This week was the Gilder-Forbes Telecosm Conference, full of tech-types, entrepreneurs, physicists, inventors, investors, and the generally curious. It is an interesting and intellectual challenging group with inventors and innovators like physicist Carver Mead whose pioneering work led to microchips and a dozen other things we take for granted on a daily basis. Heady stuff. Here's where it lead me: First, from a purely practical point of view, with all the cool inventions on the horizon, it is more important than ever to get media psychologists on board. Knowing if and how technology will be experienced and used is a pretty important part of the process. A fellow from Qualcomm was talking about some extraordinary health/wellness features under development, but admitted that getting people to use them was sometimes a problem. To use a technical media psychology term, DUH! Even some of the inventors with their outside-the-box creations are still thinking of wireless devices … [Read more...]
Digital Media – School is just one node on a kid’s information and learning network
A couple of weeks ago when I was at the Broadcast Educators festival in Las Vegas, I was struck by the words people use to talk about new media. Words like: inundated, overwhelmed, deluged, complex, confusing, and potentially dangerous. It struck me that many of us are trapped in our own brains and not able to think about how this all looks from the brains of kids and teenagers, who use words like cool, fast, and awesome. This is an awkward situation if the people who are feeling inundated and worried are designing media and curricula for the people who think fast is awesome and who are reveling in the new worlds and ways of being that new technologies have made possible. Personally, I like to think of us all as interacting in an information environment, where different media technologies are among many facets. I was, therefore, incredibly excited (even discounted for my normal enthusiasm for cool media stuff) to listen to speakers at the Joan Cooney Ganz Center’s Digital … [Read more...]
Looking from both sides
I recently heard from a friend in China in response to my blog entry (March 28, 2008) about perceptions of misrepresentation of Chinese events by Western media. I found his remarks fascinating and a good reminder that we have to understand each other (interpersonally, internationally and intergalactically) in order to avoid misunderstandings. Attributing intentionality and meaning is risky business if you can't look from the other side. Talking about the incident in which CNN commentator Jack Cafferty made some (what I consider to be) irresponsible remarks about China in the wake of the Olympic torch protests, my friend Michael writes: I met with a Canadian friend on Sunday in Chengdu, who is a professor working with the National Film Board, and we exchanged opinions on the recent Cafferty issue. I said that the Chinese and Western people have very different understandings on the role of media and their relationship with the government. While the Western people tend to think that … [Read more...]
