Television as a Domestic Technology

Television as a Domestic Technology If the efforts to revitalize television in the digital era are to materialize, television viewers will ultimately be required to be conversant with the set-top box (a novel consumer technology) which provides unprecedented means of consuming television. There is no doubt that this type of technology entails assimilation of new media technology into the household settings.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Television as a Domestic Technology specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More More importantly, it also facilitates amplification of an interactive techno-culture among domestic consumers of television. Consequently, interactivity must have a positive effect on the manner in which television consumers use this technology in their daily lives (Petersen and Kim 74). Therefore, the main focus of this paper is to discuss the manner in which television is used as a domestic technology. This paper will also address the primary posit ion of television in the home and how it is by households. Ever since the launch of digital television and the introduction of the set-top box as the modern consumer technology to replace the analogue television system, television has been cast into the limelight with respect to adjustments in the manner in which it is currently consumed by households. It is worthy to note that the interactive television sector (the traditional media production firms as well as new players with novel business ideas) is currently facing stiff competition among the industry players in terms of who among them will develop the best ideas (Christensen 4). Domestication refers to the manners in which consumers of television endeavor to curve a niche for the technology in their houses and make it meaningful and productive in their daily lives. In other words, the domestication of technology implies a process of adopting technology within the household environment. The concept of moral economy implies that household members have unique ways of using television set as a domestic technology (Christensen 5). The four distinct ways used by the households are conversion, appropriation, incorporation and objectification. The conversion implies that household members alter the symbolic and functional use of the television (as a domestic technology) into a meaningful production that allows for the moral economy of the family to be integrated into the objective economy of the society at large.Advertising Looking for essay on other technology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More On the other hand, appropriation refers to the procurement of the television technology as a domestic commodity that facilitates the integration of the objective meaning in society with the domestic moral economy. Incorporation refers to the process of assimilating the television technology into the daily routines of the household. Nonetheless, incorporation is also the subject of negotiations and conflicts with the television technology. It also serves as an integral aspect of family members’ continuous work of creating and upholding identity within the household. Finally, objectification deals with the manner in which television (as a domestic technology) should be integrated into the daily routines of the household. In other words, it implies how the new technology should be fitted into the spatial organization of the household (Christensen 6). It goes without saying that the consumption of television as a domestic technology is a way to describe and position household members in their unique environment into a general social perspective. Nonetheless, when the television set is openly displayed by the household, it creates an impression that can be construed in diverse ways by individuals who visit that home. For example, the symbolic display of television as a domestic technology may be construed by different visitors as vul gar, snobbish, kitsch and stylish. As a matter of fact, the manner in which the technology (television) is displayed in the house might even cause dispute among members of the household (Christensen 7). With respect to physically situating the technological object, the set-top box must have a phone line connection. This means that the set-box is reliant on the electrical system of the house in order to deliver an electric socket, telephone line connection as well as a television connection. There are several reasons given to explain why a television set (and not a computer) occupies the living room of the house. One of the reasons given is that the computer is not only a goal-oriented artifact but also has lengthy cables and thus it is kept away either in the study room or in the bedroom. On the contrary, the television set is conspicuously displayed in the central living room as a symbol of prestige. In addition, the satellite dish is a conspicuous symbol that informs the outside w orld that the household possesses that technology. Moreover, the set-top box will soon curve a niche among other television technologies given that it is re-arbitrating the VCR and the satellite decoding receiver while at the same time enhancing transmission and signal quality (Christensen 11).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Television as a Domestic Technology specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Nonetheless, it (the set-top box) does not clearly offer a comprehensible sign to the outside world of what type of content the household is consuming unless adapted into some sort of symbolic use. Consequently, the household may be compelled to procure a pay per view program or to subscribe to a premium digital services. As a result, the set-top box (just as the previous television did), turns into the main source of public meetings since it provides television programs that are only available to households in possession of t he set-top boxes and valid subscriptions (Livingstone 60). There is no doubt that the concept of living room (as a technical and cultural hub of the household) has experienced a number of changes. The society is currently witnessing a major development of individually owned digital media. Traditional media are now utilized in new restructuring of time and space. At the same time, most of the households are currently in possession of several radios, telephones and televisions (Livingstone 62). Initially, majority of households had only one television set in the living room (the main meeting place for household members). However, since the emergence of media production firms such as NTL that sell multi-room viewing services, majority of television channels are now easily accessible from any room in the house. In fact, a number of teenagers have procured better television sets for use in their personal rooms. This phenomenon has relegated the important role of the television set in the living room. In addition, the consumption of television as a domestic technology has led to the technological empowerment of the teenagers in terms of the transformation in ownership of domestic technologies. Initially, mass media was communally consumed in the living room by all members of the household. Ever since the inception of television as a domestic technology, youths have gradually moved towards mobile consumption of media (Pemberton 10). It is worthy to note that, many teenagers have installed computers, audio devises and television sets in their bedrooms as sources of entertainment. As of now, teenagers are using television as a domestic technology to produce a wall of sound in their personal rooms which has ultimately changed generational and gender patterns in the society.Advertising Looking for essay on other technology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For many parents, the adoption of television technology within the household settings is not a bad thing after all because they are in a better position to monitor their teenagers gathered in their bedrooms. In addition, television is considered a safe medium since it is able to attract a loyal and ardent audience via its memorable usability. In others words, interactive television offers an ontological sanctuary for audience who experience problems when they attempt to gain access to relatively unfamiliar sea of information online via the use of the computer and the World Wide Web (WWW). Apart from encouraging the audience to stay tuned to a particular channel, interactive television provides safe transmission of information that has positive impacts on the viewers (Petersen and Kim 103). Christensen, Holmgaard. The Impact of Interactivity on Television Consumption. Dublin: Dublin City University, 2002. Print. Livingstone, Sonja. New Media, New Audiences?† New Media and Soci ety 1 (1999): 59-66. Pemberton, Lyn. The Potential of Interactive Television for Delivering Individualized Language Learning. Brighton: University of Brighton, 2002. Petersen, Marianne and Kim H. Madsen. â€Å"The Usability of Everyday Technology: Emerging and Fading Opportunities.† ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 9 (2002): 74-105.

How to Determine the Intensity of a Tsunami

How to Determine the Intensity of a Tsunami This 12-point scale of tsunami intensity was proposed in 2001 by Gerassimos Papadopoulos and Fumihiko Imamura. It is meant to correspond to current earthquake intensity scales like the EMS or Mercalli  scales. The tsunami scale is arranged according to a tsunamis effects on humans (a), effects on objects including boats (b), and damage to buildings (c). Note that intensity-I events on the tsunami scale, like their earthquake counterparts, would still be detected, in this case by tide gauges. The authors of the tsunami scale proposed a tentative, rough correlation with tsunami wave heights, which are also noted below. Damage grades are 1, slight damage; 2, moderate damage; 3, heavy damage; 4, destruction; 5, total collapse. Tsunami Scale I. Not felt. II. Scarcely felt.a. Felt by few people onboard small vessels. Not observed on the coast.b. No effect.c. No damage. III. Weak.a. Felt by most people onboard small vessels. Observed by a few people on the coast.b. No effect.c. No damage. IV. Largely observed.a. Felt by all onboard small vessels and by few people onboard large vessels. Observed by most people on the coast.b. Few small vessels move slightly onshore.c. No damage. V. Strong. (wave height 1 meter)a. Felt by all onboard large vessels and observed by all on the coast. Few people are frightened and run to higher ground.b. Many small vessels move strongly onshore, few of them crash into each other or overturn. Traces of sand layer are left behind on ground with favorable circumstances. Limited flooding of cultivated land.c. Limited flooding of outdoor facilities (such as gardens) of near-shore structures. VI. Slightly damaging. (2 m)a. Many people are frightened and run to higher ground.b. Most small vessels move violently onshore, crash strongly into each other, or overturn.c. Damage and flooding in a few wooden structures. Most masonry buildings withstand. VII. Damaging. (4 m)a. Many people are frightened and try to run to higher ground.b. Many small vessels damaged. Few large vessels oscillate violently. Objects of variable size and stability overturn and drift. Sand layer and accumulations of pebbles are left behind. Few aquaculture rafts washed away.c. Many wooden structures damaged, few are demolished or washed away. Damage of grade 1 and flooding in a few masonry buildings. VIII. Heavily damaging. (4 m)a. All people escape to higher ground, a few are washed away.b. Most of the small vessels are damaged, many are washed away. Few large vessels are moved ashore or crash into each other. Big objects are drifted away. Erosion and littering of the beach. Extensive flooding. Slight damage in tsunami-control forests and stop drifts. Many aquaculture rafts washed away, few partially damaged.c. Most wooden structures are washed away or demolished. Damage of grade 2 in a few masonry buildings. Most reinforced-concrete buildings sustain damage, in a few, damage of grade 1 and flooding is observed. IX. Destructive. (8 m)a. Many people are washed away.b. Most small vessels are destroyed or washed away. Many large vessels are moved violently ashore, few are destroyed. Extensive erosion and littering of the beach. Local ground subsidence. Partial destruction in tsunami-control forests and stop drifts. Most aquaculture rafts washed away, many partially damaged.c. Damage of grade 3 in many masonry buildings, few reinforced-concrete buildings suffer from damage grade 2. X. Very destructive. (8 m)a. General panic. Most people are washed away.b. Most large vessels are moved violently ashore, many are destroyed or collide with buildings. Small boulders from the sea bottom are moved inland. Cars overturned and drifted. Oil spills, fires start. Extensive ground subsidence.c. Damage of grade 4 in many masonry buildings, few reinforced-concrete buildings suffer from damage grade 3. Artificial embankments collapse, port breakwaters damaged. XI. Devastating. (16 m)b. Lifelines interrupted. Extensive fires. Water backwash drifts cars and other objects into the sea. Big boulders from sea bottom are moved inland.c. Damage of grade 5 in many masonry buildings. Few reinforced-concrete buildings suffer from damage grade 4, many suffer from damage grade 3. XII. Completely devastating. (32 m)c. Practically all masonry buildings demolished. Most reinforced-concrete buildings suffer from at least damage grade 3. Presented at the 2001 International Tsunami Symposium, Seattle, 8-9 August 2001.