So! Tonight, I'll be looking into the introductory context from Felix Stalder.
"We are in the midst of a deep, long, muddled cultural transition, profoundly related to the incorporation of networked media technologies, wired and wireless, into virtually all aspects of our daily lives."
Wholeheartedly agreeing w/ this. As I have said in my first post that the world we're living in a world mirroring the fact of technological growth & little did we know, networks have quietly & subconsciously embedded themselves into our daily lives.
Even unfortunate ones who doesn't consume the resources of networks (for various reasons) can see that the environment has changed & transformed. This further strengthens the idea of network really is powerful.
Back to the story. Stalder sees this historical development in 2 important aspects.
The former, 'Going Digital!'; the latter, 'Out w/ Hierarchies & In w/ Networks!'.
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Going Digital!
It is true that everything has now turned into digital materials! Like ads, I'm sure everyone are exposed to as much digital elements as 150 ads per day or so. Like Stalder says, even physical objects are designed digitally! Which got me to recall the first day of class where we learned a particular term, 'Immaterial Productions'. Remember guys?
Maybe Willy Wonka should turn to Immaterial Production. :P
Just a quick recap of immaterial productions in relation to digitalization is that different components of productions are done globally & virtually, real timed. The example? Say, Ferrari has a designing team/ faculty in Milan, a manufacturing team in China, Marketing team in San Francisco; now, every team will be able to follow the duty roster & keep up w/ each other digitally by having real time discussion.
Cool huh!
Prior to that of digitalization, several challenges have arise. As Stalder mentioned, authorship has moved away to a collective group, to a network society, to the foggy thin line of the artists & audiences, the adaptation of intellectual property laws & more, but most importantly, the status of the original masterpiece itself.
Film is a masterpiece.
Other great work done digitally are virtual tours! Feast on your eyes here!
Now, am sharing w/ you a video, which I think is absolutely brilliant! It shows how much further can we go to being digitalized in this space & time.
Out w/ Hierarchies & In w/ Networks!
This second point talks about a rather free world w/o authorities controlling what we're doing virtually, hence the mushrooms of blogging as a reporting tool & whatnot. It is true that social networking isn't something new but it has potentially extended beyond a miniscule scale & has the abilities to bring together a collective group.
The influence of hierarchy is decreasing in the hyperreality world & informational networks are taking over. Development is catching up people! Hold tight to your seats!
Now can you really imagine yourself living in the century of telephony & telegraphs? As opposed to living in the digital world? Would be fun to think about!
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Personal Note:
I shall be dissecting Felix Stalder's work in several parts as to avoid information dump & to make things easier for everyone! Check this space out in a few days for more updates on this week's reading! Good luck peeps!
