Final-The Approach Screening

I had the opportunity to attend the first public screening of The Approach on May 2nd at Red Cliffs theater. Thanks to Kathy from my Intro to Digital Motion Picture Production for bringing one of the film's trailers to our class's attention. In fact, the trailer was done so well that I immediately wanted to see more and I downloaded the song used in it because it, basically, helped capture the moment of what was going on on the screen. FYI, it was "Sail" by AWOL Nation...great song. The trailer did its job we'll and grabbed my attention immediately when we watched it in class.
The screening of the film was a pretty big turnout. The students who made up the crew of the movie, some of the cast members who are local rock climbers, or "dirtbaggers," families, friends, other Dixie State students, and, surprisingly, people from the general public, we're all in attendance for the screening. In fact, the number of people that showed up for the initial screening was so high, a second screening was allowed following the first to accomodate the people that were not able to find a single seat.
The film itself was great. Obviously my anticipation was high because of the quality of the three different trailers that were released and I was happy to see many of the local climbing spots featured. The students did a great job giving gathering information about many of the climbers' and their lifestyles and backgrounds. The cinematography, selection of camera angles and shots were awesome...by the way, where did we acquire a helicopter from? Part of what I have realized over this past semester is that it doesn't take much more than a GoPro Camera and someone willing to climb a little to capture some great footage and seemlessly edit it into other footage to make a great film.
The film was short, only about 45 minutes long, but I felt satisfied afterwards. Yes, it could have been longer and captured more background stories from the climbers, but for a first screening, everything was great. Phil Tuckett mentioned that it is better for a film to leave an audience wanting more than to have a film that was too long and wasn't as fulfilling. He said his students made a good choice to leave it as it was for length.
My only slight complaint was the sound quality, but will obviously be remedied in future edits and will be much better by the time DOC Utah rolls around.
Following the screening, Phil and the other student-filmmakers answered questions from the audience and gave us all a few details about how the documentary class works. This was the most amazing and surprising part about the whole project...
!6 weeks ago...THAT'S IT-just when I was starting my Intro to Digiral Film class-this students gathered together to come up with an idea. Some of them had never been involved in making a film before. The movie that I watched was created in just a little over 3 months! I can't even write a single research prospectus for my COMM 4450 class in that amount of time. For those students to come up with an idea, wrestle with it, refine it, find the people and locations, film it, edit it, and present it at a local theater to hundreds of people...to me that's INCREDIBLE. Now, up until this semester, I didn't know a lot about the process. I thought that because I was a willing consumer of movies, I tended to think that my opinion following a film really mattered. How an idea made it to a big screen was a distant subject to me. Even the documentary class in the Communication department was unknown to me. To see what was achieved by these so-called newbie fil makers in only a few moths time, gives me a little hope. Maybe some day I will be able to create a palpable research paper so that I can graduate! In fact, maybe a part of me wants to be a part of something big like the production of a film and given the time, maybe I will enroll in Phil's class and try my hand at helping with making a movie.
To the makers of that movie, I say: congratulations and good luck with the final edits. I look forward to seeing it in the future. Thank you for that little sense of Southern Utah pride that I felt as I watched our local "climbing secrets" portrayed on a big screen. Thank you for making me feel that, even though I'm just a non-professional college student, there are still possibilities for me.Thank you for inspiring me that I might be able to do more with my time, even though I may not value it as much as I should. Finally, Thank You for making a trailer that caught my attention enough and compelled me to want see it, regardless if it was part of my final assignment for COMM 2660...Honestly, I would have been at the screening anyway. Heck, I even bought the AWOLNATION song from the trailer on iTunes!

COMM 2660 Assignment 3--Post Production

Samual Jamie Rogers

COMM 2660

2012.4.25

Assignment 3—Post-production

There are things in life that most people have a hard time admitting; instances when they are wrong, their own faults, weaknesses for particular junk foods, and appreciation of particular films. The latter is no exception for an adolescent high school boy who might not want to own-up to watching so-called “chick-flicks.”

            This was the case during the holiday season of 1997 when James Cameron’s Titanic first released into theaters. It was hard to admit then, but I did go and see the movie—several times. I suppose it could have been the same hype that was propelling the film to breaking records that pushed me to add to its near-$2 billion in ticket sales. I know for a fact that it wasn’t due to the persuasion of a cute girl that got me to the theaters, but there were plenty of the female variety in the seats, all of whom cried at the end of the movie, no matter how many times they had seen it.

            One thing that came with the hype was the work and the detail that was put into the production of the film by James Cameron and his crew. Titanic was the most expensive movie made up to that point and with the help of Leo, Kate, and Celine, it wasn’t the easiest thing to ignore. Production included the building of a 90-percent scale model of the ship in a 17 million gallon tank that was used for the flooding and sinking of the set. The post-production—which will be the focus of this blog post—included CGI, or computer generated imagery, that helped model how events occurred and also with complete the overall look of the film.

 Earlier this month along with the 100^th anniversary of the Titanic sinking, an updated version of the film was re-released in theaters in 3D. Among the dozens of interviews from cast and crew members surrounding the re-release, came the confession from Kate Winslet that the famous love song makes her feel “like throwing up.”

Another revealing detail emerged about the original release of the film—James Cameron got a couple things incorrect. First was the way the broken half of the Titanic that the lead characters held on to until the very last moment, sank. In an interview with ABC’s Nightline, Cameron said about the climatic point in the film, “…it wasn't quite as dramatic and as static as we showed in the film," he said. "It probably wasn't straight up. It was probably at an angle.”

Another mistake that was noted by astronomer was the alignment of the stars in the night sky that Winslet’s character, Rose, is looking up at from her floating door near the end of the film. The stars in the film were depicted as incorrect for that time of year in that part of the world. As part of the re-master and re-release of the film in 3D, Cameron promised to not change anything from the original, but did say the thought had crossed his mind. "There was a moment when I thought fleetingly I could correct the film and actually have it match what Titanic really looked like," Cameron said in the Nightline interview.

I suppose in what one could call “post-post production” Cameron’s crew consisted of over 300 computer artists to make the conversion to 3D and to make one, slight change to the stars in the night sky above the sinking ship. The filmmaker/historian also used CGI to render as close to exactly what happened as possible as the ship split apart and sank. In the special documentary filmed for the National Geographic channel—Titanic: the Final Word—Cameron revealed how the new CGI model differed from the original idea of how the ship sank and broke up in its descent. The CGI animation was made possible by dozens of trips taken to the sight of the sunken ship and by creating additional CGI models of the different debris scattered on the ocean floor.

This is what’s amazing to me. James Cameron is a known perfectionist and his track record of successful box office hits is proof of that. When it comes to “perfecting” the re-release of Titanic, the fact that he actually thought about changing the CGI and effects to make it more up to date with what is now known, is amazing to me. Just that the technology and rendering capabilities exist, is even more amazing. George Lucas, almost comically, edited his first three Star Wars films and added CGI and changed a few notable things around because the technology didn’t initially exist. Adding a few creatures and explosions here-and-there seems almost like child’s play compared to changing the entire way the most intense part of Titanic went down…no pun intended.

Not only did James Cameron think about it, but he could have pulled it all off! Yes, the film would have been more historically correct, and, possibly, less dramatic and Titanic-movie fans everywhere may have been in an uproar, but it would have been more perfect.

The 3D conversion and changing of the stars in the sky was the only additional post-production work that was done during the re-release. The ship’s sinking was not changed to match the CGI animation and Jack still died at the end. The first weekend of the re-release made enough at the box office to cover the $18 million in costs, though.

Essentially, the CGI update seemed to be a pretty standard task for the same director who turned Arnold into an android, made a man out of liquid metal, and created an entire planet of new types of species, especially the 10 foot tall, blue, type.

To me—only a new student of the film production—there is no substitute to capturing moments live on camera are priceless. No amount of post-production doctoring or CGI and effects can make a film something it’s not. It’s like I learned in my Converged Audio class: no amount of mixing can make a bad recording good. In my opinion, what the camera captures and the overall vision of a director, editors, cast, and crew is what makes up a film. CGI and effects is just becoming a more useful and realistic tool for artists to utilize.





References:
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/national-geographic-channel/specials-1/titanic-100-years/ngc-return-to-titanic-2/
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/
http://gawker.com/5898584/james-cameron-alters-titanic-in-nerdiest-way-possible?utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_twitter&utm_source=gawker_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/james-cameron-mistakes-original-titanic-frame-changed-titanic/story?id=16014757#.T5fFM6uXS-a
http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/kate-winslet-titanics-my-heart-will-go-on-makes-want-to-throw-up-2012303

COMM 2660 Assignment 2--Production

Samual Jamie Rogers

COMM 2660

2012.4.17

Assignment 2—Production

During this semester I have had the opportunity to learn about digital film production in COMM 2660—an important part of which is the recording and production of sound. Along with what I have learned in this class I have also been able to expand on the subject of sound in another class, COMM 1560-Audio for Converged Media. COMM 1560 focuses solely on aspects of sound recording and production. The topic that has been particularly interesting has been that of recording and creating sound effects. In both classes there has been emphasis on the importance of sound in film production and that proper sound production can help define how an audience feels about a film. Of course, the capturing of sound on the set of a production differs from the creation of sound on a sound stage and for the sake of this blog post, I will lean more towards the off-set sound production and recording. In fact, this route would be more post-production than production, but I hope it will suffice as it is a topic that I have gained more interest in over the past months.

According to dictionary.com, the term that refers to the manual production of motion picture sound effects is “foley.” The term originates with the man who pioneered the art of recreating sound for productions, Jack Foley (http://www.marblehead.net/foley/index.html).

            Sound effects in movies have been interesting to me since before I really understood how shows were made. I saw a “making of” segment from the movie Twister and remember hearing how different sounds from animals, including pigs and camels, were used and modified to create the sounds of the tornados in the movie. Over the years I have been intrigued by the way foley artists use different items and improvise sounds from TV shows, movies, and video games. Movies such as the first Star Wars trilogy, the Alien series, and, usually, gory horror movies—aside from being fun to watch while growing up—also caught my attention with many of the behind-the-scenes extras included on the DVDs. Laser blasts from a Storm trooper’s gun were created with a hammer hitting a stretched cable; the sounds of the Xenomorph from the original alien movie was a combination of a man who could impersonate birds and a lot of KY Jelly; heads of lettuce, melons, and celery all seem to be acceptable sounding substitutes for the unknowing character in most gory, slasher movies. Creating the off-set sounds makes what is seen visually seem that much more realistic without having to put the cast and crew at risk from shooting a real gun on set, or requiring a volunteer to be stabbed to capture the perfect sound effect.

            One important aspect of sound recording that I’ve started to understand is that no amount of mixing or editing can make a bad recording sound amazing. The initial capturing of sounds, dialogue, sound effects, and ambient noise is very important. Knowing what microphones, filters, wind-screens, and amplifiers to use are all integral parts of getting the right sound for a production. In fact, recording the same sound with many various types of microphones and equipment could yield important differences that would be useful later in the production/post-production process. In fact, recording several tracks of the same sound or dialogue with different devices could prove to be beneficial if another source was corrupted or lost. Digital technology makes this possible without a considerable increase in production costs.

            A quick Google search produces various lists of famous, familiar sounds found throughout TV and cinema. Darth Vader’s breathing, Goofy’s yelling, snakes rattling, guns with numerous safeties releasing—all sound effects that can be heard every day. One sound, though, that stands out and is almost comedic when heard in modern context, is the Wilhelm Scream. Imdb.com lists the movie Distant Drums as the initial film that uses the scream and movies as recent as Captain America and Tron: Legacy as others that use the iconic sound. Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas have all incorporated it into their movies and even though the Wilhelm Scream is over 60 years old it remains a staple in film and audio production.

            One of the assignments given in my COMM 1560 class was to utilize a field recording device and capture a sound as it occurs and edit it as if it could be used in a film or radio ad. One night after a weekend of shooting, I was cleaning my handguns and figured its various components could be used to create a realistic sound effect. If there is a sound effect used today in media that is the equivalent to nails on a chalkboard, it’s the unnecessary sounds that are heard whenever a firearm is presented in almost any movie, TV show, or video game. A Glock handgun, for example, essentially has only one moving part that allows the gun to fire: the trigger. It is beyond my understanding to hear a gun, when it is shown on screen, make numerous noises. I decided to make a clear sound effect of what a Glock handgun should sound like. I loaded a full magazine into the gun, waited for the click of it seating, and pulled the slide back and, after releasing it, the recoil spring released, sending the slide forward and putting a bullet into the chamber. Of course, for the sake of the exercise I was using a safety device known as a Snap Cap that doesn’t actually fire if the trigger is pulled. After doing this several times at different positions around the microphone of my recording device, I was able to capture, what I considered, to be a suitable “gun sound” that could used in a production and have a realistic sound effect and reflect what could be actually happening on the screen. There were no clicks of additional safeties or invisible buttons and the gun didn’t sound like it was being reloaded every few seconds. It was a simple sound effect that I was able to edit in Adobe Audition as a standalone file and submit for my assignment.

            Although this was my first attempt to capture a sound as realistically as possible for the sake of editing, I was happy with it. Also, after my brief research of sound production in media, it has given me a new appreciation for what, both, sound mixers on a film set, and foley artists off-set, do for the capture and creation of sounds that make the overall experience more believable and enjoyable. In fact, if there was a job I would further investigate in film production, it would be working with sound mixing and re-creation.

COMM 2660 Assignment 1--Pre Production

Samual Jamie Rogers

COMM 2660

2012.2.16

Assignment 1—Pre-Production

I’ll admit it: I enjoy movies. I enjoy being entertained by movies, especially at the theater on the big screen. I will also be the first to admit that when it comes to what’s going on behind the camera, I am nearly clueless to the structure, processes, and responsibilities of those that make a film production possible. Sure, I know who Spielberg, Lucas, Cameron, and other “big names” of the film industry are. I have watched their movies and, for the most part, I have been entertained by them. As for what they do, how they do it, and who their supporting casts are, I am severely lacking knowledge, to say the least. Fortunately for me, COMM 2660-Introduction to Digital Motion Picture Production is a required course for my degree and has been an opportunity to increase my film-related knowledge. Specifically, my focus will be on the pre-production role of a producer.

            Filmmaker Ken Burns said, "You take on the topic not because you know something about it, but because you don't know something about it. It has a kind of siren call; it interests you” (Aldrich, 2009). There couldn’t be a better summary of my current position in learning about film production. Burns is one of the most well-known documentarians of the last 30 years, as he has produced over 20 documentaries and mini-series ("Ken Burns - IMDb," n.d.) covering historical events that include the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, Prohibition, and the establishment of America’s national parks.

In his recently released documentary, Prohibition, Ken Burns not only played the role of producer, but he was also the executive producer and director of the 3-part mini-series ("Prohibition (2011) - Full cast and crew," n.d.). However, it is not uncommon for Burns to take on many different roles in his documentaries—imdb.com lists him as a director, executive producer/producer, and cinematographer for many of the projects he has been involved with. In fact, in what many consider his most influential historical documentary ("About Ken Burns | Ken Burns | PBS," n.d.), Burns took on the aforementioned roles as well as co-writer and music director for the television mini-series The Civil War. Ironically the film took six years to complete—2 years longer than the war lasted ("The Civil War (1990) - Trivia - IMDb," n.d.). According to pbs.org, The Civil War was “the highest rated series in the history of American Public Television and attracted an audience of 40 million during its premiere in September 1990” ("About Ken Burns | Ken Burns | PBS," n.d.).

            To better understand the role of a producer I turned to a website that has a tendency to simplify complex things into easily digestible pieces for someone like myself to understand—howstuffworks.com. The website lists many of the responsibilities of a producer in just the facet of pre-production:

·         Find material from a book or script.

·         Get the script into good enough shape to attract a director (and studio, if this is not a studio-initiated production).

·         Secure financing for the film, if it is not being made for a studio.

·         Choose the director and other parts of the creative team.

·         Cast the actors, working with the director.

·         Determine locations and budget.

·         Decide on cinematographer and special effects.

·         Hire a production team including crew and producers.

·         Develop a shooting schedule.

·         Create a detailed plan of action for production (Dannenfeldt, 2008).

Based on their responsibilities, it could be argued that the producer shoulders more of a load to the success of a movie than the director. It is the collaboration between film directors and producers that may have the greatest influence on whether or not they create a successful product. Ken Burns has collaborated with many of the same people on his projects including Geoffrey C. Ward who has written or co-written numerous documentary films, including The Civil War, Baseball, and The West ("Geoffrey C. Ward - IMDb," n.d.) and their most recent documentary, Prohibition. Pbs.org also lists others that have worked closely with and collaborated with Burns, either through their production company Florentine Films, or as part of other crews on various films, including cinematographer Buddy Squires, director/producer Lynn Novick, and actor/narrator Peter Coyote ("Peter Coyote - IMDb," n.d.).

            Ken Burns’ documentary mini-series are most commonly known to be broadcast on PBS channels, but in light of new digital technology, the first portion of Prohibition was released on Apple’s iTunes more than a week before its debut on television. This made the documentary available to download early to users of iOS devices such as the iPad and iPhone (Rawson, 2011). PBS also made Burns’ The Civil War available in 2011 to stream to iOS devices via a free downloadable app (Hodgkins, 2011). Taking advantage of the newest trends in digital technology allowed Burns’ documentaries to be available instantly via iTunes for millions of people. Currently, most of Burns’ documentaries are available for purchase in iTunes.

            There is little doubt that Ken Burns is one of the most successful producers and story-tellers of our time. Many would argue that he is every bit as good as a Spielberg, Lucas, or Cameron. Although I’m only in my infancy when it comes to knowledge of pre-production, the information I’ve been able to find about Burns and his works have given me a new appreciation for historical documentaries. I look forward to learning more about and being entertained, both, as the semester continues and beyond. The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of Burns’ films, "More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source” ("About Ken Burns | Ken Burns | PBS," n.d.). I would dare say that that statement could not be transferred to any other filmmaker in the industry. Do Americans get the majority of their entertainment from any individual filmmaker? Well, unless a person watches movies exclusively about extra-terrestrials, galaxies long ago and far away, and big blue aliens, then maybe.

            "History is mostly about stories, and I think it connects us to the eras — not just the accumulation of facts, but sometimes the accumulation of really contradictory feelings,” Burns said. “A story is the way we distill experience. And stories will always be the way we do it (Aldrich, 2009).

           

           

References

About Ken Burns | Ken Burns | PBS. (n.d.). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved February 10, 2012, from http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/about/kenburns.html

Aldrich, I. (2009, September/October). Where do history and storytelling meet? Yankee, 73, 98-99.

Dannenfeldt, D. (2008, April 24). HowStuffWorks "Responsibilities of a Movie Producer" HowStuffWorks "Entertainment" Retrieved February 10, 2012, from http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-producer2.htm

Geoffrey C. Ward - IMDb. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0911552/

Hodgkins, K. (2011, March 25). Civil War to stream for free on iOS and iTunes. TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.tuaw.com/2011/03/25/civil-war-to-stream-for-free-on-ios-and-itunes/

Ken Burns . About the Filmmakers . Buddy Squires | PBS. (n.d.). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved February 10, 2012, from http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/filmmakers/squires.html

Ken Burns . About the Filmmakers . Lynn Novick | PBS. (n.d.). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved February 10, 2012, from http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/filmmakers/novick.html

Ken Burns - IMDb. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0122741/

Peter Coyote - IMDb. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001075/

"Prohibition" (2011) - Full cast and crew. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950799/fullcredits

Rawson, C. (2011, September 21). Ken Burns documentary 'Prohibition' will debut on iPad and iPhone. TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.tuaw.com/2011/09/21/ken-burns-documentary-prohibition-will-debut-on-ipad-and-iphon/

The Civil War (1990) - Trivia - IMDb. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved February 11, 2012, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098769/trivia 

48 Hours of Abstinence

Dates Completed: Thursday, April 21, 2011@ 11:30 p.m. to Sunday, April 24, 2011@ 12:30 a.m. (Approximately 49 hours)

This abstinence assignment didn’t seem to be that intimidating when I was introduced to it at the beginning of the semester. Really, how hard could it be to go without digital tech for two days? I mean a good portion of that is dedicated to sleep, anyway, so I am really only looking at 32 hours of abstinence time if I get 2 full nights of sleep. With that said, though, I planned ahead for the two days that I would use for this assignment. For several months I had been planning on attending a firearm training school located in the middle of the desert near Pahrump, Nevada. Having previously attending this school I was aware that there is barely electricity available, let alone Wi-Fi and 3G cell-service capable of connecting my Droid X to the internet.

Thursday night I turned off my laptop, iPod Touch, and Droid X with no intention of using them over the next two days. I did pack my Smartphone…it seems that at a remote location in the middle of the Nevada desert with over 200 people carrying and shooting assorted firearms, there is a chance of an accident. I assured myself that this probably wouldn’t happen, but if something did, I would want to call my wife. This would be the only reason I would compromise the assignment: if a Life Flight transport would have been necessary. I suppose that would have been a good enough reason.

After waking up early on Friday at 5:00 in the morning to a traditional alarm clock set to a local radio station, I did not reach for my iPod Touch to check local weather, email, or post to my Facebook something along the lines of, “Going to Front Sight to shoot guns!! WOO HOO!!” In fact, I didn’t even make a post on my wall to let my Farmville friends know that I was going to be gone for the weekend. Luckily my cabbage field didn’t suffer…luckily, I don’t actually play Farmville. No post was made to show a technology blackout was going to ensue…hopefully my family and friends wouldn’t grow concerned and presume I was dead.

For the trip down to Pahrump, I resorted to local radio, again, to keep me awake for the early morning drive. I considered my ancient Sony Mini-Disc player that I had used for the better part of the late 90s and early 2000s, but opted not to because some of the music was digitally transferred from CDs to the disc…I considered this to be too close to using an iPod, so I opted not to take it. Luckily I had driven the same route several times in the past and the traffic wasn't terrible for a Friday morning through Las Vegas to Pahrump. I didn't have the luxury of the in-vehicle navigation provided by my smartphone, so if I did get lost, I wouldn't have anything or anyone to blame, but myself.

Once we reached the training school, the lack of technology wasn't an issue because my attention was focused on shooting and listening to the instructors. One of my friends joked that my upgraded GLOCK pistol was too technologically advanced to justify using during my 48 hours of abstinence. He suggested an old flint-lock pistol or at least an old western six-shot revolver. Luckily I didn't utilize my Corner Shot weapon system with the LCD screen and camera used to shoot around corners—no digital tech was present. Although the hot, sunny day and the abnormally large classes catered to extra-long lines between shooting drills, I didn't miss my technology. Instead I paid attention to the basics of accurate shooting: smooth, consistent trigger pull, anticipation of the break, and a hard focus on the front sight. I didn't need a Youtube video in front of me to practice those skills effectively. During one of the classroom lectures, I noticed a considerable number of people checking emails, texts, and watching movies on their iPhones, iPads, and other digital devices. Surprisingly I didn't look at them longingly like starving missionaries stare at a baggy of Fruit Loops in Sacrament meeting on fast Sunday. I even made the comment to one of my friends: "You are all slaves," like I was the new authority and expert in giving up something for the betterment of myself. I believe he was watching the Rebecca Black video, Friday, when I made that statement to him.

While most of the time during the 48 hours was spent shooting, or at least waiting to shoot, I hardly noticed my lack of tech. I had several slips when I wanted to prove something to my friends about useless trivia and said, "Wait, let me Goog…oops." No portal to Google meant I had to rely on the resin left in my short term memory to answer those tough questions that pertained to the Simpsons, the base price for the Mercedes S600 and other ultra-important pop-culture bits of info.

Really, the only thing I really wanted to do was call my wife and kids for the night that I was away from them. The hotel room did have a landline telephone, but a credit card on file, pin numbers, my social security number, mother's maiden name, and the birth-right of my firstborn son seemed a little steep in regards to what was required in order to use it. I chose to go one night without talking to them.

The 48 hours ended with me arriving home late Saturday night to an empty house—no wife or kids. Apparently I had greatly miscalculated the importance of talking to my wife on the phone…or maybe she doubted my iron will and my ability to give up technology for two days. Either way, we were both unsure what the other was doing for Easter Sunday. Luckily I was able to unpack, do some laundry, and clean up long enough for my 48 hour experiment to come to an end. I even noticed I went an extra, whole hour. I will admit, as soon as the time was up, I did call my wife on my phone, even though it was 1:00 A.M. She was still awake…barely…but was relieved to know that my lack of calling was not because I wasn't able to talk anymore. I just completed my assignment diligently.

When I hung up the phone with her, I felt a little sad—almost depressed—that I went that long only to jump right back into my habits. I probably would have made a terrible recovering alcoholic. Also, for the record, I didn't check my email or Facebook until the following Sunday afternoon.

This was a good assignment to test how dependent I have become to digital technology. Understandably, in the middle of the Nevada desert, I didn't miss my gadgets because I was preoccupied with other activities. I planned ahead, knowing that. Had I forced myself to give up the digi-tech during two average days with work and school, it would have been a more difficult task. I don't think I could complete a homework assignment without my laptop. My handwriting is atrocious and the little red spell-check squiggly line under my misspelled words is not a standard feature with a pen and paper, I've remembered. Although not totally impossible, I have grown accustomed to the conveniences that digital technology provides. If someone accidentally slipped and bumped the mythical internet-kill-switch, or if Tyler Durden ever was successful in sending society back to the stone-age, I could probably make an exception and transition back to the old ways…until then (and ONLY then) I am quite content being a happy user and consumer of digital technology.

Best Device Recommendation

Forgive the choppiness of this post...I cut it down from what I originally had. I kept the parts that I thought were relevant to the assignment and rubric that was posted.

Samual Jamie Rogers

COMM 4330

2011.2.18

Best Device Recommendation

To be able to recommend a device that meets the needs of clients in the corporate, finance, medical, and communication fields seems like a daunting task, at first. There are countless devices on the market that all have similar features and can accomplish numerous related tasks. Apple, HP, Samsung, Motorola, LG, Toshiba—These are all companies at the forefront of technology and all want to produce "the next big thing" that will meet consumers' needs as well as spawn a line of lucrative devices that will bring in revenue long into the future. The issue with this plan is that the future is a year, a month, or even a week away. Some customers who bought the first-gen Motorola Droid (me) were upset (definitely me) when a newer, faster, sleeker, better Droid-branded smartphone was released less than six months later…and then another two in the following months. First-gen iPad users, whether they were early adopters from April 3, 2010 or they received one from their sweetie on Valentine's Day 2011, will be holding, presumably, an obsolete device when (if) Apple's rumored announcement next month reveals the second-gen iPad. (P.S. I heard it will have cameras!) As a consumer and a tech-nerd I've found the battle with technology and devices to be ongoing and endless. The only satisfaction comes when I unwrap and power on that new device—albeit it's a short-lived feeling.

            To make this assignment slightly more organized, I took the three mentioned companies—Apple, Google, and Palm—and broke down what each is putting out in the form of devices and also looked at what each companies are doing in terms of operating systems and features for the devices. Essentially I looked at this assignment not only as a device recommendation, but as an OS/feature recommendation. After all, it will mostly be the apps and features of the devices that make them more able to withstand inevitable obsoleteness and make them more able to meet the needs of the clients.

            I will also be looking at the consumer values as defined by Dr. Randal Chase in his Digital Trends book, well help determine if each manufacturer and OS can be recommended.

HP/Palm

            With HP's purchase of Palm in 2010 for $1.2 billion, according to hp.com, the company has taken an aggressive move to re-enter the smartphone and tablet PC market. The recent announcement of the webOS powered TouchPad tablet, Pre 3 and Veer smartphones, gives HP comparable products to Apple's iPad and iPhone, and similar Android-based tablets and smartphones such as Motorola's Xoom tablet and Atrix smartphone. Features included with these devices will include video-calling, multitasking, downloadable apps, and, what HP is calling, Touchstone technology. This allows the HP devices to seamlessly transfer content back and forth simply by touching them together. The webOS devices will also have the ability, either by Wi-Fi or mobile 3G/4G networks, to connect to the internet.

            HP will also offer various apps to download to its devices and lists some of them on their website at palm.com. Facebook, The Weather Channel, and Time Magazine are among the featured apps that will be available for HP's webOS. These devices have a tentative release date for the summer of 2011.

HP: webOS devices	Convergence		Consumerism		Interactivity
	Access	X	Choice		Individualism
	Utility	X	Convenience	X	Control	X
	Fair Value		Performance	X	Security

Google

            Google has arguably become Apple's biggest competitor in the tablet and smartphone market with its open-source Android OS. According to various sources, including cnet.com, in the third quarter of 2010 Apple held a 95 percent share of the tablet PC market with its iPad. By the end of the fourth quarter, with the introduction of various Android tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Apple's market share had dropped to only 75 percent. These numbers only account for units sold and do not include the reported 15 percent return rate of the Galaxy Tab. These rumors supported early reviews of the device that claimed the OS was laggy, and that Samsung may have rushed the device to the market.

            Another upcoming Android tablet is the Motorola Xoom that will be powered by Google's latest version of the Android OS—Honeycomb—that developers made specifically for running on a tablet. It differs from other Android tablets because the Xoom's OS didn't start on a smartphone and move to a tablet as it did with the Galaxy Tab. Along with Honeycomb, or Android version 3.0, the Xoom will have a dual core processor, dual cameras, multitasking, Adobe Flash support, and connectivity to the Verizon Wireless 4G network when it becomes available.

            Along with tablet PCs, Google's OS is also currently available on numerous smartphones from every major cellular provider in the U.S. (flagship models include Sprint's HTC EVO 4G, T-Mobile's Samsung Galaxy S 4G, and Verizon's HTC Thunderbolt 4G), eRearders such as the Barnes and Noble Nookcolor, and standalone media players. A feature included with all Android devices is access to downloadable apps via Android Market. According to androidlib.com, there are over 250,000 apps available for download to Android devices. The Atrix is a smartphone, slated for release in late-February 2011, is a device that Motorola claims has the power of a full-size laptop in the convenience of a smartphone. It will be one of the first smartphones to be powered by a dual core processor and run the Android OS. The feature that will set it apart from other smartphones will be the ability for the user to dock the device with a screen/keyboard combination that gives it the functionality of a laptop. The Atrix will be offered on AT&T's wireless network with fast, 4g speed, while similar devices are scheduled to be released, including the Motorola Droid Bionic for Verizon Wireless. If effective and successful, these types of devices could bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops, essentially with one device.

           

Google: Android devices	Convergence		Consumerism		Interactivity
	Access	X	Choice	X	Individualism	X
	Utility	X	Convenience	X	Control	X
	Fair Value		Performance	X	Security

Apple

            There is very little evidence that Apple, along with its flagship devices—the iPhone and iPad are going anywhere. In fact, most consumers still look at Apple as the company that has set the benchmark that all others are still trying to reach when it comes to mobile devices. This is evident by the record-breaking sales related to the Apple iPhone, which has become an annual event for the newer, upgraded version; and the iPad which reports say Apple has sold 15 million units in only 9 months.

            Recently reports from Nielsen Ratings indicate that Google's Android OS had the most adopters throughout 2010 which was up to 40.8%, while Apple's adopters slightly increased to 26.9% and Blackberry's users dropped to 19.2%. This could be attributed to the explosion of Android devices that flooded the market from numerous manufacturers. The same research showed, though, that in the 4th quarter of 2010, Apple, Blackberry, and Android were nearly equal in terms of market share for smartphone users with 28.6%, 26.1%, and 25.8%, respectively. Basically, even with the market being saturated with numerous Android devices being built by nearly manufacturer, Apple still held the top spot with, essentially, only one device.

            Apple has established itself as a consumer-favorite with a long line of dependable, user-friendly portable devices starting with the iPod in 2001. This trend, though, is what makes Apple, as well as other mobile-device manufacturers, incapable of creating a device with consistent fair value. Like clockwork, consumers have come to expect an annual Steve Jobs-led keynote address from Cupertino that announces a new version of the iPhone and operating system. Knowing this, though, may have been the cause of underwhelming sales of Verizon's recently released version of the iPhone. It broke sales-records for the company, but was nowhere near the volumes sold by AT&T in past years. Many consumers may anticipate a new version coming in only a short six months, deciding to hold off on the iPhone 4 for Verizon.

Apple: iOS devices	Convergence		Consumerism		Interactivity
	Access	X	Choice		Individualism
	Utility	X	Convenience	X	Control	X
	Fair Value		Performance	X	Security

Recommendation

            Based on the consumer-value model, all three manufacturers offer solid devices that meet most needs. Ubiquity is achieved essentially by most of the mobile devices because of their hardware allowing them to be used wherever and whenever mobile 3G/4G service and/or Wi-Fi locations are available. Motorola's concept of making a smartphone as "powerful" as a laptop/tablet has potential to change consumers' needs for full-size devices. If a person can carry the "core" of their device in their pockets and also have the option of docking it with a larger screen to view documents or movies, for example, the need to also have a laptop or tablet would essentially be reduced.

            With devices being able to meet the majority of consumers' needs, Fair Value and Security are two areas that seem to have sacrificed in the name of convenience and device-evolution. Recommendations for the clients named in the assignment—corporate, finance, medical, communication—come based on the devices that offer the most utility. Apple's iOS that is available on the iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices offers more apps and uses than the other two mentioned operating systems. Google is making a formidable push to offer numerous devices from different manufacturers and service providers that run a capable, open-source operating system, but numbers show that consumers still prefer Apple. HP, although has been amongst the leaders in desktop and laptop sales, is still in its infant stages in developing competitive devices to Apple and Google. Recently, Apple's App Store reached over 350,000 iOS compatible apps. If there is a need, Apple meets it. If there isn't an app for something, there, more than likely, will be. Financial calculators, medical-based apps, bar-exam-prep tools, medical dictionaries, VoIP providers, social media apps, tax-assistants, stock-monitors, full-voice broadcast apps, and more are available at a few touches of a consumer's finger, and many at no-cost. Exceptions include several from AppCraver.com and the list of the most expensive iOS apps of 2010: BarMax CA and BarMax NY-$999, MyAccountsToGo SAP BusinessOne-$449, and Luci Live-$399. Although pricey, these apps confirm the capabilities of Apple's iOS devices and can be of use to professionals in almost any accupation. Apple almost can't make it more simple or convenient for consumers. With the push that Google has made over the past year, 2011 may prove to be different for mobile devices, but with Apple's rumored upcoming iPad 2, and 4G iPhone models, it won't be easy for any manufacturer to win the mobile tech-wars.