Husam Mathews

Technoloy and the artist of creative Design

6/25/09

                                              Neal Stephenson and New Media

Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash identifies a major shift in which writing and film made throughout the century. Neal’s taste for science fiction could possibly be driven by the events that occur in his environment or surroundings.  literature today is composed according to how people  view the ideas and thoughts that are portrayed in film and writings, and people can relate to those ideas conveyed by an author better, if they have some type of knowledge or understanding about a specific idea used in a literary text. Living in an advanced world has encouraged, and helps motivate Neal to create a cybernetic thrill of a writing. His novel combines some of the perspectives of other writers like Katherine Hayles of Electronic Literature, or Janet Murray of Hamlet on the Holodeck. These writers all share common thoughts about technology, and how that technology effects society in the age of new media.

Janet Mrurray’s Hamlet on the Holodeck examines the history of a writer and points out what exactly is it that influences a composer to write or produce. She mentions that writers of new media have room to expand the boundaries of which writers of the past were not permitted to go. History can only be used to  portray ideas  in film and writings after specific events have occured. It is obvious that lacking experience of an event that occurs will limit, or will not give a writer room to  write or speak about a specific subject.

Writers of the past such as Shakespear did not experience the same events as writers in the age of new  media like Neal Stephenson. Snow Crash goes far and beyond the imagination of writers of the old age of media by creating a virtual world that appears to be some what realistic when consumed by the audience. Neal’s style of writing and composure is unique because modern day society can understand the futuristic concept of his writing. Futuristic as far as how Neal’s concept of a computer virus along with a database effects Hiro, a group of pizza selling mobsters, and the entire world. The ideas in Neal’s novel seem to include similar concepts about technology when relating his work to Katherine Hayles Electronic Literature. One of the main ideas of her text is that computers and technology seem to be converging in media as time progresses.

The Dialogue Neal uses in Snow Crash suggests a lot about the author and the targeted audience. I call his style of writing free lancing. Typically this virtual writer uses content that reflects modern day culture in a world of new media. The main scope of today’s computer programers and software designers is to develope advancements within technology that can better or promote more effecient electronic tools.

Writers such as Neal Stephenson of Snow Crash, Janet Murray of Hamlet on the Holodeck, and Katherine Hayles in Electionic Literature will inspire writers to contribute to the movement in the age of new media.

Murray,Janet.Hamlet on the Holodeck: the future of narrative in cyberspace,Mit press.Cambridge, Massachussetts 1997.

Hayles, Katherine.Electronic Literature:New Horizons for the Literary.University of Notre Dame press.2008

Stephenson,Neal.Snow Crash:Banton Books NY.1992

Copycat or Not

Could you imagine a world without copyright laws and regulations? Composers of fine art most certainly appreciate the benifits of these rules. I would be pretty upset if I found out that someone had used my music or ideas in their  work and intended on recieving credit or appreciation for that production. The thought of  mis-using or abusing music or any other type of  original production is probably why the whole ordeal with copyrights came about. Lawrence Lessig’s Remix paints a picture of  the history about the establishment of copy right laws. There were complaints about copyright rules and restrictions early on in the twentieth century that encouraged a change within it’s policy.” On a humid day in June 1906, one of America’s favorite composers climbed the steps of the Library of Congress to testify about the stautus of copyright law in America. John Philip Sousa was a critic of the then relatively lax United States copyright system. He had come to Washington to ask that congress “remedy a serious defect in the law, which permits manufacturers and sellers to phonograph records to appropriate for their own profit”(23).

In the past there were not as many devices that could capture and duplicate the works of other artist, but at the turn of the century arose tecnological advances that made it possible to manipulate the works of others. Before an explosion of certain tecnological advances, The part of culture when it’s intended for the audience to only consume the music produced by others  is called RO culture(Read Only). Ro culture describes how people interpid the productions of other artist. This is a natural culture that all individuals have embedded in their thoughts. R(W) or read/write culture in comparison to read only(RO) culture places less emphasis on the use of material of the  original producer and allows for new creativist to use the same instruments and read other artist’s work exactly for what it is, which in return gives credit to the originator of the work, and earns a new composer his or her own appreciation.

Today technology is so advanced that anybody can pretty much copy, download, or steal music or ideas from other artist in a matter of moments. Composers in this time period should be very cautious about giving out their work without publishing it, and they should copyright and hold all legal documentations conscerning their work.

Lessig,Lawrence.Remix:Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the hybrid  economy.Peguinpress2008(24)

Media Morphs

Today media systems are used world wide. These systems are important because consumers rely on a source of information that informs them about the events that occur in his or her environment. Without media systems, many individuals will feel left out or disconnected from the events and people that exist in distant or other nations. Producers organize and present media content differently according to the audience or group who will be recieving the  information. Media content circulates and plays a major role in the economy,and ideas may shift or change when traveling from one system of media into the next. Henry Jenkins calls these changes convergence. He difines convergence to be “a technological process bringing together multiple media functions within the same devices. Convergence also represents a cultural shift as consumers are encouraged to seek out new information and make connections among dispersed media content”(3).

A cultural shift in media is one of the reasons why ideas change when being delivered to consumers. Americans will form their own point of veiw about events that occur, and so will the Japanese and people in other countries. The culutural differences between groups of people effects how the media functions. Try to relate how the Americanized stream of media delivers information to consumers in comparison to nations or countries that are considered to be enimies of the United States. We can assume that each system of media will have producers develope content that supports their own side of the story.

Cultural convergence can be used in other departments as well. Entertainment content also flows through the media. Although it’s not as important as  events that occur in a polical platform, entertainment sitll gains the attention of many consumers. Jenkins theory about technological advances in media and their connections to other devices also suggest something about the concept of convergence. Henry gives an example of  “intoxicated students  at a local high school who use their cell phones spontaneously to produce their own soft-core porn movie involving topless cheerleaders making out in the locker room. Within hours, the movie is circulating across the school, being downloaded by students and teachers alike and watched between classes on personal media devices”(17). Convergence happens every where. Politics, entertainment,sports, and technology can  all change when traveling through different steams of media.   

It’s not exactly television, the internet, or the radio that allows convergence to occur, but it is how individuals interpid the messages being delivered through media. Naturally everone will have their own ideas and beliefs about history and events that presently occur, but cultural convergence in the media is what influences people world wide.

Jenkens, Henry.Convergence Culture:New York University Press.New York London. 2006(3-17)

Janet Murray and “Hamlet on the Holodeck”

Janet Murray and I seem to share similar beliefs and ideas about literature  and film history. I like how she describes  the productions of past composers, and relates them to the artist in the age of new media. The differences between artist of the past such as Shakespear and new media developers help identify what motivates movie makers or storytellers today. An author or producer tends to include content in thier productions that may be a symbolic representation of an event that has occured during the author’s time period. How can a reader  or film critic gain a complete understanding of a composer’s work? Well Janet and I belive that there a several factors that help us understand the sole intentions of an author. Who influenced the writer or film producer? What events arose during their time periods? How has culture or cultural interactions motivated their writings or productions? These three factors can all be considered when analyzing the significance of an Artist’s work. Janet believes that “Academic theorists reduce literature to a system of arbitrary symbols that do not point to anything but other texts” (274). This quote supports my idea of  how writers and producers are sometimes inspired by other sources. 

Janet Murray’s idea about cyberdrama expands my thoughts about the creative design of film and writings. Possessing the ability of creating an unknown world, and depicting it as reality in the eyes and minds of others is a tool that can be used to earn appreciation of writings or films. Janet brought to my attention that the members of  new age media have changed the plot in films, and themes of writings, and have molded them into the virtuous world of entertainment. This approach of film development is what awards our writers and  film makers today as being  members of new age  media.  

Murray,Janet. Hamlet on the Holodeck: Cambridge, MassachusetsMIT Press,   1997

Husammathews

Hello summer class of 2009, My name is Husam Mathews, and I attended the 2009 graduation ceromony on may 8, and recieved my associates of science degree in general studies. I am a CIT major, and I will become a senior after completing six credit hours this summer. I am  also a representative who advertises for Vector coorporation’s kithchen  Cutlery,. I enjoy producing music, playing sports, and planting flowers.

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