New Technology | Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson

New Technology Paper: The Impact of the Digital Age on Professional Musicians

According to Nietzsche, life without music is a mistake. Indeed, there are few creations of mankind that are as integral to life as music. Over the centuries technology has impacted music and the profession of musicians. The Internet is perhaps the greatest disruptor of music changing the distribution ways of music, legally or not.

In my New Technology class of 2013, Eric Nielsen did research on how technology over time, beginning with Edison’s phonograph all the way to the current age of the Internet, has changed the profession of creating and performing music. Eric looks at the state of professional musicians in the current age and provides information on how they make money.

Finally, Eric addresses the question: has the digital age created a more lucrative environment for professional musicians?

New Technology Paper: The Impact of the Digital Age on Professional Musicians

Flickr image above by: Ferrari + caballos + fuerza = cerebro Humano

New Technology 2013 – The Course Description Trailer

The Computer Science Department at Reykjavík University offers this Spring term a course called New Technology.

The objective of this course is to look at innovations and technology trends, learn from history, and use theories of innovations to see lessons and try to see patterns so we can evaluate new technology currently emerging and interpret the impact.

In the course we look at how to keep up to date on technology trends. In particular we will look at communications, wireless devices, mobile phones and the TV, home appliances, the Internet and other consumer devices. Many common devices are changing and taking on new roles. The course will discuss what future trends will emerge, which standards and companies will be successful, and the effects that the technology will have on society.

As a term project, students will perform research and write a research paper on technology, its possibilities and effect on society.

This is the trailer for the course:

New Technology Paper: Is it All a Game?

Games. Use the Force.

Games are one of the most powerful force that exists in the world. People enjoy playing games and games can motivate us. Games play on our emotions and they can keep us playing for hours. Game can also make us do things we might not otherwise do. Tasks can be “gamified” to make them fun. This is the Mary Poppins attitude, turn the task into a game and it becomes fun. Over the last few years, gamification is becoming recognized as a method motivating people.

New Technology student and iOS programmer Árni Jónsson did research into gamification. In the introduction he explains:

A recent effort by software designers to take advantage of this fundamentally playful mindset of the species in non-game applications has been given the moniker “gamification,” a phrase coined by venture capitalist Timothy Chang. Chang bluntly explained the aim of gamification as such: “Basically game mechanics are a way to get consumers addicted to things”.2 Most of the mechanics are understandably lifted from computer games, but some harken further back to more traditional games and tried and tested marketing ploys.

Paper: Is it All a Game?