Reading Response 2 - Andy Bumba

The example given in this reading about Bert and Bin Laden is very interesting because it shows how a small photoshopped picture that was originally all in good fun ends up as the biggest controversy because anti-American protesters are using it for political means. Bringing the ferocity of politics into the creation of art will never make everyone happy. This can easily be seen in the website molleindustria.org. But basically what the article is telling us is that different media shows us art in different ways. Had the creators of Sesame Street seen the picture before 9/11 and before anti-American protesters used it, then they might have laughed because it was kind of funny when seen in context. Unfortunately, since the media being used was the news and the art was being used negatively, the creators sought revenge for the terrible use of their beloved puppet.

The idea of convergence is very popular in today's culture. If you are able to access all of the different functions that are available to you on one device, then you will obviously buy just that device and refuse to buy the others that have less functions. This can be seen with the new upgrades that are being given to the different next generation consoles. Video game companies are attempting to make the consoles the only media you will ever need. They has abilities to play music, watch television, watch movies, browse the internet, and, of course, play games. New upgrades to the new generation for Xbox specifically possibly include the ability to watch Blu-Ray and better visual graphics. Each new upgrade to the consoles brings them closer to being the all encompassing media service and makes them much more enjoyable consoles.

Of course, this doesn't go to say that video game consoles are the best in every field. Each individual type of media has it's strengths and weaknesses, but since consoles have multiple strengths, it makes them more desirable. Obviously if you have HDTV with great service and a good screen, it will be better than just having Hulu and Netflix on your console. But since consoles provide both the option to play video games AND play tv shows and movies, it makes them much more desirable. This is also an argument for PC's since PC's made the same sBasically what I'm saying is that convergence is a desirable factor in our world and if we continue towards this path of convergence, then we may end up with a complete conglomeration of the different aspects of media on one media hardware. At that point, complete convergence will be dependent upon the different ideas of people being shared across the world.