1a) Genre/subsite of tv website, BBC Drama

BBC drama page.

The page itself is very simple, The image shown is the entire page. It is all compact, all the information is in a small square, so computers running on higher resolutions can see the whole page without scrolling anywhere. I think that a diaplay running even lower as 600x800 could see the page in its entirety.


The website, www.bbc.co.uk/drama itself has an easy to remember address, which anchors my feelings that this website is aimed toward an older audience, one who is interested in BBC drama, but wants to find out more, possibly males and females aged 40+. I think this because the website is very very easy to navigate, everything is set out very well, under bold headings, with popular programmes getting image links, Heroes, Holby City etc. There are also links to other parts of the BBC website, which may interest the surfer, for instance, Doctor Who has a strong fanbase, but the programme itself has it's own website, so a link image is provided.

The technology I can see it replacing is magazines mainly. The information provided is the kind of thing provided in TV magazines, for instance on the Heroes website, there is an episode guide, and interviews with the cast.

IMMEDIACY
All the information is avaliable at the click of a button. No waiting for the next issue to be delivered to the shop.

INTERACTIVITY
There are messageboards for individual programmes. Flash games are playable.

VERTICAL INTEGRATION
The links to other bbc websites allows the user to see other content, whilst the bbc keeps an audience.

1b) programme wesite. skins

Skins has just finished its second series on E4 and channel4. It is rare in the current television climate, as it is a new original drama aimed towards teenagers and young adults. Officially, it is 18+, but the content appeals from 15+. The website definately shows this. It isn't as simple as the BBC drama site, as it assumes that someone aged 15-21 would know how to navigate a more complex website. Having said this, the main page contains links to the various sections of the site on a navbar, with content such as vdeo interviews, and a messageboard.

The website is replacing the need to look for interviews on tv programmes and in magazines for information regarding the programme. It also gives more than both magazine interviews, and tv interviews by providing both video and text, as opposed to just one.

The institutions involved are regulators, such as ofcom, and Channel4. Channel4 because it has to make the programme. Ofcom has a responsibility to regulate programming, and since skins has adult content, but is of interest for children, this is a big role.

CONVERGANCE

as the website has both text and video, i think this could be convergance between magazine and television.

TIMESHIFT

clips of the show can be played at any time.

INTERACTIVITY

the message board allows people to give their input and have it heard.

NON LINEAR

it is broken up, the audience can read material in whatever order they want.

2) radio show site

Afternoon tea on Virgin Radio.

This is a very throwaway website, as there isn't much real content. It is all just games, and lists of facts. The show itself is targeted towards people who would be in a position able to listen to the radio at 1-4pm on a weekday, such as people who are at work. The station itself has a wide target audience, of people with an indie/rock music taste, aged from 14-40. This programme itself has an older audience, aged around 30+.

Listening to the programme itself, it seems to exist as a space of 3 hours in which twix can sponsor.

The website simply serves as a way to request songs and enter competitions, with a few flash games thrown in to add som interest.

INTERACTIVITY
the website has areas of games and a place to request songs.

NON LINEAR
there is no set order to consume the media.

UNF 3) blog

4) youtube video

The internet has allowed people to share their creativity on a scale never before seen. Websites such as http://www.youtube.com/ and http://www.dailymotion.com/ have allowed people to upload anything that they want. Even if one website has restrictions on what can be uploaded, it would be possible to find somewhere else to put their video, meaning that anyone really can put anything they want onto the internet. Broadband internet is what has really spurred on this phenomenon, as it has allowed videos to load faster than they play, which was never available on dialup. The phenomenon of youtube is really amazing, as it is ousting other new technologies as they come up, with a fast internet connection there isn't even any need for Sky+ services. If the user of the services has no major problem with piracy, they can go to a videolinker site such as http://www.alluc.org/ which has links to videos of popular tv series, and hundreds of films, many not even out on dvd.

Youtube is used by such a large audience, from gereatric1927 blogging about his life (http://youtube.com/watch?v=p_YMigZmUuk over 2,750,000 views) to Tay Zonday singing about chocolate rain, moving away from the microphone to breathe (http://youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA over 20,000,000 views), it can create minor celebrities. It can also be used by large commercial companies, for instance record labels put on music videos. Out of the top 10 viewed videos of all time, 7 are music videos. It is relevant to everyone with an internet connection.

PROLIFERATION
The sheer number of videos on youtube in immense. This provides the ability for anyone to find something they are interested in.

Wikipedia: "Few statistics are publicly available regarding the number of videos on YouTube. However, in July 2006, the company revealed that more than 100 million videos were being watched every day, and 2.5 billion videos were watched in June 2006. 50,000 videos were being added per day in May 2006, and this increased to 65,000 by July. In January 2008 alone, nearly 79 million users watched over 3 billion videos on YouTube."

IMMEDIACY
1) Go to web browser
2) type in http://www.youtube.com/ into address bar
3) look at the front page, there are video thumbnails and descriptions.
4) if something takes your eye, watch it. if not, search for something. anything.
5) click on it
6) watch it.

it is that easy, and it is this ease of use that allows youtube its immediacy.

TIMESHIFT
http://www.alluc.org/ provides everything a tv provides, at any time.

DEMOCRATISATION
Everyone can put a video up on youtube, and it is made especially easier due to low cost of equpiment and ease of use of equipment, and the youtube website.

REACH
Anyone can watch anything that anyone has put up, unless the uploader has set the video as private. One example of this is a video i made of me playing a videogame with cosmo. it has had over 800 views in just over a month. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTJ2bYlM_4w

NARROWCASTING
Due to the fact that anyone can watch any video, it is easier to find an audience with a very niche video. A good example of this is, again, the super smash bros. video of me and cosmo playing. For anyone who is interested (obsessed) with the game, it's an interesting watch. for anyone else it's dull.


As obvious from the number of key concepts, youtube is a vital piece of new tech, and will continue to be used for time to come.

5) podcast skinscast

The skinscast can be found here. It is a podcast providing extra depth into the episode just aired on e4. It is aimed at "the dedicated, discerning Skins fans". That is people aged 15-25, who watch Skins. The show is hosted by Daniel Kaluuya, the guy who playes Kenneth, a favourite character of many, but who has a small part in the programme.

It is easy to subscribe to the podcast, all one needs is apple's iTunes player. In the iTunes shop, there is a podcasts menu, and any selected podcast is automatically downloaded whenever it airs. It is then downloaded to the ipod whever.

VERTICAL INTEGRATION
The ipod/itunes gives apple vertical integration, allowing brand loyalty. the E4/skins, allows brand loyalty to the skins brand.

PORTABILITY
it can go into a portable device for listening at any time.

TIMESHIFT
can be listened to any time.

6) indie fansite PMC

Pokemon.marriland.com is an independant, unofficial pokémon fansite based in the USA.

It has a mostly white and blue colour scheme, with pictures of pokémon splashed around. The main page is set up as a blog, with the latest 5 posts by the admin in the centre. On the left is a menu bar, with links to all the sections, a main heading for diferent games, utilities and pokémon card lists. These include Diamond/Pearl; TCG spoilers; and Video Game info. The D/P contains ammong other things, a walkthrough of the game, a searchable pokédex, and a utility for building a squad. The TCG spoilers contain information about each card in each trading card set, and the videogame information contains things for older pokémon games. The headings for each section have the iconic image of a pokéball on each side of the heading name.

The site also has a forum, which has thousands of posts on various pokémon and non pokémon topics.

This site is pretty much essential for anyone who loves pokémon, and who plays the pokémon games.

NARROWCASTING

This site is targeted at people who love pokémon, which is a niche audience.

REACH

Anyone who loves pokémon can access this site easily.

IMMEDIACY

Pokémon fans can access the website any time, and not have to wait to find something out.

7) leisure activity

StumbleUpon is what leeches all of the time that i should spend on everything. It's kind of a cross between a blog, a social networking site, but these are both uses that are dwarfed by the main point of stumbleupon's existance.

Simply put, it is a browser toolbar that allows users to discover new wesites based on a set of interests that the user selects upon signing up. The user can "thumbs up" a page to add it to your personal blog of pages that you like, and your stumbles get more personally tailored. You can also "thumbs down".

If you thumbs up a page that no one else has, a window pops up, and you classify what genre the page is of, and stumblers that have selected that interest get to stumble upon the site you added to the database.

It relates to any audience, as there are so so many interests that are up for choosing. It seemingly exists solely to waste time, although it offers the ability to find new things in the internet with relative ease.

Like channel surfing for the internet.

INTERACTIVITY
It allows people to add any website to the datable of pages to stumble upon, and has a blog feature.

IMMEDIACY
As it is on your browser window, just one click and you are taken to a website relevant to your interests.

PERSONALISATION
This has so much personalisation. Each individual member has a blog of pages that they thumbs up, which is personalisable by colour. You can add pages you like, you can choose your topics.

TIMESHIFT
You can press the button any time.

QUALITY
Not necessarily higher quality, but you always get something interesting to your taste as you choose your tastes.

DIVERSIFICATION
allows users to find new things within their interest.

HORIZONTAL NETWORK
Other people thumbs up pages which you stumble upon, so they provide for others with no personal gain.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/

8) Converged, portable tech

The iPhone. According to Apple, and fans of apple, the best thing since Jesus. The absolute pinnacle of portable convergance, it combines an MP3 player, an organiser, email, internet, a 2 megapixel camera with video, it has a touch screen with multi-touch capabilities, full qwerty keyboard, bluetooth connectivity and wifi connectivity.

Oh, and it also makes phonecalls.

All in all, this isn't a particularly new idea, but as it has been hyped, then hyped again, and finally overhyped, it is seen as a new wonder in technology.

The "unique selling point" of an iPhone, is its convergance. Steve jobs, when announcing the iPhone said it was a 3-in-1, an "iPod", a mobile phone, and an "internet communications device".

The thing about the iPhone, is that it isn't actually very good at any of these things. As an ipod, it flounders due to its poor hard drive, as a phone, it fails in its non ability to perform basic phone functions, such as sending MMS (picture) messages, and as an "internet communications device" it loses it's glam wow factor by the fact that it gets so fingerprinty after one week that it's barely useable, due to the only keyboard being the touch screen.

So it is effectively replacing the PDA/mobile/mp3 player by this one piece of hardware.

It is relevant in business, and to people who like to feel important. This is due to its conferance call ability and its email ability to be constantly emailable about anything any time. It is used to keep things less complicated, keeping less devices on onesself at one time, and for this, i suppose it works.

With such a converged product, there will be obviously many institutions involved. Apple, and its iTunes, provide vertical networking, as you need to buy music to put on the iphone, youtube has its own little video application on it, and O2 in the UK and AT&T in the US have exclusive rights to sell the iphone on contract.

They specifically do not allow any horizontal networking; no homebrew applications may be put on the phone, and i guess this counts as regulation, although it is probaly a bit extreme.

I think the main point i am trying to make, is that to create convergance, you will ultimately have to sacrifice some of the overall quality. When was the last time a phone had a decent camera?

9) Next big thing!

Wii Fit is an upcoming nintendo wii game. It is another attempt by nintendo to appeal to the whole family, which was boosted by the DS game Brain Training. Wii Fit is like Brain training, but uses a new peripherel called the 'Balance board'. It uses pressure sensors to control the games.

It is shaped like a bathroom scales, and is more accurate, according to claims by creator Shigeru Miyamoto, the genius behind most of Nintendo's major franchises.

Using the weight measurement and an input of the user's height, it calculates the BMI of the user. It also allows the use of miis of the entire family, and tracks BMI changes of the family.

It provides training games under four categories; aerobic excercise, muscle conditioning, yoga poses, and balancing games. The games include:

* A ball-rolling mini-game, where you use the Wii Balance Board to roll a ball on a platform into a certain hole which allows you to advance to the next level.
* A Boxing minigame.
* Hula hooping
* Jogging
* Push ups
* Ski jumping, whereby the player squats as low as possible, while maintaining his or her balance, and then quickly stands as fast as possible in order to gain a good jump
* Snowboarding
* Heading on-coming soccer balls and avoiding other objects by leaning forward and back
* Step aerobics, including a game in which the player must step on and off the Wii Balance Board in rhythm to the background music
* Tightrope walking, where the player must maintain the balance of a Mii walking on a tightrope from one building top to another.
* Yoga exercises

It is an important peice of technology, as it smudges the boundary between family entertainment, fitness tool, and video game. As such, it has the appeal to all three of these audiences, giving a higher revenue, although the more hardcore fans of the genres may not like the wii fit.

UNFINISHED 10) Free Choice

interesting related links

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080422/ap_on_hi_te/internet_regulation;_ylt=A0WTcU2z5A1IPkMAXias0NUE
(regulation)