Hardware, content and audience

May 2014’s question: The increase in hardware and content in media industries has been significant in recent years. Discuss the effect this has had on institutions and audiences in the media area you have studied. (but this question IS a bit scary)

Let’s break it down The increase in hardware and content in media industries has been significant in recent years. As well as the hardware used by Pixar in order to support more sophisticated programmes, this is the proliferation of the hardware we use everyday: Cheaper and faster computers Smartphones Tablets Smart TVs

The increase in hardware and content in media industries has been significant in recent years. So how have these developments benefitted the content available to audiences?

Discuss the effect this has had on institutions and audiences in the media area you have studied. So- how has the increasing sophistication of technology benefitted: The institution making the product (i.e. Pixar) The audience consuming the product (YOU!)

How has the increase in hardware benefitted Pixar? Better software has led to more sophisticated animation techniques; in order for software to get better, the hardware has also had to develop in order to support it. For Monsters University, Pixar used Apple’s Mac Pro (the fastest Mac ever.) The increase in RAM on this computer enables artists to complete extremely high quality work- which meets an audience’s high expectations. Audiences also want more sophisticated products than they can make themselves at home.

How has the increase in hardware benefitted audiences? The sheer number of devices we now own means that we expect to be entertained wherever we are. We expect high quality content that can be streamed to our devices. Audiences expect more sophisticated products than they produce themselves at home.

Mass media used to be about a few influencing the many… But now audiences demand higher quality content for wherever they are and producers such as Pixar are having to provide it. Social media can be used to track what’s popular and what’s not, shaping the future of hardware and content. We expect hardware to develop to our needs and institutions have to keep up with that.