"Where Do You Want To Go Today?"

Recap: Of this section in Dines and Humez collection of articles happens to be by Lisa Nakamura. Her article is about the advertisement of the Internet from the likes of AT+T, MCI, Compaq, IBM and Origin. With these advertisements making out the Internet to be a vast place where everyone will get along with a “one mind” type of appeal. Nakamura focuses on how the Internet really does not provide a perfect vista for one to visit and get away from things.

Comment: With the hind sight we have looking back at the advertisements from the early 90’s through the mid 90’s we can see a huge difference in how the Internet is portrayed today. Yes, it is a place where you can get away from things but not quite how it was envisioned as it is now. Is the Internet a utopia? I do not think so. The ways media giants use the internet now really make it more of a huge advertisement itself. Yes, there are sites that are not conforming to the regular use of the internet. For example, this blog site, but on a whole there is more advertisement going to the users of the internet than ever before. The Internet is sea of knowledge but one has to be able to look at it from a different perspective to really find what it is you are looking for. The biggest mistake people make is they think that they Google search for something and get exactly what they want. Well, you will get what you asked for but not with out dealing with advertisements and even then you might actually get a site that has paid for placement in Google’s service. Nowadays people have to really think about what it is they are looking for and take a long hard look to see if it is really what they are actually looking for and not something that was suggested by a media giant.

What is primitive? - class discussion

Class discussion- Just what is primitive?
Isn't it more of in the eye of the beholder of who is primitive. The whole idea of typing someone as primitive can get derogatory. Just because someone thinks they are superior doesn’t make the others primitive. Even are whole planet could be considered primitive to other life in the universe. And, we can’t even think that we are the only ones out here in this big whole universe. The thought that we could be the only life in the universe would lead me to think that whoever is thinking those thoughts could be labeled, by some, as primitive.

So here, we have this completely circular argument of what or who is primitive when no one really is primitive other than who has the more advance technology. Interpersonal relations are carried on by all levels of people and the emotions used by all are equal. My emotions are no more important than the next. So, for me the idea of primitive is only in a technological sense.

Cybertypes, pages xii-30 - Lisa Nakamura

Cybertyping-
Recap: This section of her book she goes into great detail about how the Internet is split with a Digital Divide. Racial issues are thought to be nonexistent. She talks about how minorities are being left behind in the use of the Internet and how if they wish to use the internet they must conform to the “white” internet. The Internet is supposed to set up a Utopia for all who use it and not be segregating to those who use it. She feels that there is a large “white gaze” that goes with the use of the internet. Other races that use the internet have to conform to the style, and way it is used or loose their identity. Even the ethnicity of the person using the internet is lost due to the neutral nature of how it is used by most people.

Comments: So far to me, Lisa comes across as being somewhat racist herself. It may be just her writing style, which is very slow and tedious, She does make her point but the way she comes across about how the internet is causing people to loose their ethnicity. However, I find it interesting that when a person visits web sites from other parts of the world that are not in English they are very different indeed compared with what comes across here as a “white” web site. It may be a male dominated internet, which tends to be the case when things of technology are used. I think that more women are showing interest in technology and from societies that suppress the female; they will be able to get more control over their lives as time goes on. Yes, the information super highway does wonders for people but it’s the people that need to do wonders for themselves. People make the internet and the different races, ethnicities can work to make the internet the way they want it to appear. For a technology it is still in its infancy and in time it will come to represent the whole world. If people can ever work to get along across the whole planet, then maybe just maybe it will work out.

The Titanic Sails On - Robert McChesney

Recap: This section talks about how the Internet is a large and broad ground of information and resources. There was a thought of how the Internet would take over the Media giants and create a huge equal footing source for all Internet accessing people. However the actual outcome is going towards the media giants are poised for a huge monopoly of Internet content.

Comments: It is interesting to see how Time Warner/AOL is poised at the time (2000) to take a huge step towards Internet content. With the current trend of what is actually happened since then one can see other applications of media giants such as Disney buying Pixar Animation Studios. This makes them one of the largest media producers for content. With the advent of new technology they have a large source of options for deployment of their media.
So, over all, the Media giants are setting themselves up for future domination of Internet content and directed advertising. At some point we will have only a small selection of content providers. Although the perception will be of a large sea of web sites that will appear to be individual sites however, these will be all controlled by the media giants.

The New Media Giants, CH. 2

I thought it was interesting to see how the media giants have adjusted to the changes in how they go about business. From a concern of they are getting to big and powerful to shrinking back and being subdivided and then back again to the great and mighty media giant. The path is definitely not a straight track but almost seems planned. That is, when you look back at what has happened it almost seems to be that deep in some dark corner the owners knew what was going to happen. At least in some instances maybe.
Anyway, as the media giants continue to grow and absorb other companies to create the huge conglomerate that everyone fears everyone else seems to not really mind now. At least not in the same way they did back in the 60's and 70's.
With the advent of the Internet, the media companies are able to expand their coverage and subtly encompass everything that is viewed online. With the money behind the media giants they can garnish most of the power and direct people to see what they want them to see.
It was nice to see some solid numbers on what has taken place over the last 20 years. It really shows just how big these companies are getting. It should be interesting to see what happens in the next decade.