nintendo 64, originally titled “The Ultra 64” it boasted even more power the Super Nintendo. Nintendo was the last to enter the Fifth Generation of Console games and the last one to produce a console that still used cartridges, for at this time Sega’s Dreamcast and Sony’s Playstation were now using CD based mediums.

Allowing for the storage of more data, Nintendo decided to stick with cartridges over CDs, simply because of the “durability” and the lack of load times (Since the data on a cartridge can be accessed by the system much faster than a disc based system , this was little in the way of loading).

This decision to stick to an older medium, such as cartridges instead of upgrading to CD based medium, caused some developers to turn their backs on Nintendo, Since the Cartridges were not only limited in size (in terms of memory) they were also more expensive.

Many long time developers who had started out on the NES, like Square, the producer of the Final Fantasy series of videogames, left Nintendo for Sony’s new Playstation . This was the case for many developers who wanted more freedom in their games. Because of this oversight, The Nintendo 64 fell into second place behind Sony’s Playstation, which at the time was the new console on the block. Also known as the PS1 was Sony Electronics first foray into the videogame industry and was a hit.

The Play station one was technically inferior to the Nintendo 64(which was at literally 64 bit processing, while the ps1 was at 32) despite this discrepancy in power, PS1 games managed to, at times, looked way superior to anything on the Nintendo 64,.The CD’s allowed for the addition of FMV’s (Full motion Videos) which bordered on cinematic, the 64, with its cartridges stuck with limited storage capacity, were unable to reproduce the same effect. Online Integration

Another selling point to the Playstation was that it was able to play music CD’s making it a game console that also play other media Sony focused on this business model into its other systems as well. With the release of The Sony Play Station 2, Sony’s Second home console the idea of a console doing more than just playing videogames. With the release of Nintendo’s Gamecube and the Introduction of Microsoft, mostly PC oriented company’s release of the Microsoft Xbox, gaming as a whole took a whole new leap into interactivity and integration of media of devices. With the Playstation 2 and the Xbox came the ability to play DVD’s. The ability of DVD playback was heavily advertised by both parties.

Nintendo’s Gamcube did not have dvd playback like its competitors, instead tired to stick with the GameCube being a pure gaming machine. Nintendo’s plan was to introduce connectivity with its latest handheld, the gameboy advance, allowing players to use the handheld gaming system as an external gaming device hooked to the console.

The Gamecube’s connectivity however paled in comparison to what the Xbox was bringing to the table, The Xbox had introduced integrated (least for its time) online for some of its game, though the Sega Dreamcast before it had online games for its console ,Microsoft’s was far more advanced, allowing players to arrange games in lobbies and organize into teams also by adding voice support so players could communicate in game via microphones was a huge leap in gaming. After seeing the success of Microsofts online model for the xbox, Sony and Nintendo followed suit, with varying degrees of success, Sony released its “Playonline” service which allowed players to be able to play games like Final Fantasy XI, an Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game ,Action Roleplaying games monster hunter and first person shooter type games as well.

Nintendo’s online model was the least robust as its competitors, with only four games playable online having the weakest line up The Gamcube fell into third place behind its competitors. Online and Social aspects

In today’s gaming, it is almost expected of a system to have internet accessing capabilities and being ale to send messages and chat with friend’s in-game. Sony’s Playstation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 36 With The addition of online capabilities and the advancement of hardware, Home videogame consoles have come close to rivaling personal computers, being able to connect to friends from across the globe and actually have conference call like programs,which allow groups of people to set up their own room.

A prime example is Microsoft’s online service, Xboxlive, a comprehensive online service which allows users to watch movies on Netflix, make chat rooms to chat with their friends and even post on facebook and twitter, while Nintendo’s service offers eshops for both its console and handheld and Sony’s console has the same services as the 360,minus the group chat.

Conclusion

Gaming consoles went from simple toys of amusement to actually media centers for which players could use to, not only play games but to communicate with others, with the integration of online and being able to access websites like blogger,facebook and twitter home consoles have taken a leap that has made them more versatile and integral as a medium.

Videos of Interest

Final Fantasy has always been a bench mark of a Consoles power-here's a video that highlights the evolution of this classic series

The enhancement of videogames over the past 30 years.