Sometimes virtual can’t compete!

Removal of discrete ICT lesson at sons First school – I hate this but I suppose it links to the idea that IT is in everything we do – a medium or transliteracy (Kress 2005 Thomas et al 2007) The method of access to information to create knowledge

“technology is not a ‘tool’ – it actually drives change and creates society”

I believe this is the truth However, as Thomas et al 2007 discussed, any new initiative drives and creates change in society. The example used was using communication to change from hunting solo to hunting in groups, enabled change because there was left over food for sale or swap.

Technology is a medium for communication and it is the collaboration associated with greater access to communication that is creating the change?

If for example the Gangnam style song had been represented as a poem or a written song in a book. It is very unlikely it would have been watched and shared across the globe as it would have been inaccessible. However, with a catchy sound track, fun singer and amusing video it has become a global phenomena. “writing is giving way, is being displaced by image” (Kress 2005) I don’t agree that this is a dystopian effect, dumming down to appeal to the common denominator. I think it is positive and more inclusive and still allows people to add their own interpretation, fill in the gaps and make their own connections and links. Kress (2005) was right to suggest that new media makes it possible to use the mode that seems most apt for the purposes of representation and communication – so why not?

Which mode of representation do you find easiest to access and most enjoyable?

or………………

PSY Gangnam Style Lyrics

Oppan Gangnam Style
Gangnam Style

Na je nun ta sa ro un in gan jo gin yo ja
Ko pi han ja ne yo yu rul a neun pum gyo gi nun yo ja
Ba mi o myon shim ja ngi tu go wo ji nun yo ja
Gu ron ban jon i nun yo ja

Na nun sa na ye
Na je nun no man kum ta sa ro un gu ron sa na ye
Ko pi shik gi do jo ne one shot te ri nun sa na ye
Ba mi o myon shim ja ngi to jyo bo ri nun sa na ye
Gu ron sa na ye

A rum de wo sa rang su ro wo
Gu re no hey gu re ba ro no hey
A reum de wo sa rang su ro wo
Gu re no hey gu re ba ro no hey
Ji gum bu to gal de ka ji ga bol ka

Oppan Gangnam Style
Gangnam Style
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style
Gangnam Style
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style

Eh~ Sexy lady
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style
Eh~ Sexy lady
Op op op op
Eh eh eh eh eh eh

Jong su ke bo wi ji man nol ten no nun yo ja
I te da shi pu myon mu ko ton mo ri pu nun yo ja
Ga ryot ji man wen man han no chul boda ya han yo ja
Gu ron gam gak jo gin yo ja

Na nun sa na ye
Jom ja na bo wi ji man nol ten no nun sa na ye
Te ga dwe myon wan jon mi cho bo ri nun sa na ye
Gun yuk bo da sa sa ngi ul tung bul tu ngan sa na ye
Gu ron sa na ye

A rum de wo sa rang su ro wo
Gu re no hey gu re ba ro no hey
A reum de wo sa rang su ro wo
Gu re no hey gu re ba ro no hey
Ji gum bu to gal de ka ji ga bol ka

Oppan Gangnam Style
Gangnam Style
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style
Gangnam Style
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style

Eh~ Sexy lady
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style
Eh~ Sexy lady
Op op op op
Eh eh eh eh eh eh

Twi nun nom gu wi ye na nun nom
Baby baby na nun mol jom a nun nom
Twi nun nom gu wi ye na nun nom
Baby baby na nun mol jom a nun nom
You know what I’m saying

Oppan Gangnam Style
Eh eh eh eh eh eh

Eh~ Sexy lady
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style
Eh~ Sexy lady
Op op op op
Eh eh eh eh eh eh

Oppan Gangnam Style

I loved this advert for the Toyota GT86. I like the digital imagery, the reminiscence of playing Grand Theft Auto and the Truman Show.

I thought it was interesting that it attempted to show a physical response of goose pimples in the digital characters, yet acknowledged of the lack of emotional feeling in the digital world.

It supported the idea of Escapism from a world we are not actually in – a false reality “Once you feel it, there is no going back”

It also links into the idea from the other film as part of the film festival – World Builder – creating real from unreal

The attention to detail in the World the man made for his girlfriend was based around making real the unreal.

The man goes back to the flower, knowing the women would linger over it and adds further detail, other than just appearance. He adds the things that make it real – the scent, the attention to colour and the way it springs back.

This fits with Johnstone (2009) linking the metaphors of the Internet is destruction with the Internet is salvation metaphors. The film showed that technology was able to “perform saving acts” to recreate positive memories for this women in comatose state.

The suggestion is that Utopia is associated with real world, nature, slight chaos, freedom and dystopia is control, machines, order. How far do we go in making the world unreal before we choose to make it real again?

Johnston, R (2009) Salvation or destruction: metaphors of the internet. First Monday, 14(4). [web site

“Does digitised information transcend all that was previously solid?” Hand (2008)

The recent demise of high street shops is indicative of Hand’s comments on the change from solid to digital.

HMV and Jessops are prime examples of the change in the way people interact with technology and how it is slowly but inevitably leading to the decline in having solid tangible objects.

It has taken some time but I am now a member of
Netflixs for films,
Spotify for music,
Dropbox for digital info and photo’s
Evernote for reading

My shelves are now longer being restocked, my social and cultural history through physical objects will end about 2011.
I am beginning to look at old dvd’s, books and cd’s and think they are just gathering dust and should not take up shelf space. These are some of the things that could identify me culturally and socially within specific groups and yet they have been transcended and are no longer solid representations of my cultural background

I have been focusing on the idea of Utopian and Dystopian societies through film. Having recently watched Hunger games – a fantastic representation of a Dystopian society. Pitching people against themselves, with an outside agency controlling the situation to make better entertainment.

There are many films which represent dystopia, and it is usually control by society on the individual and the fight the individual has against it. It is a very popular genre of film, and focuses on what is real and what is unreal. The usual outcome is nature overcomes everything.

I began to think about films which represented a Utopian society, this is more difficult……………..
It appears that Utopia for some is dystopia for others, and the representation of a Utopia come from an escape from a Dystopian reality.

How does this relate to digital culture?

Well many of the Dystopian films are based in the future and rely heavily on the addition of “Technology” to represent the future. They show an inevitability of what will happen when people have power and control that is separated from actual real world real self interactions. There is an implication that people want to break free or find the real or replicate the real rather than an enjoyment of the being – suppose it wouldn’t be a very good film if everyone was happy and went about their daily lives incorporating technology to support them in their day to day!