AT&T’s Vision Of The Future

About 1993, AT&T made some pretty visionary assumptions about the future. Here are some things that I noticed about their video as it comperes to the world we live in in 2016. (Here is the video for reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFWCoeZjx8A).

Two things that were immediately apparent were the use of a Skype-like program that allows for people to video chat with each other and the ability to translate conversations into other languages digitally. The difference with the video chat is that in AT&T’s video, they predicted that the cell-phone would look the same as it did then and be necessary to speak through in order for the video chat to work. We now simply talk directly into the screen as the video camera and speaker are built into the computer or phone being used. They were also able to have an effective three-way conversation with each other, just as we can now. However, we are not able to do this on an airplane unless we pay a lot of money. The tablet that the man was holding now exists and is also capable of video chat. There are also programs available to virtually construct a new outside of a building but it isn’t as simple as just giving a voice command telling the program to give the building a new exterior, you have to construct it yourself. Playing video games in a virtual reality is also becoming a reality now. As far as I know though, you can’t play with multiple people in the same game as different characters that are part of the story yet. So far, no homework is available in virtual reality but that could change as it becomes more popular, but it doesn’t seem likely. The people in the video had to go to a phone booth in order to make a call while we now have phones as mobile devices. There was also an operator that had to connect the call whereas we now save contacts into our mobile phone and simply have to click on it. The systems they use to video chat are also able to tell people where their contacts are located if they are connected to a network, which we don’t have wide access to now. Their computerized intelligent agent is a lot like the Siri of Apple devices but is an image instead of just a voice. They didn’t have to leave an office to order food or shop, which we can do via online ordering and online shopping. However, there is an option to dress a mannequin of an individual’s body type virtually, without having to try the clothes on which we aren’t able to do yet. They had an electronic classroom, which we are sort of transitioning into now. It isn’t quite at a point where it could be individualized but maybe one day it will be. With all of the things developed virtually in this predicted world, the computers do a lot of things for them. We now have a lot of things that can be done for us with computers but we are not as dependent on that technology as people in this world are.

#18- You Are What You Eat, Pt. 2

I distinctly remember watching “Speed Racer” for the first time and hearing two swear words that were considered “lesser” or more widely accepted but also seeing the middle finger and hearing a “worse” swear word that was only partially bleeped out (so anyone who knew the word knew exactly what they were saying). Yet, the movie was rated PG. How does a movie with that sort of content merit the same rating as a movie like “The Incredibles”, “Tangled”, “Frozen” and “Brave”?

Kids who grow up watching movies that have this kind of content are going to be very used to it and think nothing of using this language themselves. Beyond this, many parents don’t care about rating and will allow their young children to watch PG-13 movies as well as R-rated movies without any concern at all. Kids not only pick up the language but the violence as well, which can cause them to act out more.

It is important to be careful about our own media choices but also what we choose to let our kids watch as they are very impressionable and will grow up with the ideas planted in their minds from the time they were young.

#17- You Are What You Eat, Pt. 1

We have heard the phrase “you are what you eat” many times as it applies to our physical health and how the food we consume affects our bodies. But what about the things we feed our minds? What about what we allow our children to “eat”?

We focus so much on the tangible things like our physical fitness or what kind of diet we have that we often forget about more abstract things like what our minds are consuming.

Media has many benefits but many dangers as well. With the world of changing morals that we live in, we have to be careful. The movie industry itself is a great example of this. Since the first swear word appeared in “Gone With the Wind” in 1939, swearing has been on a dramatic incline, as showcased in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7t85SESTXI. Not only that, but the rating system has changed so it now reflects those changing morals as there is a push to “free the screens” and instead give parents the tools to make decisions about what they want their families to see, according to the Motion Picture Association of America’s website.

This means that a lot leaks through from what used to be considered material that warranted a higher rating into other movies of lower ratings.

#16- Consuming Media or Consumed By the Media: Netflix/ YouTube

I have a problem. I am addicted to YouTube.

College students/ young adults in general have a problem. They/ we are addicted to Netflix.

I don’t think there is a day that goes by where I do not open YouTube for one reason or another. Music, music videos, comedic videos, DIY’s, how-to’s, you can find pretty much anything on YouTube. It’s amazing. And it draws me in big time.

Binge watching, Netflix and chill, and movie/ TV marathons are common terms in the young adult culture today. According to The New York Times, “Television is America’s No. 1 pastime, with an average of four hours and 39 minutes consumed by every person every day.” Four and a half hours on average? According to Statistic Brain’s website, “[the] Number of hours spent by Netflix members watching streamed video on hi-speed internet [is] 2 billion hours” and the “Percentage of all U.S. internet traffic during peak hours that use Netflix [is] 30%.”

Both services do too good of a job of pulling people in and making them stay. YouTube has fairly recently changed their site so the video you are watching is automatically put into a playlist. The next video in the playlist is then automatically played about 10 seconds after the video you are watching ends. If you don’t react in those 10 seconds, YouTube has made the decision for you, you are watching another video/ listening to another song.

Netflix is similar. When an episode of a television show is over, you are asked if you want to continue watching and have about 15 seconds while the next episode loads for you. If you don’t grab the remote or go back to browsing on your computer, you have just allowed the next episode to play and once it’s playing, who’s going to stop it? You want to know what happens in the next episode, right? It’s just 20-45 more minutes or so, might as well.

And thus begin the days of binge watching. Once you start, it can easily get out of control.

Project 7: Web Page

1. Description: A web page designed to showcase a personally created logo.
2. Process (Programs, Tools, Skills): I first used Notepad++ to code the HTML for the site. I included the logo I created in a previous project and text explaining the process of creating it. I then coded the CSS for the site, drawing on the design of the logo. I used fonts similar to those in the logo and colors drawn directly from the logo, using the hex keys from Photoshop. I then adjusted the layout to make sure everything was aligned properly. I changed the spacing to group similar design elements together.
3. Message: My message is that I am a professional videographer and that my website is a good resource to find more information on the services I offer.
   
4. Audience: Anyone who is looking for a professional videographer.
   
5. Top Thing Learned: I learned the basics of coding HTML and CSS. I didn’t have any previous knowledge of either of these programs so it was all new to me.
   
6. Color scheme and color hex(s): Complementary- indigo and gold, #2f2e80 and #d4932a
   
7. Title Font Families & Category: Open Sans, sans serif
8. Copy Font Families & Category: Slabo, slab serif
9. Changes made to the CSS: Change colors of text in h1 and h2’s, change fonts, create banner for h1 text, create a box for all text and logo, create boarder for text box, change background color behind text box, and change alignment of text by altering padding.
   
10. Word Count: 304 words
    

#15- Consuming Media or Consumed By the Media: Social Media

There is a fine line between viewing media and being completely immersed in and controlled by media.

Gone are the days when people casually checked Facebook once a week for a few minutes. I am not on Facebook a whole lot but I’ve noticed that when I log on, there are quite a few people who post daily, or a few times a day. The same can be said of any social media site. I can’t tell you how many Twitter pages I’ve seen where people will post so often that you have to scroll down the page a lot on their individual profile just to see what they posted yesterday. And how many selfies do you need to post on Instagram every day?

We are often warned to not let media consume our lives but given how much it is a part of our daily lives, it seems to be a very difficult task. Being a Communications major, media is especially important to how a company operates and communicates with clients or potential clients. BYU-Idaho offers a practicum class focused solely on social media. It’s a great place to advertise information about a business because people spend so much time on such websites or apps. However, we have turned a casual interest into something much bigger. Digitaltrends.com says “According to this latest research, people in the U.S. check their Facebook, Twitter, and other social media accounts a staggering 17 times a day, meaning at least once every waking hour, if not more.” Surprisingly enough though, Americans don’t even use social media the most. The site goes on to say “smartphone users in Thailand, Argentina, Malaysia, Qatar, Mexico, and South Africa checked these networking apps at least 40 times a day. Seriously, how popular can you be?”

With this frequency, we, as a society, have become addicted. What on earth could be so urgent on a social network that a large amount of people are constantly and impulsively clicking over to check status updates? Rarely does anything warrant that type of constant checking of information. Unless it’s an emergency, I really can’t explain it. It’s obsession. It’s compulsive and has become almost involuntary. I am not immune to it though. So many days I find myself on a social network site and wonder how I got there and how long I’ve been there.

Social media, as is commonly brought up, can often destroy real life relationships. We spend so much time in a fabricated and unrealistic world that we start to expect things out of real life that are impossible. We also cut off real human interactions. A common scene in the world today is a family or group of friends sitting together but separated by the use of their cell phones.

Looking back on writing this article from start to finish, I spent maybe an hour of that time on social media.

Hey, no one’s perfect.

Social media isn’t inherently bad but the frequency in which it is used today has gotten to a point where we are not only consuming media but being consumed by media. We have allowed a casual past time to take up too much time.

#14- What Disney Taught Us About Finding Value

Many of us grew up on Disney or at least raised our kids on Disney movies. We continue to enjoy them, no matter what age we are or how old the movies get. I think a large part of that is because the messages they teach are valuable to all age groups. One of those life lessons that appears in more than one movie is that of finding the value in other people and understanding their potential.

When Hercules approached Phil to ask for training, Phil refused. He had been let down too many times and wasn’t too keen on having any more disappointments. Hercules was persistent and reassured Phil that he was different and that he wouldn’t disappoint him. After much deliberation, Phil decided to take Hercules under his wing and train him.

Bell met the Beast in a rather unpleasant way. She had no reason whatsoever to like the Beast. He had taken away her father and then her freedom. She was locked in a castle with a creature who had an incredible temper and was extremely rude, stubborn and hostile. Though as she interacted more and more with the Beast and noticed a change in him at the encouragement of the castle staff, she began to notice “something there that wasn’t there before”. She saw potential in him that he wouldn’t have believed was there.

Phil saw what Hercules could become and was willing to take a bet on him. Phil knew what he was supposed to become and that without his help, Hercules wouldn’t be able to live up to his potential.

Bell saw the potential in the Beast and parts of his character that no one else noticed. She believed in his ability to change and was willing to give him a chance.

These are just two examples of characters in Disney movies who see good in others when they can’t see it themselves or needed someone to believe in them to help them live up to their potential. Just as in Zootopia, these movies teach important lessons that may be background pieces of the story line but are life lessons that children and adults can pick up on.

#13- Zootopia’s Not So Hidden Agenda

Talk about pushing an agenda.

I had heard before I saw the movie that some of the content alluded to themes of racism but I hadn’t heard any specifics. As I watched, it wasn’t long before I picked up on those themes as well as hints of feminism and messages on stereotypes.

For starters, the main character, Judy, is a female who wants to go into a career largely dominated by males. She is always told to just give up on her dream and go be a carrot farmer. When she becomes a cop, graduating at the top of her class, she was treated unfairly in the workplace and was still seen as just a “cute bunny” or “just a dumb bunny”. Being a bunny, she had been forced into this stereotype. She set out to prove her co-workers and everyone else wrong, to show that she could do anything she put her mind to and do it  better than anyone else.

The movie tackled the theme of racism in a very unique way so as not to offend any races. They complied stereotypes among various races or groups of people and jumbled them all together so no group of animals could be seen as representing a single race.

Judy had to remind the other animals that she wasn’t just some “token bunny” and faced other prejudices such as Nick, a fox who becomes her companion, asking “are all bunnies bad drivers?”. Beyond what could be used in the human world, there are some animal stereotypes as well, such as all foxes are untrustworthy and all elephants have good memory. To build off of this theme of stereotypes, a very poinient part of the movie is when Nick recalls an incident from his childhood where the animals around him categorized him as being unworthy of their trust, causing him to say, “if the whole world is just going to see a fox as untrustworthy, there’s no point in being anything else.”

The movie ultimately concludes that making stereotypes is wrong. The animals end up with a slew of problems that could have been avoided if they hadn’t jumped to conclusions. They had an agenda in making their movie but their message was one that kids should learn young and adults need to remember.

Project 6: Stationery

Letterhead:

Business Card (8.5×11 layout):

Business Card (Large layout):

1. Description: Design a matching letterhead and business card using a personally created logo.
2. Process (Programs, Tools, Skills): I used Adobe Illustrator to create a logo using simple shapes. Once my logo was done, I opened a new InDesign document and placed my logo in it. I resized it to be big enough to read and to stand out. I then created a textbox to put my name and contact information in. On the top and the bottom, I decided to add a long rectangle with smaller rectangles inside to make the page look like a film strip overall. I used the alignment tool to make sure that the boxes were all spaced evenly. I made it dark orange to tie in the color scheme throughout the page. I then used the alignment tool to make sure that the boarders were the same on both sides of the page. Next, I opened another InDesign page and created two 3.5 x 2 boxes that would become my business card. I placed the logo from the Adobe Illustrator file then copied and pasted my design elements from the letterhead into that page. I added a stroke to the second box so the boarders were clear. I used the same film strip design on the top and bottom of the front side of the card but cropped it so the white boxes wouldn’t get narrower. I put the name and contact information below the logo, maintaining sufficient white space between the elements. On the back side of the card, I repeated the dark orange color from the logo and film lines as the background color. I drew new hexagons using the Polygon Tool and, instead of recreating the honeycomb, put the three shapes in a horizontal line. I created a full bleed white hexagon but moved it up to avoid trapping white space in the corner.
3. Message: Honeycomb Productions is a made-up video production company. The lines on top and bottom of the design are to make the business card and letterhead look like a film strip, as formerly used in film making.
4. Audience: Anyone looking for a a professional video company for a variety of projects.
5. Top Thing Learned: I learned the correct sizes for different elements in letterhead and business cards and how to use them to create a brand for a company. I also learned how the alignment tool works and how to copy a shape in InDesign to repeat in a pattern.
   
6. Color scheme and color names: Analogous- yellow, gold, orange
   
7. Title Font Name & Category: Minion Pro- Sans Serif
8. Copy Font Name & Category: Geometric Slabserif 703- Slab Serif

#12- Oh The Drama, Pt. 2

To make it even weirder, imagine sitting in a group of people that have all kissed the same girl that day or over the last few days. I don’t know if every season is like this because this is the first season I’ve watched but this bachelorette kisses every guy on every date. It’s like she is trying to see who is a good kisser to determine who to keep on the show.

People also say that girls are the dramatic ones but the guys in this show often display levels of drama stereotypical of girls. As stated in the last episode I watched, when you get a lot of guys (25 to start out with) living together in one place, the testosterone levels skyrocket. There is so much drama and conflict which the show thrives off of. When two guys fight over one girl, it’s bad enough but when you have 25 guys fighting over the same girl, things can get out of control fast.

Reality TV is an interesting case study on what viewers like to watch. In the example of The Bachelorette, the show survives off of its drama and “love stories”. Watching someone else’s life, however fabricated for TV, is entertainment for us. Even though I don’t like this kind of thing normally, it was captivating for me for some reason. I think our media consumption largely comes down to escaping from our own lives which could be done by watching the lives of others, whether they be fictional or factual.