I must come straight with everyone, I really was skeptical about taking this kind of course in the beginning. I thought that I knew enough about the internet to get by in today’s world, wrong! I was so wrong, “Basic concepts of new media” the course title is vague, but in actuality all the basic concepts that we learned are just a drop in the bucket of all the knowledge out there. The internet has created this vast new world that is so young and exciting. This course had helped me realize this. In a way it humbled me, I feel that it has opened a whole new window in my life. And I’m really excited about it. I now take a more active role in exploring the working of some programs in my computer that would otherwise never have been explored.
I could honestly take this course over again, simply because a lot of the concepts we learned, even though they are basic to some people, were fresh for me. I admit to not fully engaging in all the activities that we had done, but I did try my hand at most of them, I feel privileged to have been born into the computer age. I believe this does in fact give our generation an upper hand. It was interesting concept that we had discusses in class, our generation had always been around technology. This had never occurred to me that this may be why I excel in most technological things over my parents. One thing I am proud to walk away with, even though may be a small feat to some, is creating hyperlinks. This was a new concept to me, but very useful to me know. I also had never created a blog before. Using wordpress.com was really fun and interesting to me, I enjoyed updating my weekly blog and physically seeing it on the internet. Other interesting aspects of the class were all the new websites that we explored. I am addicted to flikr know and will most likely be contributing to it very soon. I added several websites that we explored in class to my favorites list.
Chris Anderson’s article “The Long Tail,” really stuck with me, in fact it literally stuck with me because I saved it to my hard drive, in order to read it again. The article help we realize the power of the internet. Not only can it connect to different cultures, it allows those cultures to share information, music, artistic projects, ideas, etc. There is a vast amount of content in this world that has far more creative value than what mainstream media decided to show. Chris Anderson puts it well by saying, “For too long we’ve been suffering the tyranny of lowest-common-denominator fare, subjected to brain-dead summer blockbusters and manufactured pop. Why? Economics. Many of our assumptions about popular taste are actually artifacts of poor supply-and-demand matching – a market response to inefficient distribution.” I have always despised the mainstream media, it always seemed shallow and superficial to me. Now the internet has the capability to let the otherwise smaller artist to reach their audience. An audience that thoroughly enjoys that particular product, the idea of having to be subjected to what ever Hollywood decided to put out is over. I could not be happier about this concept. Not only does it give the less popular artist a chance to shine, it may allow them to even get paid for what they otherwise wouldn’t have. It’s an entire new economic model for the media and entertainment industries. It is really exciting for everyone involved, users, creators, producers, everyone now has a shot at some so called stardom.
This course opened my eyes to the world that exist outside of my own. I admit my ignorance and will make an effort to explore the possibilities that exist using the internet. I can’t really say if they will have any residual benefits in the years to come. Like most new things it takes time to realize the benefit, but I have seen drastic improvements in my life so far. I have worked to pass on the little knowledge I have to other in hopes to improve their life. Concepts of new media means so much more to me know than when I first entered the classroom. I have learned much about the capabilities of the internet and the potential that it creates. I am now an enthusiastic user of my computer that once upon a time needed a dusting of every time it was put to use.
You must be logged in to post a comment.