Sharita Smith
Telc 445.001
October 2, 2009
News Article Review
Social Networking Use Triples From Only a Year Ago

Everybody who is somebody is on Facebook these days. From Mothers to children, professors to doctors, pastors to activists, trends show that people of all occupations and ages are logging in to network. Many people spends countless hours a day updating statuses, posting photos, and making comments on friends’ walls and uploads. This is a trend that is “not getting old” for many people, use only seems to increase and become more and more addictive. The use of social networking sites such as Facebook has put the online advertising industry in trouble. According to data from Nielsen Research, the amount of time spent surfing social networking and blogging sites had tripled since last year, this suggests a huge change in the way the Internet is used", says Jon Gibs, VP of media and agency insights at the company's online division. As of August 2009, the time spent on social networking and blogging sites accounts for 17% of the total time spent online, a number up 6% from a year ago. This change reflects a the desire for people to stay connected with each other, communicate and share, reports Nielsen. These changes in consumers’ behavior has had a major impact on the online advertising industry. They are now spending more than ever for prominent spots on social networking sites. Ad companies have increased their spend on top social networks and blogs - up 119% from last year, according to Nielson. Facebook has been listed as advertisers' number one choice when ranked by display ad impressions. When analyzing this article, I wondered, by the year 2020, will the internet as we know it only be used for socialization with the growing trends we are seeing?
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/09/25/25readwriteweb-social-networking-use-triples-from-only-a-y-72670.html

Sharita Smith

Telc. 445.001

September 25, 2009

News Article Review

A Wi-Fi Alternative When the Network Gets Clogged

This week, I chose to do a news article review about a new, downloadable iPhone app. Within the last year or so, many people have begun to get the “new”, “hot” iPhone. iPhones are covered by AT&T, and over a short period of time, they’ve benefited from thousands of additional customers, those customers switching solely to own the new iPhone. But is all the hype really worth it? Many iPhone users downloaded several applications (apps), and disappointingly couldn’t use them when they wanted to. They found that the 3G pipeline usually remains clogged with other users trying to use the same app, or they find that the cell connection isn’t good enough. In actuality, the iPhone has weakened service and coverage for AT&T customers all together. As a solution, AT&T has introduced JiWire’s free Wi-Fi Finder app for the iPhone, which identifies nearby hot spots, free and paid. This was introduced to make it easier to connect to wireless hot spots to phones, in an effort to deliver fast data and clear calls in areas where neither might be possible. The company currently owns about 20,000 hot spots world wide. Many people with iPhones and AT&T BlackBerrys don’t know it this yet, but this option has been available to them for months. The difficulty however remains in finding a free hot spot when you need it. You are more likely to come across a “paid” wi-fi connection as opposed to a free one. This article makes me wonder, is there

a lot more modern technology that cell-phone providers keep away from the public until they can find a way to profit for the media?

. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/technology/personaltech/24smart.html

Sharita Smith
Telc.445.001
September 18, 2009
Media News Article Review
Hulu to Add Subscription Services, Pay-Per-View, Hints Murdoch
Earlier this week at an investor conference, News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch and NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker revealed they were exploring news ways to help bring in revenue for the on-line video-streaming service, Hulu.com. The site features movies and TV shows from content partners including Fox, ABC, Disney, and many more. The content reaches from about 9 million to 42 million users per month. The content is currently supported by advertisements. However, the company is interested in exploring other fund raising options as well, subscription services and pay-per-view programs. Outside sources have began to speculate and confirm that Hulu is already beta testing a subscription-based service internally and is working out the technical requirements. If these plans go into affect, what would this mean for cable companies such as Comcast, Verizon and other subscription services?

http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/09/18/18readwriteweb-hulu-to-add-subscription-services-pay-per-v-95977.html

New Article Review 9/11/09

Sharita Smith
Telc.445.001
September 11, 2009
Media News Article Review
Copyright Office Assails Google’s Settlement on Digital Books
Google’s latest attempt for advancement has created a lot of controversy with the United States register of copyrights. They are in the middle of a $125 million dollar law suit. Google is pushing for rights to create an online library and bookstore. Google would wrestle around copyright laws and be in control of books from authors and right holders. Google would be allowed to profit from the works of authors and others without their prior consent. With foreign authors the stress of this would be placed on the U.S.A because most foreign authors are protected by international treaties. Google, sitting on the opposite side of the spectrum argued that authors would be in control of their books, and that the agreement would allow readers to access millions of out-of-print books that are often “hidden” in the library.
This article made me kind of unsure as to how I felt about the whole issue. I stand on both sides of the fence on this issue. I believe this is a great idea to be able to access books online for readers. But at the same time it takes the value out of “making that trip to the library”. My only concern would be that probably by the year 2020, school age children may not even know what a library is. My question posed is, Do you think the library will eventually become obsolete in our society with all the advancements made in technology.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/technology/internet/11books.html?_r=1&ref=technology

Media News Article Review

Sharita Smith

Telc. 445.001

September 9, 2009

Media News Article Review

Orange, T-Mobile to unite in U.K. merger

Orange and T-Mobile are planning to merge their British operations to create the U.K.'s largest mobile carrier. The mobile carrier remains unnamed and will have a combined customer base of about 28.4 million people, or 37 percent of the market, with the deal expected to complete in November. Current Orange chief executive Tom Alexander will be chief executive of the new company, with the current T-Mobile UK chief executive Richard Moat as the chief operating officer. The merger will cost between about $655 million and $983 million. It is expected to save consumers plenty of money by the year 2014. It will remove duplicate base stations and retail outlets, as well as other efficiencies in operational staff and customer support. The status of how this will affect Virgin Mobile is still unclear. Virgin Mobile runs on T-Mobile's network. The deal will still need shareholder approval from both companies and will also have to be cleared by British and European regulators. The U.K. mobile telecommunications market is widely regarded as highly competitive, and no regulatory problems are anticipated.

Due to these major changes taking place in the UK, how will U.S.A. ultimately be affected whether negative or positive?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10346417-94.html