History of design Technology

Creativity is displaced due to “infernal machines”.

History of Design Technology

Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide

Conclusion: Democratizing Television? The politics of participation

In 1991, W. Russell Neuman studied the consumer habits and how they would slow down the interactive potentials of “emergent digital technologies. “Technology was ready but culture was not ready to embrace it.” But that was a ill predicted future. Today, we hear of early adopters racing ahead of technology. Grass roots communities tinkering with, expanding, hacking and pushing the commercial into a more participatory direction.

“The power of the grassroots media is that it diversifies; the power of broadcast media is that it amplifies.” Broadcast media can ignore their audience to a certain extent; but niche media mush accommodates it small audience; which is part of its appeal.

Big media television cannot continue to operate in the same old ways. Broadcasters are loosing younger viewers, who expect influence over the media they consume. The younger generation wants what they want when they want it and they take a more active role in seeking that out.  Many people express frustration about the state of media culture, “surprisingly few people talk about how we might rewrite it.” Market pressures, the demand to tend to the demands of advertisers and stockholders make it near impossible to commercialize in a participatory manner.

Participatoryculture.org

Ourmedia.org

History of Design Technology

Electronic Café (1984) First Sattelite based collaboration.

Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz

http://www.ecafe.com/1984.html

JCJ-Junkman 1995

Ken Feingold

http://beallcenter.uci.edu/shift/games/junkman.html

Image of an old puppet head against a black background surrounded by buttons. By clicking on the buttons, the user can make the puppet-head speak an incoherent language- made up of snippets of public domain archive files from the Internet. Feingold hoped to produce interactivity to a zero degree.

The Worlds First Collaborative Sentence

Douglas Davis

1994-Present

http://ca80.lehman.cuny.edu/davis/Sentence/sentence1.html

Composed online, this ongoing collaborative work, which initially only supported text, now hosts multimedia entries.

Jodi.org

1995

http://wwwwwwwww.jodi.org/

The front page is confusing, repetitive, alphanumeric… but the compositional effects are not what they seem: for behind this jumbled web page is source code which reveals a cascade of traditional images and diagrams that are scientific.

Source Code…..

The Bomb Project

Joy Garnett

http://www.firstpulseprojects.net/bombproject/Index.html

2000-Present

History of Design Technology: Post 12

Ted Talks

From the About Us Page of Ted.com “TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design.

One Ted Talks Episode which I just found that has inspired me to change the way I think about design is….

The Future we will Create

Is a documentary about the TED conference of 2006. TED brings together a network of people who are brilliant, who have connections in all kinds of different areas, and who are very well resourced. TED conferences act as community builder, a connector, and a pool of the most developed technological advances in the entertainment, science and design industries. In one room there is a collection of people who if they decided could make their version of the future happen.

Each year Ted selects 3 people who receive $100000 and “One Wish to Change the World.” The winner unveils his/her wish at an award ceremony held during the TED Conference. These wishes lead to collaborations with TED sponsors, attendees and the online community. Assistance takes the form of business services, hardware and software, publicity, infrastructure, advice, and connections.

History of Design Technology: Graphics Meets Technology Meets Innovation

Pong 1972

Pong revolutionized the arcade industry and launched the modern video game era.

Disney’s Tron 1982

One of the first movies to use computer generated graphics, the plot of “Tron” also featured computers – it followed the adventures of a hacker split into molecules and transported inside a computer. Computer animation, done by III, Abel, MAGI, and Digital Effects, accounted for about 30 minutes of the film.

Pixar’s “Tin Toy “1988

Pixar was founded in 1986. The Tin Toy  is the first computer-animated film to win an Academy Award, taking the Oscar for best animated short film. This short was a precursor 1995´s “Toy Story,” which was the first full-length feature film created entirely by computer animation.

Sim City 1989

Sim City is a video game that helped launch of series of simulators. In SimCity, a player starts with an untouched earth. As the mayor of a city or city planner, he creates a landscape and then constructs buildings, roads, and waterways. As the city grows, the mayor must provide basic services like health care and education, as well as making decisions about where to direct money and how to build a revenue base. Challenges come in the form of natural disasters, airplane crashes, and monster attacks. A number of other Sims followed in the series, including SimEarth, SimAnt, and SimLife.

Terminator 2 1992

This movie featured ground-breaking special effects. It cost $100 million and  was the most expensive movie ever made at the time. Most of this cost was due to the expense of computer-generated special effects. Terminator 2 is one of many films that critique civilization’s frequent blind trust in technology.

Doom 1993

Doom is an immersive first-person shooter-style game, Doom became popular on many different platformsand paved the way for other games such as Halo and Counter-Strike. Doom players were also among the first to customize the game’s levels and appearance. “Doom would spawn several sequels and a 2005 film.”

History of Design Technology: Post 10

The previous post is from the last chapter of “Convergence Culture.” I will read and blog on the conclusion and spend the remainder of this quarter studying innovative advertisers, artists, trends and technologies that made such a convergence culture possible. In my opinion, I have taken a lot if history classes that have covered both art and technology, and I am glad that I focused the first portion of this quarter on where we are currently. It gives me perspective to see how far we have come in using technology to appeal to the masses.

History of Design Technology: Post 9

Photoshop for Democracy

The New Relationship between Politics and Popular Culture

“Locating people who share your beliefs is easy” especially in the age of emergent technological communications. We tend to seek out like-minded communities on the internet, reaffirming pre held dispositions. The real challenge is to recruit enough people and get ideas into the main stream media, where they will reach people who may not have exposure to such ideas.

In recent elections, popular culture has influenced the way that campaigns have courted their voters and has shaped how the public processes and acts upon political discourse The 2004 campaign proved to be innovative and experimental in the use of media technologies and popular-culture based strategies. The candidate Howard Dean for example raised more money online from small contributions than any other previous candidate. Dean used blogging to create a more intimate relationship with supporters. This internet relationship with supporters exemplified the point where the politics of television gave way to the politics of the internet. Yet sadly, “If the Internet made Dean’s candidacy, television unmade it.”  As a narrow transmission controlled by a few major media companies was unlikely to transmit ideas that run counter to dominant interests.  Television on one hand provides the common culture and the web on the other offers a more specialized channel for responding to that culture. In other words, in terms of the campaign trail, candidates may build their base online , but they need television to win elections. As the internet reaches the hardcore, television reaches the undecided.

Many bloggers admit they are in opposition to mainstream media and what they see as its corporately controlled content.  “Bloggers make no claims in objectivity; they are often un-apologetically partisan; they deal with rumors and inuendos.” Helping them elaborate on such deeply humored statements is the software program Photoshop. Photoshop is loved and used by activists, fans and parodists to appropriate and manipulate images to make a political statement. The software program has democratized media in two ways: ” by allowing smaller groups to have professional quality graphivs at low cost, and by allowing the public to manipulate and recirculate images to make political statements.”

For democracy to function there needs to be a social contract between participants and a sense that their actions have consequences within the community. Then and only then would the manipulation of messages and images be handled with respect. Accurate information would emerge and informed decisions to be made without being blinded by medias spin on these issues.

History of Design Technology: Post 8

Art and Copy

Art and Copy brings light to advertising’s “creative revolution” in the 1960s where artists and writers brought a rebellious side to their work in a business most often associated with hum drum manipulation. Manufacturing feelings through advertising.  “No Namers” Rich Silverstein, David Kennedy, Mary Wells, Jeff Goodby and Dan Wieden, and have changed the way we comsume. The film ART & COPY discusses the most successful advertising campaigns of the 20th century, and the people behind them.

Rich Silverstein and Jeff Goodby: “got milk?”, the NBA’s “I Love This Game”, Budweiser’s “Lizards,”  “Comcastic” for Comcast, and Sprint’s “Now Network.”

David Kennedy: Lance Armstrong‘s LIVESTRONG yellow bracelet campaign, Nike’s “Just Do It”….

Mary Wells: Plop plop, fizz fizz, I can’t believe I ate the whole thing, I ♥ New York, Trust the Midas touch, At Ford, Quality is Job 1, Flick your Bic, Friends don’t let friends drive drunk

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Sidenote: Top 100 Ad Campaigns

1. Volkswagen, “Think Small“, Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1959
2. Coca-Cola, “The pause that refreshes“, D’Arcy Co., 1929
3. Marlboro, The Marlboro Man, Leo Burnett Co., 1955
4. Nike, “Just do it“, Wieden & Kennedy, 1988
5. McDonald’s, “You deserve a break today“, Needham, Harper & Steers, 1971
6. DeBeers, “A diamond is forever”, N.W. Ayer & Son, 1948
7. Absolut Vodka, The Absolut Bottle, TBWA, 1981
8. Miller Lite beer, “Tastes great, less filling”, McCann-Erickson Worldwide, 1974
9. Clairol, Does she…or doesn’t she?”, Foote, Cone & Belding, 1957
10. Avis, “We try harder”, Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1963
11. Federal Express, “Fast talker”, Ally & Gargano, 1982
12. Apple Computer, “1984”, Chiat/Day, 1984
13. Alka-Seltzer, Various ads, Jack Tinker & Partners; Doyle Dane Bernbach; Wells Rich, Greene, 1960s, 1970s
14. Pepsi-Cola, “Pepsi-Cola hits the spot”, Newell-Emmett Co., 1940s
15. Maxwell House, “Good to the last drop”, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather, 1959
16. Ivory Soap, “99 and 44/100% Pure”, Proctor & Gamble Co., 1882
17. American Express, “Do you know me?”, Ogilvy & Mather, 1975
18. U.S. Army, “Be all that you can be”, N.W. Ayer & Son, 1981
19. Anacin, “Fast, fast, fast relief”, Ted Bates & Co., 1952
20. Rolling Stone, “Perception. Reality.”, Fallon McElligott Rice, 1985
21. Pepsi-Cola, “The Pepsi generation”, Batton, Barton, Durstine & Osborn, 1964
22. Hathaway Shirts, “The man in the Hathaway shirt”, Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather, 1951
23. Burma-Shave, Roadside signs in verse, Allen Odell, 1925
24. Burger King, “Have it your way”, BBDO, 1973
25. Campbell Soup, “Mmm mm good”, BBDO, 1930s
26. U.S. Forest Service, Smokey the Bear/”Only you can prevent forest fires”, Advertising Council/Foote, Cone & Belding
27. Budweiser, “This Bud’s for you”, D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, 1970s
28. Maidenform, “I dreamed I went shopping in my Maidenform bra”, Norman, Craig & Kunnel, 1949
29. Victor Talking Machine Co., “His master’s voice”, Francis Barraud, 1901
30. Jordan Motor Car Co., “Somewhere west of Laramie”, Edward S. (Ned) Jordan, 1923
31. Woodbury Soap, “The skin you love to touch”, J. Walter Thompson Co., 1911
32. Benson & Hedges 100s, “The disadvantages”, Wells, Rich, Greene, 1960s
33. National Biscuit Co., Uneeda Biscuits’ Boy in Boots, N.W. Ayer & Son, 1899
34. Energizer, The Energizer Bunny, Chiat/Day, 1989
35. Morton Salt, “When it rains it pours”, N.W. Ayer & Son, 1912
36. Chanel, “Share the fantasy”, Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1979
37. Saturn, “A different kind of company, A different kind of car.”, Hal Riney & Partners, 1989
38. Crest toothpaste, “Look, Ma! No cavities!”, Benton & Bowles, 1958
39. M&Ms, “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands”, Ted Bates & Co., 1954
40. Timex, “Takes a licking and keeps on ticking”, W.B. Doner & Co & predecessor agencies, 1950s
41. Chevrolet, “See the USA in your Chevrolet”, Campbell-Ewald, 1950s
42. Calvin Klein, “Know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing!
43. Reagan for President, “It’s morning again in America” Tuesday Team, 1984
44. Winston cigarettes, “Winston tastes good–like a cigarette should” 1954
45. U.S. School of Music, “They laughed when I sat down at the piano, but when I started to play!” Ruthrauff & Ryan, 1925
46. Camel cigarettes, “I’d walk a mile for a Camel”, N. W. Ayer & Son, 1921
47. Wendy’s, “Where’s the beef?”, Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample, 1984
48. Listerine, “Always a bridesmaid, but never a bride”, Lambert & Feasley, 1923
49. Cadillac, “The penalty of leadership”, MacManus, John & Adams, 1915
50. Keep America Beautiful, “Crying Indian”, Advertising Council/Marstellar Inc., 1971
51. Charmin, “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin”, Benton & Bowles, 1964
52. Wheaties, “Breakfast of champions”, Blackett-Sample-Hummert, 1930s
53. Coca-Cola, “It’s the real thing”, McCann-Erickson, 1970
54. Greyhound, “It’s such a comfort to take the bus and leave the driving to us”, Grey Advertising, 1957
55. Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, “Snap! Crackle! and Pop!”, Leo Burnett Co., 1940s
56. Polaroid, “It’s so simple”, Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1977
57. Gillette, “Look sharp, feel sharp”, BBDO, 1940s
58. Levy’s Rye Bread, “You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s Rye Bread”, Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1949
59. Pepsodent, “You’ll wonder where the yellow went”, Foote, Cone & Belding, 1956
60. Lucky Strike cigarettes, “Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet”, Lord & Thomas, 1920s
61. 7 UP, “The Uncola”, J. Walter Thompson, 1970s
62. Wisk detergent, “Ring around the collar”, BBDO, 1968
63. Sunsweet Prunes, “Today the pits, tomorrow the wrinkles”, Freberg Ltd., 1970s
64. Life cereal, “Hey, Mikey”, Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1972
65. Hertz, “Let Hertz put you in the driver’s seat”, Norman, Craig & Kummel, 1961
66. Foster Grant, “Who’s that behind those Foster Grants?”, Geer, Dubois, 1965
67. Perdue chicken, “It takes a tough man to make tender chicken” Scali, McCabe, Sloves, 1971
68. Hallmark, “When you care enough to send the very best”, Foote, Cone & Belding, 1930s
69. Springmaid sheets, “A buck well spent”, In-house, 1948
70. Queensboro Corp., Jackson Heights Apartment Homes, WEAF, NYC, 1920s
71. Steinway & Sons, “The instrument of the immortals”, N.W. Ayer & Sons, 1919
72. Levi’s jeans, “501 Blues”, Foote, Cone & Belding, 1984
73. Blackglama-Great Lakes Mink, “What becomes a legend most?”, Jane Trahey Associates, 1960s
74. Blue Nun wine, Stiller & Meara campaign, Della Famina, Travisano & Partners, 1970s
75. Hamm’s beer, “From the Land of Sky Blue Waters”, Campbell-Mithun, 1950s
76. Quaker Puffed Wheat, “Shot from guns”, Lord & Thomas, 1920s
77. ESPN Sports, “This is SportsCenter”, Wieden & Kennedy, 1995
78. Molson Beer, Laughing Couple, Moving & Talking Picture Co., 1980s
79. California Milk Processor Board, “Got Milk?”, 1993
80. AT&T, “Reach out and touch someone”, N.W. Ayer, 1979
81. Brylcreem, “A little dab’ll do ya”, Kenyon & Eckhardt, 1950s
82. Carling Black Label beer, “Hey Mabel, Black Label!”, Lang, Fisher & Stashower, 1940s
83. Isuzu, “Lying Joe Isuzu”, Della Famina, Travisano & Partners, 1980s
84. BMW, “The ultimate driving machine”, Ammirati & Puris, 1975
85. Texaco, “You can trust your car to the men who wear the star”, Benton & Bowles, 1940s
86. Coca-Cola, “Always”, Creative Artists Agency, 1993
87. Xerox, “It’s a miracle”, Needham, Harper & Steers, 1975
88. Bartles & Jaymes, “Frank and Ed”, Hal Riney & Partners, 1985
89. Dannon Yogurt, Old People in Russia, Marstellar Inc., 1970s
90. Volvo, Average life of a car in Sweden, Scali, McCabe, Sloves, 1960s
91. Motel 6, “We’ll leave a light on for you”, Richards Group, 1988
92. Jell-O, Bill Cosby with kids, Young & Rubicam, 1975
93. IBM, Chaplin’s Little Tramp character, Lord, Geller, Federico, Einstein, 1982
94. American Tourister, The Gorilla, Doyle, Dane Bernbach, late 1960s
95. Right Guard, “Medicine Cabinet”, BBDO, 1960s
96. Maypo, “I want my Maypo”, Fletcher, Calkins & Holden, 1960s
97. Bufferin, Pounding heartbeat, Young & Rubicam, 1960
98. Arrow Shirts, “My friend, Joe Holmes, is now a horse”, Young & Rubicam, 1938
99. Young & Rubicam, “Impact”, Young & Rubicam, 1930
100. Lyndon Johnson for President, “Daisy”, Doyle Dane Bernbach, 1964

History of Design Technology Post 7

Why Heather Can Write

Media Literacy and the Harry Potter Wars

Harry Potter is a media icon with quite the controversy surrounding its audience. For one there has been the struggle of teachers, librarians, book publishers and civil liberty groups to stand up against efforts by the religious right to have Harry Potter books banned from schools libraries and local book stores. For another, “the efforts of Warner brothers to rein in fan appropriations of the Harry Potter books.” One battle shows the challenge to read and the other shows the challenge to write. At the basis of the Potter Wars is the struggle of how children are educated, since shaping childhood is often seen as a way of shaping the future.

The struggle over the re-appropriation of Harry Potter material has sprung from online communities such as “The Daily Prophet” , a web based “school newspaper” for fictional Hogwarts. “The Daily Prophet has a rich and wonderful heritage; from tutoring and mentoring over 400 children worldwide in Creative Writing, to fighting for the rights of Harry Potter fansites through the now infamous boycott known as PotterWar.” According to the website. On this website people of all backgrounds form a community where individual differences are accepted and where learning is celebrated. This space is termed to be an “affinity space,” in other words an informal learning community where kids teach kids what they need to become full participants in the convergence culture.

Originally, JK Rowling supported fan writers, “stressing that storytelling encouraged kids to expand their imaginations and empowered them to find their voices as writers.” But when Warner Brothers entered the picture that sentiment changed. Fans revolted from such controls and out of the conflict Warner Brothers revamped their process of dealing with Potter fans.

It has been thought that these kids are “copying” preexisting media content rather than creating their own original works. But really this interaction should be thought of as a kind of apprenticeship. Where the children learn from “masters” following trusted patterns and techniques before they develop their own styles. And to this date current copywrite laws do not have a category for amateur creative expression.

While affinity spaces have proven to benefit children, schools are locked into an autonomous learning mode that contrasts the affinity space learning and it has been thought that kids who are comfortable participating in the affinity atmosphere are being deskilled when they enter the classroom.

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Historical Connection/Side-note:

Constraints on literacy have been based on the control of different segments of population–some societies have embraced universal literacy, others have restricted literacy to specific social classes, races or genders.  Just as we should not assume that some one is literate because they know how to read but not write we should not assume that someone is media literate if they can consume media but not express it. The current struggle for media literacy could be seen as determining who had the right to participate in our culture and on what terms.

History of Design Technology Post 6

Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide

Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars? Grassroots Creativity Meets the Media Industry

Fans are the most active participants of media culture. Within convergence culture everyone is a participant–although there are varying degrees of status and influence. Often interaction and participation are used interchangeably however in convergence terms they are different.  Interactivity refers to the consumer feedback given to new technologies. And “participation is shaped by cultural and social protocols.” Participation s more open ended and less controlled by media producers and more controlled by media consumers.

The web has become a mecca for consumer participation which includes numerous unautherized and unanticipated ways of relating to media content. http://theforce.net/ Is a website created by and for fans of the Star Wars trilogy. This website houses new versions of Star Wars created by fans. Shooting in Garage, rendering on home computers, and ripping music from MP3 files fans recreate their favorite movie. Many of these films even have their own advertisement campaigns. One of the most famed versions of this fandom is “Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars” which is star wars recreated as if Quentin Tarantino himself had directed it. (http://www.evanmather.com/)

This sort of grassroots experimentation has generated new sounds, new artists, new techniques, and new relations to consumer which have been pulled more and more into mainstream practice. Sadly, this grassroots expression has been met with a hard and confused hand by media big wigs. There are two characteristic responses of media industries to grassroots expression: the first being the prohibitionist stance which is epitomized by the legal battles of Napster, the other being the collaborationist stance exemplified by the internet and games approach to make consumers collaborators in the production of content.

Star Wars has been pulled between these two stances. Star Wars has both shut down and embraced fan fiction, only later to assert ownership over it and then finally ignoring its existence. George Lucas opened up a space for fans to create and share on HIS terms. In the beginning Lucas encouraged fan fiction establishing a no-fee licensing bureau in ’77 that would review materials and offer advice about potential infringement. By the ’80’s this deal was broken when Lucas found fan erotica coming through the pipes. Then in 2000, Lucasfilm offered fans free web-space to share content but Lucasfilm claimed to own the rights to the posted content, and they could publish them or remove them without compensation or warning.

It seems that fans re-appropriate what inspires them and in turn big media can take such inspiration and profit from it once again. As in the cases of Nickelodeon’s Action League Now and MTV’s celebrity Deathmatch which mimicked what grassroots action filmmakers did in developing an aesthetic based on appropriation of materials from mainstream media (figurine and celebrities).

It has ben argued that companies that loosen their copyright control will attract the most committed consumers, and those who ruthlessly set limits will find themselves with declining “share of media marketplace.” Although this argument is dependent on fans and audience members acting collectively in their own interest against companies who may tempt them with entertainment that “meets” their needs. “So far, the media companies have shown a remarkable willingness to antagonize their consumers by taking legal actions against them.”

“There is going to be a struggle for viewers the likes of which corporate media has never seen before. Many of the smartest folks in the media industry know this: some are trembling, and others are scrambling to renegotiate their relationships with consumers. IN the end the media producers need fans just as much as fans need them.”

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Historical Sidenote:

Throughout the 19th century folk cultural practices have been pushed underground and displaced by mass media. American arts have mixed, matched and medged folk traditions taken from various immigrant populations. Cultural production mostly occurred on the grassroots level; creative skills and artistic traditions were passed down generationally. Stories and songs circulated broadly well beyond their points of origin, with little or no expectation or economic compensation. Many ballads are well known today with no known author. While new commercialized forms of this entertainment emerged in the mid to late 19th century. The commercial culture raided folk culture.

Media companies are giving out mixed signals because they can’t decide what kind of relationship they want with the new kind of consumer. Marketers have turned children into walking talking billboards but they must not under the penalty of the law recreate the objects of their obsession. In the future, media producers will need to feed more into the demands of participation or they will run the risk of losing the most active and passionate consumers to some other media interest that is more tolerant.

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Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998: The “law has been rewritten so that no one can do to the Walt Disney corporation wha Walt Disney did to the Brothers Grimm.”  http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf