Communication Technologies and Change - Literature review Example

Communication Technologies and Change xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecturer xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date Communication Technologies and Change Introduction Communication technologies continue to change rampantly with the technological innovations and the internet. The changes have shaped the social, legal, economic and cultural landscape globally (Dutton, Carusi and Peltu, 2006). This paper focuses on the assemblages of communication technology. Assemblages refer to combinations of communication technologies strategically used together in a communication activity. It will build on the assemblages involved in capturing and preserving of memories, that is, photography and social sharing through the use of innovations in communication technologies. Thus, the discussion will trace the introduction of social photography from the introduction of the roll-film by Kodak to the rampant and instant sharing on social media, like Facebook and Instagram. Jarrahi (2013) distinguishes them communication technologies as social technologies. Well, communication is the means for social interactions and thus communication technologies build social technologies.Our social interactions have been transformed by the technological changes. As Geissler (2010) observes, we are surrounded by digitally and technologically advanced gadgets like mobile phones that allow us to share every instant of our lives. Internet and technological devices has made it easy for people to share their lives stories that ever before. The mobile phone, according to Reading (2009), has changed from a mobile phone – used for handy communication – to a ‘memobile’; used to keep and share multimedia data on everyday memories. People now have the option of mediatising their memories instead of capturing and keeping them (Geissler, 2010). The use of Facebook to instantly share memories has gained much popularity in recent times. Geissler points out that before, people used print narratives to document their memories in the form of biographies. However, with Faceboook, it cannot be said really that there is a start to a finish of people biographies. For instance, Geissler quotes Garde-Hansen (2009) who sees Facebook as a database of users’ lives. This is because, databases are not sequential; they are just collections, with no sequence or development – this is what Facebook offers. Munir and Philips (2005) discuss one of the greatest changes in communication technologies – the Kodak and its transformation to photography. It is evident that some technological changes become widely acceptable due to their social nature. Kodak introduced the roll film in 1882; mostly to capture and keep memories of family events. One of the underlying concepts in Munir and Philip’s (2005) paper is that events are socially constructed. Before the introduction of the roll-film camera, photography was a professional affair. Therefore, in a bid to aid institutional advancement, there had to be a way in which the roll film camera was to be used. Thus, there needed to be a problem in which the roll-film camera was the solution. One strategy the Kodak used was advancing the notion of ‘family moments’. It capitalised on the female users who love taking photos and preserving memories. The introduction of the roll-film was considered a failure with most people wondering whether it was needed at all (Munir and Philips, 2005). Taking photos was not a common thing for people save for professionals and amateurs who took them for leisure. However, as Munir and Philips note “over the next three decades, photography was transformed from a complex alchemy-like activity to a popular social practice that has become a part of everyday life for billions of people around the world who have found it necessary to ‘preserve memories’ and record all the Kodak moments in their lives” (p. 1672). How the roll-film transformed to popular photography is a product of the radically changing social landscape. Munir and Philips (2005) say that Kodak used four strategies to ensure the success of the roll-film; “embedding the new technology in institutionalised practices beyond the field, creation of new roles, production of new institutions and modification of institutions within the field” (p. 1672). From the becoming a travel accompaniment, the roll-film camera become a tourist’s must-have. Even today, tourists take along a camera to capture the new scenes in different places of destinations. Kodak used this to make photography a part of peoples lives. Thus the saying that ‘a holiday without a Kodak is a holiday wasted’ (Munir and Philips, 2005, p. 1673). In creation of new roles, Kodak created new roles, that is, the role of a photographer. This brought down photography to ‘lay’ people who never thought they could be a part of it. The fears from the people of how to develop the film were catered for by differentiating the tasks of taking photos and developing them. Kodak aimed at making photography for masses and created a mass consumption culture. When this was achieved, Kodak created the concepts of snapshot and the photo album (Munir and Philips, 2005). The idea of taking photos spontaneously for fun later evolved the idea of preservation of memories. The fun element helped people see the camera as a fun and essential object. With the advent the internet and social media, the aspect of preserving memories soon evolved to be that of sharing memories. Communication technology innovations like Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Pinterest built on sharing memories through texts and photography. In this new innovation, people are armed with handy gadgets like the mobile phone which can do all these at the same time; take photos, write texts and share on social media. Text in this right allude not to just written texts, but symbols, artefacts, pictures, symbols and spoken word (Philips, Lawrence and Hardy, 2002, p. 4). Unlike before where a mobile phone was a communication device, new innovations have seen mobile phones that come packaged with cameras and applications that allow documenting and sharing of memories in an instant. The impact of the ever-changing technology on photography is no doubt the biggest, from the development of the candid camera in 1925 to the present digital cameras, Keller (1993). The vast audience and outlet for work documented. In the same way, digital technology on photography provide a steady stream of compulsive for both national and international processes and events, they as well give a wealthy of materials for the extended photo essay which is photography natural mode, Williams (2003). Photography provides aerial surveillance, which is a crucial area in fight against burglary and theft. The development of viewdles applications are because of the present technology, Jones (2002). This has changed the way one can upload his or her photographs from the camera or the computer or even the phone. Putting ones photo to the social media has never been this easy, Hâkansson et al., (2003, June). Using this applications one can upload a picture or a photograph to his or her facebook account, twitter, instagram and the like. People with android devices can automatically tag their family members and friends taken using their mobile phones, Farley (2004). This saves their time and energy at the same time. Viewdles application is one of the latest technology development1 to enhance photography, it does sharing and recognition on mobile phones very easy. It is more easy to use than on the desktop computer. The modern technology has made it possible for development of sophisticated and proprietary algorithm that automatically creates face print of the captured and saved photos, for instance, a person’s face, in the viewfinder. This makes sharing of photography work very easy and enjoyable with friends. Digital photography has enhanced capturing of photos. It has made precision and capturing reality to be so much easier. Every moment can be captured and shown as it is and seen in the digital window, in addition, one can see it as soon as it is taken, Tripsas (2009). This is application and an automation that has taken photography at another level, they were not there before. Digital technology allows one to have a view of the photography before taking it, as such, one can take aim, adjust and take precision on what one wants. This prevents capturing what one did not intend or want to capture before printing or taking a photo, Ng et al., (2005). Accessibility and readiness of photography work in the society has had a huge impact. Hence, digital photography has turned out to be a way of recording one’s life. To add to the changes in communication technologies, the photography programs are in for a huge change in quick tooling curriculum to keep up with the technology. This is making the traditional means of taking photographs to become obsolete, Wells (2003). Digital technology has necessitated and paved way for the development of express photography. In response, Kodak Company uses this to process photos and pictures in quick succession. With digital cameras in place, capturing of images has become very easy and enjoyable. Digital technology has taken the whole photography industry in to a realm of infinite possibilities, Arai et al., (2003). There is always emerging new ways in field of photography. It has made and offered a great diversity when it comes to colors of pictures and the whole photography; this was not possible with the old (traditional) photography machinery. According to Nassau (1997), storing of information has also been made easy and convenient, computers help in storing and in displaying of photography. They also enable image printing in various printers. This is in addition to high-resolution images because of the available memory in computers, Srinivasan et al., (2007). According to Benner, & Tushman, (2002) there are so many technological innovations that have occurred in the world today that has seen photography get better each day. There are so many digital cameras that are accessible at very affordable costs. This has made most people to be in possession of personal digital cameras. This is unlike in the times when Kodak and tourists was the only owner of cameras. Runde, et al (2009) says that, today you find that almost every phone has an in built camera. This has increased the rate at which people take snaps. This has made it possible for people to keep memories of both happy and sad events, places they visited and people they like such that they can be shared with relatives and friends later. Sharing of photos has even become very easy because of how simple connecting has become through social media such as twitter, net log and face book. This means that people can take photos using phones and upload them to share with friends and relatives. This has facilitated communication since one can take a picture of an accident and share it through social sites to people who were not in the scenes. When people are in an event they can take pictures of the events and share them to people far away such they get information on the proceedings of the event. Organizations and firms also upload photos to advertise their products and services. In the past, families had to keep piles of negatives for images they had taken; today this is no longer the case because people can store their photographs for the whole family in hard disks, memory cards and computers (Süsstrunk, & Fredembach, 2010). They just need to ensure they provide back up to provide the security for the pictures and photographs stored such that incase of breakdown in the storage site the photos can still be recovered. People who are connected to the internet are also able to store their photos through e-mails and Google tools and can also send them to friends thus sharing them. These sites allow one to make albums from which friends and relatives can view the photo and even comment on them. Through technological innovation in photography there exists many online editing tools that allow people to edit their photos, these tools include splashup, fotoflexer a picnick among others which are so similar to software’s such as Photoshop. This means that unlike in the past people can do editing of their own photos (Sarvas & Frohlich, 2011). Since people are able to store up their photos they can print them which is often less costly. This has made it easy for people to print colored photos while in the earlier years this was not possible. Using photo box to print the snaps enables one to classify the photos according to the events and have them in the same leafs and can be sent to friends. References Arai, J., Hoshino, H., Okui, M., & Okano, F. (2003). Effects of focusing on the resolution characteristics of integral photography. JOSA A, 20(6), 996-1004. Benner, M. J, & Tushman, M. (2002). Process management and technological innovation: A longitudinal study of the photography and paint industries. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(4), 676-707 Farley, C. (2004). The Lingering Effects of Copyright's Response to the Invention of Photography. University of Pittsburgh Law Review, 65. Garde-Hansen, Joanne. 2009. My memories? Personal digital archive fever and Facebook. In Save as … Digital memories, ed. Joanne Garde-Hansen, AndrewHoskins, and Anna Reading, 135–150. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Geissler, C. (2010). Pix or it didn’t happen: Social networking, digital memory and the future of biography. Vanessa. Hâkansson, M., Ljungblad, S., & Holmquist, L. E. (2003, June). Capturing the invisible: designing context-aware photography. In Proceedings of the 2003 conference on Designing for user experiences (pp. 1-4). ACM. Jarrahi, M. H. (2013). Assemblages of social technologies and informal knowledge sharing.Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. AAAI Technical Report WS-13-02,Social Computing for Workforce 2.0. Jones, A. (2002). The “Eternal Return”: Self‐Portrait Photography as a Technology of Embodiment. Signs, 27(4), 947-978. Keller, K. (1993). Science and technology of photography. John Wiley & Son Ltd. Munir, K. A. & Philips, N. (2005). The birth of the ‘Kodak Moment’: Institutional Entrepreneurship and the adoption of new technologies. Organizational Studies, 26, pp. 1665-1685. Nassau, K. (Ed.). (1997). Color for science, art and technology (Vol. 1). Elsevier. Ng, R., Levoy, M., Brédif, M., Duval, G., Horowitz, M., & Hanrahan, P. (2005). Light field photography with a hand-held plenoptic camera. Computer Science Technical Report CSTR, 2(11). Phillips, N., Lawrence, T. & C. Hardy (2004). Discourse and institutions.Academy of Management Review 29 (4)pp. 635–652. Runde, J, Jones, M, Munir, K, & Nikolychuk, L. (2009). On technological objects and the adoption of technological product innovations: rules, routines and the transition from analogue photography to digital imaging. Cambridge journal of economics, 33(1), 1-24. Sarvas, R, & Frohlich, D. M. (2011). From snapshots to social media: The changing picture of domestic photography. Springer. Srinivasan, S., Tu, C., Regunathan, S. L., & Sullivan, G. J. (2007, September). HD Photo: a new image coding technology for digital photography. In Proc. SPIE (Vol. 6696, No. 1, p. 66960A). Süsstrunk, S, & Fredembach, C. (2010). Enhancing the visible with the invisible: Exploiting near-infrared to advance computational photography and computer vision. In SID International Symposium Digest. Tripsas, M. (2009). Technology, identity, and inertia through the lens of “The Digital Photography Company”. Organization Science, 20(2), 441-460. Wells, L. (2003). The photography reader. Psychology Press. Williams, R. (2003). Television: Technology and cultural form. Routledge. Read More

Munir and Philips (2005) discuss one of the greatest changes in communication technologies – the Kodak and its transformation to photography. It is evident that some technological changes become widely acceptable due to their social nature. Kodak introduced the roll film in 1882; mostly to capture and keep memories of family events. One of the underlying concepts in Munir and Philip’s (2005) paper is that events are socially constructed. Before the introduction of the roll-film camera, photography was a professional affair.

Therefore, in a bid to aid institutional advancement, there had to be a way in which the roll film camera was to be used. Thus, there needed to be a problem in which the roll-film camera was the solution. One strategy the Kodak used was advancing the notion of ‘family moments’. It capitalised on the female users who love taking photos and preserving memories. The introduction of the roll-film was considered a failure with most people wondering whether it was needed at all (Munir and Philips, 2005).

Taking photos was not a common thing for people save for professionals and amateurs who took them for leisure. However, as Munir and Philips note “over the next three decades, photography was transformed from a complex alchemy-like activity to a popular social practice that has become a part of everyday life for billions of people around the world who have found it necessary to ‘preserve memories’ and record all the Kodak moments in their lives” (p. 1672). How the roll-film transformed to popular photography is a product of the radically changing social landscape.

Munir and Philips (2005) say that Kodak used four strategies to ensure the success of the roll-film; “embedding the new technology in institutionalised practices beyond the field, creation of new roles, production of new institutions and modification of institutions within the field” (p. 1672). From the becoming a travel accompaniment, the roll-film camera become a tourist’s must-have. Even today, tourists take along a camera to capture the new scenes in different places of destinations.

Kodak used this to make photography a part of peoples lives. Thus the saying that ‘a holiday without a Kodak is a holiday wasted’ (Munir and Philips, 2005, p. 1673). In creation of new roles, Kodak created new roles, that is, the role of a photographer. This brought down photography to ‘lay’ people who never thought they could be a part of it. The fears from the people of how to develop the film were catered for by differentiating the tasks of taking photos and developing them. Kodak aimed at making photography for masses and created a mass consumption culture.

When this was achieved, Kodak created the concepts of snapshot and the photo album (Munir and Philips, 2005). The idea of taking photos spontaneously for fun later evolved the idea of preservation of memories. The fun element helped people see the camera as a fun and essential object. With the advent the internet and social media, the aspect of preserving memories soon evolved to be that of sharing memories. Communication technology innovations like Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Pinterest built on sharing memories through texts and photography.

In this new innovation, people are armed with handy gadgets like the mobile phone which can do all these at the same time; take photos, write texts and share on social media. Text in this right allude not to just written texts, but symbols, artefacts, pictures, symbols and spoken word (Philips, Lawrence and Hardy, 2002, p. 4). Unlike before where a mobile phone was a communication device, new innovations have seen mobile phones that come packaged with cameras and applications that allow documenting and sharing of memories in an instant.

The impact of the ever-changing technology on photography is no doubt the biggest, from the development of the candid camera in 1925 to the present digital cameras, Keller (1993). The vast audience and outlet for work documented.

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