Evolution of Digital Media Technologies: Communication Theories Kathy E. Gill 10 October 2006

Our Brave New World  We’ll set the stage for the quarter with EPIC2015EPIC2015

Overview of Tonight  Issues From Readings  Communication Theories  “ New Media ” Discussion  Proposals, Papers

Issues, Questions (1/5)  Adoption What factors affect acceptance (or rejection) of new devices? How do we judge probability of acceptance?  Crystal Ball What is the next big thing? How will DM change traditional media?

Issues, Questions (2/5)  Profitability How do we get there? How do changing costs impact all parts of an industry sector?  Standards Role in adoption, such as HDTV or wireless

Issues, Questions (3/5)  Societal Impacts Digital Divide …. by age, by access What can we learn from prior technological shifts? A biggie: DRM

Issues, Questions (4/5)  Technology Use How much is too much? How do we make it usable? What are the impacts on traditional storytelling? Time Shifting eVoting

Issues, Questions (5/5)  Did I miss any?

Definitions  Technology  Communication

What is “technology”?  tech-nol-o-gy 1: technical language; 2a: applied science b: a technical method of achieving a practical purpose 3: a totality of the means employed to provide objects necessary for human sustenance and comfort

Technology, Simply Put  Knowledge used to solve problems and extend human potential  Technology is about enabling change and amplifying its direction.  Think of it as facilitating the journey not (necessarily) setting the destination.

Let’s Look At A Few Charts  Multimedia Adoption Trends ( ) Multimedia Adoption Trends Chip Griffin points out that cable TV is leveling off at 70% penetration… what are implications for broadband, he asks. What about rural America?  From the WSJ (pdf)pdf  Two from Forrester Research:

The Net’s Wealth Of Content Appeals To Younger, More Tenured Consumers (1/2) September 2006, Trends “More Consumers Look To The Net For Content”

The Net’s Wealth Of Content Appeals To Younger, More Tenured Consumers (2/2) September 2006, Trends “More Consumers Look To The Net For Content”

Technologies Facilitate  Dominance of any technology is a function of many things (later!)  The ones we care about have an impact on communication

Communication  A process in which participants create and share information with one another in order to reach mutual understanding (Rogers, 1995).  Two forms: Mediated or Face-to-Face

Technology and Media: An Evolution  Caves in France  Paper and charcoal/ink  Printing Press  Telegraph et al (radio, television)  Computer mediated communications

Part 1 : Medium  A go-between/intermediary in the communication that binds the sender and receiver Considers symbolic and cognitive theories of the psychology of representation Considers theories of meaning in signs and symbols (semiotics)

Part 2: Channel  The physical/technical transmission as well as any device needed for encoding/decoding  May encompass advertising channels (direct mail) or news (TV)  A one-to-many, one-way channel is typical of mass media

Mass Media  Mass media communication traditionally encompasses these channels: Newspapers, magazines (print technologies) TV, radio (electronic technologies)  Facing the industry today: what, exactly, is “news”?

New Media (1/2)  Term has been used since the 1970s by researchers conducting social, psychological, economic, political and cultural studies of information and communication technologies (ICTs)

New Media (2/2)  Some definitions focus on computer technology  Others focus on interactivity  All are, at their heart, talking about digitized communication, what we are calling “ digital media ” (as contrasted with analog media)

So, what is new?  Socially?  Technologically?  Three things: Scarcity Distance Time

Concept of Scarcity  Gone!  Bits can be easily shared; atoms cannot Implications for intellectual property (content owners now use digital rights management) Implications for business models (Skype)  Potentially devastating for an economic system built upon scarcity

Distance  With global networks Work becomes independent of geography  Call centers Consumption becomes independent of geography  The South China Post  Al-Jazerra.net Social groups become independent of geography  MySpace  Wikipedia Anything else?

Time  Time Shifting facilitates asynchronous communication Podcasts Tivo, ReplayTV , voice mail (not IM) Directly impacts the advertising model for TV, radio  For work Distributed teams 24x7 work flow  Anything else?

New Channels  WWW,  Videoconferencing  Podcasts, blogs (RSS-distribution)  Mobile telephony (tension between push and pull)  Social sites for networking, news MySpace, Facebook,Tribe.net Slashdot, Newsvine, NowPublic, Gather

Mass audience no longer  From broadcast to narrowcast  Time-shifting Podcasting  ABC News, NPR ABC NewsNPR Jon Stewart on sharing TDS clipssharing TDS clips  Of course, now they’re on iTunes

The Keystone Technology  Hypertext is “new” New is a relative term!  Presents information as linked nodes  Coined by Ted Nelson; conceptualized by Vannevar Bush in 1945Vannevar Bush History Hypertext Fiction

Source: One new technology

Moving To “Why?”  A theory explains facts or events and can be used to predict future events  An unproven theory is a hypothesis  Social scientists (that’s us) postulate theories to explain why humans act in certain ways

Why use a technology?  Cognitive Needs – Desire (demand) for information, knowledge, understanding  Affective Needs – Aesthetic, pleasurable, and emotional experiences  Personal Integrative Needs – Inner-directed, deal with credibility, confidence, stability, and status  Social Integrative Needs – Outer-directed, strengthening relationships with family, friends, the world  Escapist Needs – Desire for tension release or diversion - Katz, Gurevitch, and Haas, On the use of the media for important things. American Sociological Review, 38, p

Communication Theories  “The fundamental goal of mediated communication theories has been to explain the relationship between the affordances (Gibson, 1979; Norman, 1988) of different mediated technologies and the communication that results from using those technologies.” (Whittaker, nd)Whittaker Linear or Transmission (Shannon-Weaver, 1948; Lasswell, 1960) Circular (Osgood and Schramm, 1954)

Shannon-Weaver (1/3)  Theory of signal transmission “Transmission model of communication”  Focus on communication technology  Information theory is “exceedingly general in scope, fundamental in the problems it treats, and of classic simplicity and power in the results it reaches” (Shannon & Weaver, 1949)

Shannon-Weaver (2/3)

Shannon-Weaver (3/3)  Redundancy is used to offset noise in a channel  Noise increases uncertainty  What is noise in today’s digital media?

Lasswell Formula (1/2)  Another transmission model of communication  Focus is on mass communication, propaganda

Lasswell Formula (2/2)  Who (sender)  Says What (message)  In What Channel (medium or channel)  To Whom (receiver)  With What Effect (impact)

Osgood and Schramm (1/2)  Importance of “meaning”  One person can be sender and receiver (feedback)  Stresses social nature of communication

Osgood and Schramm (2/2)

Summary  Digital media differ from traditional mass media: Time, Space Bits v Atoms  Comm theories attempt to explain the how and why Linear transmission models do not reflect the non-linear nature of most digital media

New Media Discussion: VoIP  How many had used Skype before this article was published? How many are using some kind of VoIP today?Skype  What are the pluses & minuses to the consumer of using VoIP? (adoption)  What tools of suppression are being used?  If you were the head of AT&T …

Proposals, Papers  Handout  On 3x5 card: “elevator description of your research project”  Small groups for feedback, refinement

Next Week’s Assignments  Review  On 3x5 card (anonymous unless you want feedback from me) Feedback on the readings this week One thing you learned tonight One thing you would change Any concerns you have about the quarter