Comparative Media Analysis

Site: http://www.fordvehicles.com/cars/mustang/launch/

One of the most intriguing technlogies that is changing the world of the internet in my mind is Flash. Flash is narrowing the bridges of media and bringing on a whole new world of digital convergence. A web design group that I follow and leads the design in Flash websites is 2advanced.com. 2advanced.com has a large portfolio but for this exercise I focused on the Ford Mustang Website.

The website integrates through the use of Flash a commercial like feel. But unlike a commercial, content-wise, the user is able to select what information he or she wants to view and in what order. In the sense of a television commercial, the technical contraints limit the selectivity and order of content from the viewer but the flash presentation does not. The content selection extends to the sound and even the motion of the vehicle. As you hover your mouse over the car, an engine-start sound plays and if you click on the vehicle, it speeds away with a dust special effect left behind. The user has total control of what scenario he or she wants to create in conjunction with their imagination.

The medium of the internet also implies a more personal connection. Culture wise, and to a certain degree the design of a computer, limits how public a computer screen is. Many users who use a computer and might come by the Ford Mustang website might be doing so in private and in result, experience the website for themselves. On the other hand, a television commercial is more of a public event. Unlike television, the user who's experiencing the promotional piece online has the option of repeating the special effects to their desire... resulting in increased self-gratification.

Not sure exactly where I'm going with this, but overall I believe that Ford is hoping that this cross-mix of media, the level of content control provided, and the increase of self-gratification will result in increased sales.

Technobiography

Technology, from my existence to my future, has played a crucial part in my life. I was born one month premature and if it wasn't for the technology available at that time I might not have been here today, so I'm grateful for that. As far as what technology has made me today, well many people would assume that I'm completely made of technology. About a year ago I came by an old photo of me when I was about five years old or so in front of an Apple IIe typing away. That photo brought back so many memories; those that I remember and those that I didn't but was reminded of by my family. So in a way, technology has always played a part in my life and today I try to take advance of technology in all aspects of life. I quickly utilized a PDA in my freshmen year of high school. Since high school, I have gone through three PDA's due to unfortunate events such as dropping them or jumping over a wall with a PDA and a soda can in the same pocket; long story, ask later. Since early high school I've been involved in webmastering and collaborating in website teams online, more specifically for gaming web sites. In my early high school life I became addicted to this game called StarCraft. But the game triggered a gene in me that i knew would separate me from the other mainstream gamers. I began to focus more on the community and development of the fansites more than on the game.

I was fascinated how teams of people would come together and develop a resource for the community, and more importantly, for free. I landed a position at a major gaming website for Starcraft and from there began to experiment with administering dedicated linux servers over the internet and even had my own 1-800 24hr tech support line, working for free of course. As I think back, it's hard to imagine that all of my webmastering began in the early parts of high school. Since then, I've been married to technology for all aspects of my life. I'm always one of the first to try a new part of technology and even though some people would say that I should wait until prices drop on cutting edge technology... I understand that someone has to pay for the research and development costs and I'm more than happy to be one of those people. Where would the world be if we didn't push for the next more efficient and productive technology.

Overall, on the other half of the table, I have begun to see the social damage that technology has been inflicting. Sure, technology has brought the world closer, but it's spread the neighborhood farther. But then again, that's another story to tell later...

Fletcher's Ghost Part 1

One hazy dark night, the house was silent as an empty room. All the lights were on except for the third floor. No one understood why the lights on the third floor would not turn on. The fault with the lights did not reside on the user since everyone gave it a try at flipping the switches. The wires were checked, the bulbs replaced, even the constant banging on the switches did not work. The occupants on the third floor began to have double-thoughts of sleeping in their rooms. How could they sleep anyways without being able to see where they were walking? Everyone reassured them that it must just be a circuit breaker that had tripped and a quick call to Public Safety tomorrow morning would get it all fixed. In the mean time, a couple of flash lights will suffice. The habitants of the third floor stare at each other in question and did not move for some time, thinking about what if it wasn’t a circuit breaker and instead something else… something more terrifying. Finally, one of the girls that is staying on the third floor took the flash light and declared, “What’s the worse that can happen, I’ll just go straight to bed and that’s that”. Someone else replied, “I don’t know, this house just gives me that weird feeling and I thought on the way up to the door I saw something moving on the third floor”. One of the guys just wanted to call it a night since it was almost approaching midnight and everyone had to be up by 9:00am the next morning, so he reassured the girls that he’ll go up there and check things out with the flashlight first. The girls looked at each other almost as if in protest, but did not say anything and just nodded in agreement. The brave guy took the flashlight and headed up the stairs to the third floor. As he walked up the stairs, each step ended in a loud creak that vibrated throughout the walls. Slowly the guy’s form disappeared into the darkness and only his light could be seen. As he turns the corner to head into one of the rooms, the creaks faded and all becomes silent again. A couple of minutes pass and it had become as silent as before. More minutes pass and there was no sign of our brave hero… Everyone looks at each other and no words were said but the fright was seen in everybody’s eyes.


To be continued...