New Media Apps Final

"How can we ensure that our development as moral and social animals keeps pace with our rapidly evolving communication technology?"

As I was reading The Influencing Machine I came across this quote that I found to be very true.

We need time for efficient data collection and time for inefficient contemplation. But we don't have the much time. And it's changing us. - Nick Carr

 If we focus on one type of communication more than the other, obviously it is going to be stronger. Something scary I learned about in this book is where it talks about shifting our cognitive styles from deep attention to hyper attention. The reason this is scary to me is because I already see how this has affected my life. I get bored EXTREMELY easy and always have to be doing something to entertain myself. My husband get's frustrated with me because I am always on my phone. Even if I am not necessarily doing something on my phone, I am always looking and playing around on it.

Gladstone takes a nice stab at apple when she said

Any company that offers cool devices -- but bans applications that might offend some users --stands in the way of evolution. Worrying about offending people drags us back to the lowest common denominator.

 I don't know if I fully agree with this statement. I do agree that worrying about offending people will pull us back from our full potential. However, some apps do deserve to be removed. I came across a news report that covers some of the apps that apple has banned. I completely agree with apple's choice in removing the Baby Shaker! That is a serious problem that we have going on in today's world, for people to feel as if it is okay to shake a baby is horrible. It goes farther then offending people, it is putting wrong images and emotions in people's brains that could have serious effects on them.

Something I found to be very interesting about this book is that it goes against what the majority of what the media is saying. We constantly hear about the negative effects of the internet and how the internet is "dumbing" us down. However, that prediction is not necessarily true. According to Gladstones research, surveys, and predictions, we are evolving to be more adapted to high data stimulation.

Gladstone talks about the "larger and richer webs of interdependence." At first I didn't understand what this meant. I came across this website that helped me better understand. The conversion of non-zero-sum situations produce more positive sums than negative sums. Technology has given us new opportunities to profit from one others progress. New technology encourages new, richer forms of non-zero-sum interaction. Then after society realizes the rich potentional of adapting to this new technology (that convert non-zero-sum situations into positive sums) social structures evolve.

Back to the original question, it is hard to say exactly because it also depends on the person.  Too much of a good thing ends up being a bad thing. For example, apples are good for us. But if we only ate apples day after day we would get very sick. We need proteins, vegetables, and a variety of other foods to survive. This same method applies with our need to keep our moral and social well-beings progressing in this technology rich world. Ultimately, it is finding a balance between the two worlds that works best for you.

Abstinence

Last weekend over the 7th & 8th I went 48 hours device free. My husband was out of town so I thought of different things I could do to occupy myself. I decided to head over to michaels craft store to buy a scrap book. I have 100's of pictures that were already printed of us over the last year of our marriage, so I decided to make a scrap book with those pictures.

This was something I have been wanting to do for a long time, but have never been able to find the time. Since I had to go 48 hours device free, I decided it was the perfect time to do it. This project literally took me all day on Saturday to complete. There were many times when I wanted to log onto pinterest to find cute ideas. (I am not much of a crafty person) But because I couldn't, I had to force myself to be creative and think of ideas on my own. It was so hard! Lucky for me my husband was in meetings so I didn't have to worry about the temptation to text. But not watching netflix while I worked on the scrap book was SO HARD! That was by far the hardest part for me. I am obsessed with the show Vampire Diaries so it was extremely hard not to watch it. But I really did get SO much done because I didn't have anything distracting me. My husband came home late saturday night so on Sunday we went to church then went over to his parents house. We always watch a movie while we are over there so I had to ask them to turn off the tv. Instead, we decided to play the card game scum. It was so much fun! I used to play it with my family growing up but haven't played it for a very long time. It was good to interact with the family and see everyone laughing and having fun.

It is crazy how much of my life is consumed with my phone, music, tv, ipod, etc. At first it was really hard, but I am so glad I did it. I was able to accomplish a project that I have been wanting to work on for a very long time.

Nike Training Club

My Favorite app on the iphone

Description from Apple App Store:

Nike Training Club gives you your own personal trainer, anytime, anywhere. Get lean, toned and strong with more than 85 custom-built workouts. Unlock exclusive extra workouts from celebrities like Lea Michele, professional athletes like Shawn Johnson, and Rihanna’s personal trainer, Ary Nuñez.

I love it because:

• I have to choice between a 15, 30, or 45 minute workout
• I can set my own music playlist
• It has a personal trainer's voice motivating you throughout the workout
• It has both pictures and videos for each workout to explain how to properly do it
• I can choose between 85 different workouts
• I actually get a really good workout, I leave feeling good
• It's free :)

Converged Television

The first scheduled telecast took place April 30, 1939, and featured Franklin D Roosevelt speaking at the just-opened New York World's Fair. Only a single television station existed at the time, and it reached about 150 television sets in the New York City area.

The broadcast was to be the beginning of regular telecasting, and more than a thousand sets were sold in the following weeks. However, within months of that first broadcast, war began all over the world. All further development of television stopped almost immediately. Television broadcasting did not resume until seven years later, with its explosive growth dating from l946.

Television programs are migrating from their traditional form of delivery to transmission over the Internet for computers, tablets and smartphones. A growing number of people are choosing to watch shows on these devices rather than on television sets.


http://dailyinfographic.com/cutting-the-cable

New Device

I chose to write about the "Presto" Tablet which was created by Rajat Suri, owner of E La Carta. I will give a brief overview of the tablet. The Presto was custom designed to survive the wear and tear of restaurant life. Customers at restaurants equipped with E La Carta tablets, order and pay for their food using the touch screen at their tables. Some of the reasons Rajat created his own device rather than using the iPad or Google's Android system, was for durability and longer battery life.

Based off of reviews online, the Presto is easy to use. As you swipe the tablet to look at the menu, each item has a description and a picture. After you order, you can play games to entertain both the parents and the kids. At the end of your meal, you swipe your credit card and leave a tip and you can also rate your server.

Not only does the tablet make the dining experience more fun, Presto also benefits the restaurant. People seem to order more because they do not have to wait to track down the waiter or waitress.

Here are some interesting facts I found,

Around 100 restaurants in Boston and the Bay Area use the Presto. The company charges relatively low rates for the use of the tablets. $200-700 depending of the amount of tables. E La Carte just announced that Groupon's co-founders just invested $4 million into the company. This isn't necessarily a huge haul, but it might be enough to propel tablet menus into the mainstream.

Convergence: Access, Utility, Fair Value

For the consumer, I can only see this as benifiting them. It is extremely accessable and set directly in front of them and is very easy to navigate through. I would say this tablet is definitely worth it's cost. It only costs the restaurant $200 - $700 to deck out their whole restaurant, which could ultimatly save printing money in the long run, and not to mention free for the consumers to use.

Consumerism: Choice, Convenience, Performance

The consumer does not neccessarily have a choice of which one they would like. For example, you can not choose the color or funtions of the tablet, they are all the same.

Interactivity: Individualism, Control, Security

Unlike the iPad, Presto tablets are powered by an unprecedented 18-hour battery and feature a built-in credit card reader and uniquely adjustable stand.

Font Review

This font is called "Throw my hands up in the air," I found it on DaFont a while ago and love it for my personal photos. I know this font is pretty girly and childish, but I am a girl and I still love childish things. I will probably quote lines from Spongebob until the day I die :) This font looks like cute girl handwriting which is probably another reason why I like it because my personal handwriting is horrible.

This font is half serif and half sans serif. The capitalized font is about half and half, and the lowercased font is mostly sans serif. This font is humanist because there is a very subtle difference between thick and thin lines.

Good design vs. Bad design

The goal of the campaign was to make people speak up. They wanted to reach people's emotions so they could be honest and say how they truly feel. They knew they would get bad publicity from doing this, but they also knew that they would get plenty of good reviews to compensate.

In my opinion this is an example of a bad design. There are a few things that are very wrong about this ad. Why would they want to say that they aren't for everyone and that ice cream is better? They are using some kind of youth-focused attitude campaign as they are trying to sell Miracle Whip. Teenagers don't even buy groceries. They buy candy and energy drinks.

The Social Context is where it all went wrong. They tried to break the rules by doing something that no other marketers have done before. But there is a very clear reason no one has done it.

The psychological context is one of the reasons an ad like this could work. Most people have a strong opinion between Miracle Whip and Real Mayonnaise. By saying something as bold as "Pick a side," it may motivate people to be a loyal customer and only purchase their brand.

The color contrast really makes this ad stand out. The white font on a dark surface really catches your eye. It is unique because the writing looks like it was drawn with actual Miracle Whip.

The size and position of the word ICE CREAM causes it to really stand out. But my main concern with that is why should the word ice cream be the center point of a Miracle Whip ad?

Proximity: The objects in this photo seemed to be grouped together in 3 different sections.



This ad is a great example of simplicity and creativity at it's finest.

Temporal Context: This ad is time sensitive and is used only during Christmas time. If this ad was used during august, it wouldn't have the same effect. The Santa on the spoon will bring people joy which will ultimately leave them with a good impression of the product.

I would definitely say this ad has psychological context. Emotions are what motivate us to do something. Christmas time is a time of giving and love. Since this ad is associated with Christmas, it too brings emotions of love and joy.

Food is a huge part of the holiday season. With the text saying "the only mayonnaise for Christmas" could cause people to fear not having the right food products during this important time, which would ultimately motivate them to purchase this product.

Culture plays a big role as well. It's because of culture that people can recognize the mayonnaise on the spoon as Santa. Again, people like things that are associated with Christmas.

The space on the ad is perfect and gives a sense of simplicity. I do not feel overwhelmed as I look at this ad.

Red was a great choice because it is both a power color and the color of Christmas. The shade of red is darker in the corners and is lighter in the middle. This allows the center of the ad with the spoon to be the main focus. Then after it has already grabbed your attention, your eyes can shift to the text and be motivated to buy the product.

The light gives us texture in the mayo. It looks so creamy and perfect as it drips off the spoon.

The law of continuity applies to this ad because of the way the mayo is inside of the jar. It flows so well and looks as if the spoon was freshly dipped into the jar and just happened to come out this way.