Tag Archives: Technology

Technological Culture

Posted on by under Networked Media

Technology will kill us all. Photo: Dave

The relationship between technology and culture, as Murphie and Potts have pointed out, is a highly contentious debate. One with many vastly different views and opinions. Amongst the differing theories and studies behind this relationship, there is an underlying factor. That is that there IS a relationship between culture and technology. It is without a doubt that they interact. They quote Marcel Mauss with a valuable idea:

we are everywhere faced with physio-psycho-sociological assemblages of series of actions. These actions are more or less habitual and more or less ancient in the life of the individual and history of society

This idea ties technology, techniques and society into each other. The technologies shape and are shaped by the techniques surrounding them, that become imbedded in society, passed down through culture and ancestory, as well as instinctive behaviours.

Murphie and Potts also teach as some valuable definitions for terms; technique, technology and culture.

Technique is expanded upon, from simply being a skill or way in which a technology is used, into the entire tree of thought stemming from a technology. The psychological thinking, the way it’s used, the way it is thought of and the way society and the individual utilises it.

As for technology, they offer us a number of definitions, from respected theorists and academics.

Lorenzo Simpson:

That constellation of knowledge, processes, skills and products whose aim is to control and transform

Arnold Pacey:

Ordered systems that involve people, organisations, living things and machines

It is clear that technology has been interpreted differently since the inception of the idea, and as Murphie and Potts state, the word has been broadened to include a greater arc of thinking.

Culture is dynamic and multiple in its meaning. It can be applied to a wide range of ideas, thus Murphie and Potts argue that it is always changing, hence dynamic. Culture changes with society and technology.

These ideas are all intertwined, for better or worse. There’s no yes/no, but we can definitely acknowledge the relationship that exists between these ideas.

The Changing World and Crowdfunding

Posted on by under Life, Networked Media

Someone’s got a passion for fashion. Photo: Rick Chung

Here’s another smart idea that’s made it to the world level. Meet Byco, the new network of sorts for fashion design. An interesting and completely relevant subject that has certainly become more prevalent in the past year or two. It’s also playing a big role in what we’ve already discussed as a changing industry and world. So what does Byco do? Well, if you were too lazy to click the link and find that out for yourself, it pretty much facilitates the process of the fashion industry post design. Aspiring designers are faced with a lot of challenges once they have a design. A lot of the time, they don’t know what to do with it, because their education teaches them a specific set of skills. Byco steps in to take care of the production of the garment, funding and marketing. Letting designers sit back and roll in the profit. There’s still a profit, but you’re only going to get 20-30%, which is fair value considering that you don’t have to pay for any of the materials or production process.

When you submit your design, you can choose to fund the initial sample, or crowd-fund it. If you do it yourself, the 30% profit is yours. If you crowd-fund it, then 10% of the profit goes to the investors. Regardless, this is the kind of thing that people are doing with the internet and communications. The changing technology and industries of the world have evolved into systems like this, where people with skills contribute what they can do to a project. Everybody works together to achieve the goal, this sort of organisation facilitates this process and makes it incredibly easy and organised.

It’s not without its pitfalls. Of course in some cases, you’d be better off to do it yourself. If you’ve got the skills, know-how and adaptability you’d be better off eliminating the middle man. In the end, it’s the one with the most innovation that takes home the largest portion of bacon. We know this, because Byco’s creator is going to end up with the millions. But it certainly does help facilitate the production process for new designers entering the business. It’s a starting point, a springboard and a platform of sorts.

Truly an interesting idea, one that has been explored by a number of different industries. Crowdfunding has been big in the film industry lately. It’s a good way to find people who want to help make your ideas happen. It lets you find people who like your work. Applications like Byco, however, are less common. It will be interesting to see the future of this kind of networking and how it shapes up.

Innovation, Progression and Invention

Posted on by under Life

Sleek, innovative and successful. Photo: firemen.cn

 

After taking a break from my blog while I sorted out some unattended assignment business, I’m back. Here’s something interesting which helps yield a little bit of information into how we progress and what drives our innovation and creativity. It’s long been noted that innovation can stem from conflict and competition. While I’m not going to go on record and promote warfare to drive the creative forces of the world, I am adamant that competitive sports and competitions assist us in achieving our best in the world of technology and new ideas. Audi agree with me too. (Here’s the original press release from Audi for anyone interested in some further reading).

Audi have attributed their gains in the auto market (Gains indeed, they have certainly been impressive in the past year or two) to the new and innovative technologies that they are incorporating into their products. Where does this drive for the creative edge originate? Their racing work. Long associated with performance vehicles and motor racing, Audi have had dominance in this area of sports for years. They are constantly vying for ways that they can improve their cars and give their drivers an edge over their competition. Fame, fortune, renown, trophies. Sure you could pin it to that. But this competitive nature of the auto sports has some seriously positive real world implications. The technology that Audi comes up with for its racing vehicles? That ends up on the high end cars consumers get their hands on. Improved efficiency, safety, handling, stability. Comfort, even. They are all technologies that were made to win races. Now they’re giving me and you better cars, safer cars and more comfortable cars.

While sport is great for entertainment and keeping society engaged and content, it also seems to drive real world technologies to the next level. You can apply the same logic to other sports. Those complex fabrics and materials that the better clothes and equipment on the market are made from? Chances are that they were originally developed for professional athletes, or the military. Microwave, internet, GPS, Jeeps and the fan favourite; cargo pants. All military. LED lights on cars? Racing. Breathable fabrics that sporting and outdoor clothes are made of? Professional sports.

Competition and conflict help to drive humanity. We creative and innovate in order to stay ahead. In times of peace and perfection, the only motivator is money and fame. But they’re not as powerful as the competitive drive we experience when facing opposition or conflict.

Technologies

Posted on by under Entertainment, Life, Networked Media

Red HFR Cameras – The future of cinema? Photo: Ian Muttoo

Vannevar Bush’s “As We May Think” creates a feeling of possibility and speculation from the first read in. While Bush recounts the history of communication – particularly storage techniques – I could not help but feel my mind inclining to thoughts of future technologies and inventions (This one came to mind straight away). The fact presented early in the article is true. We now have a network with abundant amounts of knowledge, currently however, we are relying on methods of storage and knowledge retention that do not take full advantage of it. To speculate this in 1945 deserves bonus points. I guess the another main point is that in 1945 we were faced with similar problems. Storage, categorising, sorting, organising. Now we have these better methods, but we also have a lot more information and knowledge to retain, store, sort and organise.

Technology surrounding storage methods of communication (ie, photography, film, etc) are still clunky, but everything is headed in the direction of minimising this clunkiness. We only have to look at companies like RED digital cameras. Smaller than a traditional video camera, yet more capable of producing high definition digital images. The prospects of technologies like this are only just starting to be explored by film-makers on a major level. HFR (High Framerate) films and Peter Jackson and James Cameron in particular come to mind. (Although this one is taking a while to rub-off on film experts – the fans seem to love it – I can only assume that this will become a standard in the future.)

Interestingly enough, this ties back in with the ideas of Model I and II learning that Adrian introduced us too a number of weeks ago. It’s funny how everything relates and interconnects in the network. When something new – ie change – is proposed or implemented, defensiveness and criticism is always the initial response.

But enough about loops and connections. As Bush’s article outlines we are moving towards new technologies even now after such incredible leaps and bounds we have made to make things more accessible. The bulk of the article discusses the histories of technologies and how they’ve evolved. How we’re all able to take pictures that are higher resolution then experts could take only years ago. How we’re able to manufacture greater more powerful devices and technologies with even more ease than a basic device required back in the day. As our inventions become more adventurous, so too must our methods of communication, production and storage. Since this was written, our technologies have become even more advanced and adaptable.

 

Three Weeks of Building

Posted on by under Networked Media, The Unlectures, Theories

The night sky is a great platform for speculation and imagination. Photo: SpeakerX

The unlecture is now sitting comfortably in its third week of running, perhaps not comfortably, but I’m hoping its going to settle. This week, I was a little disappointed, as I was impressed with the direction the sessions were heading in. The redeeming factor was the discussions and elaborations during the second half of the unlecture.

I don’t blame the unlecture for this stumbling block (although I’m not sure it was a stumbling block, more of a learning curve), I don’t blame the pessimists and haters either, it’s just unfortunate that some people are defensive towards change and won’t begin to explore and accept new horizons and possibilities.

To think that such a valuable time for learning and personal growth was spent addressing a question such as “Why should I attend this irrelevant spiel” is saddening to say the least. I was a little bit disappointed at the fact that Adrian’s response had to happen, I feel somewhat responsible, being part of the student body, but I think it was something necessary. Hopefully now after this happening people will loosen up a little and let Adrian and his methods swim around in their brains for a little while.

That’s the first really negative thing I’ve had to say about the course. That’s promising. But it wasn’t really a negative, maybe a blessing in disguise. With that in mind the discussion, by Elliot in particular, was a great platform for reinforcing what we talked about in our tutorial. That the aim of the course is not to teach a specific skill-set, but rather teach you how to learn and adapt to the new skill-sets required to exist not only in our contemporary world, but into the future and beyond.

Furthermore, the discussion from Elliot, Jasmine and Adrian about Design fiction and its relevance in our world was positive in helping reaffirm the idea of planning for the speculative future. The example of mobile phones really but into perspective just how widespread the effects and possibilities of technology can be as well as touching on exactly how different the advancements in technology could possibly be if the speculation happens during design, rather than after it.

Obviously this speculation is something that occurs, particularly with new technologies such as the mobile phone, smart phone, etc, but it is often not as liberal and free as the fictional world. This presents shortcomings and delays possibilities from becoming realities, as these new uses and methods relating to the technology are reactive, rather then proactive.

Right. That was a rather large one. I feel sound in my understanding of the concepts explored so far. Let’s wait and speculate as to what the future of Networked Media will hold for us all.

Disclaimer | Background image: Emma Gawen
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