Interviews and Transcripts

Sounds like a Reality TV show.  Yup, finishing up my interviews and starting my transcripts this week.  WOW!  Totally underestimated the time it would take to write what people said.  It's funny listening back to the conversations and realizing just how funny sound.

Interviews

Began my interviews this week.  1 down a couple more to go.  Now if I could just get myself to start transcribing...

Making Cheese

I'm continuing my participation/observation this week, trying to get some interviews nailed down for next week.  Everything's starting to fall into place to make some cheese....I just hope I have all the right ingredients at the right time!

Jargon

I've been continuing my participating/observing this week and I've really started to pick up on the jargon of the people.  It's quite interesting, just as we've talked in class that certain people almost have their own "language" for what you're researching.  You start listening to not only what they're saying but how they're saying such terms and you notice other people are speaking the same "code".  Very fascinating!

Ahhhh...Friday!

Another week of observing...another week down!  I think I'm getting the hang of this participation/observation thing.  I just hope people don't think me as one of those "weird creepy guys".  Anxious to learn about interviewing, so I can begin.  It's been nice watching people do their thing and taking note of just how predictable we can be sometimes.

Researching Research

I ran across a recent study conducting by the Nielsen company that I think will really help in my research project.  I've been reading over this research and digesting it and hopefully I can pull from some of their findings!

Revision.. Relief

After a few revisions of my IRB proposal, I feel that I can finally sigh a big sigh of relief.  I think I've got it all worked out, just the way the IRB people need it to be... at least I hope!  Anyways, I've been continuing my observation a little this week (when I've been able to find the time) and continue to glean some information.  Hopefully you have too!

IRB E-Mail

I received an e-mail today from the IRB that they had received my Application and I had been given an official "IRB Number"!  Whoo-Hoo!  I feel as if I've done something right!  Anxiously waiting for the review to take place.

Observation Time!

I began observation the other day and took note of some interesting habits.  Hopefully I'll be able to make it to my other observation place soon!

They Said A Change Will Do You Good

Well, like most of you Saturday's class was both good and bad for me.  Good that I didn't feel as behind as I thought I was, but bad because I didn't feel quite ahead of the game either!  In fact, after a little contemplating, I've decided to tweak my topic a bit.  While it's not a major change that's going to result in a major overhaul of my research proposal and IRB application, it's still a change nonetheless.  I've decided to narrow my research a bit and hopefully that will calm my nerves down! I hope if you've had to do some minor or even MAJOR tweaking to your proposal, it comes easy for you.  As Jim from The Office said..."Lord, beer me strength"

An Apple A Day...

     Apple yesterday, had an "event" in which they announced new editions of their famous iPods (Apple's mp3 player), changes to the famous iTunes, as well as a new version of Apple TV.  With yesterday's announcements came much more user controlled content let's examine, shall we?

New iPod:
     Apple's new iPod will continue to have access in the infamous App Store in which users can download a variety of added entertainment to their music playing device such as games, movies and TV shows.  Such features are considered "on demand" in which the user can choose to download and play/watch such entertainment now or save for a later time.

iTunes 10:
     We all have heard of iTunes and most of us have probably even used it once or twice.  This music downloading software was a hit for Apple when it first launched years ago, perhaps the biggest advantage to iTunes is its ability to be used across other platforms other than just Apple's Mac line.  Take myself for instance, I choose to use iTunes for my music library on my Windows PC.  Steve Jobs announced yesterday that at the current rate of downloads, iTunes will soon eclipse CD sales and will become the single most accessible way to shop for music.  With that said, Apple knew of their success with iTunes and added some new features.
     Perhaps the biggest feature is "Ping".  As Jobs describes, it's Facebook meets MySpace, meets iTunes.  What Apple is essentially doing is making iTunes into its own Social Network for music.  You can see what others are listening to, what they've downloaded, and even if they're going to concerts.  While it's not as big as Facebook, this is still a big addition to an already popular tool.

Apple TV:
     This is perhaps the biggest announcement made by Apple yesterday.  While Apple TV has been around for a few years, Apple hasn't had as much success with this platform as hoped.  The idea is Apple TV (a box that connects with your TV) will become the newest way to watch television and even stream movies to your television.  The newest version is a little bigger than a hockey puck and can easily fit in the hands of the owner.
     The features of this product are fascinating.  Once connected, you can download or "rent" and watch your favorite TV shows (currently only ABC and FOX but I'm sure others will follow) for only $0.99.  Not only does this play TV shows but you can also sign in with a Netflix account (a movie download/streaming service) and instantly watch movies both old a new.  Not to mention access to various of applications as well as picture and audio streaming from other Apple devices.  Apple TV basically puts you in charge of what you watch when you want to watch it!  In all reality, you become a program director of you home.
     Perhaps the best feature of this new product is the ability to move items over other platforms.  Say you're watching something on your TV with your Apple TV box and then you need to go somewhere, you can easily  transfer what you're doing to your iPod, iPhone, or iPad.  It's all compatible and can be easily done.  With such capabilities it would appear we the consumer now in theory have full control over when and what we watch.
      Some things I've thought about:
1.  Are we still a society that schedules our lives around the favorite shows we watch?
2.  Are we a society that would rather record shows/entertainment to watch at a more convenient time?
3.  Do you own a VCR/DVR/or other form of recording device that records off of your TV?
4.  Do you prefer to watch programs live as they are programmed to show or do you prefer on demand?
5.  With this new technology how television responding?  Will we still have Must See TV?

Waiting and Watching

     I was in the waiting room the other day and took note of who was there in the room with me:  An elderly couple, a mom with a couple of kids, and then myself; a great diverse group, no?  Anyways, I thought it was interesting how even with the smallest of co-hort groups, the way we get our information was vastly different.  Take the elderly couple.  They were adjusting the newspaper so they could read the tiny print through their bi-focals.  Intently reading every word on every page and then making comments to each other as if to criticize what they were reading.  Then comes Mom.  While wrestling her kids, trying to get them to sit and be quite, Mom was engrossed to CNN on the TV that the cold, small waiting room so conveniently provided.  She would often have to "shush" her kids to hear what was on the TV or watch the closed captions that scrolled across the bottom of the screen.  Finally, we come to me.  Oh how up on technology I am!  I was reading the newspaper on my phone.  Using the pinch to zoom function to zoom in so I could read on my 3.7in screen (why we even try to view a full webpage on such devices I'll never know but yet I still do!).  Scrolling down to the final words, I took a break from my daily news updates to take note of the room.
     We were all reading or watching basically the same story!  The newspaper the elderly couple was reading was an early print version of the continuously updated on-line story I was reading, which happened to be the same story that the guy on the TV was talking about and offering his commentary on.  WOW!  The same story in three different mediums to three different generations.  All of this made me think, how do you prefer to get your news?  Paper, TV, On-line/mobile?

Let's Get Started!

     So, I'm sitting around the station where I work getting ready to take a break over the air and I find myself checking my phone for updates be they e-mail, Facebook, or text messaging...my phone is always buzzing.  Today, I received a couple of requests from listeners that want a certain song to be played on the radio.  Not unusual in radio but the method I received these requests is: text messaging.  Listeners are texting their favorite stations for songs, contests, and more!  This got me thinking, what is the future of radio?  Better yet, what is the future of Mass Media?

     This semester, I'm driven to research how mobile technology is effecting Mass Media.  We live in a world that is moved by mobile technology.  Any time a new gadget comes out, it's out of date within a week!  These smartphones have anything and everything we could possibly want.  Mobile internet, mobile e-mail, we can check the statuses of our friends, heck now we can even find out where that friend is currently with "Places" or "FourSquare".  Not to mention these phones even make phone calls!  Mobile technology is effecting our everyday lives, it's effecting the way we do business, it's effecting the way we view our media.