Blog #2

·       What are the key technological breakthroughs that accompanied the transition to the print and electronic eras? Why were these changes significant?

-The key technological breakthrough that accompanied the transition to the print era was the invention of movable metallic type and the printing press, the printing presses and publications then spread rapidly across Europe in the late 1400s and early 1500s. The first mass-marketed products in history were books. Three elements combined with the printing press. The first was the machine duplication that replaced the tedious system in which scribes hand copied texts. The second is the duplication could occur rapidly; so large quantities of the same book could be reproduced easily. The third is the faster production of multiple copies brought down the cost of each unit, which made books more affordable to less affluent people. The mass-produced printed materials could spread information and ideas faster and farther than ever before, the writers could use print to disseminate views counter to traditional civic doctrine and religious authority-views that paved the way for major social and cultural changes. This is such the Protestant Reformation and the rise of modern nationalism. The Print era supported the ascent of more centralized nation-states. The machine production of mass quantities that had resulted in a lowered cost per unit for books became an essential for the mass production in other goods that led to the Industrial Revolution. The mass publication of pamphlets, magazines and books in the United States helped democratize knowledge, literacy rates rose among the working and middle classes. The Printing press fostered nationalism.

-The key technological breakthrough that accompanied the transition to the electronic era began in the Information age which developed the telegraph in the 1840s. It was a dot-dash electronic signal, the telegraph had made four key contributions to communication. It first separated communication from transportation. Secondly the telegraph, in combination with the rise of mass-marketed newspapers, transformed “information into a commodity, a ‘thing’ that could be bought or sold irrespective of its uses or meaning. The telegraph made it easier for the military, businesses and leaders for communication to others. Fourthly, the telegraph paved a way for wireless telegraph, the fax machine, and cell phone.

·       In looking at the history of pop culture, explain why newer and emerging forms of media seem to threaten status quo values.

By the changing forms of the media, the status quo doesn’t seem to stay the same. Nowadays the internet is where a lot of people get their information from, before it was newspapers but there are newspapers now it can also be found online. The media is emerging into a bigger broad area of study and books are becoming available online. This creates a whole new way of thinking and ideas that are emerging through the media. Society has changed the status quo because since the new ideas have been continuing the more the media has increased. People wish that the internet wasn’t changing and they could go back to a time where it didn’t consume someone’s life.

·       What are the five steps in critical process? Which of these is most difficult and why?

The five steps in critical process are description, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, and engagement. Description is paying close attention, taking notes, and researching the subject under study. Analysis is the discovering and focusing on significant patterns that emerge from the description stage. Interpretation is asking and answering, “What does that mean?” and “So what?” questions about one’s findings. Evaluation is the arriving at a judgment about whether something is good, bad, or mediocre, which involves subordinating one’s personal taste to the critical “bigger picture” resulting from the first three stages. Lastly, engagement is taking some action that connects our critical perspective with our role as citizens to question our media institutions, adding our own voice to the process of shaping the cultural environment. The most difficult of the 5 critical processes is integration because it demands the answer of “So What?”

·       Why is the critical process important?

The critical process is important because it keeps an open mind, trying to understand the specific cultural forms we are critiquing, and acknowledging the complexity of contemporary culture. It also helps the developing of the media literacy like attaining an understanding of mass media and how they construct meaning. This helps open different ideas about the media.