Future Gaze

It’s hard to know what the future will hold, but it won’t stop people from speculating. In Back To The Future they thought everyone would have hoverboards by the year 2015, at one point in time it was believed everyone would have their own robot and drive hover cars. Sadly this is not the truth, i guess you could argue that out phones are the closest things to robots.

What we have today is still amazing, we can send messages instantly using our phones and the internet, you can talk face to face (screen to screen) with someone across the world from you using skype, our medical advancements are a wonder, you can fight the signs of aging you can track your phone and other phone users with Google latitude, YOU CAN GOOGLE NOW, lost? There is google maps.  How much more creative can we be with our technology? Will it get any better? Or has the technology we have now dumbed us down so we don’t expect much more? I don’t think that is the case, there will always be innovators amongst us someone who dreams of something out of the ordinary and makes it. I would love to see the technology developed 50 years from now, but I will hate being that old person who doesn’t know how to use it and frustrates the young. 

Oh speaking of Back to the Future they also had shoes that tied themselves up for you, someone actually did invent them recently but haven't perfected them I can't remember where I saw that so don't hold me to it. But Nike did make replicas of Marty McFlys shoes: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2392641,00.asp

Second Life

I consider myself an avid gamer in fact I played WoW just because I liked the elves in it. But I WOULD NOT EVER consider playing second life. If you don’t know what second life is it is basically a virtual world were you have, well, a second life. You create how you look, you can do pretty much anything you can do in the real world in this virtual world, including buying real estate, have sex, you can do anything.

Like real life you have to pay to do things, to customise your character you actually have to pay real money to get things like, a different hairstyle, appendages (penis, boobs etc). Really second life is a separate consumer society you can buy the same products you use in the real world, and more, you can buy wings for yourself in second life.

But what effect are virtual worlds having in our real world? There are many stories about how people have had partners in real life and then had a second one in a virtual world, you can even marry them. But a distinction has to be made to make sure you don’t blur the line between reality and fantasy.  I read an article about how people were living double lives on second lives where they would be married to people online and not tell their partners. I heard about one story where one girl broke up with her real life boyfriend to pursue the boyfriend she had in the virtual world despite him already being in a relationship in real life, she practically stalked him to the point where he had to get a restraining order taken out against her.

I don't have a problem with relationships formed online, if they work for you good for you, but I think unnecessary stalking is a bit of an issue. I recently met a couple who met on W.O.W on opposite sides of the world, he was from San Diego, she was from Mooroolbark in Melbourne, they have been married for 3 years and he moved to Australia for her. What I am attempting to say is if it works for you well done but draw the line somewhere don't become that creepy person everyone wants to get away from.

Like the use of mobile phones I think it takes out some of the important social experiences you would have in real life, that everyone should go through to become a functioning member of society. Spending 24/7 on a game ruins the experiences you would be getting in the real world. Some might say you can just experience them in this virtual world, but they aren’t the same thing. I mean look at the graphics in the virtual world compared to the real world.

All in all I think it is okay to have an outlet in the virtual world where you can do things you wouldn’t normally do, personally I wouldn’t even consider second life, but I can see how others find it appealing. You have the ability to do anything you wanted, you could make yourself the rainbow fairy of happiness if you’re that way inclined. However, if you participate in second life you should have a clear line in your head where the line between reality and fantasy, and limit yourself to how much you play so you don’t miss out on the experiences you could have been having if you weren’t playing. 

iPhones the new super nannys?

Phones have become integrated into every day life, so much so I am willing to bet that everyone would panic if they lost theirs. I didn’t have a phone for a week and I panicked a bit, I had to organise things down to every detail because if anything went wrong I couldn’t call and rearrange. Phones hold our lives now, they hold our calenders, our contacts, banking details, and if you’re like me you keep your notes on there too. All in all I would have to say that smart phones are super handy.

However, being this addicted to our phones we could be considered as cyborgs as put forward by Donna Haraway. Phones have become apart of us as much as our own hands. We don’t leave home without them, we drag them around or house so we don’t miss a call or a text. They have become an extension of our own hands. In this instance we can consider ourselves as a cyborg. That is depending on what your definition of what a cyborg is. But if you consider a cyborg half human half robot, we can consider our phones as part of the robot half and we human therefore we are becoming closer to cyborgs.

I do however think that iphones are becoming lazy parent nannys. Its not uncommon for you to see a child chuck a tantrum and parents can’t be bothered consoling them properly so they just give them their phone to distract them. It seems to me that by taking that route your child is missing a very important part of imparting important socialising with your child. If you always just give them an iPad or iPhone they are going to miss an important part of social functions. In addition if you give your child games to play on the phone it encourages them to have rage problems with games earlier in life. It isn't uncommon for teens when they play games and start to lose they become angry. But what effects will it have on a younger childs behaviour.They don't get their way in a game they will become angry, that behaviour will become transferable to real life.

I think people really need to consider how much they let their child interact with technology, and consider that human interaction will be better for them growing up. We are becoming incredibly connected with technology but is it for the better or will it end up being for the worse?

Social media is for the young... and politicians

Social media has it all, it’s so easy to use, it connects masses of people, and everyone can join in. It was only inevitable that politicians would try to bug us there too. Having said that it is one of the best ways to instantly reach audiences. For politicians it can considered to be the best way of reaching audiences they wouldn’t normally connect with, for example the younger generation. The youth of today practically spend their lives on social media platforms, so by joining in politicians can potentially target a younger demographic. However, my Facebook tends to get more from Barrack Obama than any other politician, and with him lies the key. Obama is suave and the average man can relate to him making him more interesting. It’s tough to get noticed so you have do something out of the ordinary to get the attention you want.

The key to Obamas election was social media, he was on twitter, facebook, had a blog, importantly he emailed. When Obama first started he would email citizens of the state he was touring say something along the lines of ‘there is something terrible wrong with our country, and we need to change it’. People who followed Obama felt included. Obama listened to what people wanted and in his words he delivered. Obama still actively participates in social media releasing photos on his Facebook page updates twitter. The two most remember thing I can remember from Obama are these two; the image of the boy patting his head and slow jamming the news.

The Aussie politicians attempt to jump on the social media band wagon, but in my opinion with very little success if you could call it that. I vaguely remember the “Kevin ‘07” people wandering around with white tshirts on claiming their allegiance. He encouraged people to join him on Facebook and Twitter, but I wasn’t inclined to do so, he was boring there was nothing to join for. Julia Gillard has a Facebook while I haven’t liked her page so I could be missing out, hers just seems to be a biography of her more than anything. I don’t think Australian politicians have quite figured out they need a hook, to draw us in, and so far they have nothing going for them.

Social media can destroy your reputation just as quickly as it can build it. Sarah Pallin had her devout followers, and just like any other politician she had her ‘haters’. Unlike Obama who had several celebrities public announce their allegiance, she had celebrities make fun of her. Tina Fey a very popular comedy writer (writes 30 rock, assisted on SNL), public impersonated Sarah Pallin on Saturday Night Live, SNL, from then on Sarah Pallin had lost supporters and could be considered the downfall in her run.

I think social media is beneficial for politicians, it reaches a broader demographic but what about the older people who don’t use social media? Politicians may end up overlooking people who don’t use social media. While these people can still get the important news quoted to them in newspapers, they end up getting it slower than those who use social media.

Key things politicians shouldn’t forget on social media:

·         Listen to your target audience

·         Connect with them

·         Have a hook

·         Think before you update

·         Most importantly don’t forget about the people who don’t have social media.