The Deaf Generation

The deaf generation has been brought about with the growing popularity of mp3 players such as the I-pod. We have become a deaf generation in more than the obvious. Firstly it true people are losing their hearing by listening to devices such as the I-pod. I myself find it harder and harder to listen to people in loud places or even in the back seat of a car. Popular restaurants, clubs and bars I find myself asking the same question over and over again. “Sorry what did you say?” This I find rather tragic because I should only be losing my hearing at around 60yrs. It can all be attributed to my constant blaring of my music with regards to my I-pod.

However, this is not form of deafness I am able to see. People no longer talk to each other anymore. We all listen to our I-pods people can now ignore others and it’s no longer rude. One thing I found while living in Europe that seemed bizarre was people going to the mall to do their shopping while listening to their I-pod. People start to live in their own world more and more often. I did walk to school every day with my own I-pod in my ears but that was different if I had walked to school with a bunch of friends then I would never have ever listened to my I-pod. It just seems so anti-social to me but I guess these days anything goes!

I can remember another instance while on the Paris Metro when a bunch of young American tourists keep asking for directions but everyone just ignored them and listen to their I-pod. They all became deaf to the Americans. I feel that it is so sad that people have become like that! We are now deaf in all senses of the word!

My Travelling buddy the I-pod

While living in Europe I found it incredibly easy to travel. There are trains connecting almost every country in central and Eastern Europe. You can also take the Euro Star from London to either Paris or where I lived Lille. With the travelling freedom that Europe offered I was mad not to see all I could but it was not so easy to find a friend who was Justas keen. So I took along the one thing I could always count on to keep me company my I-pod

While sitting on the train or plane I was never bored. I never felt awkward travelling on my own because I had my I-pod. It gave me a sense not being on my own. I could easily put my earphones on disappear into my own world.

I remember a specific trip when I went to stay with a friend who was working in Austria. I took a plane from Paris to Munich which was not so bad however, the trip from Munich to Saalbach was terribly long and the train stopped at every small town that existed. If I did not have my I-pod to listen to I would have died of boredom. Listening to my music and watching the funny little Austrian towns go by made my five hour journey pass so quickly.

That is just one of the occasions where having my I-pod with me was my saving grace. It kept me from gong insane on all my trips. Even ignoring my brother or a screaming child on the train was all possible thanks to my I-pod.

It was the most useful thing I could ever have bought!

Cell Phone Convergence: The BlackBerry Bold

RIM (Research in Motion) the manufacturers of the BlackBerry smartphone announced recently that a brand new version of their phone is due to be released later this year around summer. This new version is named "The BlackBerry Bold" aka "BlackBerry 9000". This phone is of great interest to me because it is an excellent example of convergence. The features of this device are phenomenal. This smartphone provides its users with e-mail; text messaging(SMS); MMS; phone calls; instant messaging; camera and video recording; Media player; organiser; Internet browser; BlackBerry Maps; GPS capabilities and Corporate Data Access for business professionals on-the-go.

The BlackBerry also boasts high speed performance because of its 624-MHz processor. Its media player feature is made more advanced with the BlackBerry Media Sync which allows you to transfer your desktop iTunes music files. The phone also boasts WiFi capabilities, which lower your cellular costs and help you to get service in areas where network coverage is limited. The phone also has Tethered modem to upload and download files. It also includes built-in Bluetooth wireless technology. The design of the handset has been engineered with SureType keyboard technology which combines a traditional phone keypad with a familiar QWERTY-based keyboard for easier typing, similar to that of a regular PC.

Convergence is defined as the process of combining digital text, graphics, video and sound capabilities into a single device. The BlackBerry Bold truly exhibits how convergence has taken place in cell phone engineering.

Cell Phones: Africa Excluded

It has been said that developing countries (mainly in Africa), are being left behind in the mobile market industry. I explore this myth. A report was published this year on http://www.marketresearch.com entitled "2008 Global Mobile Communications- Statistics, Trends and Forecasts" by Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd. This report was interesting to me because it gave some statistics in the mobile phone market and it showed some important social implications. These were the stats for the whole world:

• The report stated that in 2008, there are 3 billion mobile subscribers worldwide.
• Prepaid mobiles now account for more than 60% of worldwide mobile subscribers.
• The total number of fixed phone lines is increasing but wireless lines are growing even faster, with the majority of all voice calls originating from mobile phones worldwide.

The Internet site http://www.budde.com produced the following interesting mobile market information for Africa:

• There are now more than a quarter of a billion mobile subscribers in Africa.
• Mobile phones represent around 90% of all telephone lines in Africa.
• The mobile market in Africa is growing between 50-60% every year.
• Due to Africa's poor fixed-line infrastructure, the mobile networks are the best provider's of Internet service provision.
• Mobile phone penetration in South Africa is approaching 90%!

These short statistics show that cell phones are playing a dominate role in telecommunications worldwide and even in Africa. These stats also show that 9 out of 10 people in South Africa own a cell phone! These stats show that many Africans are gaining access to the Internet via their phones.

The social implications are that if the 50-60% growth persists in the African mobile market we may catch up to the rest of the world and not be excluded after all.

Cell Phones: Health Concerns

Widespread concerns have been raised about the possibility that exposure to the radiofrequency(RF) fields from mobile phones could affect people's health. This has been a topic of many discussions in societies across the world where high levels of cell phone usage occurs. WHO (The World Heath Organization) published a Factsheet entitled "Electromagnetic Fields and Public Health: Mobile Phones and their Base Stations". WHO investigated whether the RF fields from cell phones cause any harmful health related problems.

The greatest public concern has been that exposure to RF fields causes cancer. Some studies have shown a link between RF exposure with leukaemia and brain tumours. Other health outcomes following RF exposure include: headaches, short-term memory loss, nausea, changes in the central nervous system functions, sleep disturbances, insomnia, rashes of the skin, difficulty concentrating, dizziness and in some cases chromosome changes.

In conclusion to its investigation WHO expressed that the very low exposure levels from cell phones and research results collected, show that there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals cause adverse health effects. We hope that in future this will still be the same conclusion.

Social Networks: The Digital Apartheid…

A social network, as described in each of my previous posts, is an absolutely invaluable development in both corporate and personal life. Not only can a social network connect people across the world, it can also create significant opportunities for growth, both personal and overall advancement.

What about those who are not connected to the “networked” (Marshall) world? Is it possible that the rapid growth of the social network is actually resulting in a world with greater voids between people?

I would suggest that this is most certainly possible… While the social network brings people together, removes spatial boundaries and creates communication possibilities; it also stretches the gap between those who are and those who are not connected.

Certain areas and people are virtually separated from the world around them. They may live only five kilometres away from a major town, with all the communication possibilities imaginable, but still they are more distant than ever before and becoming more so.

The digital divide really is an “apartheid” (New Media Lectures, Dr. Mitchell) with segregation based on the lines of those who have and those who do not have network possibilities. A person only five kilometres from the aforementioned town is essentially segregated due to his/her lack of opportunity to be connected to the vast opportunities of the networked world.

As Marshall suggests, (New Media Cultures, p36) government do not always provide infrastructure for connection on the “utopian ideals of public good” (p.36). Rather, governments are able to manipulate infrastructural development to isolate people from the networked world around them, while making it possible for others to receive all its benefits.

With the advent of this digital divide, the rift between people’s identities can also be said to be widening. I would contend that the modern man is ever more identified and moulded by the technologies available to him. The networked man is essential developing into a new being, while the un-networked individual limps behind in his dust. Soon, varied language will not be the sight of misunderstanding – level of connection may be…

Picture from: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/photogalleries/earthquake/images/primary/051011_earthquake1b.jpg

Mike Smith

Music on Tap!

With the development of the I-pod and I-tunes we are now able to buy music on tap so to speak. Music can now be downloaded from the I-tunes store which is found on the internet. Now we can find any type of music at our finger tips from rock to pop to jazz all is a click away. I-tunes has an incredible array of music you can find almost any genre you want. Everything is available.

Now you don’t have to trawl the malls looking at cd store to cd store to find that elusive cd you have been looking for forever. Now it’s available from the comfort of your own home.

People have very different tastes of music and not everyone is a pop-addict that just follows the trends. Now we are able to find the music we like. We don’t have to go from store to store getting odd looks because we are not looking for the latest Britney Spears album.

I-tunes also sells music on a song by song biases so if you only like three of the songs off an album you don’t have to pay the full price anymore. You can purchase the songs you like and that’s all you no longer have to waste money on paying for a whole cd when you only want a few songs. I-tunes are also quicker, easier and less expensive. You don’t have to pay as much as before.

I-tunes has revolutionised the way we purchase music www.apple.com/i-tunes/overview . It has given the consumer the power we now have the ability to chose exactly what we want when we want and how we want. This has made I-tunes the future of music!