Here are the questions for this week:

• Brian:
  1. Why shouldn’t governments/colleges/institutions keep every record possible?

  2. Should the US government control other methods of communication like it does with the radio spectrum? [CLOSED] Why or why wouldn’t this be in the interest of US citizens?

  3. Does new technology actually degrade the family unit or is it just the usage that degrades the family unit? [CLOSED] Why is this a recurring theme with technology?

• Chao-Wei

  1. In response to “Afterword: Media Monopoly”, the competition between media has become much severer than the time when the essay was published. No matter the quantity of media increased or the invasion of new media all result in tense competition. What is the best way for major media to explain to the public that commercialize is the necessary evil for surviving the awful environment?

  2. The influence of major media has decreased a lot since the Internet came into play. How do major media re-position their roles in this new environment as a way to regain their significance?

  3. How do major media strike a balance between commercialization and public interests?

• Christy:

  1) If the information discussed is so crucial, why wasn’t it’s archival discussed before it was only documented online-only?

  2) How does the tough decision of what to keep and what to throw-away in the digital world differ from the hard-copy world? Presumably the same decision must be made considering physical documents. Based on what records needed to be kept pre-Internet, it seems as though it would be fairly simple to know what online documents to print and archive.

  3) Do we really need archived documentation of these items? [CLOSED] Our culture (and that of Sweden and Germany) value written documentation much more than other countries. In areas like the Middle East, word-of-mouth agreements are valued with the same emphasis we place on written legal documents.

  4) Why would you agree or disagree with the importance placed on keeping long-term records of grades? If they were archived for a year or two, wouldn’t that be sufficient?

  5) Why not just print out copies of anything that needs to be archived?

• Pei-Chieh
  Q1. How Christensen’s the disruptive theory will be applied to the ecords-management for archivists?
  Q2. With the development of technology, how media will continues its monopolization or diversification?
  Q3. How does/might WiFi technology  affect NTT DoCoMo service in Japan? How might the adoption of WiFi  be different based on different culture?
• Ross:

  1. Broadcast television has lost viewers and market share since Bagdikian’s book was published. What is the current state of the media monopoly?

  2. Bagdikian wrotes approvingly of the Fairness Doctrine, a Federal Communications Rule which required broadcasters to air both sides of a controversial issues. Broadcasters pressured the Federal Communications Commission to repeal the Fairness Doctrine, paving the way for politically one-sided talk radio formats. What are the best reasons to re-instate the Fairness Doctrine?

  3. What are the best reasons to not reinstate the Fairness Doctrine?

• Suna:

  1. In the Afterward of The Media Monopoly, Bagdikian states that
  “Television produced a radical transformation in the way American families arranged their lives.” How is this different from how mass radio changed people’s lives?

  2. Will websites ever have the requirement to “act in the public interest” like television stations do? [CLOSED] Is it possible? [CLOSED]

  3. Have attitudes changed toward archiving of media, now that media has become more electronic and thus more ephemeral? [CLOSED] Is it necessary? [CLOSED]

• YuHsuan

  1. Today digital technologies are so pervasive that the storage medium for digitized data is getting comparative crucial. What kinds of mediums are robust, cost effective, long-lasting and efficient enough to store large amount of “individual” digitized data? How about DVDs, hard disks, microfilms or something else?
  2. Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) is working well in Japan and BBC is fruitful in the UK as well. All these are initiated in the United States but prosperous in other countries instead. Why these creative systems couldn’t practice well in the United States? What policies or regulations should a government follow or enforce to assist the media industry?

  3. How the culture factor will affect the gratification-opportunities in predicting new media usages? Just like the Apple’s Mac is so popular in western countries but not in Asia.

The last set!

1. Adam (does not integrate readings)
   • How have features influenced your cell phone purchasing decisions?
   • GPS is enabled in all new cell phones whether you know it or not. How could this weaken your civil liberties?
   • Cable companies and wireless communications seems like an odd match, but Christensen offers one way they can break into the teleco industry. What other strategies could cable companies use to enter the market?
2. Adri
   • How would mobile technology diffusion change if the infrastructure (access) became part of the commons?
   • What pricing structures (i.e. paying for the amount of data vs. paying for the access) do you think can accelerate adoption of smart phones in the U.S. while still benefiting telecommunication companies?
   • What impacts may the emerging “mobile VOIP” technology have to existing hardware and mobile phone plans?
3. Amy
   • Five years from now, when data plan packages for your cell phone are as cheap as voice-only packages are today, how do you envision using your cell phone for more than just point-to-point voice transmission? What services and features are currently missing from your cell phone voice and its data service today that you expect to see in the near future, and what consumer need do these services provide to you, and why are they important?
   • Christensen pointed out that cable has an easier vantage point in supporting video services and introducing new video services. What services can traditional residential phone line businesses, who also offer data lines (such as Verizon), do to surpass cable companies’ vantage point, and how would these actions be beneifical to consumers?
   • A common theme in Christensen’s analysis is quality versus convenience. How do you expect a more capable cell phone-turned-portable PC and entertainment device to be integrated into a person’s home in the future? Do you expect that consumers will have so much power in their portable device, that they may disconnect their data lines into their houses? Discuss how your all-in-one phone/portable PC/internet/entertainment device will fit into your everyday computing experiences, at home and at the office.
4. Annie
   • Monopolies and government aside, what other disruptions do you foresee to impact the telecommunications and online industry? Is it positive or negative?
   • What is your take on the value chain evolution theory and its relation to bundle packages?
   • Do you think it is better for telecommunication companies to provide specialized products and services? Why or why not?
5. Bonnie (NP)
6. Brian
   • What current developments am I missing which could severely disrupt the telecommunication’s industry?
   • What changes to the telecommunication’s industry are necessary in order to implement free WiFi in urban areas?
   • How do I develop a technology to transmit data without a physical infrastructure owned by a telecommunications conglomerate? Is there already technology, other than snail mail, that can transmit data independent of the telecommunication’s infrastructure?
7. Carie
   • What benefits and detriments do the telecos face because they own the networks?
   • What other avenues are open to the telecos, besides co-option?
   • Based on the past, how has government involvement helped or harmed the teleco industry? How likely is it to happen again?
8. Chris C (NP)
9. Chris E
   • What do telecom companies need to do in order to fight back against entrants in the VOIP and mobile technology markets?
   • Do you wish your smartphone had more universal connectivity? Does the amount of connectivity it has now suit your needs, or do you sometimes wish it had more universal applications? [Closed]
   • Christensen considers IM a disruptive platform. How have telecom companies harnessed this power? In what ways can it be used to enhance their products?
10. Corey
    • How does the telco marketing in Europe and Japan compare to the US in terms of the new technologies Christensen discussed?
    • How does net neutrality become an issue in furthering the quality of VoIP communication?
    • What is the probability of the government creating policy around WiFi? If there is regulation in this arena, what will this do to the technology and/or industry?
11. Garrett
    • How has wireless technology effected you?
    • Is there a company that you see as being in danger of “dying from a thousand cuts” from new market entrants? [Closed]
    • How many companies do you employ so that you can be enabled to communicate? [Closed]
12. John (NQ)
13. Jody
    • What benefits do cable companies derive by being in the telephony business?
    • What has transpired in the wireless industry since the book was written?
    • Which of the technologies discussed in the chapter do you see as having the most growth potential and prospects for longevity?
    • What technological innovations do we foresee coming on the scene over the next few years?
14. Katie
    • If you don’t have an iPhone, why not? What barriers to adoption to you experience with this new technology?
    • What do you think the public sentiment is toward large telecommunications networks such as AT&T, Qwest and SBC? How will that impact their success or failure in as we see VoIP, cable, wireless and instant messaging move into their business landscape?
    • We all subscribe to some form of telecommunications network service. What do you think they need to start providing in order to stay afloat?
15. Keichii (NP)
16. Kirk
    • How will the smart-phone disrupt the laptop and pda markets?
    • How can WiFi be provided as a public utility? And if it is will it be regulated?
    • How long until hackers find vulnerabilities in our smart-phone systems and further compromise privacy and financial security? Will this dampen adoption?
17. Mark
    • How will disruptive technologies force incumbent companies, such as Qwest, Verizon, and AT&T, in the telecommunications industry to adopt newer technologies such as VOIP or wireless at rates faster than they would otherwise consider?
    • How will text messaging technology change the telecommunications industry over the foreseeable future?
    • What part will GPS play in the new smart phone?
18. Maury (summary of reading, not reflection)
    • What can we learn from NTT DoMoCo’s success?
    • Why hasn’t VoIP exploded to take over telecommunications?
    • How could other 3G wireless companies mimic NTT DoMoCo’s results without mimicking their, relatively simple, approach?
19. Michelle (NP)
20. Nate
    • What factors are keeping Microsoft from becoming a player in the telecom market?
    • Why are we (U.S.) lagging behind the rest of the world in mobile technology?
    • Where do we stand in terms of embracing WiFi compared with other countries?
21. Sarah F
    • What are the benefits of having a world where nearly everyone is connected?
    • What are the adverse consequences of an almost universally connected world?
    • What do you think the impact of WiMAX will be?
22. Sarah L
    • As cell phone plans become cheaper, what will happen to the “home” phone?
    • Because most cell phones include free long distance, how can traditional “home” phone long distance companies change their services to entice customers to stay with them?
    • As WiFi smart phones become more readily available, what will happen to cell phone companies’ data service prices?
23. Tharaa
    • How does the wireless value chain function for media industry?
    • What are the new business models and technology enablers that will accelerate adoption of wireless media content?
    • How media companies and wireless carriers differ nowadays in terms of priority initiatives and quality?
24. Yen-Ching
    • How will the smart-phone perform its functions in the future? Why is it the next online media?
    • Please provide your personal experiences of using the internet and add-value services on cell phone? When did you use it and why did you use it?
    • What will people want to transport after we can transport text, sounds and images?
25. Yi-Jen
    • What is the limitation of the future telecom?
    • Do you think smart phone will replace laptop in the future? Why? Why not?
    • Does telecommunication make our lives easier or more complicated?
26. Yu-Lan
    • What makes you use IM instead of telephones?
    • What are the concerns of enterprise IM?

Here they are!

1. Adam
   1. How can the problems inherent with e-voting be solved?
   2. Hardin argues that making it illegal to rob a bank actually increased societies overall freedom. What other cases of prohibitive legislation have contributed to freedom in society?
   3. How have you have used digital media to influence government?
2. Adri
   1. Who constitutes the commons in the Internet?
   2. The tragedy of the commons is based in the principle of “scarcity” if there’s is no scarcity on the information that can be created and shared over the Internet, then how does the tragedy of commons apply to the Internet?
3. Amy
   1. How do you see internet user reacting to ‘too much information’ available on the internet? How are current technologies playing a role in weighting information so that it is not too much? What technology is missing that would better allow information to be presented to users while avoiding the ‘too much information’ problem?
   2. How does the adage ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ play into the internet, and how do you believe this affects individuals’ habits?
   3. What can be done to turn the passive, TV watching experience into an interactive experience that people currently have on their computer? Explain why you believe technology is already to that point, and explain what technology exists or does not exist to make this possible.
4. Annie
   1. Provide some eDemocracy recommendations for the government for the upcoming election.
   2. Where do you see the theory of the commons being played out in your life, and is it good or bad?
   3. How can we bring balance in our lives to use information from the Internet in a healthy manner?
5. Bonnie
   1. What “rights” and “freedoms” should be guaranteed in cyberspace?
   2. How are the intellectual property rights of content providers protected or at risk in today’s Internet?
   3. Whose responsibility is it to police and regulate the Internet?
   4. Where is the content-filter software that allows the user to set “garbage criteria” to help prevent the need to wade through unhelpful and time-consuming material?
6. Brian
   1. In what ways is the internet a finite frontier?
   2. In what ways is the internet an endless frontier?
   3. What strategies can electronic governments implement to promote the freedom of ideas and expression online, as opposed to strict control?
   4. How might uses and gratifications establish a foundation for online government?
7. Carie
   1. How do you think political debates on YouTube add value?
   2. Why is eVoting a good or bad idea?
   3. How could the method of voting (eVoting, mail-in ballot, or in-person vote) affect the likelihood of your vote being counted?
8. Chris C
9. Chris E
   1. What are some examples of “manly” web activities? “Womanly?”
   2. With all of the security measures currently in place to protect information and identity, why are so many people apprehensive about establishing online voting?
   3. How could demand for web access overtake the available “supply?”
10. Corey
    1. What example(s) have you experienced where a common was revoked, online or offline, because of abuse by society?
    2. Under what circumstances will the Internet cease to exist as a common place?
    3. What is the one theme both articles reference and why is it so important to our culture?
11. Garrett
    N.Q.
12. Jody
    1. At what stage do the common facets of the internet move to selfishness, negatively impacting the experiences for others?
13. John
    1. What is the reason for studying simple questions instead of moving on to more complex matters?
    2. What strategy will be affective in addressing the problem of overpopulation?
    3. How is the bombardment of advertising affecting our quality of life?
14. Katie
    1. Hardin relates the tragedy of the commons to billboards and advertising. I read conflicting viewpoints of advertising. On one hand it brings in the necessary revenue to make things like “the Internet” free, and fund good production quality of the Super Bowl etc. On the other hand, advertising seems noisy and intrusive. What are your opinions on advertising in our current media landscape?
    2. How can the “tragedy” of the commons contribute to both a loss and a win as our media landscape evolves?
    3. Does the tragedy of the commons have more of an effect on our voting today (before e-voting is widely accepted) or do you think it will have an effect on the future? Please explain.
15. Keiichi
16. Kirk
    N.Q.
17. Mark
    1. Who is responsible for our collective security online?
    2. Since the Internet is an international medium, who is ultimately responsible for online justice?
    3. Who ensures equal access to all?
18. Maury
    1. What is an alternative to the ‘commons’?
    2. What role does education play in helping to solve world wide issues?
    3. Why isn’t there a technological solution to overpopulation?
19. Michelle
    N.Q.
20. Nate
    1. If you were in charge of World Wide Web, how would you go about deciding what to control or regulate?
    2. How does government regulation help provide more freedom on the Internet?
    3. How would you react to an Internet service that offers information specific to your interests—much like channels on cable—that you would pay extra for?
21. Sarah F
    1. How do you see the issue of Net Neutrality in relation to the tragedy of the commons?
    2. What are the benefits and drawbacks to electronic voting?
    3. How does the idea of zero population growth relate to the tragedy of the commons?
22. Sarah L
    1. If the Internet is a commons as described by Hardin and in danger, how will we know if the number of Internet users is growing too large? What administrative laws could be enacted to protection it and how could they be enforced?
    2. How will increasing bandwidth affect the number of user able to use the Internet without diminishing use for others?
    3. How will the digital divide and e-government systems affect the ability of citizens without access to the Internet to participate in their government?
23. Tharaa
    1. We see how electronic government benefits us in many aspects, but how this entity has been established, how is it evolved?
    2. Some countries around the world don’t regulate online electronic government for different reasons, how could you help them establish one? What are the most crucial steps?
    3. Are the social factor and the cultural differences important in regulating and shaping the basic foundation of electronic government in a giving country? Explain why?
24. Yen-Ching
25. Yi-Jen
    1. What is the pros and cons of e-voting? If one day the e-voting replace the original way we vote before, what do you think?
    2. What is the solution of the Internet “pollution” as I mentioned above?
    3. Does the e-voting has limits or not?
26. Yu-Lan (Sharlan)
    1. How to tell people stop forwarding junk emails without hurting their feelings? ( I guess it’s not a question for our class, but I really wish to know how!)
    2. How to build trust of online democracy?
    3. How the internet’s impact on the upcoming elections?

Here they are!

• Adam
  1. How have message boards influenced the direction of political debate?
  2. How can online communities divide a populous?
  3. What are the most important factors needed for an online community to succeed?
• Adri
  1. How are online communities of the past (a.k.a. telegraph) different from today’s communities (i.e. Second Life, Blogs, etc.)?
  2. What are the factors that make an online community work well?
  3. How do you establish your identity online and how does it vary from technology to technology?
• Amy
  1. What are some ways that avatars (or internet alter-egos) are dangerous on the internet today? As the internet becomes more and more visually representative of the ‘real’ world, how you think Americans are going to react to such fantasy worlds? Why do you think this is not a problem, or why do you think this could be an epidemic (such as obesity, but with an obsession with fantasy worlds)?
  2. What is your take on internet forums you observe or participate in? How are they friendly, like a stroll through your neighborhood saying a friendly hello to your neighbors, or how are they stuffy, like getting on a crowded train car in which everyone just wants to read their paper and get off the train?
  3. If you were tasked with writing a similar article such as ‘Communities in Cyberspace’, what would your top three predictions for the future of social interaction on the internet be, and why?
• Annie
  1. In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of online communities?
  2. How can online communities impact future social revolutions?
  3. Imagine if online communities were able to impact economic change in the government. How would this be possible?
• Bonnie
  1. How many blog visitors search for blogs on which to comment based on the lowercase “i” being attached to any word in the title of a blog post?
  2. What role does Gen Y/The Echoe Boom Generation (children of Baby Boomers) have in how we evaluate the marketability of new technology? What kind of changes will that generation’s entrance into the child-bearing years bring to the Internet and the forums we find there (in terms of structure, not topics)?
  3. How does the ever-diminishing size of each niche market affect a consumer’s ability to find what she is looking for on the Net?
  4. How should a business that depends on advertising to market itself slice and dice its advertising dollar when niche marketing is splintering the audience so effectively and surely? What does “niche advertising” look like?
• Brian
• Carie
  1. Why do you think people misrepresent themselves online? What do they gain from doing this?
  2. Give an example of an online community that also has an offline component. If you cannot come up with an example, why do you think the two communities exist independently?
  3. What do you do when someone in one of your online communities misbehaves? How does the community define what is unacceptable behavior? What rules or policies have been established to deal with people who do not comply with the rules and policies?
• Chris C
  1. Why would you ever consider joining an e-community?
  2. What are your thoughts on relationships that begin in non-dating e-communities?
  3. Why do you believe members of e-communities act so different than their real life personalities?
• Chris E
  1. If you’ve conversed with someone electronically for months or even years, would you feel apprehensive about meeting them? Why or why not?
  2. In what ways can involvement in online communities be unhealthy?
  3. What are some reasons that many prefer online interaction as opposed to “real life” interactions?
• Corey
  1. What suggestions or inferences do Kollock and Smith discuss about online communities that are different today?
  2. How have mediation tools or processes affected online communities? What do you think the environment would be like without them?
  3. What stereotypes have you been subject to in an online community? What examples of cooperation or collective action have you participated in an online community?
• Garrett
  1. How long have you been using Internet message boards/online communities? [closed]
  2. How many do you frequent and are they different kinds (gaming, political only, etc) or mostly the same? [closed]
  3. Would you say that many of the people you meet through online social networking translate well to real life friendships? [closed]
• Jody
  1. What can online communities do to more effectively engage members?
  2. What aspects of online community are more appealing than our personal contact within offline communities?
  3. In what ways are online more or less positive than offline communities?
• John
  1. Why are Internet communities perceived as destroying the fabric of real communities?
  2. How easy is it to take on the persona of another race or gender in anonymous online discussions? [closed]
  3. Why do we no longer know our neighbor’s names?
• Katie
  1. In what ways do you interact with online communities?
  2. How have the “new” ways of interacting, IM, Phone, e-mail, message boards etc. changed how we form relationships with friends, coworkers and strangers?
  3. At this point we have read several articles on communication theory. What are your thoughts about the practical application of these theories? In other words, why apply communication theories to current events? What are the benefits and negative consequences?
• Keiichi (NQ)
• Kirk
• Mark
  1. In what ways do standards based organizations like the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) serve to foster online community?
  2. In what ways can language and culture contribute to the growth of an online community?
  3. How can focus upon a particular theme or topic contribute to the growth of an online community?
• Maury
  1. If you are just a lurker are you still a member of the community, why are why not?
  2. What needs are met in an online community that can’t be met in real life?
  3. Online communities are policed by moderators, who put them in charge?
• Michelle
• Nate
  1. Smith and Kollock’s include MUDs as a type of online community. How does this inclusion affect the common characterization of MUDs as “entertainment?”
  2. How could virtual social networks structured around physical communities have a negative effect on widely spread rural communities?
  3. How can more sophisticated forms of virtual communities become a danger to society?
• Sarah F
  1. Explain the benefits and drawbacks of online communities.
  2. Describe what you think is the best size for any given online discussion and reasons supporting your logic.
  3. Describe your ideal definition of netiquette in online communities.
• Sarah L
  1. Why do we feel more comfortable communicating openly and honestly online, especially when there is very little privacy?
  2. How will blunt and brutally honest communication online affect real life communication?
  3. How can we trust strangers online? We teach children not to talk to strangers and run away if they are offered gifts or a ride in their car, so why do adults accept monetary gifts from strangers online?
• Thaara
  1. What do you think our web world lacks in terms of interaction? Do we need more to reach the ultimate level of interactivity? Or not, and why?
  2. Does the ultimate level of online interactivity provide the ultimate effectiveness that off-line interactions provide? Explain why or why not? [closed]
  3. Nowadays, we consider some mediated interactions like using cell-phones and others are part of our off-line interactions. Do you think we will experience an overlap between the online different communities and tools and off-line ones in the future? Explain why?
• Yen-Ching
• Yi-Jen
  1. How to make lurkers of online communities contribute their power and opinions on the Internet?
  2. What is the key to build a successful online community?
  3. What are the reasons to make most people stick on the online communities?
• Yu-Lan (Sharlan)
  1. What sort of online governance is possible?
  2. How to define the post maker’s gender/race online?

Here they are!

• Group 1: Chapter 1, From Tom Paine to Blogs and Beyond, pdf
• Group 2: Chapter 3, The Gates Come Down, pdf
• Group 3: Chapter 6, Professional Journalists Join the Conversation, pdf
• Group 4: Chapter 7, The Former Audience Joins The Party, pdf
• Group 5: Chapter 9, Trolls, Spin and the Boundary of Trust, pdf

• Adam – Ch 1

  Most blogs seem to be reactions or criticisms of the mainstream media. Would blogs be as popular if mainstream media did not exist?

  Many bloggers consider themselves to not be a part of the mainstream media, yet many boast more readers than newspapers. What defines” mainstream” in today’s media environment?

  Print media, like blogs, sprouted as independent publications, but capitalistic forces pressured print to consolidate. Do you see blogs following the same evolutionary path that print media did?

• Adri - Ch 3
  1. How can journalists establish credibility in today’s media environment?2. Why is the news industry so unprepared for the changing ways of new media, if this phenomenon was clearly in development for a long time?

• Amy – Chapter 6
  1. What have your favorite online news media sources done to encourage online interaction with non-journalists?
  2. As journalism continues to change from a profession to a social networking forum, what methods do you expect the top ‘respectable’ news institutions (such as CNN, BBC, etc.) to adopt to maintain their authority while including the information presented by the public’s social forums?
  3. What methods can professional news media use to ensure public commentary/additions to news stories contain reliable and truthful information? Why is it the responsibility of the news media or journalist to ensure the commented information on a news article is accurrate (or is it not the news media’s responsiblity)?

• Annie - Trust
  1. What kind of reforms do you think needs to be introduced in the web to provide structure and guidance around piracy and credibility of information?
  2. How would you recommend the government to use to Internet for providing trustworthy and reliable information?
  3. What are the benefits and downfalls of posting information anonymously?

• Bonnie - Ch ?
  1. If citizen journalism kills the vertical structure of news gathering and presenting, who sits in the role of editor? What happens to accuracy, fairness and objectivity?2. What would happen if your favorite newspaper stopped printing a daily and used all of the money saved in printing costs to increase the number of reporters, involve citizen journalists in the process, and offer news that is media rich and more deeply reported?

  3. If you were a reporter for the Seattle Times and your editor called you into her office and asked, “Blogs are becoming a powerful source for news. How will that impact us?” What would you say? (Question inspired by Tom Standage)

• Brian - Ch 3, Transparency
  In what specific ways has technology relinquished privacy?As privacy becomes a relic of the past, how will this affect checks and balances on institutions, organizations and regimes?How does transparency among corporations, governments and individuals support Osgood and Shramm’s communication theory?
• Carie - Ch 9
  What do you think about credibility issues on the Internet? In what instances should comments or discussion be disallowed on the Internet? When should it be okay to remove comments or police discussions? How will self-identification solve credibility issues? How does self-identification help with credibility in newspapers?
• ChrisC – Ch 3
  1. What is your feelings toward those that lead public lives, and the way they have to deal with anything they do being recorded and reported? We all have slip ups from time to time, but for most of us, these arent broad casted all over the internet the next day.2. How have blogs changed the way political figures handle themselves and their critics? Anyone with a blog and a purpose can turn things into a huge backlash against someone they disagree with.

  3. Blogs have become a voice for so many people that otherwise would not have been able to share their information or ideas. While most Big Media has to abide by certain regulations, blogs do not. Do you see anyone in power trying to change this?

• ChrisE – Ch 9
  1. In what ways can Internet trolling actually affect someone in “real life?”2. How does online deception hurt real journalists who write mainly in the electronic medium? What can they do to restore credibility?3. Has the Internet and web 2.0 done more harm or good for political candidates? How can they use this to their advantage and what should they avoid?
• Corey - Ch 7
  1) As the lines continue to blur between professional journalism and blogging, what should the reporting industry do, if anything, to maintain the integrity and quality of information provided to society?
  2) This chapter discusses convergence culture in terms of blogging—the consumers have now also become the producers. It is a participatory culture. In what other industries, and how, has this capability “rocked the boat”?
  
  3) Did society’s need for tools of democratization create a participatory culture or did the creation of the technology drive the desire to produce? Please explain.
• Garrett - Ch 1

  1) How and where do you get your news from?

  2) Who do you trust most in online news? Mainstream (old media assets) or non-mainstream outlets?

  3) Are you on a mailing list? What kind? How often does it come out?

• Jody - C 6
  • Why are established media hesitant to fully embrace citizen media and open conversation with the citizenry?
  • What inspires citizens to create content for others?
  • What sorts of citizen content is most interesting and effective?
  • What media organizations are doing an admirable job in utilizing the citizenry, and how?
• John – ? / NQ
• Katie - Ch 1
  1. What problems can you see with a situation like Gillmor describes, in which he got all his news from a Penn professor that editorialized and distributed bits of information he found relevant?
  2. How can we determine if a blogger is a journalist?
  3. How has “big business” affected the media landscape, both positively and negatively?
• Keichii - Ch 1
  What will journalist’s roll be when so many insiders are providing valuable information?To protect people from privacy invasion and libel, do we have to revise the current laws?There is so much false information on the internet that is created only to make people disconcerted. Should we or the authorities do something to control them? Or, should we just overlook them to retain liberty in this new medium?
• Kirk - Ch ?
  1. How can local media engage their community better? Is the future of national print media to do more in depth reporting on local news rather than cover the whole field?2. How will local and international print media be consolidated in the near future? Is there room for multiple carries of international news stories?

  3. How can a news organization afford to pay its reporters when you can get multiple reports to choose from for alomst free as in the case of OhMyNews.com?

• Mark – Ch 7

  1. The United States Constitution guarantees freedom of the press in the 1st Amendment. Why do you agree or disagree that bloggers should be protected under freedom of the press as differentiated from freedom of speech?

  2. Since it is the World Wide Web, participants from every other nation can potentially interact with people from the United States. Why do you agree or disagree that people from other countries should benefit in cases litigated in the U.S. from the same guarantees afforded by the U.S. Constitution, particularly the 1st Amendment, when interacting with Americans on Web sites that originate in the United States?

  3. How do you think the “Wikipedia 1.0” release of Wikipedia, the version that is touted as suitable for print will change public perception about Wikipedia?

• Maury - Ch 9
  1) Why is credibility on the internet tied to identity?
  2) Why are we so quick to give bloggers more credibility than established news outlets?
  3) Who is to blame when errors, lies, and misrepresentations are spread on the web?
• Michele - Ch 3
  1. What are the factors that make news credible?2. What are the types of information does the public seek, and from whom do they want this information?

  3. Who does the public trust?

• Nate – Ch 7
  1. In what ways are readers’ expectations of a quality news blog different from their expectations of a quality traditional news source?
  2. What are some elements of traditional journalism worth keeping in amateur journalism?
  3. If a popular amateur journalist/blogger were to be hired by a traditional news source and continued his/her blog, how would your opion of the blog change?
• dkdkd
• dkdk
• Sarah Funk – Ch 1
  1. What advantages do the audience gain between mainstream media and blogs?
  2. Gillmor says that the printing press and broadcast function as a ‘one to many’ type of communication and the telephone is a ‘one to one’ type. He says the web can be ‘one to many,’ ‘one to one’ or ‘many to many’ depending on what we want. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of this.
  3. How was Sept. 11, 2001 a catalyst for bloggers?
• Sarah Lane – Ch 6

  1. What happens to the role of copy righted material when an amateur uploads photos or video to a news media site for their use? How do they decide who owns those products if there is money to be made from them?

  2. How will the citizen journalist change company and government public affairs teams view of who constitutes a reporter? How will it change their relationship with main stream media as a means to distribute their message?

• Thaara - Ch 3
  1) How we assess the impact of an open news technique on societies with different backgrounds?
  2) What do we need/lack to deliver effective news? Can those requirements be adopted by all societies? If no why and how?
  3) Why governments around the world are more likely to hide important information and block its sources? Is it part of controlling the citizen?
• YenChing – Ch ?
  

  1. Are there any other ways for blogging and personal journalism to make revenue? What are they?

  2. What is the definition of “nano-publishing”?

  3. Please provide examples of any well-known blogs and their business model.

• YiJen - Ch 9
  1. In real life, only suspects are required to show their ID and many reporters write articles by anonymity on the newspaper or magazines. Why do people especially judge the anonymous article on the Internet?
  2. Does the article by anonymity have no credibility? Corresponsively, the article by signing a name at the end must have credibility? Why? Why not?
  3. What are the motives of stirring bloggers to scrutinize news voluntarily?
• Yulan (Sharlen) – Ch ?
  1) From the case of Lawrence.com ( it shows the city that 20 year old resident knows, not the 50 year old resident knows), how to we cross blog’s age barrier? Or the old folks’ opinions will be ignored since they don’t get online that much (or not at all) ?
  2) As the gate keeper for news, how do mainstream medias filter the news/pictures from amateurs to make sure they are fair and true?
  3) How to re-educate journalism school faculties who has not adapted to the ideas of technology communication?

Here we go!

1. Adam
   • Other than chip customization, what other disruptive innovation could eat into Intel’s market share?
   • Bush suggest the whole of scientific knowledge is unknowable to the individual in her lifetime and that so much research is being conducted that it is possible for some present day research to go unnoticed (as was the case of Mendel’s genetics research). How might the process of scientific research, publication and review be made more efficient?
   • How does Moore’s Law relate to the software industry?
2. Adri
   • What arguments or theories can support the benefits of market diversification and decentralization that would refute Christensen and Bush seemingly negative views?
   • According to the Victorian Internet, we’ve been trying to send more data, further away and faster, even before Morse’ time. Why do we keep pursuing this?
   • As Bush demonstrates with many examples in his reading, information is more and more decentralized and complex, therefore search and organization solutions have increase demand, what are the “Faustian bargains” of such solutions?
3. Amy

   • Just as the telephone replaced the telegraph, what technology will replace the internet?

   • As the government becomes more aware of varying forms of storing information via digital media (moving and still images, electronic documents), what steps should the government take to ensure digital media can be used as common record? What should the government define as ‘legally binding’ digital media?

   • July of 1945 marked a devastating time for some scientists, leaving them pondering their inventions, and their ethics. What current communication technologies do you think are powerful enough to have the same effect, and why? Do you think the internet could be such a tool? [Closed]
     

   • As the internet becomes more complex, what new ways will search engines need to fucntion in order to continue to parse information into meaningful and useful data for consumers?

4. Annie
   • What are some “denials” that we face with current technological advancements?
   • Develop possible theories that may help predict how technology will impact the future of digital media.- Give an example of a new invention that may be the revolution in communication today. How do you think this invention pave the path for the future?
5. Bonnie
   • When technology becomes overloaded inventors find a fix. For example, the pneumatic tube solved the problem of a telegraphy process that was a victim of its own success. Is this kind of fix driven by the bottom line of big business, the need of human beings, or both? How can current technology address our society’s sense of being buried under too much information?
   • Is the feeling of being buried under information overload perception or reality? What is to blame for it? Human nature or the technology?
   • How was Standage’s prediction that, “Mobile phones will complete the democratization of telecommunications started by the telegraph,” different than the hyperbole over the telegraph he characterized in The Victorian Internet?
6. Brian
   • Now that humans have aggregated a vast knowledge base online, and we have enough processing power to quickly and easily access this knowledge, in what ways has productivity changed? Has our culture become more or less productive?
   • How has the development of an aggregate knowledge base of records, research and resources online benefited science?
   • What social necessities are presently driving innovation?
   • How is the semiconductor industry’s pursuit of Moore’s Law changing in relation to consumer demands?
7. Carrie
   
   • How does the replacement of skilled human work with the work of machines relate to outsourcing? What can be done to protect your job from both machine replacement and outsourcing concerns?
   • What could telegraph operators have done to ensure their employment when automated telegraphy was introduced?
   • What can incumbent semiconductor design companies do to protect against new industry entrants?

   
   

8. ChrisC
   • Look at what has occurred in the last 20 years in regards to digital communication technology and describe where you believe the next 20 years will take us in the same field.
   • Bush describes in sections 6 and 7 his envision of the future recording and indexing of information. What do you think developed into his vision, and how accurate was he?
   • In the Victorian Internet, the telegraph, as non personal as it may seem to us today, still resulted in romances between people that had never met face to face. Nowdays, entire web sites are dedicated to services that result in romance. Why is our society becoming more and more geared towards taking the traditional ways of face to face interaction out of our lives?
9. ChrisE
   
   • Can you think of any other technology product where entrants, instead of incumbents, dominated the market?
   • Imagine you are a Victorian time-traveler. What would impress you the most about the technology of today? Would something like digital photography be more revolutionary than the Internet?
   • As our demands for computing power and running the latest games and applications increases, are today’s microprocessor consumers really overshot?
10. Corey
    • Another theme in the readings is setting standards.  How did setting standards benefit or hurt the telegraph and transistor business?
    • Was the introduction of the automated telegraph a result of undershot or overshot customers?  Provide an explanation for your answer.    
    • Each reading talked about the role of experts.  How as the need for experts in the communications industry evolved over the past century?  
      
11. Garrett (n.q.)
12. Jody
    
    • Christensen says that the semiconductor companies see customer needs as predictable. In what ways are our habits predictable to companies seeking our patronage?
    • As computers and applications become more powerful, at what point might we fall into the category of the overshot consumer… no longer willing to pay for unnecessary power?
    • How do we establish what ideas for the future have merit? What makes an innovation theory realistic vs. folly?
13. John
    • Why would a business chance a risky start-up when they have the cash to let someone else take the risk and buy them out if they are successful?
    • Put on your Nostradamus/Vannevar Bush hat, what is the next step that will follow or replace the internet?
    • Do you think chip manufacturers can follow Moore’s law to the sub-atomic scale? [closed]
      Kathy: see nano-tech
14. Katie
    • Bush mentions voice recognition technology in his predictions of what might take off in the future. We use voice recognition software when we call a company and get their customer service computer, but it hasn’t really taken off in other ways. Why not?
    • Bush also continuously speaks to his vision of the future in which a “room-full of girls” will demonstrate, or operate machines. Have we evolved considerably from this point? Or are most executive assistants or “secretaries” still women?
    • What are the advantages and disadvantages of applying theory to technological innovations?
15. Keichii
    • Which version of CPU made you think it is an overshoot?
    • How much of Bush’s vision has been accomplished today?
    • Is there anything you are dissatisfied with today’s internet? Do you think technology advancement will solve it?
16. Kirk
    • At what point should a company start surveying the innovation landscape and re-focus efforts (time & money) on the “next-big-thing?”(Some publications during the late stages of the telegraph, such as the ‘Telegraphers’ Advocate’ became the ‘Electric Age’ in anticipation of a new media landscape.)
    • With the semi-conductor market becoming easier to enter, will semi-condutor companies refocus large amounts of capitol in a new direction such as Quantum Computing in order to create a new less saturated and capital intensive market?(The semi-conductor ‘pie’ is already fairly sliced up. Why not create a whole new ‘pie’ that is much harder to take from, such as experimental computing methods based on quantum mechanics and string theory?)
    • The Telegraph, Telephone, and Internet all existed side by side for quite a few years. Sometimes a disruptive technology does not entirely wipe out the competing technology. How can a company continue to maintain an older technology while making a foothold in the next technology? At what point do you let go of one rung and grab the next?
17. Mark
    
    • Is Wikipedia an incumbent or a challenging technology? Or, is it a bit of both? If you see Wikipedia as a challenging or disruptive technology, how can it continue to establish itself as a dominant player in the world of content publication? If it is an incumbent, who are its potentially overshot consumers?
    • How do you know a non-consumer when you see one?
    • How do non-centralized challengers like Linux effectively compete with centralized incumbents like Microsoft or Apple?
18. Maury
    • What innovations are we overlooking or dismissing now, that will be key ingredients to future technologies and why?
    • When can the concept of overshooting the customer or the market be a good thing?
19. Michelle (no post)
20. Nate
    • The telegraph first found use for purposes of war. Vannevar Bush talks about scientists coming together in times of war. How does war accelerate or inhibit the stream of technological advancement?
    • In what ways has technology fulfilled Bush’s vision of the future? In what ways have his visions yet to be fulfilled?
    • How do trends in mobile technology offer a significant jump from the way we communicated, say, 10 years ago?
21. Sarah Lane

    • If we look at the history of the Internet to begin at the telegraph and use its lifecycle as a pattern, what does the future of the Internet look like?

    • How can the Internet escape the fate of the telegraph – being made obsolete by inventions meant to improve upon it?

    • How has the governments backing and interest in the Internet made its acceptance in society easier that it was for the telegraph?

22. Sarah Funk
    • What would Bush’s reaction be to present day technology?
    • Why is Christensen so apprehensive about the long term success of Moore’s Law?
    • How do you think Bush’s article was received in 1945?
23. Tharaa
    • What do you think would accelerate the industry change in the future? The emergence of what and why?
    • Explain how disruptive innovations would contribute in changing an industry?
    • How the birth of telephone and the explosion of wireless technologies are related to The Victorian Internet?
      
24. Yen-Ching
    • How the internet technology/industry can be explained from the viewpoints in The Victorian Internet?
    • What lessons do we learn from overly emphasizing Moore’s Laws? Please provide the cramming examples in any industry.
    • Why did Bush predict the technological changes so successfully?
25. Yi-Jen
    • Mobile phones and PC are tiny, cheaper and well-functional. Both of they are applied to the overshooting market theory. Which one do you think will become most popular and sell best in the future? Or we can said which one is the device we need most in the future? Why?
    • Someone support that specialization is the most efficient way to invent, which mean that we invent something only for human need. Others support that amplifying creativity to invent anything without any goal and then try to use it in our daily life. Which way you like most? Why? Which one do you think will work most in the future?
    • In the book, Victorian Internet, we can see the telegraph actually help people collect and deliver more information to newspaper offices faster than before instead of kill the business of newspaper. However, why do the new technologies in twentieths always threat the business of newspaper?
26. Yu-Lan
    • How did the public respond to Bush’s prediction in 1945?
    • If customization is the goal, how do we know it’s not also a block of innovation?

This week’s questions from your blog posts:

1. Adam
   (1) In Determining Uses and Gratifications, the authors introduce the social gratification as a new factor to consider when studying the uses of the internet. Since theory is constantly evolving as a reaction to new media, can using theory be an effective way to predict future the future of digital media? [Closed]
   (2) Considering the language of the first amendment, what role should the government play in regulating the communication industry?
   (3) What are the asymmetries of MSN, Google and Yahoo?
2. Adriana
   (1) How can we apply the “Signals of Change” theory (non consumers, undershot customers and overshot customers) to the business environment if the end-customers (employees) are forced to use the technology that companies acquire?
   (2) What are the “Faustian Bargains” of the communication technology that we use for work (e-mail, IM, phone, blackberrys)? And how to they influence (or not) adoption of new technologies in the workplace?
   (3) If technology has biases like Reihngold says, we can assume that YouTube has a bias against authoritarian regimes because it allows people to express in video (a powerful medium) differing views and have access to a wide audience. How have non-market prohibitionist measures impacted the use of YouTube? And why not all authoritarian regimes rigorously control access to the YouTube?
3. Amy
   (1) Why is it that human beings, despite their infinite wisdom and knowledge, still cannot predict future technologies?
   (2) Why is it that big businesses don’t recognize their competition when it seems painfully obvious to consumers?
   (3) Will business people become psychic in order to properly predict the needs of consumers? [Closed]
4. Annie
   (1) What do you think are the different processes in which society conform to technological advancements and innovations, and how do you think they will impact innovation?
   (2) How can we be certain that signals, as Christensen argues, is the right source to predict what will happen next, especially because change in digital media is inevitable and hasty?
   (3) How have mobile telephones impacted your professional and personal relationships?
5. Bonnie
   (1) Will Apple encounter non-market factors that will block its innovation, just as Microsoft did with the Justice Department? Or, are other non-market factors – such as cultural norms, politics or the absolutely unpredictable event – just around the corner, waiting to impact the loud yet somewhat modest success of Apple’s newest darling, the iPhone? [Closed]
6. Brian
   (1) How do ‘uses and gratifications’ apply to Christensen, Anthony and Roth’s three customer groups (non-consumers, undershot consumers and overshot consumers)?
   (2) How will further research of ‘uses and gratifications’ in relation to Christensen, Anthony and Roth’s three customer groups fuel innovation?
   (3) Telegraph, telephone, radio, television, wireless telephone, the Internet what is next?
7. Carie
   (1) Provide an example of an existing technology that you think has undershot customers or nonconsumers and explain how the technology could be modified to meet those customers’ needs.
   (2) Rheingold states, “For every advantage a new technology offers, there is always a corresponding disadvantage.” Give an example of a new technology and explain its advantages and disadvantages.
   (3) What do you think the U.S. government should have done differently with regard to the 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act?
8. ChrisC
9. ChrisE
   (1) Is it possible for someone interested in digital media to be an overshot customer? [Closed] Why or why not?
   (2) The speed at which new technology is developed is sometimes too quick for the average consumer. Should new technologies be made available to consumers as soon as they are ready, or should government regulate their availability until the public is deemed “ready?” [Closed]
   (3) The mobile phone industry is constantly evolving, with newer, sleeker, slimmer phones with more features available every day. Are you ever frustrated by this? Does the speed at which a “better”phone becomes available make you resent the industry? [Closed]
10. Corey
    (1) What are some recent product or service examples of the “signals of change” that Christensen talks about?
    (2) Per the U&G study, what can websites or online portals do to aide in the retention and growth of their audience? What areas should they focus on?
    (3) In Rheingold’s tenth point, he states that “no content beyond voice and music is going to be widely popular unless it works well with a tiny screen.” What improvements do you think need to be made in the mobile arena for the ”tiny screen” to be effective? Will it eventually be our primary computer? [Closed]
11. Garrett
    (1) Christensen views the potential actions and capabilities of companies using an institutional model, what perspective could it be inferred that Rheingold has? [Closed]
    (2) Does there exist a moral factor that could prevent the acceleration of communications technology? [Closed]
    (3) Does the telecommunications legislation that favors incumbents reinforce the view of the United States as corporatist state or at least one that runs according to interest-group liberalism (see: Theodore Lowi)? [Closed]
12. Jody – NQ.
13. John
    (1) Will we ever get beyond the idea of making technology advancements for the good of mankind and not as a new way of selling something? [Closed]
    (2) Do all technological changes have a downside, the Faustian bargain? [Closed]
    (3) Can a technology have a political bias? [Closed]
14. Katie
    (1) What are your general thoughts about applying theory to innovation? Do you think each successful innovation would fit into Christensen’s model? What do you think he’s lacking?
    (2) Several different social groups use their mobile phones differently. Kids text using many abbreviations, urbanites use their Sidekicks, Business people are glued to their Palm, and older Americans struggle with the size and speed of the phones. How do you think the mobile industry will evolve as our population ages? What will be different when our teenagers are middle aged?
    (3) What is the easiest and most effective way to achieve Critical Mass?
15. Keichii
    (1) If Rheingold’s point number 1 is true, who will suffer most from today’s mobile technology? and how?
    (2) Who are Undershot customers in today’s mobile scene? And what function, spec, or mobile environment are they looking for?
    (3) Through the U&G research, what is the most important factor for a site to attract audiences?
16. Kirk
    (1) Why is it that many businesses miss the boat fighting their own wars, while converging technologies make their battle ultimately pointless?
    (2) Why should businesses try to create new markets for non-consumers in a rapidly changing media environment, when the consumers have already indicated what they want by the networks they create on their own? Wouldn’t it make more sense to improve and add value to consumer created technologies? [Closed]
    (3) How much should businesses focus on the emotional connections consumers have with technology versus a more logical approach?
17. Mark
    (1) What values and biases would influence a writer, or any other producer of creative content, to misinterpret or fail to see opportunities in immerging technologies?
    (2) Which of the digital media have nonconsumers among those consumers who do use the internet?
    (3) Is the average user of the internet in America currently undershot or overshot by the distribution of movies on the internet? [Closed]
18. Maury – NQ.
19. Michelle
20. Nate
    (1) What other examples can be used to explain Principle #7 in Postman’s list, which states that different technologies have different political biases?
    (2) What problems, if any, arise from the fact that the U&G study focuses on only one Internet service? (AOL)
    (3) In recent years, what new-market disruptive innovations were unsuccessful in the face of incumbent technologies? What factors led to failure?
21. Sarah Frost Lane
    (1) How do social networking sites fit in to the theories discussed by Christensen?
    (2) How can these sites become up-market sustaining innovations?
    (3) How can the government increase innovation in the communications industry while so tightly regulating and controlling it?
22. Sarah Funk
    (1) When is government regulation better than self regulation? Are industries better to wait and see how far they can push the government through lobbyists and reform? [Closed]
    (2) What can companies do to engage non-consumers before they are harmed from technological advancement?
    (3) How do incumbents become powerful in the first place if the are so vulnerable to entrant innovation?
23. Thaara
    (1) How you differentiate between Christensen’s book and other business books?
    (2) If we consider all technologies are double-edged swords, how people’s different categories will fluctuate between benefiting the most out of a given technology and being exposed to a harmful or disadvantageous tool?
    (3) How can the strong political views influence or motivate developers in the online world?
24. Yen-Ching
    (1) How can we apply Rheingold’s 10 points to compare the new technology and old technology on internet?
    (2) How can we use the “Table of Tape” and “Sword and Shield” approach to analyze the competitive? Why are they sufficient?
    (3) Why the informational content gratification is higher than entertaining content?
25. Yi-Jen
    (1) Government regulatory is the most important part to accelerate or block the development innovation in today’s digital media environment. What do you expect US government to do to accelerate today’s digital media environment?
    (2) If overshot consumers takes the most part of marketing, where is the future of 3G?
    (3) What is the system to stop selling lower price products for companies [if] people always expect the price will become lower and lower?
26. Yu-Len (Sharlen)
    (1) How does government as a nonmarket player avoid making actions that try to protect industries but actually drag the acceleration?
    (2) When being attacked by disruptive innovations, is buying the entrant a better option for the incumbents who doesn’t have the skill to acquire the disruptive innovation? [Closed]

Each week, I capture discussion questions from your blog posts:

• Adam:
  (1)Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? – Considering Gauguin’s painting Where is electronic communication? Infancy? Adulthood? Near death?
  (2) Since the advent of the railroad, electronic communication has depended on transportation infrastructure. Will Transportation ever depend on communication infrastructure? [Closed]
  (3) What will eventually kill VOIP?
• Adriana:
  (1) How and why have we capitalized (and developed enormous industries from it) the basic and “free” act of communicating with one another?
  (2) Can, and will, the commercial communication industry coexist with the non-commercial communication activity on the same “stage”? [Closed]
  (3) Can the unorganized and uncontrolled nature of the Internet continue to survive in the face of the organized power of capital society? [Closed] And what will we miss out on, if this does not happen?
  Comments: ChrisC
• Amy:
  1. Will companies affected by the internet be wise enough to recognize ‘Disruptive Technology’, and/or be strategic enough to take part in ‘Disruptive Technology’ as a means of offsetting their potentially obsolete current technology? [Closed]
  2. Did the ‘digital age’ begin with the discovery of how to dynamically use electricity, with such inventions such as the telegraph? [Closed]
  3. Have we evolved to the point where all future ‘ages’ will be driven by consumers and their behaviors rather than on available technology and its impact on consumers?[Closed]
• Annie:
  Can we truly live a life full of virtual relationships in the future? [Closed]
• Bonnie:
  (1) If technological advances are, as Winston suggests, based on seismic cultural activity, then what’s next? (2) What social upheavals are happening today to create the development of tomorrow’s technology?
  Comments: Mark, Corey
• Brian:
  (1) What other factors are truly driving this technological revolution other than social necessity?
  (2) If the Internet remains mostly unregulated by laws established to protect pre-existing corporate institutions, will we see more disruptive technologies wiping out behemoth corporate institutions at a much faster pace? [Closed]
• Carie
  (1) Do you feel communication technologies have enabled greater understanding or just greater communication? [Closed]
  (2) Is it beneficial for incumbent technology owners to suppress new technological adoption and diffusion? [Closed] If so, beneficial to whom?
  (3) Why are technology standards important? What is the value in having standards? What are the disadvantages to having standards?
  Comments: ChrisE
• ChrisC
  Is this communication continuing along its evolutionary path as our society moves toward being more dependant on the internet, or is it truly the “death” of the telephone as we know it? [Closed]
  Comments: Adriana
• ChrisE
  (1) What information distribution system was more revolutionary for its time: the telegraph, or the World Wide Web? Why?Do you think another “mediamorphosis” is possible within the next 50 years? Will a communication system ever “replace” the Internet? Will all advances from this point on merely be an extension of the Internet? [Closed]
  (2) Since most telephone companies already provide broadband Internet service, is VOIP really that much of a threat to their business? [Closed]
  Comments: Annie, Maury
• Corey
  (1) How has the technological evolution affected developing countries, if at all?
  (2) We read that, in the end, advertisements over broadcast radio prevailed to much dismay. After several decades, the introduction of satellite radio rid this revenue stream necessity. With the DVR and TiVo technologies allowing audiences to bypass ads, in what ways do you think this disruptive technology will change the marketing landscape?
  (3) Amateur bloggers are really stirring things up in the journalism industry, questioning the validity of professional journalists and their practices. We read a similar thing about radio (Hams) and Morse, who was a talented artist and only had an informal understanding of electricity. In what other areas of digital media do we see amateurs setting new standards, or stirring up the norm?
  Comments: Mark
• Garrett
  (1) What are ways in which companies can remain innovative and flexible? Is it possible (especially when the business model relies on outdated technology)?
  (2) Given the relative shortsightedness of the 19th century’s funders of technological innovation, and the market forces that seek to impede technological progress today, can there and should there be a place for true public funded technological innovation in the United States?
  (3) Does the widespread diffusion of technical knowledge help create potential markets for products not yet produced? Does it allow for new technologies to be more rapidly assimilated? [Closed]
• Jody
  (1) I get this question often, and struggle with a definitive answer… What is digital media? Breaking it down, digital is expressing information in numbers, and media is a means of mass communication. But what should be our quick and easy definition for this question when it comes our way?
  (2) The Economist article on Skype is dated September 2005. What has been the upshot of Skypes VOIP approach on the telecoms? Has it really changed the way we access, use and pay for voice communications? [closed] Is this model being embraced, or has it become just another mean of communication? [closed]
  (3) Looking over the years, I’d surmise that the main uses of media have been news, entertainment and interpersonal communication. Are there other obvious subjects that I’m overlooking? Is my appraisal too broad? [closed]
• John
  (1) Can the rapid changes of the current state of technology be applied to the former way tech has changed over the years? [Closed]
  (2) Will there be a backlash to the overabundance of advertising on everything? [Closed]
  (3) Will technology have a disruptive enough of an effect to allow the individual to overcome the suppression of the corporation? [Closed]
  Comments: Sarah FL
• Katie
  (1) What are we struggling with right now that we won’t be able to live without in the future? Is it a hot social topic like stem cell research? Is it on demand video clips like YouTube? Downloadable music?
  (2) eBay bought Skype for the reported reason of a “click-to-call” button on their auction site. Since anonymity is one of the best features of eBay, do you suppose this is the real reason they purchased Skype? [Closed] Could they be developing a new product/business that they’re unwilling to share? [Closed] What else might it be?
  (3) Do you think we are more open to new inventions now than society has been in the past? [Closed] Why or why not?
• Keiichi
  (1) My question is, what is the best strategy for VOIP to dominate the market?
  (2) What is the advantage of traditional telephony? Compared to VOIP?
  (3) Is there any disruptive technology other than VOIP?
• Kirk
  (1) If the expansion of communication networks continue, won’t the spinoffs from increased networks more than make up for the loss of revenue and jobs by current stake-holders in the long term? [Closed]
  (2) At what point will the amount of information created overtake our ability to transmit and sort it through technological means? Will we be able to find the needle in the haystack if the haystack grows exponentially?
  (3) What is the psychological capacity of the individual to manage their social and informational networking? At what point will network burnout occur?
• Mark
  (1) How would the development of the telegraph been changed if Morse and Cooke had early regular communications?
  (2) Will the speed of change introduce a new dynamic? In the world of digital media, will there ever be periods of stasis again?
  Comments: Bonnie
• Maury
  (1) First, If someone had been there to carry on the work of Babbage and Byron when they passed away how much sooner would the electronic computer have been invented?
  (2) Second, Why is the stereotypical nerd a male, when women were at the forefront of this information society?
  (3) Finally, I believe Wintson’s model or flow-chart is generally correct but are there certian technologies and devices developed outside of the model making them the exception that prove his rule?
• Nate
  (1) How is the struggle between “supervening social necessities” and the “law of suppression of radical potential”, as described in Winston’s book, currently shaping the availability, popularity, and formats of e-books?
  (2) Are there lessons there we can take away that might help us address current issues such as net neutrality? [Closed]
• Sarah Frost L
  (1) If this pattern continues, what will happen to all the amateurs currently using the Internet as its true potential being discovered? How will the internet as we know it change as it is more tightly regulated and controlled by large corporations and the government?
  (2) Why is the Internet not following this pattern? Will it eventually as corporations and the government become more involved? [Closed]
  Comments: Jody
• Sarah Funk R
  NQ
  Comments: John
• Thaara
  (1) The question here is whether VOIP will wipe out traditional telephony, how quickly it will do so and how it will be?
  (2) Some people declare that technology is a double-edged sword, why is that and in what areas this phrase may apply?
  (3) Does the continuous development of technology going to affect technology users? [Closed] In what way? Is it a negative or a positive effect?
• Yen-Ching
  (1) Is the “Information of Revolution” really the wrong word to describe the change in the way we communicate to each other from technological perspective? [Closed] Why?
  (2) Are there any other examples of the survival and delayed adoption principles in mass communication history?
  (3) What could the mobile operators do besides buying Skepe when they face the rise of VOIP?
• Yi-Jen
  (1) What do you think about the perspective of Wi-Fi phones for Skype? Do you agree it will become the main trend of telecommunication or you think it is popular at beginning but it will fade out at the end? [Closed]
  Comments: Carie
• Yu-Lan (Sharlen)
  (1) 1. Could it be possible that certain “ideation” hasn’t become “technology” is because people hasn’t think about the necessaries yet? [Closed]
  (2) Can we say the “suppression of radical potential” might because of some sort of ignorant by the government? [Closed]