PowerMedia

Group criticism of F911

I would like to do something bordering on revolutionary.

Knowing my affection for Prof. Marshall McLuhan and his theories, few will be surprised of my interest in testing one of his ideas. Today we’ll test Hybrid Technologies.

From McLuhan’s perspective, each medium is a hybrid of other media, which act as its ‘content’ ... or software, as it were.

A new medium is born when other media are fused together (such as speech and gesture to produce handwriting).

In the act of fusion, however, a qualitative change may also occur, surpassing a ‘break boundary’, and creating a totally new form of communication.

In these cases, the new medium is more than the sum of its parts ....
CIOS/McLuhan Website Project
Probe: Convergence



This course has dabbled in Blogging. We’ve been able to collectively, in mosaic fashion, examine multiple perspectives on given topics. Rather than each student submitting their individual efforts to merely impress (and inform) the instructor, the Blog allows us all to learn from each other, effectively multiplying the instruction by the number submitting.

The Blog is a web-based application. It is distinct from other applications or programs such as Browsers, Email, Instant Messenger, or Search Engine. It is a simplified web page that allows users to quickly post text and hyperlinks to the web. The ability to add links is one of the Blogs most powerful aspects as it adds an oportunity for the author to easily cite existing material, enhancing verification.

In this experiment, we’ll see what happens when the technologies, the Movie, albeit in DVD projected on big screen, meets the Blog.

Viewers of F911 will have an opportunity to sit in an audience format, simulating the theatre setting, and will also have internet access to immediately research and comment on the Film in real time.

Unique to this viewing experience is a complete (?) script of the movie. I cannot verify its level of completeness at this point. The text may help clarify unfamiliar or foreign terms, at least. In addition, the text will allow students to cut and paste sections of dialog for whatever purpose they may see fit, either for citation, analysis or to conduct on-line searches.

Your Instructions:

Explore! If you see something that needs clarification, clarify it!

Comment! If you see something remarkable, make a remark, and add the dialog or web reference to cite it.

Hit Refresh every few minutes to see what your audience members are writing.

Write well and as Professionally as possible! I will be attempting to “shop” this activity around. I will be posting the main link to various blogs due to the novelty of this idea. Your work and thoughts will be completely accessible to a world-wide audience. Will this get you a job from it? Maybe.

Please refrain from being silly. Unfamiliar readers will not have an actual reference to judge you, simply your virtual presence. Humor works, but trite, juvenile or silly comments will make you seem sophmoric.

Since we have a “musical chairs”, scenario with more viewers than computers, please team up, and manually sign the individual sections as the auto-signature will only credit the account holder.