A journalist wrote the other day…
“With the spread of the internet on the phone, geographical boundaries are becoming less important, and the context of relationships and how people connect is changing.”
Haven’t cell phones in general changed the way in which we relate to each other? Why has the introduction of being able to use the internet on our phones, changed the context of relationships?
Perhaps it is because we can now communicate extremely cheaply due to the minimal rates that service providers charge for going online. I’m sure this is not in the best financial interests of any of the service providers, as their customers choose to go online as opposed to sms-ing or phoning.
The reason why MXIT has been such a success is because it costs virtually nothing, so people spend all day on it, and write to people that they wouldn’t usually, if they had to pay. People’s behavior changes when there’s money involved, and when offered something for nothing, will usually take full advantage of it.
Another social network, mig33, has come onto the scene, offering multiple services such as VoIP calls, e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, sms-ing, and photo sharing.
I’ve been hearing about VoIP for a while now but have never known what it is. I’ve learnt that it stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It refers to the transmission of ones voice using a normal internet connection. Thus VoIP can turn any desktop or laptop connected to the Internet into a telephone, and cell phones are also now able to use it because they have access to the internet in the form of WAP. (What is WAP?...WAP stands for Wirelss Application Protocol and is a standard term for applications that use wireless communication. It is mainly used to enable access to the internet from a mobile phone. – thanks Wikipedia!)
“With the spread of the internet on the phone, geographical boundaries are becoming less important, and the context of relationships and how people connect is changing.”
Haven’t cell phones in general changed the way in which we relate to each other? Why has the introduction of being able to use the internet on our phones, changed the context of relationships?
Perhaps it is because we can now communicate extremely cheaply due to the minimal rates that service providers charge for going online. I’m sure this is not in the best financial interests of any of the service providers, as their customers choose to go online as opposed to sms-ing or phoning.
The reason why MXIT has been such a success is because it costs virtually nothing, so people spend all day on it, and write to people that they wouldn’t usually, if they had to pay. People’s behavior changes when there’s money involved, and when offered something for nothing, will usually take full advantage of it.
Another social network, mig33, has come onto the scene, offering multiple services such as VoIP calls, e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, sms-ing, and photo sharing.
I’ve been hearing about VoIP for a while now but have never known what it is. I’ve learnt that it stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It refers to the transmission of ones voice using a normal internet connection. Thus VoIP can turn any desktop or laptop connected to the Internet into a telephone, and cell phones are also now able to use it because they have access to the internet in the form of WAP. (What is WAP?...WAP stands for Wirelss Application Protocol and is a standard term for applications that use wireless communication. It is mainly used to enable access to the internet from a mobile phone. – thanks Wikipedia!)
Back to VoIP…its biggest advantage is cost savings, as the calls are free whether you are phoning a local, long distance, or cell phone number. One just has to pay a flat fee to the VoIP service provider (Telkom even provides it…if you are patient enough to use them!)
Will this technology spell the end of landline phones?!
We are becoming more and more reliant on the internet. In fact one could say we are a society somewhat addicted to
our computer screens and the technology that surrounds and connects us.So yes, people are becoming more connected, not in a bodily sense, but rather in a disconnected manner which spans across time and space.
1 comment:
ilove that image of the guy hugging his computer because it rings so true to what is going on and how people feel about their new media related interaction.people tend to call people thay have never met friends.i guess its easier to keep a non-physical friendship going because it is not as demanding because people begin to take real live flesh and bones friends for granted.now when you have 300 online friends there is no issue of neglect and if you arent feeling that friendship anymore you can just delete them simply.you just dont have that luxury in real life and maybe thats what people are trying to avoid
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