Apple iPhone

The apple iPhone has been long awaited in England. It was eventually released on the 10th November 2007 which caused havoc in oxford Street where people waited for up to 36 hours for this phenomenon.
Analysts speculated that O2 were prepared to give away 20 to 30 per cent of voice and data revenues in return for clinching an exclusive, "multi-year" contract to sell iPhones, which combine Apple's popular iPod music player, a video player and Web browser in a slick, touch-screen device.
Apple have stated that they will be aiming to sell 730,000 units for the quarter however, analyst Benjamin Reitzes has stated that by the way sales are going, they should be looking to seel more than 800,000.
All the cool features in the world won't do you any good unless you can figure out how to use said features, and feel smart and attractive while doing it. Demographers of geekdom might be interested to learn that on an unscientific count, only 7% of the queue were female. "They should have made it white and a bit smaller to make it appeal to a female audience," said Yulia Titovets.
Downsides: The thing is hard to type on. It's too slow. It's too big. It doesn't have instant messaging. It's too expensive.
The grey market (or gray market) usually refers to the flow of new goods through distribution channels other than those authorized or intended by the manufacturer or producer. The grey market may also refer to the 50-and-over age group (a.k.a the silver streakers) in marketing terms. Grey market goods are not generally illegal. Instead, they are being sold outside of normal distribution channels by companies which may have no relationship with the producer of the goods. Frequently this form of parallel import occurs when the price of an item is significantly higher in one country than another. This situation commonly occurs with cigarettes and electronic equipment such as cameras. Entrepreneurs buy the product where it is available cheaply, often at retail but sometimes at wholesale, import it legally to the target market and sell it at a price which provides a profit but which is below the normal market price there. This practice is also known as arbitrage.
Even before the launch however, sellers on eBay purported to be offering "unlocked" iPhones, usable on any network, though unlocking the phone comes at the cost of invalidating its warranty and surrendering the right to future upgrades.

Moral Panic - Second Life

Some of the moral concerns with the continually developing digital world are things such as what is classed as real, and what is classed as not. For example, in the MMORPG Second Life there are areas where you can engage in inappropriate activities such as having sex with children. The problem is that Second Life isnt real, so should this be treated as a crime, or just a game? If it is treated as inappropriate there is the further question of how far you have to go for the police to get involved. I believe that these issues will be solved as this technology progresses and gets more complex.

What Is The Future For Online technology?

1. Who is Chris De Wolfe and what does he say is the future for social networking? What impact will portable hardware have on this area of technology?

Chris De Wolfe is the CEO & co-founder of MySpace
He expects “aspects of all socially-based sites to become increasingly portable”. He also says that social networking is becoming “infinitely more personal, more portable, and more collaborative”.
“Half of our future traffic will come from non-PC users”.
Applications and features will become more fluid
The future of the social web will “harness the savvy of the masses” to produce more relevant and meaningful social experiences
Lowering the barrier to entry for a new generation of developers will lead to a more collaborative and dynamic web and directly affect the tools and feature sets available on socially-based sites

2. Who is Chad Hurley and what does he say is his company's goal? Is he a positive or negative technological determinist?

Chad Hurley is the CEO & co-founder of YouTube
In five years, video broadcasting will be the most ubiquitous and accessible form of communication.
Users will be at the centre of their video experience, you will have more access to more information, and the world will be a smaller place.
“Our goal is to allow every person on the planet to participate by making the upload process as simple as placing a phone call”

3. What does Maurice Levy say is the challenge for advertisers and what is 'liquid media' compared to 'linear media'?

“Online advertising will depend more than ever on the one element which has always been at the heart of impactful advertising, both analogue and digital creativity”.
People are no longer willing to put up with interruptions for a commercial break during their entertainment experience.
Linear media (Prescribed time) is fast giving way to liquid media (multitasking time), where you can move seamlessly in and out of different settings.

4. What parallels does Norvig draw between Edison inventing electricity and the development of online technology in terms of searching for information?

Norvig suggests that in the same way electricity has evolved from a light bulb to becoming a staple of our modern lives, that online information searching will also evolve to the point that our computers will “proactively” provide us with additional information to what we need.

5. What are the issues for the developing world? How is this evidence of a 'digital divide'?

“Penetration to rural communities will continue to be limited due to the lack of infrastructure, and the cost of a personal computer is typically more than what the average person in a village can afford” – the developing countries are still a distance away from wide spread access to technology; hinders development.

The Key Issues For Audiences and Institutions

Key Terms
digitality - binary computer code, encoding information in the form of 0/1’s, all programmes/software. Run by a system of “On/Off electrical pulses”.

interactivity – All the ways of streaming information, (ISDN cables, Satellite TV etc.) More (band) width given (multiple strands of information). There is a two way feed, changes the way text can work - you can choose. Compressing of the digital information.

hypertextuality – organisation, no longer linear, allows the ability to access any where you like, (video vs. DVD). You can jump from one part to another, e.g. tv shows in short segments for advertisements, but also to keep consumer attention.

dispersal – how information can be shared/communicated, market share/size (take up) Who’s using (+ what?), How do the producers target those users to maximise/increase markets?

virtuality – leading/linking - how real something is, e.g. online digital worlds (second life etc.) blurring the boundaries - what is real?

convergence – new technologies merging into one, e.g. i-Pods that show photos, Sky +. How things converge – also related to size (e.g. of gadgets) Where will it go next?

Audience – how does the audience use technology? Did they use before and is it new? Has it stemmed from demand or have we been made to think we need it? Who has access? Who are “disenfranchised”/not getting access it?

Regulation/control – The main issue is of Copyright - Impact on producers, e.g. file sharing musicIs there any control of use? Who controls, and what? Should there be any control? Is it possible to control?What of Government role in controlling information?

Ownership – who owns the technology? E.g. which companies? (Microsoft/Sony)Games console manufacturing (Ps3 vs Xbox 360)Does it affect the way they sell/you buy?If so why?