Hey everyone!

Here's what I have to say about the topics for Week 5 of New Communication Technologies!

I'll firstly address the weekly task, and then get into some great discussions about what I think about the topics for this week. The task was to create a timeline about an aspect of communication history, and I chose to do a timeline about mobile phones. The link is below:

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/history-of-the-mobile-cell-phone

Now the timeline isn't exactly perfect, because it was very hard to find specific dates for milestones in mobile phone history, and TimeToast wanted specific dates. So I did the clever thing and made them up. The years are correct, but the months and days aren't, they're just there as a rough estimate.

References for Timeline:

Meyers, J., 2011, "Watch The Incredible 70-Year Evolution Of The Cell Phone", Retrieved from: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/complete-visual-history-of-cell-phones-2011-5?op=1#2010-33, Viewed 28 August, 2013. 

Now my thoughts on the weekly discussions: 

My understanding of cyberspace is that it is everyone's thoughts and opinions on the Internet, and that anything someone publishes is in "cyberspace". It's another forum for people to express themselves that is separate from the physical world around them. I think cyberspace is confined to the Internet and World Wide Web, and also devices that use the Internet (computers, phones, etc.). The discussion starters on cybernetics, and the theory of cybernetics as a whole, is pretty hard to understand, so I might skip those ones (is anyone else struggling to understand cybernetics? Comment!) Now I haven't exactly been saturated by cyberpunk by my own knowledge, but I think a modern example of a cyberpunk movie could be Elysium, starring Matt Damon. If you are unsure of what the movie is about, here's a useful link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535108/?ref_=sr_1

Elysium is set in the year 2154, which is close enough to near future. The movie does incorporate some elements of cyberpunk, such as a dystopian, near-apocolyptic world, a large company (or in this case a highly wealthy group of people) having total control over the planet (they live the high-life while everyone else suffers), body modifications (Matt Damon's character gets technological implants, basically making him a badass cyborg), film noir (power struggles, the rich get richer), and a "seize the day" approach (Matt Damon's character suddenly deciding to take on the wealthy people). I think this movie is a great example of cyberpunk, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. And finally, I think The Hunger Games is another example of cyberpunk, for similar reasons as Elysium. I think the difference between cyberpunk and fantasy is that fantasy stories will almost always never happen (dragons? really?), while the themes explored in cyberpunk have an almost scary sense of realism, what with all the advances in modern technology. 

Thanks again everyone!
Josh