I was thinking about four media technologies that people use today and wanted to summarize them for you. When people think about media technologies, they often think about the most used device of our time which is the cell phone. I remember a time when there were no cell phones and people would use pay phones at the near by gas station to briefly call someone when they were out. Today folks can’t even sit in their cars 3 minutes before they crack open their phones to chat with someone while flying down the highway at 70 miles per hour. I know because I’ve almost been ran off the road by these individuals here in Texas. I’m sure some of you may remember how people had to function before these four devices came into existence:
Video Games:
The video game industry has grown tremendously in technology and popularity over the last 50 years. Developers knew that it was important to make their product available for play in the home to ensure the growth of their product’s popularity. In 1972 Odyssey, which was the first commercial video game for TV was released. It was expensive because of the numerous electronic parts and the lack of technology during the 70’s. During the 80’s, video games became less expensive and graphics improved which lured the attention of children to the products. The first video game I fell in love with as a child was the Nintendo game called, “Super Mario Brothers.” The concepts and missions in the game were appeasing to me as a child. Games during the 80’s had a cartoon-like look to the graphics. The industry grew as I did in the 1990’s and so did the graphics. The video game industry kept those cartoon-like graphics for certain games to keep each new generation interested in their products. Smartly, they also improved the graphics with more adult like characters to keep the initial aging population interested.
Video game audiences have changed since the 70’s and 80’s because of the improvement of graphics and game content. Children once dominated the demographics; however, today we see that the popularity has spread through each age range in America. People under the age of 18 only make up 25% of gamers, while the average gamer is 32 years old. (onlineed 2009) Most people playing video games today are between the ages of 18-49, making up 49%. In the future we are going to see the audience, in the above 50 year old range grow, as the current 18-49 year old group gets older. Here is a website with more interesting stats on video games:
http://www.onlineeducation.net/videogame/
iPods:
These unique devices have many different functions. Some iPods can be used to play video games but most people use them as a data storage device for music. I have a co-worker that loves to buy music for her iPhod via iTunes at work. It takes her just as much time to download music as it does me to change CDs’ in my hard drive. People love the fact that it takes minutes to download new songs onto their iPod whenever and wherever they feel like. Built by Apply and released in 2001, iPods can hold anywhere from 2GB to160 GB of data. Unlike tape and CD players, iPods are compact in size which is a plus for people who engage in outdoor activities. Just going into the gym every week I notice tons of women on the treadmill listening to music on these devices. Music lovers prefer the iPod because of the high quality the music sound in the headset. The quality of the audio is high because of the digital MP3 compatibility of its computer system.
A 2005 study found that iPods were more popular among men than women 64.4% versus 35.6% at that time. Almost half the users, 46% are between the ages of 18-44. (Pilotta 2006) A typical iPod user has a few things in common:
They love to listen to music.
They consider themselves gamers.
Enjoy surfing the internet daily.
Love watching television.
We have found that most of the audience is professionals who are into the latest entertainment gadgets or computer based products. The ipod popularity will continue to growth as Apple continues to release new and improved versions. We can only look forward to the expansion of users and technology in the product.
Internet:
When I was 20 years old in 1998 I could remember thinking of the internet as a whim. My experience with it was nonexistent and I never thought it would dominate people’s lives as much as it has 15 years later. I now use the internet everyday of my life along with almost 2 billion others. (Nielsen 2009) Before my time, the internet was developed and used by the United States military as a robust distributed computer network in the 1960’s. Research and development in the private sector lead to the commercialization of the internet in the 1990’s, which is how tons of people got rich in the dot-com era.
Electronic communication is almost exclusively used through the internet. People use certain communication via the internet like: telephony, email, and video conferencing through webcams. Information is also being shared by people across the globe via popular websites like podcasting and live streaming. Day time traders use the internet to buy and sell stocks from home while others use it to shop or sell items to people hundreds of miles away. Social and professional networking websites like Linkedin.com draw millions of people onto the internet each day to stay in contact with friends and co-workers.
Just about everyone uses the internet today regardless of race or age. Children are now exposed to the internet in elementary which is why more children are online today than every before. Young adults have to be internet savvy for most professional careers and colleges now include internet education in their computer classes. Middle age and older folks are using the internet to manage bank accounts and develop their professional careers. Even my 64 year old father is now using the internet which wasn’t the case some 5 years ago.
Interesting Internet Stats & Source:
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
Computers:
Computers are so valuable to our society because of the numerous functions they provide. Mainframe computers are used by large organizations to process large amounts of data. Supercomputers are used for weather forecasting and other scientific jobs. Most of us use the microcomputer or the PC in our professional and personal lives. The most universal use of computers, is its link to the word’s numerous network computers to share and transfer information from one source to another. Computers have become such a huge part of how our society works that the sales of computers climb each year. We rely on computers now to complete tons of tasks like: edit video, audio, pictures, purchase and sell items, record keeping, etc.
I live on the computer at work spending most of my time updating excel spreadsheets and access databases. My company uses the information I enter to produce reports to enhance profit and prevent loses. Accounting work and record keeping is so much easier with computers because of all the functions they can do these days. People can build databases on computers to spit out an answer to a complex formula that usually take minutes for a person to figure out. Even our cars use computers now to regulate the intake of oxygen and gasoline or even control functions like braking and cooling systems. The military uses computers in numerous weapons systems to improve accuracy and efficiency. Most ballistic missiles have computers embedded in them to control flight and targeting.
Just about everyone uses computers everyday in their lives. Most of us use them for entertainment purposes to surf the internet, while others use them to make a living. Computers have a huge audience from scientist to children; from Commanders in the military to the bombs being dropped off an F-18 Super Hornet. Our lives are dominated by computer usage no matter who the individual may be. A recent study by Kelton Research Group found that 65% of Americans spend more time with their computers than their spouse. Now how about that?
Sources:
“Types of Computers and Uses:” The Buzzle (2008) Retrieved June 5, 2010 from
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/different-types-of-computers.html
“Types of Computers and Uses:”The Buzzle (2008) Retrived June 5, 2010 from
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/uses-of-computer.html
“If you had to choose your spouse or your computer”: Digital Trends-Kelton Research Group: Retrieved June 7, 2010
http://www.digitaltrends.com/lifestyle/if-you-had-to-choose-computer-or-spouse/
iPod Sources:
“Surprising iPod Audience:” IMedia Connection (2006) Joe Pilotta; Retrieved June 7, 2010 from
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/8567.asp
Video Game Sources:
“Video Game Statistics:” Retrieved June 6, 2010 from
http://www.onlineeducation.net/videogame/
“History of Vide Games:” Retrieved June 6, 2010 from
http://www.adigitaldreamer.com/articles/history-of-video-games.htm
Internet Source:
“Internet Usage:” Internet World Stats: Nielsen Online: Retrieved on June 6, 2010 from
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
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