I think the advancement of smart mobile devices, like smart phones, and the coming emergence of virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift will change mass media and its delivery in the decades to come. More people will be access various forms of mass media via these devices in the future. Content will be formatted for such delivery so producers of mass media will have these devices in mind when content is created and distributed. Already Google, Inc., has implemented measures to down rank non responsive (made for mobile devices) web sites and content. I also think mass media will be more customized, personalized, for individual viewers based on “browsing†history, buying habits, and demographics. I also think there will be more concentration and consolidation among major players in mass media as well as more globalization. I think the rift between those with modern access to mass media and those without will grow. I don’t know if the changes will be more negative or positive for society but change is inevitable and I think the rapid development and growth in technology is driving the changes in mass media.
#
Heather Bieber
I was always scared of the idea of virtual reality headsets. I thought that maybe they could find some way to change our brain chemistry through them secretly, like a government conspiracy, to control our motives. It would be like propoganda but more subliminal and would be invasive. But, maybe that’s going too far!
S. Tordoff
Fragmentation will continue for the next two decades, leading to extreme specialization — with loyal followers of thousands fueling the development of numerous blog and podcast channels. This will not mark the death of major media outlets, but it will stifle them somewhat.
Fifty years out, VR will come into its own as a major medium, and there will be distribution channels and experiences unique to it that we can’t even imagine at this point (imagine a magazine reader speculating what they could do with radio, or a television viewer pondering the internet — it’s hard to imagine the possibilities of a medium in its infancy). Unless something changes, fragmentation will accelerate, and the “major networks” might no longer fit their name at this point.
Heather Bieber
I see everything becoming electronic. In the next 20 years, we will see a lot of magazines generally in printed form become less and less available. In 50 years, it may be that the printed versions are only sold as specialty or once-a-month items at Barnes and Noble, as rare as a foreign magazine. Speaking of Barnes and Noble, I have realized over the past 5 years that the Nook has taken over at least a quarter of their store. Also, Barnes and Noble, with its popularity, defeated the great Borders bookstore. I think in the future there will be less books at Barnes and Noble, and more of those Nooks to borrow and read off of. It will look like a sci-fi movie with everyone sitting down for hours and starting into a flat, plastic, shiny piece of magic. In 50 years, I would say bye to B&N. Once everyone switches to e-book readers, there will be no difference between them and a cafe. People can just bring their own kindles and sit in a Starbucks. I foresee internet being available in all public places and likely for free. It will be so easy to succumb to the pull of the world wide web that people will no longer look for printed media materials. Those cost money, of course. They will want it instant and as cheap as possible, ergo the internet. For news and TV shows, forget cable! It’s going to be netflix, hulu, and the like. We’re going to be staring into screens so much that we’ll all start wearing glasses.
adwheeler
I agree — it is kind of bittersweet to think of saying goodbye to print, but I know just at my job how much easier it is to track things down with an electronic database instead of stacks of paper… I have to agree.
Melia Skupnik
I completely agree with John with his statement that mass media will probably be more customized, personalized, and individuals browsers will be focused on what they have a habit at looking at and such. With how much technology has already advanced from just 10 years ago (the first iPhone was released in 2007 which led the market for this type of device), it’s hard to imagine how much much more can be advanced in 20 years. I think it will get to the point where no one even has to pull their phone from their pocket or purse in order to answer the call or to see a text; it’ll be as easy as a getting a small device implanted somewhere on your body, that then will show up either on your skin or something bazar like that. If we think that the mass population is already consumed in their electronics, in 20 years it’s going to be much worse because we literally won’t be able to put it down. For other forums of mass media, such as books or newspapers, will no longer be necessary in print as the people of the future would most likely read (much as they do now) on their new electronics or even just listen to the media. It’s going to an interest next few decades as we watch mass media evolve into something beyond anything we can imagine.
Eddie
Well that is an interesting question to ask, see if you asked me 20 years ago when I was young in life I would tell you I wanted to be a doctor or scientist, and if I was asked if cars would fly I would have said yes, but here is reality none of that is fact I am not a doctor and cars don’t fly, but what I can tell you is technology is getting better but so are the regulations that define them and the money that the information costs, so here again in my opinion if we eliminate war and poverty and make education a number one agenda in this world, and stop arguing over religion and land then maybe I can see that happening, but as far as I see mass media, well lets just say that “George Orwell’s 1984” is not that far off from my distorted reality.
It would be nice to live in a dream world where medical advancements and television and all other forms of communication was better but as we get further in time all i see is the hate that the mass media is spreading upon the world, yes there is some good, but hidden in that message is allot of bad news, murders, fires, and floods, and the sad part is that type of news sells, even in our video games, so how would a society advance when we are so stuck in such violence that we can not as a generation of people look past all the hate and see the good of man kind?.
Teresa Faucette
I see electronic media as being the dominant source of information in 20 years. I think the only thing that will keep it from being the only source is the people who grew up with television, radio, newspapers, and books will still be alive and be buying these things. In 50 years, I think computers, smartphones, and the internet, plus whatever new technologies come along, will be the only sources of media still in use. I think that children will have to go to a museum if they want to see what a corded phone, a cassette player, or a transistor radio looked like. Even though it is kind of sad to think of these things becoming museum pieces, it is exciting to see the advances that have been made in my lifetime. It will be just as interesting to see where the future takes mass media next.
jwmullally
In 20 years I see a world where printed newspapers and magazine are obsolete and news forms will become digitalized. Technology such as computers, television, smartphones and tablets will become more advanced and interactive. If we look back 20 years and compare cellphone technology to today’s smartphones I see continued exponential advancements for the next 20 years for this platform to the point where you will be able to scan your body with the device and send your vitals directly to your doctor without leaving your house. Finally, I believe that privacy will be become a greater concern with society as internet communication will be used to intrude even further on an individuals’ privacy. In 20 years ‘big brother’ will be able to track every aspect of our lives.
Â
In 50 years I see a world where humanity will be enhanced by artificial intelligence (robots). Although robots will replace humans in households and at the workplace, I think there will be nano-technology in the human body where it will be possible to view your television, read the news and communicate visually with others with virtual holograms. We will become part robots. You will no longer have to make a phone call or look at a news article in the current configurations.
rbebersoleii
The world will have to change with the changes of media. The printed media will likely all but disappear and with that our society will obviously be more technology advanced. Honestly the changes the future holds will likely dumb down much of our society. When I was young I wrote my papers on typewriters and I had to become a proficient speller. Now a days, no one has to be a great speller, I can see it in my own children’s spelling abilities and in other classmates in my college courses. Everything has spell check and there isn’t the need to make sure things are done right the first time. The people who create these electronic devices are brilliant and I’m glad they are helping our society but I also realize with the new technology comes a loss of intelligence and thinking for oneself for the rest of us.
Kevin May
I see various mass media connected at the hip with the global human community. Not only in the old guard areas that is used to it but I am talking about any continent where mass media has yet to permeate into. That can be macro sized populations or rearguard echelons of humanity that have yet to assimilate to the mass media engine. I am not so much of a visionary really; I think companies are doing a great job getting media infected into our daily routines. You can’t do anything without coming into contact with a tributary of mass media. As technology changes, mass media corporations will be there to exploit it for profit, same as it has always done. So that formula will stay the same. I do foresee that consolidation will occur and there might be 3-5 worldwide corporations that control all that we see and hear. These entities could be publicly or privately traded but will be superpowers in the information domain alone. I see this as a destabilizing force for the future of mass media. Competition is necessary, but not cost effective. Fewer and fewer companies will be able to survive such a cutthroat environment. Those that do stand to reap increased market share and resources as a result. Basically, hyper-capitalism will weed out all but the strongest that will then ensure their domination until, hopefully, governments reign them in and break them up and recreate competition.
adwheeler
With how much of a consumer culture we have become, we really have made it easy for media and corporations to inhabit so much of our lives. Its like we saw at the very beginning of this course in the opening chapter — we touch mass media every single day, in multiple ways.
adwheeler
We are getting closer and closer to a day and age where being able to purchase devices that connect us to mass media outlets, like PCs and smart phones, will not be a luxury but a complete necessity to keep up in this world. Don’t have a smart phone that you can message on and browse the web? Out of date. You can’t live-stream media and online video broadcasts into your living room? You’re a dinosaur.
And unfortunately as consumers, we buy into it. If you can’t afford it, you need to make necessary choices to be able to keep up, because this consumer-capitalist society we live in is cut-throat and completely Darwinistic. Even our schools are beginning to bring more and more of this technology into the classrooms, when before you would get in trouble for having your computer out; now computers are essential to learning and encouraged to be used.
Industrialization is a huge catalyst for the future of mass media and it won’t be stopping any time soon.
mmbrooks2
Its true, if your not in tune with what is going on with new technology you become behind fast. Our schools are taking part in the many technological aids the world has to offer and are enriching the next generations ability to learn. Children who are, lets say home schooled will become incredibly behind if they don’t have access to the same technology that these big schools can afford to provide.
mmbrooks2
With our modern day advances progressing is so fast its hard to picture what will come. I think television still will exist but with slight alterations. I think the manner in which we watch tv will change. I think it will end up being screenless, but instead coming from a projector screen. A projector screen which either projects right against a wall or a holographic one will appear. I also do not think the format will be the same. I think television will be less for entertainment and more for relaying information to the public in the future.
I think radio is what might dissipate as time goes on.
News papers will exist but will advance as well. The news will always be important and our public always seeks out knowledge. I think newspapers will not be in their traditional format but will have advance much like television so that it becomes more accessible. I think the news will papers will be delivered in a tablet like format with pictures advancing to videos.
Books will also become ever more popular in a digital format making traditional book reading far less popular. The idea of carrying around a good book will be challenged by technology that is able to hold the contents of many books. Tablets, like nooks, will advance possible to the level that the information can be downloadable rather then having to spend days and hours sitting and reading. The information of a books contents can be direct and immediate for those interested in a specific book.
In the next 50 years many things will change and will continue to do so at an accelerated rate. I look forward to see what will come.
dabranch
I believe that the mass media world will drastically change within 20 and 50 years. Printed newspapers and magazines will likely be completely gone. There will no longer be a need for them as we have already begun to see many companies take to the online sites and stop with their printed papers. This is simply because technology is advancing right in front of our eyes. I think that touch screen computers will be a normal thing for everyone to have and there will be many more features included in computers. I think that radio stations will also start to disappear because of the growing popularity of apps like Pandora and other options along those lines. And especially now with the ability to plug a phone in and play music through that versus listening to the radio and not being able to choose your own music. I think that television will also begin to change. The TVs themselves will become extremely light if not just projectors. They way they are programmed will be different and how they are used. I think remotes will drastically change depending on the new features in the coming years. All around, I think that the mass media world will advance technologically and things will be very different in 20 and 50 years.
JRN F101 — Wyman — Summer Week 5, Discussion 2 of 4
I think the advancement of smart mobile devices, like smart phones, and the coming emergence of virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift will change mass media and its delivery in the decades to come. More people will be access various forms of mass media via these devices in the future. Content will be formatted for such delivery so producers of mass media will have these devices in mind when content is created and distributed. Already Google, Inc., has implemented measures to down rank non responsive (made for mobile devices) web sites and content. I also think mass media will be more customized, personalized, for individual viewers based on “browsing†history, buying habits, and demographics. I also think there will be more concentration and consolidation among major players in mass media as well as more globalization. I think the rift between those with modern access to mass media and those without will grow. I don’t know if the changes will be more negative or positive for society but change is inevitable and I think the rapid development and growth in technology is driving the changes in mass media.
#
I was always scared of the idea of virtual reality headsets. I thought that maybe they could find some way to change our brain chemistry through them secretly, like a government conspiracy, to control our motives. It would be like propoganda but more subliminal and would be invasive. But, maybe that’s going too far!
Fragmentation will continue for the next two decades, leading to extreme specialization — with loyal followers of thousands fueling the development of numerous blog and podcast channels. This will not mark the death of major media outlets, but it will stifle them somewhat.
Fifty years out, VR will come into its own as a major medium, and there will be distribution channels and experiences unique to it that we can’t even imagine at this point (imagine a magazine reader speculating what they could do with radio, or a television viewer pondering the internet — it’s hard to imagine the possibilities of a medium in its infancy). Unless something changes, fragmentation will accelerate, and the “major networks” might no longer fit their name at this point.
I see everything becoming electronic. In the next 20 years, we will see a lot of magazines generally in printed form become less and less available. In 50 years, it may be that the printed versions are only sold as specialty or once-a-month items at Barnes and Noble, as rare as a foreign magazine. Speaking of Barnes and Noble, I have realized over the past 5 years that the Nook has taken over at least a quarter of their store. Also, Barnes and Noble, with its popularity, defeated the great Borders bookstore. I think in the future there will be less books at Barnes and Noble, and more of those Nooks to borrow and read off of. It will look like a sci-fi movie with everyone sitting down for hours and starting into a flat, plastic, shiny piece of magic. In 50 years, I would say bye to B&N. Once everyone switches to e-book readers, there will be no difference between them and a cafe. People can just bring their own kindles and sit in a Starbucks. I foresee internet being available in all public places and likely for free. It will be so easy to succumb to the pull of the world wide web that people will no longer look for printed media materials. Those cost money, of course. They will want it instant and as cheap as possible, ergo the internet. For news and TV shows, forget cable! It’s going to be netflix, hulu, and the like. We’re going to be staring into screens so much that we’ll all start wearing glasses.
I agree — it is kind of bittersweet to think of saying goodbye to print, but I know just at my job how much easier it is to track things down with an electronic database instead of stacks of paper… I have to agree.
I completely agree with John with his statement that mass media will probably be more customized, personalized, and individuals browsers will be focused on what they have a habit at looking at and such. With how much technology has already advanced from just 10 years ago (the first iPhone was released in 2007 which led the market for this type of device), it’s hard to imagine how much much more can be advanced in 20 years. I think it will get to the point where no one even has to pull their phone from their pocket or purse in order to answer the call or to see a text; it’ll be as easy as a getting a small device implanted somewhere on your body, that then will show up either on your skin or something bazar like that. If we think that the mass population is already consumed in their electronics, in 20 years it’s going to be much worse because we literally won’t be able to put it down. For other forums of mass media, such as books or newspapers, will no longer be necessary in print as the people of the future would most likely read (much as they do now) on their new electronics or even just listen to the media. It’s going to an interest next few decades as we watch mass media evolve into something beyond anything we can imagine.
Well that is an interesting question to ask, see if you asked me 20 years ago when I was young in life I would tell you I wanted to be a doctor or scientist, and if I was asked if cars would fly I would have said yes, but here is reality none of that is fact I am not a doctor and cars don’t fly, but what I can tell you is technology is getting better but so are the regulations that define them and the money that the information costs, so here again in my opinion if we eliminate war and poverty and make education a number one agenda in this world, and stop arguing over religion and land then maybe I can see that happening, but as far as I see mass media, well lets just say that “George Orwell’s 1984” is not that far off from my distorted reality.
It would be nice to live in a dream world where medical advancements and television and all other forms of communication was better but as we get further in time all i see is the hate that the mass media is spreading upon the world, yes there is some good, but hidden in that message is allot of bad news, murders, fires, and floods, and the sad part is that type of news sells, even in our video games, so how would a society advance when we are so stuck in such violence that we can not as a generation of people look past all the hate and see the good of man kind?.
I see electronic media as being the dominant source of information in 20 years. I think the only thing that will keep it from being the only source is the people who grew up with television, radio, newspapers, and books will still be alive and be buying these things. In 50 years, I think computers, smartphones, and the internet, plus whatever new technologies come along, will be the only sources of media still in use. I think that children will have to go to a museum if they want to see what a corded phone, a cassette player, or a transistor radio looked like. Even though it is kind of sad to think of these things becoming museum pieces, it is exciting to see the advances that have been made in my lifetime. It will be just as interesting to see where the future takes mass media next.
In 20 years I see a world where printed newspapers and magazine are obsolete and news forms will become digitalized. Technology such as computers, television, smartphones and tablets will become more advanced and interactive. If we look back 20 years and compare cellphone technology to today’s smartphones I see continued exponential advancements for the next 20 years for this platform to the point where you will be able to scan your body with the device and send your vitals directly to your doctor without leaving your house. Finally, I believe that privacy will be become a greater concern with society as internet communication will be used to intrude even further on an individuals’ privacy. In 20 years ‘big brother’ will be able to track every aspect of our lives.
Â
In 50 years I see a world where humanity will be enhanced by artificial intelligence (robots). Although robots will replace humans in households and at the workplace, I think there will be nano-technology in the human body where it will be possible to view your television, read the news and communicate visually with others with virtual holograms. We will become part robots. You will no longer have to make a phone call or look at a news article in the current configurations.
The world will have to change with the changes of media. The printed media will likely all but disappear and with that our society will obviously be more technology advanced. Honestly the changes the future holds will likely dumb down much of our society. When I was young I wrote my papers on typewriters and I had to become a proficient speller. Now a days, no one has to be a great speller, I can see it in my own children’s spelling abilities and in other classmates in my college courses. Everything has spell check and there isn’t the need to make sure things are done right the first time. The people who create these electronic devices are brilliant and I’m glad they are helping our society but I also realize with the new technology comes a loss of intelligence and thinking for oneself for the rest of us.
I see various mass media connected at the hip with the global human community. Not only in the old guard areas that is used to it but I am talking about any continent where mass media has yet to permeate into. That can be macro sized populations or rearguard echelons of humanity that have yet to assimilate to the mass media engine. I am not so much of a visionary really; I think companies are doing a great job getting media infected into our daily routines. You can’t do anything without coming into contact with a tributary of mass media. As technology changes, mass media corporations will be there to exploit it for profit, same as it has always done. So that formula will stay the same. I do foresee that consolidation will occur and there might be 3-5 worldwide corporations that control all that we see and hear. These entities could be publicly or privately traded but will be superpowers in the information domain alone. I see this as a destabilizing force for the future of mass media. Competition is necessary, but not cost effective. Fewer and fewer companies will be able to survive such a cutthroat environment. Those that do stand to reap increased market share and resources as a result. Basically, hyper-capitalism will weed out all but the strongest that will then ensure their domination until, hopefully, governments reign them in and break them up and recreate competition.
With how much of a consumer culture we have become, we really have made it easy for media and corporations to inhabit so much of our lives. Its like we saw at the very beginning of this course in the opening chapter — we touch mass media every single day, in multiple ways.
We are getting closer and closer to a day and age where being able to purchase devices that connect us to mass media outlets, like PCs and smart phones, will not be a luxury but a complete necessity to keep up in this world. Don’t have a smart phone that you can message on and browse the web? Out of date. You can’t live-stream media and online video broadcasts into your living room? You’re a dinosaur.
And unfortunately as consumers, we buy into it. If you can’t afford it, you need to make necessary choices to be able to keep up, because this consumer-capitalist society we live in is cut-throat and completely Darwinistic. Even our schools are beginning to bring more and more of this technology into the classrooms, when before you would get in trouble for having your computer out; now computers are essential to learning and encouraged to be used.
Industrialization is a huge catalyst for the future of mass media and it won’t be stopping any time soon.
Its true, if your not in tune with what is going on with new technology you become behind fast. Our schools are taking part in the many technological aids the world has to offer and are enriching the next generations ability to learn. Children who are, lets say home schooled will become incredibly behind if they don’t have access to the same technology that these big schools can afford to provide.
With our modern day advances progressing is so fast its hard to picture what will come. I think television still will exist but with slight alterations. I think the manner in which we watch tv will change. I think it will end up being screenless, but instead coming from a projector screen. A projector screen which either projects right against a wall or a holographic one will appear. I also do not think the format will be the same. I think television will be less for entertainment and more for relaying information to the public in the future.
I think radio is what might dissipate as time goes on.
News papers will exist but will advance as well. The news will always be important and our public always seeks out knowledge. I think newspapers will not be in their traditional format but will have advance much like television so that it becomes more accessible. I think the news will papers will be delivered in a tablet like format with pictures advancing to videos.
Books will also become ever more popular in a digital format making traditional book reading far less popular. The idea of carrying around a good book will be challenged by technology that is able to hold the contents of many books. Tablets, like nooks, will advance possible to the level that the information can be downloadable rather then having to spend days and hours sitting and reading. The information of a books contents can be direct and immediate for those interested in a specific book.
In the next 50 years many things will change and will continue to do so at an accelerated rate. I look forward to see what will come.
I believe that the mass media world will drastically change within 20 and 50 years. Printed newspapers and magazines will likely be completely gone. There will no longer be a need for them as we have already begun to see many companies take to the online sites and stop with their printed papers. This is simply because technology is advancing right in front of our eyes. I think that touch screen computers will be a normal thing for everyone to have and there will be many more features included in computers. I think that radio stations will also start to disappear because of the growing popularity of apps like Pandora and other options along those lines. And especially now with the ability to plug a phone in and play music through that versus listening to the radio and not being able to choose your own music. I think that television will also begin to change. The TVs themselves will become extremely light if not just projectors. They way they are programmed will be different and how they are used. I think remotes will drastically change depending on the new features in the coming years. All around, I think that the mass media world will advance technologically and things will be very different in 20 and 50 years.