Wk 2COM130

1. Week 2 LectureNotes COM 130
Internet, media convergence, and video gaming as mass media

2. BirthoftheInternet
 ARPAnet
 Created by the Department of
Defense to enable researchers to
share computer processing time
 E-mail improved communication.
 Each computer hub had similar
status and power.
 No master switch to shut it down

3. Stepstotoday’sInternet
Packet Switching: Letting Computers
Talk to Each Other
•Paul Baran (1964): Planned a military
communication network that could survive a
nuclear strike
1
Fall 1969 ARPAnet connected four
institutions
•initial nodes were:
•University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA)
•Stanford Research Institute
•University of California-Santa Barbara
•University of Utah
•first message from UCLA to Stanford was “hello”
•coincided with first moon landing
2
(1980) National Science Foundation
connects five supercomputers using
Internet Protocol to form The Internet
3

4. creatingthe
Internet’s
protocols
Birth of email 1972. Ray
Tomlinson developed the @
format
Birth of TCP/IP 1973. Bob Kahn
and Vint Cerf invented TCP/IP
which allowed for conversion of
messages across incompatible
networks
Birth of the Web (1990s). Tim
Berners-Lee developed HTML

5. TheInternetisadistributednetwork

6. TheNet
Widens
 Entrepreneurial stage: Early 1970s to late 1980s
 Microprocessors
 Signaled the Net’s marketability
 Allowed for the first personal computers
 Fiber-optic cable
 Became the standard for transmitting communication
data rapidly
 Web browsers such as Mosaic in 1993 allow users to navigate the
Web
 Internet Service Providers (ISP)
 Connect users to their proprietary Web system
 Broadband connections have largely replaced dial-up ISP
services.
 Major ISPs are Verizon, Time Warner Cable, Charter, and
Cox

7. PeopleUseDigitalCommunicaiton
Social media encourage users to create content and interact with other people.
Google became a major success largely due to its new algorithm based on a page’s popularity.
Search Engines Organize the Web
e-mail and instant messaging

8. SocialMedia
andDemocracy
Moments for democracy: Arab Spring protests,
Occupy Wall Street movement, Increasing mass
communication and exposure to the outside world in
China
Alternative Voices on the Internet through open-
source software and digital archives
Internet’s potential for widespread use by all could
be partially preempted by narrower commercial
interests.
Inexpensive digital production and social media
distribution allow greater participation than any
traditional medium.

9. Media
Convergence
On Computers Users can
access: Movies (Netflix and
Hulu), Music (iTunes and
Spotify), Books (Amazon and
Google), Games,
Newspapers and magazines
Services such as Skype and
iChat can replace telephones
Media convergence on TV:
Internet-ready TVs, Video
game consoles such as Xbox,
Wii, and PS4, Set-top boxes
such as Apple TV, Google
Chromecast, and Roku
Mobile devices push
convergence: Texting,
listening to music, watching
movies, playing games,
cruising the Internet
Formats are morphing and
media consumption is
mobile!

10. TheNextEra
•Will place the basic information of the
Web into meaningful categoriesSemantic Web
•Uses conversational voice recognition to
answer questions, find locations, and
interact with various iPhone
functionalities
Apple iPhone’s
Siri
•Provided a market for music on iTunes
in exchange for a 30-percent cut of the
revenue
Apple
established the
new media
economics.
•Followed suit, creating the Kindle and
selling e-books for a cut of the revenueAmazon

11. Ownership
•Security of personal and private
information
•Appropriateness of online materials
•Accessibility and openness of the Internet
Connected to
three issues
•Yahoo!, Microsoft, AOL, and Google
Companies
dominating the
Internet by the
end of the 1990s
•Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, and
Apple
•Advertising and data mining: E-commerce,
Cookies, Spyware, Opt-in, opt-out policies
Leading
companies in
today’s
converged world

12. Security
The challenge to keep
private info private
Whenever you use the
Internet, you give away
personal information.
•Government surveillance
of online activity allowed
by PATRIOT Act
•In 2012, 7% of
Americans were victims
of identity theft, totaling
$24.7 billion in losses.
•One form of identity
theft is phishing.
Children’s Internet
Protection Act of 2003
•Requires public schools
and libraries to use
filtering software to
limit minors’ exposure to
inappropriate Internet
content

13. Net
Neutrality
 Net Neutrality
Refers to the principle that every Web site and
every user has the right to the same Internet
network speed and access
 Major telephone and cable companies want to
offer faster connections and priority for those
willing to pay higher rates.
 Digital divide
 Refers to the growing contrast between
“information haves” and “information have-
nots.”
 Smartphones are helping to narrow the gap.
 Still a big gap between the United States and
the rest of the world; some governments permit
limited or zero access to the Internet.

14. Types of Social
Media
 Blogs
 Collaborative projects
 Wiki Web sites
 Content communities
 Social networking sites
Virtual game worlds and
virtual social worlds

15. DigitalGaming
andtheMedia
Playground
 Advances in Virtual Reality Technology. In 2014, Facebook bought the virtual reality
company, Oculus VR, which promises “total immersion” into a 3D virtual world.
 Oculus, along with competitor products, may become a leading interface for transactions in
the media business.
 Games: evolved from their simplest forms in the arcade into four major formats: television,
handheld devices, computers, and the Internet
 Coin operated counter machines first appeared in train depots, hotel lobbies, bars, and restaurants
 Penny arcade Helped shape future media technology

16. Firstvideo
Games
 Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device
 Key component of the first video
games: the cathode ray tube
(CRT)
 Odyssey
 First home television game
 Modern arcades
 Gathered multiple coin-operated
games together
 Atari Created Pong
Kept score on the screen
Made blip noises when the ball
hit the paddles or bounced off
the sides of the court
First video game popular in
arcades
Home version was marketed
through Sears.

17. ConsolesandGraphics
Consoles: Devices specifically
used to play video games. The
higher the bit rating, the more
sophisticated the graphics.
Early consoles:
•Atari 2600 (1977)
•Nintendo Entertainment System
(1983)
•Sega Genesis (1989)
1
Major home console makers:
Nintendo (Wii), Microsoft (Xbox
and Kinect), and Sony
(Playstation series)
2
Signaled electronic gaming’s
potential as a social medium
3

18. Internet
Transforms
Gaming
•Made live online multiplayer play possible
•Enabled the spread of video games to converged
devices
•Paved the way for social gaming, virtual worlds,
and massively multiplayer online games
Online
connections are
now a normal
part of console
games.
•Set in virtual worlds
•Large groups of players
Massively
multiplayer
online role-
playing games
(MMORPGs)
•Actual sports results determine scores in their
online games.
Online fantasy
sports games

19. Video Game Genres
 Electronic Software Association organizes games by
gameplay.
 Action games and shooter games
 Adventure games
 Role-playing games
 Strategy and simulation games
 Casual games
 Sports, music, and dance games

21. Communitiesof Play
Inside the Game: Two basic types of
groups
• PUGs (Pick-Up Groups)
• Elite players
• Noobs
• Ninjas
• Trolls
• Guilds or clans
• Players communicate through
voice and text.
Outside the Game: Collective
intelligence
• Gamers sharing their knowledge
and ideas
• Modding
• Game sites: GameSpot.com,
Penny-arcade.com
• Conventions
• E3, Penny Arcade Expo (PAX),
Blizzcon, and the Tokyo Game
Show

22. Electronic
Gaming and
Media Culture
 Fantasy league sports have spawned a number of draft
specials on ESPN and a regular podcast on ESPN radio.
 Electronic games have inspired movies, and video game
spin-offs are common for blockbusters.
 Comic books and animation have also inspired video
games.
 Advergames
 Video games created for purely promotional
purposes
 In-game advertisements
 Ads integrated as billboards, logos, storefronts, etc.,
within games
 Some can be altered remotely so they can be tailored
to players based on numerous factors.

23. TheDarkSide
•Associated with an increased incidence of
depression, social phobias, and increased anxiety
•More likely to affect males
•Games are often addictive by design, with
elaborative achievement systems.
Addiction
•Most games involving combat are intentionally
violent.
•Concern over personality traits of certain types of
players
Violence
•Games such as Grand Theft Auto 5
•May be due to the male insularity of the game
development industry
Misogyny

24. Regulating
Gaming
 Death Race (1976)
 First public outcry over violence in electronic gaming
 Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
 Labels games based on sexual and violent content
 Categories: EC, E, E 10+, T, M 17+, and AO
 ESRB ratings do not have the force of law.
 California tried to legally prohibit the sale of M-rated
games to minors.
 Supreme Court granted electronic games First
Amendment free speech protections.
 Will not make the rating system go away