The Digital Divide

The Digital Divide is a classic story of haves vs. have-nots. Except in this case it is not access to nutritious food, clean drinking water or safe neighborhoods. It is about access to digital devices and the Internet. The theory is that growing up on the wrong side of the digital divide can harm your present and future life in significant ways ... access to education, for example.

This report is from WUNC, the NPR station at the University of North Carolina.

Questions...

•Why did the college student featured in the story spend an unusual amount of time in a local McDonalds parking lot?

•Why do around 20 million Americans lack access to broadband Internet?

•How did the federal government help rural America from falling behind the rest of the country in the 1930s?

Screens Great and Small

The following is a MediaNote Classic. It was originally presented to MC101 students in October 2017.

Academic researchers have done a tremendous amount of research over the potential damage that can be done to children if they are allowed to watch too much television. But what about children (8 or younger) who spend a lot a time online? NPR reports.

Questions...

•Which do you feel is worse: letting small children watch a lot of TV, or spend a lot of time online? Does anyone want to make the case that a lot of screen time is beneficial to small children?

•Which is more addicting: TV or the Internet? Why?

•Which is a better teacher: TV or the Internet? Why?

•Under what conditions would you allow an 8-year-old go online?

When Can Police Search Cell Phones?

The following is a MediaNote Classic. It was originally presented in May 2014. After we discuss the MediaNote, Your Humble Blogger will tell you how the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in this case.

You are stopped for a minor traffic violation. Police find guns in your car. Concerned that you might be a dangerous criminal, police seize your cellphone. They search for photos, emails, text messages, phone numbers and anything else indicating criminality. Is this good, attentive police work or is it unreasonable search and seizure? The Supreme Court of the United States will soon decide if a cellphone search is more like a search of a suspected criminal's automobile (which does not need a search warrant) or more like a search of a suspected criminal's home (which DOES need a search warrant). NPR reports.

Questions...

•What types of information do you leave on your cellphone?

•In terms of providing information about you, is a cellphone more like a wallet, or more like a person's home? Why?

•Do you think the police acted responsibly in the San Diego case? Why or why not?

•If police are able to search cellphones of suspected criminals without a warrant, how will it affect us as individuals and as a larger society?

Emergency MediaNote!

This MediaNote was presented to the MW class only.br>
Today at 11:18 am a new text-based emergency warning system will be activated. It supplements the emergency broadcast system that we have seen tested on television down through the years. But in these highly polarized times, there is concern from some that this national system could be misused. NPR reports.

Questions...

•For what sort of situations would the federal government need to send an emergency text message to everyone's phone?

•How might these emergency messages be particularly important to Californians?

•Should citizens have the right to opt out of receiving these messages? Why or why not?

•Are you concerned that President Trump or future presidents will misuse this system? What kind of misuse could you imagine?

NOTE: Glendale College has a text-based warning system called Nixle. If you want to sign up for Nixle (or simply know more about it), follow this link for details.

Your Digital Fingerprints

The Internet seems so anonymous. Who can tell that it was you browsing that adult entertainment website or that you are actually HottChevy126? But with increasing accuracy, advertisers know. And they know even if you and your neighbor use the same type of computer on the same network. NPR reports.

Questions...

•What makes your computer yours? How could you pick out your computer from a pile of similar-looking computers?

•What topics do you browse online?

•How is targeted advertising good for you? How is it bad for you?

•How can digital fingerprinting be used to exploit your weaknesses or problems?

•Do you think this is an invasion of privacy? Why or why not?

Journalism That Matters

Students sometimes see journalism as little more than entertainment. But at its best, journalism can reveal harsh truths, stand up to government, and present an unbiased viewpoint. For the last two years, the Washington Post has traced police shooting in the U.S. and has compiled statistics more complete than even the federal government has compiled. NPR reports.

Questions...

•Why is this valuable journalism?

•Are the Post's statistics more believable than police statistics or Black Lives Matter statistics? Why or why not?

•Why are cellphones and social media important in bringing this issue to the public's attention?

•How is live streaming of a confrontation with police an example of disintermediation?

•How can footage from officer cameras or social media posts be misleading?

Gotta Catch 'Em All

Pokemon is a little like a horror movie. Just when you think the monster is dead, it rises up once again.


Just when you thought you were through with Pokemon, it rises up in the form of Pokemon Go, which has become an immediate sensation. NPR reports.

Questions...

•Who has played Pokemon Go?

•How could the Getty Center use augmented reality? How could it be used for a Hollywood Boulevard walking tour?

•How much of Pokemon Go's success is due to escapism during a time of police shootings and other turmoil?

•How could Pokemon Go be used to get children (or adults) more physically active?

•What negatives could come rom Pokemon Go?

•Will this be a short-lived fad, or something that will hang around awhile?

Driven to Distraction

It has to be scary to be a car company executive watching Google take the lead in driverless car technology. So it makes sense that Ford and Toyota are responding with car navigation and entertainment systems that bypass the rapidly-evolving tech giants. Reuters reports.

Questions...

•If a car self-drives, what communications could potentially be in the car?

•What information could be gathered from people out in their cars? How might advertisers use it?

•Are car radios obsolete?

Apple's Digital DJs

It has been a long time since live radio was considered trendy or cool. But maybe that is about to change. Apple has entered the streamed audio business with an old-fashioned idea: a live, DJ-driven music station, Beats 1. The Los Angeles Times reports.

Questions...

•What is radio? Define it.

•In what ways you listen to the radio? How often?

•Do you listen to radio more on your phone than on a radio?

•Does Beats 1 sound appealing to you? Why?

•Are car radios obsolete? Why or why not?

"Car, Do a Burnout"

The following is a MediaNote Classic. It was originally presented to MC101 classes in January 2015.

It's unclear whether traditional car makers like Mercedes-Benz want to build a self-driving car, but if they don't Google and other tech companies will. So the self-driving Mercedes-Benz F 015 concept car was introduced this week at the Consumer Electronics Show and the car maker released this short video to give us some idea of what people can actually do inside a self-driving car.

Questions...

•What media capabilities should a self-driving car have?

•Should self-driving cars be controlled through smartphone apps? Why or why not?

•Are self-driving cars good for Uber? How about for Zip Car? Are self-driving cars good or bad for the auto industry?

Mapping a Path to the Future

Maps used to be free, on paper, and given away at gas stations. They showed you where roads went.

But that is an antiquated and narrow perception of what maps do. That is becoming more and more apparent in the Internet Age.

Google has become dominant in the world of online maps. But there are independent competitors. NPR reports.

Questions...

•What do we use maps for?

•What can digital maps do that paper maps can't?

•Can maps invade our privacy? How?

•Is there power in being the main supplier of online maps? What power?

•Where is the profit in online maps?

The Art of Protest

Pussy Riot may be the most controversial musical group in the world--at least in their Russian homeland.

The feminist, pro-LBGT, and anti-authoritarian group is known for its surprise public performances of punk-inspired protest songs. The most successful of these performances are edited into music videos. Many are disrupted by Russian authorities. Two Pussy Riot members recently served a 21-month jail sentence for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred." It is fair to say that Pussy Riot has a better reputation in the U.S. and Western Europe than it does in Russia.

The Winter Olympics in Sochi gave Pussy Riot a unique opportunity to spread its anti-authoritarian message worldwide. National Public Radio has posted Pussy Riot's Sochi video, including members of the group being whipped by Cossacks.

•Is the video effective at presenting its anti-authoritarian viewpoint?

•Why was it so hard for Russian authorities to control the pictures coming out of Sochi?

•What level of protest should have been allowed during the Olympics, and what would have been too much?

•Does the Internet help us understand one another, or does it make us angrier at each other?

•What are some other examples of artists, actors and musicians becoming instruments of protest?

iStool Pigeon

Is your iPhone an iNformant? Do US, British and perhaps other spy agencies have basic data about you? Are corporations also collecting data about you, your preferences, your whereabouts, and your life?

Yes on all counts.

The New York Times and The Guardian of London recently reported on how the National Security Agency (among others) are using so-called "leaky apps" on your smart phone to collect data about you. Here is the New York Times article.

And just in case you were wondering what a "stool pigeon" is, it's clear that you didn't watch enough 1940s gangster movies. Here is the dictionary definition.

Questions...

•Is this a big deal to you? Why or why not?

•What sort of things may you not want to do with your smart phone?

•Which do you fear more: Big Government, or Big Business? Why?

•Is Edward Snowden a hero, a traitor, or something else?

Is Glass Revolutionary, Or Just Revolting?

Google has spent considerable time and money making its wearable computer, Glass, ready for a general consumer rollout. Google's latest move has been to make the device work with prescription lenses and a variety of frames. But is it just too geeky to succeed?

Here's a video that introduces how Glass works. And here is an NPR story about what it is like to wear Glass around other people.

Questions...

•Is Glass too geeky to succeed?

•Is it more like an iPhone, which a lot of people want, or more like a Segway, which only a few people want?

•Who is most likely to buy Google Glass? Who is the target customer?

•Will people eventually get used to others wearing Glass?

•How might Glass be a bad thing for the wearer, or for others?

•Design a Glass app for the Getty Center.

WikiTV, or Snakes on a Tube?

Usually, a new television show is lucky if it can trot out a few well-written characters and contains some ideas that, at least, seem fresh. But HitRECord is striving to define what a TV show is.

HitRECord is audience-participation TV. Here is a trailer for the show. And here is a Los Angeles Times article about it.

Questions...

•How is this different from most TV shows? What past or current TV shows does it most resemble?

•What is the "We Are Smarter Than Me" Theory, and how does it apply here?

•Do you believe that thousands of people on the Internet can out-create a half-dozed professional television writers? If so, how?

•How will this show build an audience?

•Is this the future of TV?

Upping Their Game?

The video game industry has grown so large that its profits rival that of the movie industry. So it makes sense that game makers are exploring the far reaches of what a game can communicate, while remaining playable and profitable. This NPR story discusses the rise of so-called empathy games.

Questions...

•Why do you think companies are experimenting with "empathy games"?

•Which is the better teaching tool--games or films? Why?

•Which is the better storytelling tool? Why?

•Which is the better persuasive tool? Why?

•Will empathy games be successful at broadening the gamer audience?

•Should games be considered a mass medium? Why or why not?

Dump the Disk?

How do you spell DVD? In a few years, it may be D-E-A-D. Sales of streamed entertainment is booming, while the sales of disks are falling. There are many reasons for this, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.

Questions...

•Will people always want to own physical copies of their favoriteTV shows, movies and music? Why or why not?

•What are the advantages of streamed video for the consumer?

•What are the advantages of streamed video for the studio or distributor?

•Who loses out with the streaming model?

Your Talking Toothbrush

Internet-connected scales and beds are among the high-tech gadgets being previewed at this week's Consumer Electronics Show. Is there no end to what parts of their private lives that people will share over the Internet?

NPR reports.

Questions...

•How might a person use an Internet-connected scale?

•What are other everyday items that might be connected to the Internet?

•If every new car becomes a 4G Internet hotspot, how does that change the idea of what a car is? And what if the car can drive itself?

•Does all this Internet connectivity matter to advertisers? How?

Bridging the Digital Divide

The haves in this world use desktop, laptop and tablet computers, smartphones, and who knows what else. The have-nots use paper.

But that may be changing as eBook readers turnout to be surprisingly adaptable to the developing world. NPR reports.

Questions...

•Generally speaking, what advantages do eBooks have over paper books?

•When should schools upgrade to eBooks?

•How much reading do you do on your phone?

•What kinds of eBooks should aid organizations make available to poor countries?

Future of Glass Isn't Clear

Google Glass is one of the most anticipated, revolutionary, unsettling and geeky high-tech devices to hit the consumer market since, well, forever. Do we really want to live in a world where we can just look at someone and learn everything there is to know about them? And, of course, others will do the same to us. Or is Glass just undeniably cool? The Los Angeles Times reports.

Questions...

•What do you think about Glass?

•Do you foresee a Glass backlash?

•Will Glass Destroy personal Privacy?

•How is the distribution plan for Glass an example of microanalytic functional analysis?

And, just for fun, we have a Poll Everywhere poll.