Chapter 2 - The Internet, Digital Media, and Media Convergence

Question 1

ARPAnet

Answer 1

The original internet, designed by the U.S. Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).

Question 2

E-mail

Answer 2

Electronic mail messages sent over the Internet; developed by computer engineer Ray Tomlinson in 1971,.

Question 3

Microprocessors

Answer 3

Miniature circuits that process and store electronic signals, integrating thousands of electronic components into thin strands of silicon along which binary codes travel.

Question 4

Fiber-Optic Cable

Answer 4

Thin glass bundles of fiber capable of transmitting along cable wires thousands of messages converted to shooting pulses of light; these bundles of fiber can carry broadcast channels, telephone signals, and all sorts of digital codes.

Question 5

World Wide Web (WWW)

Answer 5

A data-linking system for organizing and standardizing information on the Internet; the WWW enables computer-accessed information to associate with - or link to - other information, no matter where it is on the Internet.

Question 6

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

Answer 6

The written code that creates Web pages and links; a language all computers can read.

Question 7

Browswers

Answer 7

Information-search services, such as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome, that offer detailed organizational maps to the Internet.

Question 8

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Answer 8

A company that provides Internet access to homes and businesses for a fee.

Question 9

Broadband

Answer 9

Data transmission over a fiber-optic cable - a signaling method that handles a wide range of frequencies.

Question 10

Digital Communication

Answer 10

Images, texts, and sound that use pulses of electric current or flashes of laser light and are converted (or encoded) into electronic signals represented as varied combinations of binary numbers, ones and zeros; these signals are the reassembled (decoded) as a precise reproduction of a TV picture, a magazine article, or a telephone voice.

Question 11

Instant Messaging

Answer 11

A Web feature that enables users to chat with buddies in real time via pop-up windows assigned to each conversation.

Question 12

Search Engines

Answer 12

A more automated route to finding content by allowing users to enter key words or queries to locate related Web pages.

Question 13

Social Media

Answer 13

Digital applications that allow people world-wide to have conversations, share common interests, and generate their own media content online.

Question 14

Blogs

Answer 14

Sites that contain articles in reverse chronological journal-like form, often with reader comments and links to other articles on the Web (from the term Weblog).

Question 15

Wiki Web Sites

Answer 15

Websites that are capable of being edited by any user; the most famous is Wikipedia.

Question 16

Content Communities

Answer 16

Online communications that exist for the sharing of all types of content from text to photo and videos.

Question 17

Social Networking Sites

Answer 17

Sites on which users can create content, share ideas, and interact with friends.

Question 18

Telecommunications Act of 1996

Answer 18

The sweeping update of telecommunications law that led to a wave of media consolidation.

Question 19

Portal

Answer 19

An entry point to the Internet, such as a search engine.

Question 20

Data Mining

Answer 20

The unethical gathering of data by online purveyors of content and merchandise.

Question 21

E-Commerce

Answer 21

Electronic commerce, or commercial activity, on the Web.

Question 22

Cookies

Answer 22

Information profiles about a user that are usually automatically accepted by a Web browser and stored on the user’s own computer hard drive.

Question 23

Spyware

Answer 23

Software with secretive codes that enable commercial firms to “spy” on users and gain access to their computers.

Question 24

Opt-In Policies or Opt-Out Policies

Answer 24

Controversial Web site policies over personal data gathering; opt-in means Web sites must gain explicit permission from online consumers before the site can collect their personal data; opt-out means that Wen sites can automatically collect personal data unless the consumer goes to the trouble of filling out a specific form to restrict the practice.

Question 25

Phishing

Answer 25

An Internet scam that begins with phony e-mail messages that appear to be from an official site and request that customers sent their credit card numbers and other personal information to update the account.

Question 26

Digital Divide

Answer 26

The socioeconomic disparity between those who do and those who do not have access to digital technology and media, such as the Internet.

Question 27

Net Neutrality

Answer 27

The principle that every Web site and every user - whether a multinational corporation or you - has the right to the same Internet network speed and access.

Question 28

Open-Source Software

Answer 28

Non-commercial software shared freely and developed collectively on the Internet.

Question 29

When did the Internet reach the novelty (development), entrepreneurial, and mass medium stages?

Answer 29

Novelty Stage: 1960s
Entrepreneurial Stage: 1970s - 1980s
Mass Medium Stage: 1990s

Question 30

How did the Internet originate? What role did the government play?

Answer 30

The government wanted a way to share computer processing time and to communicate from any computer, so ARPA created something that would do just that.

Question 31

How does the World Wide Web work? What is the significance of it in the development of the Internet?

Answer 31

It uses HTML (a language that all computers can understand) to create Web pages, allowing information to be organized in and easy-to-use nonlinear manner.

Question 32

Why did Google become such a force in Web searching?

Answer 32

They introduced a new algorithm that mathematically ranked a page’s “popularity” on the basis of how many other pages linked to it.

Question 33

What is the difference between a “Read/Only” culture and a “Read/Write” culture of the Internet?

Answer 33

In the “Read/Only” culture we were only able to do just that, read the content that is already on there. Now, as a “Read/Write” culture users have the power not only to read content but also to develop their own.

Question 34

What are the six main types of social media?

Answer 34

1. Blogs
2. Collaborative Projects
3. Content Communities
4. Social Networking Sites
5. Virtual Game Worlds
6. Virtual Social Worlds

Question 35

What are the democratic possibilities of social media? How can social media aid political representation?

Answer 35

Social media tools have put the power in to our own hands, allowing us to produce and distribute our own media. It aids representation as an effective tool for undermining repressive regimes that thrive on serving up propaganda.

Question 36

What were the conditions that enabled media convergence?

Answer 36

Between the 1870s and 1970s each electronic device (with the exception of the clock/radio hybrid) had it’s own individual purpose. The idea of convergence came with the development of the personal computer in the mid-1970s, but it wasn’t until the early 2000s that the Internet actually made that possible.

Question 37

What are the significant milestones for mobile devices as playing a part in media convergence?

Answer 37

In 2002 the Blackberry became the first Internet-capable smartphone. In 2007 Apple introduced the iPhone, which combined qualities of the iPod with a phone. The next year Apple opened up the App Store, and by 2012 there were more then 750,000 apps available.

In 2008 Google release the first Android smartphone.

In 2010 Apple introduced the iPad.

Question 38

How has convergence changed out relationship with media, and with the Internet?

Answer 38

We don’t have to miss out on media content just because we aren’t home in time to catch a show, didn’t find the book at the bookstore, or forgot to buy the newspaper. We want it when and where we want it and in multiple formats.

We don’t typically access the full internet anymore. With mobile devices we are accessing what we need through apps or other platforms.

Question 39

Semantic Web

Answer 39

An extension of the current Internet in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation.

Question 40

What is the role of data mining in the digital economy? What are ethical concerns?

Answer 40

It is how platforms like Google, Facebook , and a host of others screen our information to make advertising more personalized and effective. It raises issues in privacy and security.

Question 41

What is being done to close the gap in digital divide?

Answer 41

Smartphones are narrowing the divide.

Question 42

Why is net neutrality such an important debate?

Answer 42

Because removing net neutrality would put the big name companies who can afford to pay the premiums on the “fast lane,” leaving bloggers, educators, non-profits and religious organizations in the “slow lane.”

Question 43

What are the major alternative voices on the Internet?

Answer 43

1. Open-source software

2. Digital Archiving

Question 44

How can the Internet make democracy work better?

Answer 44

It has allowed even more people to be involved in political processes.

Question 45

What are the key challenges to making the Internet itself more democratic?

Answer 45

1. Increasing commercialization

2. People are only connecting with people who share their views or are in their same circles.