Communication 200 Media Narratives Negroponte,

1
Communication 200Media NarrativesNegroponte,
Being Digital

• Kris Samuelson
• Byron Reeves

2
Being Digital (Negroponte)

• Major points
• Optimism about new media
• Interactive possibilities
• Users and viewers rule
• More information
• More fun

3
Summarizing what is new

• Digital convergence
• 1s and 0s can represent anything
• Implications of digitization
• Industrial convergence
• Personal convergence
• Academic convergence

4
Atoms vs. bits

• Any container can store media
• Any pipe can carry media
• Similarities among information devices and
  services
• TV
• Film
• Print and books
• Computing
• The Internet
• Information appliances
• PDAs
• Phones

5
Different ways to be in the media business

• Stories
• Displays
• Pipes
• Navigation and interface

6
Who are the media companies?

• Stories Disney AP independent film makers
• Displays Mitsubishi Philips Palm
• Pipes Bell Atlantic TCI municipalities
• Interface Microsoft AOL

7
How to regulate new media (The Bit Police)

• Allocation of Spectrum -- How to spend it?
• Is there enough bandwidth for everyone?
• The death of bandwidth concerns?
• Cross ownership in a digital world
• Can you say that on the internet?
• Privacy, encryption

8
Interface Where people and bits meet

• Interface issues are huge and new
• Technology too hard relative to value?
• C -- GUI SUI PUI -- VUI
• 500 channels - How do you know whats on?
• How to use a digital library?
• 80 of use is 20 of functionality

9
Graphical persona in new media

• Issues of automated social agents
• How do people want to interact?
• Social features added as all media mature
• Microsoft Office Assistants
• Phone agents (Tell Me General Magic)
• Virtual trading assistants

10
Virtual reality (20-20 VR)

• Media in goggles
• Media that change according to your position and
  your input
• A sense of being there and presence
• But we cry when we read
• Good VR -- image quality response time
• Sound and pictures -- which give the biggest
  bang/bit?
• Low-tech virtual reality
• Adaptivity
• Personalization

11
Media that can look and feel

• Computer recognition of images, expressive
  intent, and behavior
• The human finger as input device
• Eyes as input
• Gesture and body movement
• Recognizing emotions and personality
• The galvactivator

12
Increased importance of speech (Can We Talk About
This?)

• Speech recognition (recognition grammars,
  accuracy rates)
• Speech synthesis (artificial voices that allow
  translation from text-to-speech)
• Voices increase socialness
• But voice input more social than output
• A new form of interface
• VUIs (Voice User Interfaces)
• Natural language conversations

13
Complexity of new media (Less is More)

• Freedom from choice -- the desirability of fewer
  options
• Interface agents -- social interaction is less
  work
• Personal filters -- less junk
• Decentralization -- less standardization
• Featuritis
• New features sell software
• But may contribute to non-use

14
Smaller audiences (The Post-Information Age)

• Broad -gt narrow -gt micro-casting
• True personalization
• On-demand (just-in-time) information
• An audience of 1
• The decline of mass communication
• The simulation of interpersonal interaction using
  media

15
Timeshifting of media experiences (Prime Time is
My Time)

• Anything, anytime, anywhere
• VOD (video on demand)
• Radio (audio) information on demand
• Video on the web (video data bases)
• The web on your phone
• Your phone on your PDA

16
New media connect people (Good Connections)

• Connection now more important than computing
  power
• E-mail as lifestyle
• Wireless connections to the net
• Pagers, wireless phones
• Business at home
• Home at business
• Cant see me, dont know where I am!

17
New media blend old media genres (Hard Fun)

• The competition of entertainment and education
• I had a great time but I cant remember much
  about what was said
• Entertainment in education
• The classroom, the pulpit, politics, sales
• Is it news or drama?

18
New media extend into new areas (Digital Fables
and Foibles)

• Wearable media
• Ubiquitous computing
• Smart appliances
• Talk with your car (Auto PC)
• Finding your way (GPS)
• Watches, pagers, phones

19
New questions about what is good and bad

• Personalization vs. community
• Are we falling apart or coming together?
• New opportunities to mislead
• Are media realities different from real life?
• Owning too much media?
• Does Microsoft control too much?