Lecture One - Introduction to New Communication Technologies

Communication technologies encompass a whole range of mediums which are familiar to just about everybody. These include but are not limited to email, Facebook, blogs, Internet browsing, Twitter, EBay or e-commerce, downloading music, YouTube, the list goes on an on.

'Communication' was first defined by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Simply, communication was defined as the passing of a message from a sender to a receiver. Shannon and Weaver expanded on this definition stating that a Sender uses a Transmitter to send a message to the Receiver. This process of transmission subjects the message to degradation from noise. For example, noise is in the form of electrical interference from other appliances, in the case of the older modem technologies.

This study introduces concepts that one may not have thought of, but of which they are aware. For example a pen or a laptop is a piece of technology that has no use until it is used. The act of using it requires knowledge on behalf of the technology user, so in effect technology on its own is useless. When a piece of technology such as a laptop is used in social or cultural context it becomes a medium of communication.

Our lecturer Adam Muir introduced us to a scholar named Marshall McLuhan who has studied media extensively. One point McLuhan made is that the 'medium is the message'. What this essentially means is that a newspaper becomes the message it is transmitting. Another interesting point was how McLuhan defined technology as an 'extension of the human body'. A way to explain this the wheel, which he defined as an extension of the foot. This is an interesting way to soften the logical contours of technology. For example a photograph becomes an extension of the eye as it allows us to see further than our human vision allows or to see things we haven't seen in real life.

Another concept Adam introduced us to was 'convergence'. This is a term that is used to explain how all the various forms of media are converging on the internet. For example, one can connect to a news site and on the webpage use various forms of media in order to receive news such as writing (newspaper), sound clips (radio), video (television) and so on.Two interesting terms we were also introduced to was intertextuality and intersubjectivity. These can be basically defined as:

• Intertextuality: The interpretation of a message gains its meaning from all the previous messages the receiver has sent and received.
  
• Intersubjectivity: A listener interprets a message and changes it as it is sent along. This interpretation comes from the receivers own experience.
  

We then watched a very interesting video Ted - Ideas Worth Spreading. This consisted of a man named Johnathon Zitrain talking about the Internet and how it is a unique network unlike any other. I really liked his explanation of the concept of trust and goodwill that underlies the internet and the way it works. This has extended to other phenomena, such as Wikipedia, which we all no know as an encyclopedia by the people and for the people.


Overall a very interesting first day.