Interesting New and Digital Media News/Facts

iPad2 tablet unveiled by Steve Jobs:

Apple boss Steve Jobs has returned from indefinite sick leave to declare 2011 "the year of the iPad2".

Mr Jobs is on medical leave from the company and there was much speculation over whether he would take centre stage at the highly-anticipated launch of the new tablet.

Describing the iPad2 design as "completely new", Mr Jobs made a 30-minute presentation at the YBCA Theatre in San Francisco, which was broadcast live via video link in London.

Calling the new device "beautiful", he said: "We think 2011 is clearly going to be the year of iPad2. It is going to be everywhere in the month of March."

Despite rumours that the iPad2 may come in a smaller size, the new tablet will keep its original dimensions. It does, however, boast a sleeker and slimmer design than its predecessor, measuring 33% less in thickness.

Mr Jobs said: "One of the most startling things about the iPad2 is it is dramatically thinner. It feels totally different."

It will also be lighter, weighing in at 1.3lb, 0.2lb lighter than the iPad1. "You can just pick this thing up, it almost floats," Mr Jobs said.

The tablet will be available in both black and white rather than its previous single-colour design. The iPad2 will also be faster than its predecessor, with a new dual processor making it twice as quick and nine times faster in its graphics performance.

Mr Jobs put rumours of a price increase to rest, revealing that the tablet can be purchased in the US for the same price as the iPad1. "We are going to keep the same exact prices as the current iPad but you get a dramatically improved product," Mr Jobs said.

Among other new accessories, the sleek redesign of the iPad cover raised eyebrows. With a magnetic grasp attaching to the tablet, the cover provides a book-like front to the iPad and comes in 10 colours.

Links:
http://tech.uk.msn.com/news/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=156334389 (HOTMAIL NEWS)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12620077 (BBC NEWS ONLINE)
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30 million Facebook users in UK:

The number of Facebook accounts held in the UK has reached 30 million, around half the population of the country.

The milestone is an increase of four million from the number of registered UK users last July.

Vice president of Facebook Europe Joanna Shields told a conference in London that the company was "really excited" about now having 30 million active users, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Facebook, which was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, has more than 500 million active users around the world, meaning those users who have logged in during the past 30 days.

Half of the website's users log in on any given day, with a total of more than 700 billion minutes spent a month on the site - the equivalent of 1.3 million years. The average user has 130 friends and will create 90 items of content every month.

The website employs more than 2,000 people and can even now claim to be Oscar-nominated, following the critical acclaim for The Social Network, a film about Facebook.

Link:
http://tech.uk.msn.com/news/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=156334649 (HOTMAIL NEWS)
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/03/03/facebook-has-30million-uk-users-115875-22962276/ (MIRROR ONLINE)

The impact of new and digital media on socail networking sites:

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

The impact of new and digital media on socail networking sites:

View more presentations from kareenaa.

The mutualisation of news

“Gone are the days of "us and them" journalism”, suggests that there is no longer any different between the audience and the journalists with the increasing level of normal people becoming “citizen journalists”. The use of new and digital media has given the audiences the power to produce their own media product and level up with the journalists, according to Editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger, now our journalists and readers as equal partners.

"The mutualisation of news is a very powerful idea that particularly works for the Guardian, as our relationship with our readers is very strong. We can use the community of our readers in ways we would not have been able to in the past."

Rusbridger says that in order to make the members feel involved and more interested, the Guardian should build trust by behaving like the old-style mutual building societies. The web has led to a news community where ideas and news are shared rather than delivered, as new and digital media has become more accessible through the use of the Internet world wide. He also suggests that, "By continuing to go down this route, we will be more diverse and genuinely more plural than other media organizations and create a huge external resource. We need to continue breaking down the perceptions of a remote journalist who is a preacher, living distantly, and newspapers as being in bed with power and on the side of power, rather than the reader.

Rusbridger believes that new applications such as Twitter make it increasingly possible for individual journalists to publish outside the constraints of their newspapers and website and develop direct relationships with communities of readers.

An example of this would be Guardian journalist Jemima Kiss, who had more than 12,000 followers on Twitter in June 2009 and uses them to get help in researching stories, this method can also be referred to as “Crowd sourcing”, as Jemima uses all the information she gets from the crowed and makes news out of it as they often bombard her with all the information she needs. It represents a blurring of the lines between journalism and readers. She says: you help me with researching this story and I will let you know when it is ready.

". The Guardian technology pod had 682,000 followers on Twitter in June 2009, which is nearly twice as large as the number of people who buy the Guardian every day. The idea of journalists publishing directly is no longer shocking to the audience or publishers. "The way we tend to work is that there are always early adopters of these new technologies, and it works best when individual journalists who have a passion for it, use and explore it says Rusbridger.An example of this is that the Guidelines has gone online for Twitter. "These are a general common-sense guide rather than being prescriptive."

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The policeman suspended over the death of a G20 protester in London has been signed off sick - following a suspected heart attack. The officer, from the Metropolitan Police’s Territorial Support Group (TSG), collapsed at his home after realizing he was the person captured on film allegedly pushing newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson to the ground. Mr Tomlinson, 47, is thought to have died of a heart attack.



Alan Rusbridger says: "At the heart of this story was reporter Paul Lewis doing what a traditional reporter should do. The death of Tomlinson raised barely a mention in the other media. The official police version was that he died of a heart attack while they were trying to rescue him under a hail of bottles.

Paul Lewis (Gaurdian) doubted this online and this helped to raised qquestions in the paper and also on Twitter, which as a result led the people to look through their cameras and mobiles in order to catch the killer of Mr Tomlinson, as this is where the power of the crowd comes in and a fund manager from New York realized he had captured the assault on Tomlinson and it was an extremely dramatic piece of film.

In some cases “citizen journalists or “Crowd sourcing” is not as important, however in the case of the G20 protests, this seemed to be the most important part and it shows that sometimes a footage can be more important than it first seemed.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1169384/Officer-G20-protest-death-signs-sick-following-heart-attack.html#ixzz1FGYHc5Xo

Case Study...#12

12. Consider theoretical perspectives in relation to the impact of new/digital media in your case study. E.g representation of certain groups as a result of changes, Marxism and hegemony, liberal pluralism, colonialism, audience theories..etc.

Globalisation of social networking sites - e.g different languages, used worldwide by millions. Global success.

Representation of certain groups as a result of changes e.g different age groups (users), ethnic backgrounds, different cultures and religions mixing and socialising through the use of social networking and finding long lost friends and families through the use of Facebook and Twitter.

Pluralistic model - freedom of choice and speech

Further links:
why has Twitter not failed:
http://techcrunch.com/2008/08/10/why-twitter-hasnt-failed-the-power-of-audience/
FACEBOOK:
http://techcrunch.com/tag/facebook/
social networking:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/22/social-networking-cyber-scepticism-twitter
society and trend:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/social-trends

Case Study...#11

11. Are there any cross cultural factors and / or effects if globalisation involved in the impact of new technology on your case study.

'The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.'-meaning to much exposures to new and digital media can be damaging.

'The rich will do anything for the poor but get off their backs.', -suggesting that people will do anything for fame, even if it means gaining fame on social networking sites to raise their profile.

'as technology advances, it reverses the characteristics of every situation again and again. The age of automation is going to be the age of 'do it yourself' -(1957),-this implies that even though the technological advances of today are making life easier, sooner or later people will become lazy as it comes to that point of saying to others 'do it yourself'

'consumerism generates hunger for material status, symbols, new material needs.'

'the future of the book is the blurb', this shows that because of new and digital media, other platforms such as newpapers,books and magazine are less likely to be used, as today's audiences demand things to be done fast, just like online with a click away.

'Nothing is fixed , riggid or definitive and nothing ever will be'-Gramsci (selections from cultural writing,1985).

Karl Marx (1875 critique of the gotha programme)
In a higher phase of communist society... only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be fully left behind and society inscribe on its banners: from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Marshall McLuhan (understanding media the extensions of a man) -'the medium is the message'
The medium is the message: an inventory of effects -'The medium, or process, of out time electric technology is reshaping and restructuring patterns of social interdependence and every aspect of our personal life. It is forcing us to reconsider and re-evaluate practically, every thought, every reaction.'

Case Study...#10

10. What issues may there be regarding media effects and/or regulation/ censorship as a result of changes due to new and digital media?

There are many issues regarding to media effect/regulation/censorship, such as more profit made through business promotion as they have their own pages and deals online, as a result of changes due to new and digital media, as this has allowed business owners and people self-promote and make profit over this.

Case Study...#9

9.Consider the effects so far, and possible effects in the future, on media institutions involved in your case study?


http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/05/social-networking-future/

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/technology/article/back-to-the-future-how-social-networking-is-recreating-the-neighborhood-yvonne-divita

http://www.saching.com/Article/Will-social-networking-sites-kill-Newspapers-and-Traditional-Media/2672