Reaction to: Next New Thing

     After much thought and having read a lot of my fellow classmates responses to the topic of "Next New Thing," I have a very dark outlook for the long run. I see where technology is taking us, we are becoming ever so dependent on technology and what it does for us. Our need to be connected with one another is becoming a more and more distant long shot if not for the use of technology. Our dependence will someday become a crutch; one fellow classmate referenced the movie "iRobot" when speaking about our future outlook, I would refute this and counter with a more bleak outlook as is the case in the Pixar movie, "WALL-E," where we become so dependent on machines and tech doing things for us. In the movie, even menial tasks were undertaken by machines; things like walking were no longer necessary, this caused humans to gain vast amounts of weight and their bones to weaken and become smaller.

     I know that this is a rather grim outlook, but it falls back on our inability to do things the hard way, always looking to make things more simpler. We have to find the very fine balance between innovation and practicality. Sometimes you have to ask, "Sure we can make a better mouse trap, the question is why?"

The Next New Media

     Well, if Samsung commercials are any indication of where we are going, its the consolidation of items that will be able to control all things in our lives. Whether its a Galaxy Gear that controls your phone or a TV + Tablet + Computer that control each other; with that being said, one of this week's articles opens the door to a much more advanced opportunity. It is possible that we could have a small sensor implanted in our head that we could control our TV/Computer with a single thought. Maybe we can eliminate the phone all together and with the technology in something like Google Glass, the sensor can allow us to connect to the Internet to search for information or even make and receive calls. It is conceivable that if that is possible, you could also consider it possible for the sensor to allow you to update your social media accounts and link to your friends in real-time, like mental telepathy.

Our Class Wiki - So Far

     Up to this point in the class semester, I haven't made any contributions to the class Wiki page.  I'll be the first to admit that reviewing the actions required to post on a wiki seem daunting, but I'm sure that like riding a bike, once I begin, it will come easy. I have been pouring over our class assignments so far and thinking of relevant content that will add value to the Wiki. As discussed in my paper, I'm very interested in the safety of our information on Social Networking sites. Therefore, I am very wary of what information I make available on such sites and try to examine the fine balance between a full social networking experience and the pitfalls that we fall into through the Illusion of privacy.

P2P File Sharing

     File sharing is the act of sharing a file from one computer to another. Moreover, Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing is the distribution and sharing of electronic files to other peers on a specially designed P2P file sharing network. P2P networks, such as Bittorrent sites, allow users to search for desired files on other user's computers. Some examples of P2P file sharing is downloading or uploading files to a site such as KickAss Torrents (Kickass.to) Although this is also becoming a problem as stated in the NY Times article by Brian Stelter and Brad Stone, "Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios," where the growing concern is over the legality of the file sharing because (in many cases, it is violating the copyrights of the owner of the digital media. The Motion Picture Association is trying to deal with this matter delicately since it is trying to avoid the same fate that befell the Music Industry with Napster.

Advice to Baruch College

     I would recommend that the school get a Facebook page so that people can like it and receive informational posts that they might see on their page. They should also link their other media outlets to it, such as a Twitter account. Baruch can open a MySpace page and promote its music program. I would suggest an online social media management tool such as Engagor, which would allow you to look at all your social media outlets and schedule posts in advance.  Any event going on at the school would be showcased on the media page and any upcoming events would also be highlighted. I would recommend a strong recruiting campaign done through social media to maximize their exposure.

Privacy & Confidentiality

     In this ever evolving world, the quickening of the speed at which information moves is extraordinary. These days something happening half way around the world, in China, will make it to our news feeds in a matter of minutes. With information moving so fast, it is hard to perceive the implications that new media has on privacy and confidentiality. Privacy, virtually, goes out the window, the privacy policies are written so that the respective site can do what they want with whatever information you provide them. Our culture is all about sharing, for instance, we witness a fight on the street, all you see are other witnesses recording it and eventually posting it online. So the idea that confidentiality is highly regarded would be hard to prove. I believe that the idea behind new Media is more "open-sourced" or "collaboration" making confidentiality hard to maintain.

Creativity and New Media

     Last semester, I had a Marketing class and had a assignment to come up with a commercial for a new product that was on the market. My team and I researched and hand picked this product because we thought that we could make an effective commercial that would assure us a good grade.
     My team and I took our Nikon camera and shot everything in one afternoon. We used my (old) apartment and neighborhood as locations for the shoot. Once we shot all our footage, we were able to use free open software we were able to create a You Tube video. In post production, we cut the scenes and put them in order, laid a soundtrack and even added effects. All of this would have to have been produced by a company with a lot of technology at a great cost to my team and I. We were able to produce this for free and in only one weekend.

Enjoy
Shake Weight Video