New Media Takeover

I recently watched a TV show on Hulu when I ran into a surprising ad. It’s a commercial for the new Chevy Cruze and the interesting part is the new technology Chevy has incorporated into the car. Apparently you can now update your status and listen to your news feed from the seat of your car. This new feature, according to an article in Gigaom, is a service provided by OnStar and has been in the works for several months now.

Instead of spending only a few hours on Facebook at home, you now have the capability to lurk your friends while driving through a chaotic intersection. This new feature is almost as dangerous as texting while driving; one minute you may be thinking of a witty comment to post and the next moment your car could be wrapped around a telephone pole. It is hard to believe how widespread Facebook has become; it is in our phones, and now our cars. If this growth continues who knows where else Facebook will end up. 

Besides just social networking sites, other types of new media are also beginning to expand into new arenas. Netflix for example is now making its way into our TVs. If you are unfamiliar with Netflix, it is an online rental website that allows you to have movies shipped directly to you or gives you the ability to watch them online. I myself don’t use Netflix, but for those people who enjoy watching movies or like renting full seasons of shows it is a great deal. It used to be only available on your computer, but with today’s advanced technology, viewers are able to access their accounts from their internet connected TV. Some companies have even gone to the extent of putting a Netflix button on the remote control to make watching a movie that much easier. I just wonder what will happen to ticket sales when everyone is watching movies online. Although people may still go to the theaters to see the large budget movies, they might not shell out 12 dollars for an average movie when they could just watch it on Netflix. Each year the price of theater tickets go up and with Netflix costing only 10 dollars a month it doesn’t make sense to pay for a movie ticket anymore.

Hulu is also another giant in the realm of visual entertainment. Unlike Netflix, Hulu is focused on television shows. If you have never used Hulu, it is an online service that allows you to watch a wide variety of television shows for free. Although there is a delay between the time shows are aired on TV and uploaded onto the site, overall Hulu is much more convenient than cable or satellite television, let alone cheaper.  Instead of paying 60-100 dollars a month for DirecTV, Hulu allows you to watch shows for free, at any time and you don’t even need to record them. This past January Hulu began its Hulu Plus program which allows people to access Hulu from their TV using a DVR, and it only costs 10 dollars a month. If cable and satellite providers don’t make some needed changes they will soon find themselves struggling to compete with Hulu.

As our technology improves it is only inevitable for new media to take over a larger portion of society. First it was our phones, then TVs, and now cars; soon many of our devices will become connected to the internet and help take part in the rise of new media. But with this rise, older forms of media may be impacted. Hulu might overtake cable companies and Netflix may end the success of the movie theaters; who knows.

The Draw of RPGs

Everyday my roommate spends multiple hours on the computer playing some sort of game, whether it is StarCraft or more commonly, Eve. On some days he will even sacrifice going to class lecture in order to “kill shit”, as he would put it. But as a non-gamer I must ask the question: why? What about Eve is so enticing that he needs to miss class? Is he addicted or are there certain aspects of the game that give him satisfaction in ways life can’t.

If you are unfamiliar with Eve, it is an MMORPSG or a massive multiplayer online role-playing space game. For people like me who don't understand gamer language, that just means the person playing the game is able to control a character within a community or in this case a universe inhabited by many other players. Through this fictional person the gamer is able to kill, trade, fight, and explore; basically everything a “normal” person controlling a ship would do. Eve gives the user the ability team up with other players in order to survive.

Although for some games like Tetris and Robot Unicorn users might become addicted to the challenge, RPGs (role playing games) similar to Eve create an entirely different kind of draw. I might say that my roommate is addicted to Eve, but it is much more than that. RPGs give the user similar satisfactions that they would be getting out of life; the gamers have accomplishments, they control money, and even socialize with other players. I personally don’t believe that you can live your life through a game, but for some people gaming is their life. My roommate has yet to reach that extreme, but he still puts more effort into Eve than he does his own life, and that’s what worries me.

Obviously most people don’t live life through a game, but for those who do, it makes you consider what the long term impact might be on the gamer’s life. Will they ever socialize in public and form relationships with people? Will their need to use role playing games subside or will it grow as technology allows for more realistic gaming environments? Who knows?

 Just this past week I saw the 2009 motion picture, Gamer (it was pretty graphic so be warned). This movie stars Gerard Butler and takes the viewer through a futuristic world of gaming. Instead of gamers controlling fictional characters in RPG’s, the gamer controls a real life human being. Through the use of “nanites” implanted in the brain, gamers are able to take complete control of a person. Within the film you see people “living” through other people; in some instances old men controlling young women in a game called Society.   Now this is an unrealistic scenario of the future (I hope), but it creates an interesting perspective about the way some people utilize gaming. Similar to my roommate or extreme gamers, the characters in the movie use real life role playing games to get some type of satisfaction that they might not otherwise be able to get.

                So I guess I would have to say that my roommate is addicted, but more to what the game gives him than the game itself. I just wonder what would happen if he didn’t have RPGs to fall back on. Would he and other extreme gamers be able to cope?

DC++: A Convenient Way to Steal

Do you have that song…“just use DC ++”

Want to watch a movie…“just use DC ++”

Where can I get that game…“just use DC ++”

 

  

    Before coming to Berkeley I had never heard of DC ++. I was an amateur when it came to computers (and still am) and I felt even more technically inept when I moved into a dorm full of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Majors. It wasn’t long before a friend introduced me to DC ++, a P2P or peer to peer filing sharing service that allowed him to freely download almost any movie or game he could think of. I myself never “downloaded” anything, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy watching the movies they had downloaded. However I soon began to question the legality of DC++; it was unfortunate, but downloading those videos was equivalent to stealing them.  

     If you are unfamiliar with DC ++ it is similar to LimeWire and Napster (both of which have now been shut down, LimeWire) in that it enables the user to transfer and receive files with other network participants. After installing the necessary software and setting up your account, all you have to do is share a required amount of data and you are ready to begin downloading. It is almost too simple; DC++’s interface allows you to type a movie or song into the search engine and choose from any user to download. You can even send messages or check how many other people have downloaded the file to see if it is safe; however you can never be certain until you download it.

Computers can steal too!

     Although the service itself is not illegal, downloading copyrighted material is. Several years ago both the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) pressured UC-Berkeley into tightening up their security and surveillance to prevent students from using peer to peer services like DC ++. If any of you have lived in the dorms at Berkeley you will probably recall the hour long session ResComp gave before allowing us to access their network. Every year they caution the students about the consequences of downloading illegal material. If you are caught, the penalty can be up to several thousand dollars in fines; however it seems as though only serious offenders are ever prosecuted. Although I don’t agree with infringing copyright laws, if you are smart about it and limit how much you download, odds are you won’t find yourself in jail, but there is no guarantee.

 

    Besides the legal consequences, there are many other dangers to using P2P services. According to several websites sharing files with other users can make your computer more susceptible to being infiltrated by hackers.  P2P software often also contains malware that is used to collect personal information about the users. Although most of the time files on DC++ are safe, there is always the chance that you download a program that contains a virus or worm.

   With so many other legal ways to obtain media, it doesn’t make sense to put you or your computer at risk. Yes, you may be able to scan the files you download or close the program to mediate who accesses your data, but in end it isn’t worth it. If people were able to more clearly see P2P services as just another form of stealing, maybe less people would install programs like DC ++.  Ultimately it is the user’s responsibility to fill in the void between “downloading” and stealing.