Today many people have access to the Internet and the number of people who use it is growing considerably, the main reason being that it now contains user friendly software, which has packages that help people use the Internet easily e.g. Netscape. The Internet has now become cheaper as companies realise that they can make a great deal of profit if the majority of the society have the Internet e.g. If consumers join the NTL phone line they get the Internet free therefore encouraging a lot of people to get it. There are many deals that means anyone who has a phone line, a computer and modem can be connected for as little as £12-£15 a month. In addition it now has a faster communication telephone line, which means that communication can reach top speeds, visuals images and sound can be quickly downloaded. Digital communications across ISDN lines allow greater amounts of information to be accessed. Again the Internet has become part of the civilization, as an individual if you don’t have access to the Internet you are seen not up to date.
Asynchronous communication, no censors and copyright are examples of digital liberation. Asynchronous communication is when people are able to communicate with anyone in the world and leave messages for him or her even if they are not there. The advantages are that users can communicate with people world wide at a free or cheap cost. They will always be able to stay in contact, as the asynchronous communication is a reliable system. This will be a great advantage for businesses as they wont actually have to attend meetings in different locations they can just communicate over the system. The disadvantages are that information can be easily accessed people become stalkers and obsessed with the individual. The user might not be able to send everything required e.g. Email has a memory capacity and you want be able to send packages that are over the memory limit such as audio.
No censor, the data that will be available will be impossible for Governments to stop the circulation of it. This theory is positive as people can have full access with out many problems such as people asking for ID. Companies will get more money, as more people are able to watch it. This theory is negative because young children could see inappropriate things, this can have a negative impact on the society which could encourage illegal sex, violence and drugs etc.
Copyright, this will become a thing of the past. Information will be the property of everyone and we will all have access to everything. The advantages is that it becomes extremely cheap and easy to access. More people will be entertained and people that normally can’t afford films can now watch them. However this has an effect on the economy as no money is going into the products therefore stopping the flow of an economic cycle this then effect the company as they lose profit making people unemployed and inflation will increase.
Video games can be played on several types of platforms: home consoles used with TV sets, computers, and computers with access to the Internet, coin-operated arcade machines, and handheld devices including games systems, cell phones and Palm Pilots. Computer and video game sales in the United States are a $6.35 billion industry, with estimates of $16.9 billion by 2003. The major studies indicate that children ages 2-18 spend, on average, between 20-33 minutes a day playing video games. The amount of time spent playing video games varies by age. On average, 2-7 years old spend 8 minutes a day, 8-13 year olds spend 32 minutes a day, and 14-18 years old spend 20 minutes a day playing video games. Boys spend substantially more time playing video games than do girls, regardless of age. On any given day, 44% of boy’s report playing video games compared to 17% of girls.
Atari introduced video games in 1972; this was a table tennis game. Nintendo introduced hardware in 1986 and it is estimated that over 4 billion pounds has been created through them selling games. As fashion and taste changes, so does the video games, and many companies try to change the correct theme of their games e.g. at the beginning of the football season a football game becomes popular e.g. Fifa 2004.
In the class discussion it was indicated that girls who like games with violent themes prefer fantasy or cartoon violence, whereas boys prefer realistic, human violence.
In the UK they have been major concerns about videos games, especially the amount of violence involved within them. I believe that a violent game does have an effect on the individual subliminally as Paul Taylor states this in ‘Sociology in Focus’.
Games have been evaluated and its been concluded that they are not just entertaining but also have effects which can be positive and negative. I believe the positive aspect of gaming is that it has an education impact as it provides individual’s with detailed insight on computer literacy, the design feature in the most popular interactive games are extremely detailed, which I think improve skills such as visualisation, visual attention and concentration. Playing violent games allows them to explore their feelings, master their rage, improve strategically thinking and empower themselves against life challenges. The negative aspect of participating in playing games is that it sometimes interferes with homework and academic performance. It increases verbal aggression and physical aggression. People that spend time playing violent games are probably more likely to be in fights than people that don’t play at all.
The Sociologist SKIRROW quoted that: ‘Video games are unattractive to women since they are apart of a technology which is identified with male power, and they usually involve male characters acting in aggressive way. Women also state that games are sexist because they tend to have no main role in the video game e.g. they are being rescued or need saving by the main character. Women characters in the game are also not identified by their name but for example someone’s girlfriend. Most games are targeted towards the males so most games examine boxing, racing, football and fighting. Overall most games are based on real life situations, this means that they put real life situations into the game e.g. Sims. Its not the producer’s fault but the nations fault, as this is how the society operates.
In conclusion, I believe that the media is gaining power and will come to eventually directing and determining the culture of society rather than respond to or reflect societies culture.
References:
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
