Assignment 3-1

Electronic gaming has long had the ability to play games socially. They have evolved from the old two player combat arcade games, which people have fed millions if not billions of quarters to, all the way to consoles that rival some PCs in processing power. Games like Guitar Hero and Rock band have melded the desire of people to game and the desire of people to play music and created an entire new genre of gaming.

Few people have the talent or time to learn to play the guitar, or drums yet what male has not wanted to play the guitar at some point in their lives. Whether they wanted to be a rock god as a teenager or whether they wanted to learn to play because they liked the sound and versatility of the guitar many people have wanted to learn. Guitar Hero took the guitar and stripped it to the bare essentials. Instead of having to place your fingers on the strings in just the right spot and move your hand up and down the neck of the guitar you simply press the appropriate colored button. Also instead of having to pluck or pick just the right string or strings you simply flip a toggle up or down. Combine this with a simple scrolling display that shows which button to hit and how long to hold it and playing the guitar has, in a sense, become accessible to almost everyone.

Many people enjoy playing the game by themselves but it becomes even more fun when you add in the ability to play with or against another person. The game can be played cooperatively with one person playing lead and another bass or competitively where each person gets “powerups” to try and make the other person make more mistakes and get booed off the game stage. This ability is what has made the game, and genre, the runaway success it has become. Newer games in the genre such as Rock Band move beyond the guitar and two person oriented play and add in the ability to have a drummer and vocalist. At this point the game enters the realm of a party game. I know of few people that would not enjoy playing music themselves and with the power of modern gaming systems and a few well designed add-on controllers they can do just that.

Assignment 3-2

The three popular culture artifacts I selected are Britney Spears, the Star Trek insignia, and the Apple iPod. Britney Spears represents the current incantation of the teen idol. The Star Trek insignia shows how long lasting an effect some things can have on popular culture. Apple's iPod represents how a single device pulled a company out of a failing niche market and made it a dominant force in the consumer electronics industry.

As noted in my Assignment 1-2 post Britney Spears is simply the current incarnation of a long running tradition of teenage idols. She represents the "ideal" teenager, attractive popular and talented. She is also an example of just how much todays society focuses on youth, the average mass popularity of a modern teen idol seems to be only 1-3 years anymore. To me her current situation and problems are an excellent example of the problems with personal accountability and the lack of examples of good life values society has right now. Don't take this as a religious rant, I'm not an especially religious individual, but people don't seem to feel they are responsible for their mistakes anymore.

I am a decent Trekkie. I am not obsessed by any means but I do enjoy reading the novels and have a collection of 100 or more currently. To some that may sound like a lot but I know many people that have far more CDs and since I buy most of them used I don't have to pay that much for them compared CDs. To me the Star Trek insignia represents the long lasting effect some popular culture has. Despite starting decades ago the Star Trek phenomenon is still going strong with new movies and books coming out on a regular basis.

My final choice is the Apple iPod. The iPod is a good example of a pop culture meme. Compared to most of the media playes of it's time when it was released it was easy to use. The interface was simple without a ton of options to confuse people and iTunes provided a convenient place to download music and manage the music on the iPod. Despite the fact that when the iPod was launched music from the iTunes store came with strict digital rights management and could only be played on authorized iPods and PCs it was a runaway success. Even now iTunes is still the only way to manage the music on an iPod but the simplicity and sleek hardware design seems to have hit a note with the modern consumer.

Assignment 1-2

Popular culture is the mass media of the time. Popular culture is financially within reach of the majority of the population unlike elite culture. Unlike folk culture it is also able to reach a large number of people simultaneously. Fads and fashion are both obvious examples of popular culture. To me popular culture is something I avoid, most popular culture requires little thought and little talent is involved much of the time. All a teen idol seems to have to do these days is have a pretty face. If the idol wants to sing, but can't sing in key, they have pitch shifters and so on.

Understanding popular culture is important for my job because it leads to insights as to why people act they do and is a very important factor in marketing. If you do a TV commercial aimed at teenager for an energy drink and it looks like the kid is dressed for church and is just walking down the street while talking it likely won't go over very well.

I chose Britney Spears as my popular culture artifact because I don't follow much popular culture. My brother gave me the calendar card years ago and I just ran across it recently. I decided that since I don't follow popular culture I may as well go with what I have. Britney is an example of the teen idol mentioned in the first paragraph and follows in the footsteps of many previous teen idols like Elvis Presley (although not nearly as well) and more recently "boy bands" like The Backstreet Boys and New Kids on The Block.

Assignment 1-4

With technology such a large part of our lives in this day and age and the universal access the internet provides it seems that social networking through sites such as MySpace and Facebook has begun to replace or supersede face to face contact for many younger people. Social networking sites can be beneficial both socially and professionally. There are, however, hazards associated with social networking sites that people who are not familiar with the global nature of the internet may not be aware of.

Social networking on the internet can have many benefits, Sites such as Facebook can provide a way for people to stay in touch with each other over long distances and time periods and can make it possible to regain contact with people you have not had contact with for years. If many people you know are members of the same site it can be a great tool for planning events or get togethers or just to see photos of your sibling's kids. Many social networking sites also offer games and other diversions beyond simple functions like "here is what I'm doing now, here is what I'm interested in, and here are some cool pictures."

On the other hand many younger individuals especially those in junior high and high school often don't think about the consequences of things they may write. You can see one consequence at http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/12/us-student-inte.html where a student was suspended for creating a group critical of her teacher. Another hazard, although one often greatly exaggerated by the press, is that of the fearsome child molester. An individual can use the site as a way to contact impressionable children and teenagers without having to worry about someone seeing them like they would in a public area. Many parents don't closely surpervise their childrens internet activities because they either don't understand the dangers or think "something bad would never happen to my child online."

For people somewhat older another thing to watch for when participating in social networking sites is that employers more and more often are searching social networking sites to get more information about potential hires. If you belong to a radical political group or seem to have a propensity for heavy alcohol consumption it could greatly reduce or eliminate altogether your chance of being hired. Some social networks actually exist to help you get a job for example http://www.linkedin.com/ where you can find information about hiring policies and managers at various companies. You can also see which of you contacts may be able to get you an interview or give their recommendation to the company.

Social networking can be a valuable tool but has many risks associated with it that people are not familiar with. A little thought as to who may see something before putting it in the public domain, or even making it available to your "friends" can go a long way towards making social networking a much more rewarding activity.

Resources:

Student Who Created Facebook Group Critical of Teacher Sues High School Over Suspension | Threat Level from Wired.com. (December 9, 2008). Retrieved February 1, 2009, from http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/12/us-student-inte.html.