Between today and the year 2059, many ground-breaking technological developments will occur to make life more comfortable, luxurious, and easier. One of the two biggest milestones that would lead to the future of blogging is perpetual access to Internet. Having an everlasting access allows everyone to be connected to the Internet anywhere at all times which will result in increase of efficiency. This technological advancement will improve our lives significantly; the Internet in today’s society already is a necessity to many individuals and though it is widely used and is easily accessible in most places, there are several constraints.  A common constraint is that there is still the need to connect to a wireless connection, and Internet connection may disconnect anytime.  Another significant milestone that would revolutionize the future of blogging is the invention of electronic paper. Although a similar technology, the organic light-emitting diode (OLED), is already in existence, it is quite recent and further development of this technology is still required. The OLED technology allows brighter images to be displayed digitally on a thin surface (“Electronic paper”, 2006; Wikipedia, 2009). The electronic paper would be used extensively, in books and newspapers. As a result, fewer trees would be harmed to make paper and massive amounts of printing ink would be saved; this will help users to save money and have a positive impact on the environment.

Combining each of those milestones, a revolutionary version of blogs called “T-Leaf”, an electronic book of blog, will come into existence. This product consists of an electronic touch-screen bound book made up of pages of electronic paper, hence the name “T-Leaf”, which stands for touch-screen leaf or touch-screen paper. “T-Leaf” will look like a regular physical diary except, entries will be published in reverse-chronological order and comments can be made by readers – similar to how blogs today are set up. Readers will read the blog as if they are reading a book. Blogs can be updated at any time since the user would be connected to the Internet at all times. The blog contents can be edited within “T-Leaf” either using the touch screen keyboard or a stylus pen if the blogger wishes to write an entry in his or her own handwriting. Another beauty of “T-Leaf” is that with the same unit, bloggers and readers are able to access not only their own blogs but other blogs as well. When the blog web address is entered, the contents and page designs of the book will switch to the other blog’s layout. This feature makes “T-Leaf” extremely portable as only one is needed and it can be used anywhere and at anytime. Lastly, for those who prefer to have a physical copy of their blog entries, “T-Leaf” is able to publish them and create a diary in a book format.  The target users of this technology will be current bloggers and micro-bloggers because of its convenience, portability, and flexibility.

“T-Leaf” will be one of the greatest communication media in the year 2059 and without the two milestones, this technology would be difficult to achieve. The past developments that have lead up to the two important milestones that are a big part in the invention of “T-Leaf”, are the invention of the touch screen function and graphic tablet. Also, the discovery of the OLED technology plays a big role in the development of the electronic paper (“Electronic paper”, 2006; Wikipedia, 2009). Furthermore, the invention of the Internet has allowed many communication media to develop and flourish; without it, blogging itself would not have existed. Portable devices that have all these past developments combined and have multipurpose functions, such as the Apple’s iPhone, act as frameworks in creating “T-Leaf”. Therefore, with these technological advancements, the invention of “T-Leaf” is plausible.

Blogging started out as diaries that people would use to record their daily lives and thoughts. When the Internet was invented, blogging gradually became popular due to its convenience and speed of publication. Although blogging is a useful communication medium, it contains several constraints. The biggest and most evident constraint that blogging possesses is that a computer with an Internet connection is required. For example, when a blogger travels, he would have to bring a laptop along and make sure wireless connection is available. These can be troublesome for the blogger who is travelling as laptops can be heavy and Internet may not be easily accessible. According to McLuhan’s law of media, “T-Leaf” obsoletes traditional methods of self-publishing, which includes blogging at present day which itself obsoletes traditional methods of recording, like personal diaries (Dilworth, 2006). Ironically, “T-Leaf”, an advance form of blogging, retrieves personal diaries. Because “T-Leaf” is set up in a book format, includes blog entries and has the function of writing entries using a pen, “T-Leaf” seems like it is only a digital version of the physical diary (Dilworth, 2006).

The future of the accelerating technology is exciting and holds endless possibilities. As technology changes, blogging will too advance to suit the current technology. Blogging and other communication media have come a long way since the pre-industrial era and have been constantly improving to enhance our lives and create a better future.  Within the next 50 years, wondrous technological advancements will shape the future of blogging and in the year 2059, the invention of “T-Leaf” will come about making blogging a much more efficient, convenient and sustainable communication medium.

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References

Dilworth, J. (2006). McLuhan’s 4 laws of media Retrieved April 3, 2009, from http://www.johndilworth.com/blog/post/20

“Electronic paper”: organic light emitting diodes. (n.d.) Retrieved April 2, 2009, from http://komar.cs.stthomas.edu/qm425/01s/tollefsrud2.htm

Organic light-emitting diode. (2009, April 3). Retrieved April 3, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_light-emitting_diode

During the industrial and pre-industrial period, the Internet did not exist; therefore, thoughts and information were often recorded in journals and transmitted through word-of-mouth and letters (Cosby, 2000). This medium of communication was not effective in terms of mass communication, as there were constraints such as the distance of distribution and number of copies of the information; as a result, only a small number of people were able to access them. During the industrial revolution, around the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, though the printing press had already existed more than 300 years before, the improved and more efficient production of printed media sparked the new era of publishing (Fyfe, 2006). During that time, newspapers and books were being mass published and they were able to spread the news further and to more people; this idea of mass publication marks the beginning of blogging.

After the industrial revolution and before the Internet era, from the 1930s until the 1990s, a derivation of blogs, called zines, existed and they were the most popular method of getting one’s personal thoughts and opinions out to the public. Zines, short for fanzines, are “amateur publications which are normally created and distributed by their author or, in some cases, a small team of people” (Dykeman, 2009). They are often written and published independently by average people who are passionate about certain topics to write about them. Authors would spend time and money to publish their thoughts on paper just so that they would be heard by the public. Though zines and blogs are similar to each other the fact that they both involve self-publication, one should not compare them directly because they have their differences in terms of methods of publication. Zines were first produced in the 1930s by science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts and later on were succeeded by punk music which resulted in a booming popularity around the 1980s and 90s (Rubinstein, 2007). Soon after that, zines of all kinds of topics, from politics to religion to arts and film, were widely available (Cooper, 2007; Rubinstein, 2007). Because of their similarities in concepts and contents, zines are therefore considered the precedents of blogs and blogs are known as “an extension of zines” (Rubinstein, 2007).

Since the late 1960s, when the Internet was invented and computers were slowly embedding into people’s daily lives, many forms of communication media were created such as websites and emails; the first blog ever, Links.net, was then created in January 1994 (Carvin, 2007; Thompson, 2006). Although websites and emails, which are still used extensively and appreciated today, are a good way of publishing information and conveying thoughts, they do not have the interaction that blogs provide. While websites can contain vast amount of information, it is static whereas blogs can have the ability to receive comments and feedbacks from readers (Halavais, 2004).

Blogging has had a big impact on society and has advanced since the time it started. When the first blogs were created, only web enthusiasts with the knowledge of the computer language were able to operate and manage the site properly therefore there were only a few sites that could be categorized as blogs (Blood, 2000). As the Internet improved and more simplified publishing programs were created, self-publication or blogging became very easy and manageable; as a result, the number of blogs grew exponentially. According to Technorati, a search engine for blogs, 133 million blogs were indexed since 2002 (Technorati, 2008). Because of its convenience and speed of publication, ordinary people are able to create and update blogs easily without any technical or programming skills (Wyld, 2007). Blogs are not only used as online personal diaries documenting people’s daily lives, they are also used as commentaries. As more people read and write blog entries, more discussions and contributions are made by others, which affects society’s opinions and perspective as a whole. Blogging also impacts individuals positively because it promotes amateur journalism. It gives young writers a chance to voice out their opinion easily without having to go through the trouble of print publication. Apart from the personal use, many companies and even politicians have also adopted the use of blogs to communicate and maintain relationships with the public (Wyld, 2007).

Although blogging is a relatively new technology, it has an immense history. From the pre-industrial to industrial and post-industrial era, this technology has emerged from various communication media and its development has positively affected individuals and society. In a world where technologies are constantly changing, one should appreciate technologies’ precedents and history as they are the foundation of today’s advanced technologies that help us communicate and go through our daily lives with ease.

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References

Blood, R. (2000, September 7). Weblogs: a history and perspective. Retrieved March 12, 2009, from http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html

Carvin, A. (2007, December 24). Timeline: the life of the blog. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from the National Public Radio Website: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17421022

Cooper, R. (2007, June 27). The 24 hour zine thing…the revolution will be self-published. Retrieved March 13, 2009, from http://punkmusic.about.com/b/2007/06/27/the-24-hour-zine-thing-the-revolution-will-be-self-published.htm

Cosby, B. (n.d.). African Americans and the age of information. Retrieved March 15, 2009, from http://www.geocities.com/afritech_2000/

Dykeman, M. (2009, March 3). The secret origin of blogging that no one discusses. Retrieved March 12, 2009, from http://broadcasting-brain.com/2009/03/03/secret-origin-blogging/

Fyfe, A. (2006). Information revolution: William Chambers, the publishing pioneer. Endeavour. 30(4), 120-125. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from Science Direct.

Halavais, A. (2004, November 14). Histories and definitions of blogging. Retrieved March 12, 2009, from http://alex.halavais.net/histories-and-definitions-of-blogging/

Rubinstein, M. (2007, July 20). Zines and blogs. Retrieved March 12, 2009, from http://mattrubinstein.com.au/?page_id=122

State of the blogosphere 2008. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2009, from the Technorati Website: http://technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere/

Thompson, C. (2006, February 13). The early years. Retrieved March 13, 2009, from The New York Magazine Website: http://nymag.com/news/media/15971/

Wyld, D. (2007). The blogging revolution: government in the age of web 2.0. IBM Endowment for The Business of Government. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from www.businessofgovernment.org/pdfs/WyldReportBlog.pdf

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References

Bush, V. (1945). As we may think. The Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/194507/bush

[Images of advertisements from 1963]. Retrieved March 9, 2009, from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanne001/sets/72157594549415162/

Internet pioneers: Vannevar Bush. (n.d.). Retrieved March 6, 2009, from http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/bush.html

Inventor of the week: archive. (2002, September). Retrieved March 5, 2009, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Web site: http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/bush.html

Klaphaak, Jr., D. (1996, May 2). Events in the life of Vannevar Bush. Retrieved March 5, 2009, from http://graphics.cs.brown.edu/html/info/timeline.html

Long, D. (n.d.). Vannevar Bush and the atomic bomb. Retrieved March 5, 2009, from http://www.doug-long.com/bush.htm

[Photograph of Claude Shannon]. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon

[Photograph of Franklin Roosevelt]. Retrieved March 5, 2009, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt

[Photograph of Frederick Terman]. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from: http://www-w6yx.stanford.edu/history/directory50th.html

[Photograph of James Conant]. Retrieved March 5, 2009, from: http://pro.corbis.com/search/Enlargement.aspx?CID=isg&mediauid={215F2B3D-4960-489B-8F03-EC7B789ED6A9}

[Photograph of Karl Compton]. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from: http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/biographies/compton.html

[Photograph of Lyndon Johnson]. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from: http://www.presidentnixon.org/rankings.htm

[Photograph of Ted Nelson]. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from: http://www.freemasonrytoday.com/internet/history.php

[Photograph of Vannevar Bush]. Retrieved March 5, 2009, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush

[Photograph of Vannevar Bush, James Conant, and Karl Compton at a meeting at Berkeley in 1940]. Retrieved March 9, 2009, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush

[Photograph of Vannevar Bush receiving the National Medal of Science from President Lyndon Johnson on January 13, 1964]. Retrieved March 9, 2009, from: http://www.eecs.mit.edu/AY95-96/events/bush/photos.html

Bloggers would publish their blog entry through a blogging service provider such as Blogger, Xanga, WordPress or Livejournal. Their blog would then be seen by anyone on the internet depending on the level of privacy customized by the bloggers; a blog can be, for instance, password-protected or only accessible through special websites. There are many reasons to explain blogging: firstly, they blog to document their daily lives, keeping their friends and family updated with recent activities. Secondly, they create blogs that serve as commentaries. It is where they can voice out their opinions and offer their point of view on certain events or topics. Thirdly, some bloggers treat their blogs as a means of a digital getaway. It is where they may freely release their emotional tension and write about thoughts and feelings that may be difficult to express in real life (Gumbrecht et al., 2004). They prefer to convey their private feelings through blogging because it diminishes the direct and immediate interaction or confrontation, if they were to express themselves through other means of communication. Fourthly, bloggers blog because they feel that they are “thinking by writing” (2004). Knowing that they have an audience to entertain forces them to continue to write and think. Lastly, bloggers express their opinions on their blogs as a community forum where discussions would take place and feedback from others would be received (2004). Overall, bloggers enjoy blogging primarily because they are able to express themselves better and more comfortable online while maintaining a strong voice. Some bloggers even “compared a blog post to a “monologue” in which “other voices don’t intrude”” (2004).

Blogging, serving the reasons stated above, then becomes a platform in which people may interact, overcoming physical boundaries. Many bloggers blog to keep in touch with their friends and family; they are extending their social interaction within their existing personal social network by strengthening their bonds through the constant updates on their blogs (Gumbrecht et al., 2004). Even if their readers are out of the blogger’s immediate physical vicinity, because of the communication and comments exchanged, valuable bonds can be formed. Regardless where readers are in the world, bloggers are able to connect with different communities anytime, anywhere. In a study that examines the psychosocial effects of blogging shows that bloggers not only improve their social interaction but also their social support with other bloggers or readers (Baker & Moore, 2008). The blogging community allows bloggers of similar interest to mutually support and encourage each other thus forming strong relationships. The study further shows that over time, bloggers are more satisfied with their friendship online and that these satisfactions extend to real, face-to-face relationships (2008); this is not present among non-bloggers.

However, blogging can be easily overcome by other social trends, such as micro-blogging. Micro-blogging “is a form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates … or micromedia such as photos or audio clips and publish them…” (Wikipedia, 2009) Though micro-blogging is very limited in terms of length and content, it is highly affected by popular culture; for instance, the trendy social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Micro-blogging is an alternative for those who prefer a simpler form of online communication and is seemingly taking over the popularity of blogging (Byrne, 2009). Micro-blogging is further enhanced through the emerging popularity of smart phones due to the ease of texting and uploading. Just as new social trends such as micro-blogging can overcome blogging, in the future, popular culture may reverse this effect.

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References

Agarwal, N & Liu, H. (2008). Blogosphere: Research Issues, Tools, and Applications. ACM SIGKDD Explorations Newsletter. 10(1), 18-31. Retrieved February 7, 2009, from ACM Digital Library.
Baker, J.R. & Moore, S.M. (2008). Blogging as a Social Tool: A Psychosocial Examination on the Effects of Blogging. CyberPsychology & Behavior. 11(6), 747-749. Retrieved February 11, 2009, from Academic Search Premier.
Blog. (2009, February 9). Retrieved February 10, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
Byrne, T. (2009). Blogs Are Dead! Long Live Blogging! EContent. 32(1), 22. Retrieved February 11, 2009, from Academic Search Premier.

Gumbrecht, M., Nardi, B. A., & Schiano, D. J. (2004). Blogging as social activity, or, would you let 900 million people read your diary? Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Proceedings of the 2004 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work. 222-231. Retrieved February 7, 2009, from ACM Digital Library.
Micro-blogging. (2009, February 11). Retrieved February 11, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-blogging

http://www.sfu.ca/~csl19/media_journal2.JPG

Quiz #1

Quiz #2

I’m a first year business student at Simon Fraser University. So here are a couple of things about myself: I graduated from Semiahmoo Secondary School and I live in south surrey so everyday, I have to wake up at least an hour before class starts to get ready for school. =( I’m a neat freak and a sometimes a perfectionist. This may sound very weird but I enjoy cleaning and organizing stuff very much and I get upset when things are not arranged the way that I want it to be. I’m pretty much the Asian version of Monica from the TV show, “Friends”.  Also, I love food and photography. To get me excited in any conversation, all you need to do is mention one of those.

My favourite technology is the camera. As an avid photographer, I’ve always found it fascinating how this technology is able to capture memories and significant events and preserve the photos for many generations. Photography has helped us see and learn about the world around us. Without it, it would be difficult for us to visualize historical events and life in the past and for people in the future to visualize our world today.

That’s all for now~