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The new method of buying textbooks at UMass is now through Amazon. Instead of going to the textbook annex like before, we now have the ability to order all of our books online. This is newer “faster” way of getting our textbooks. There are pros and cons to this new method. For some it may be easier, to order online and receive them in the mail, without even leaving your home, office, or dorm room. But not all people feel this way. Sometimes with ordering online, it can take FOREVER, to get what you ordered. Also, sometimes what happens is when you do the initial order it’ll say that your product is available, so your thinking that it’ confirmed and will be on it’s way. But what actually happens is they’ll end up sending you another e-mail about how it was back ordered, or they ran out and for people who don’t check their emails multiple times a day this is a problem. To me, this new method of buying books via Amazon, reminds me of the transition from television to newer media, like Netflix, or Hulu. I, personally, like the idea of being able to go into a book store and pick out the books I need. Call me old fashion, but I think it’s just a better way. I like being able to see and touch the books I guess before I buy them. Most people these days don’t care about that kind of stuff, they just want what’s more convenient for them, which in this case would be clicking a few buttons on their computers.

Don’t get me wrong, Amazon is great. You can literally find whatever you want on there. I mean ANYTHING, but I still like the idea of going into a book store and hand selecting my books and other supplies. It’s not that way about all things via Amazon, I am not totally ANTI-AMAZON. I still use Amazon to order some things whether clothes, knives, little things, big things… Amazon is good for stuff like that, especially around Christmas. I also like how I can use my American Express member points to pay for my items.

Also, while listening to the final project from the group who did Amazon and Netflix, I’ve realized how important Amazon is to television too. That show TRANSPARENT, which is an Amazon original, looks super great. That’s what I love about this class, literally learning about new things, which I would have never guessed I would like prior to this class. Watching that show is on my to-do list, just like the podcasts where on my to-do list from this class. This class introduced me into podcasts ad now I’m literally addicted. I watch podcasts about everything.

So overall, I do like Amazon, (for certain things), just not ordering books. I like to keep it old school by going into the store and buying my own books. This is just how I am, even with a Kindle, I prefer to hold a book in my hand rather than reading from a Kindle. I think this carries over to the way I like to order books.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlfwJ2reGD0[/youtube]

So before taking this class, I barely knew what a podcast was. I noticed that with one of the newer Apple upgrades, that they placed an app specifically on the device for PODCASTS. I literally never even opened this app, I didn’t even acknowledge its existence on my phone. I honestly thought I would never listen to a podcast, let alone enjoy one. When the groups were made for this class and we got the topic of “Race, Gender and Podcasting,” at first I was slightly nervous. I had no idea what a podcast was. I did some information before our presentation last week from our group and I learned a few things.

I learned that Podcasts are mostly previously recorded, and that Howard Stern is not a podcast. I learned that there is literally a podcast for everyone! They vary from sports, to comedy, to real life stories, etc. My section of the presentation was discussing the differences between radio and podcasts. Radio needs to keep the listener engaged, while people who listen to podcasts are already engaged because they follow certain podcasts. It’s almost like a Facebook or Instagram account, one that you follow, or even like a blog. People cannot wait for new podcasts to come out and follow them vigorously.

For part of our presentation we included a few clips of podcasts, which related to our theme of Race and Gender. One which we showed was a podcast called “How to Be a Girl,” and it was about a transgender child, who was born a boy, but by the age of three, knew he wanted to be a girl. Now the clip we showed in class for our presentation were very interesting to me. After the class, I utilized that app on my iPhone, which I thought I would never ever use, the app specifically for Podcasts and I downloaded the whole podcast of “How to Be a Girl,” and listened to every single episode. I fell in love with it. It was so interesting to me. I never thought I would be so engaged by listening to something, but I was. I played them every time I got in my car, and pretty much forgot about music. I finished the podcast of “How to Be a Girl,” and even subscribed to her (the mother, the one who is doing the podcast) blog. I thought her and her story were awesome.

Once I finished that podcast – I was addicted! I instantly remembered that everyone was talking about “Serial,” so i downloaded it. As of right now I have one episode left and then I will have finished it. I’m just so intrigued by them and it’s funny because if I had not taken this class, I would have never listened to a podcast. I am so happy that I actually opened by mind to podcasts because I am so excited to download more and listen to different ones. This is just the beginning of my future life of podcasts. Also with our next group presentation we will be making a podcast, which now that I have actually listened to a podcast, I am excited about it. Before I was a little nervous, but now I am happy about it and cannot wait to see how it comes out.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8R4ZoIMx7M[/youtube]

I wouldn’t really say that television is dying, but I see it more as an old medium, a “classic” medium which some people still use. I remember the television sets they had when I was growing up. My grandparents had one which was a big box with the speakers built into the sides. Super old school. I was born in 1990 and remember growing up with Nintendo 64 on my super small television set. I remember having cable and there being A and B stations rather than just a number. So for instance channel 34, would be 34A or 34B. Television goes back so far, and it is still familiar with older people. I know these same people (television users) will eventually become extinct, that is why it’s important to preserve the T.V! Me, personally, will always watch T.V. My boyfriend uses his Nexus 10 tablet all the time to watch television shows, or his YouTube show “Kid behind A Camera,” and he always tries to get me to watch it with him, but I would rather watch the real T.V.

Like I said, I remember having such a small T.V, with a huge back. Flat screens were not invented yet. My television was just like the old computers. When flat screens came out, everyone had to have one, they were the next best thing. Older television sets started diminishing, which is the still the situation today. It’s rare for people to watch television, unless it’s a sports game. I feel that sports game will always keep the television set alive. People would rather watch the Super Bowl or Stanley Cup on a huge flat screen t.v rather than a small tablet, or a computer, unless they are desperate and have no access to a television. I guess you could say I am old school because I still watch t.v every day. When I come home from work or school I look forward to watching t.v. I also look forward to watching my DVR recordings on my t.v. I have also got into Netflix, but i use my Roku stick to watch it on the t.v so it’s a bigger picture, rather than using it on my computer.

If i were to create my own t.v show I would want to air it both on Netflix and regular t.v. I still like the idea of the old t.v so I would want my show broadcasted on both. My reason for this is because a lot of people have Netflix now, which is accessible via their smart phones or computers. I would want my show available for the older generation, who still watch the old television, yet still available to the newer generations, who watch t.v through their laptops or smartphones. Call me crazy, but I think I will always use the t.v. I mean for me, when I walk into someones house the first thing I see is a t.v I don’t think that will ever change. KEEP THE TELEVISION ALIVE! We love the updates as well, but we need to make it so television never dies!

I remember the feeling of excitement when I was younger about going into my local CD store when the latest album came out. I remember being about 11 or 12 going with my grandfather to the store trying to buy an Eminem cd. I remember not being able to buy it without parental consent because of the “explicit lyrics.” Being born in the 90’s I remember rocking the old school cassette players, and then they were upgraded to Sony cd players, no earbuds though. It’s funny how times have drastically changed and how media and music is constantly being upgraded. I would like to continue the discussion we had in class about how we generally listen to music and which apps or devices we tend to use for this. I will reflect personally upon my experiences using different music apps, explaining the ones I use the most and why, and also the ones I haven’t tried yet and why.
I remember not even knowing what an “app” was, and now in today’s age they are EVERYTHING. I have to stress the everything because that is legitimately what they are. There are apps for everything, let alone just music. Personally I am not a tech-savvy person, and not going to lie, I still listen to cd’s (on occasion). The Compton CD is permanently stored in my car, in my “music” box so I do occasionally listen to that. My main music app is Pandora. I know most people don’t like it because of the ads and the variety of songs they play, but it suits my needs. For instance, when I drive back home to Boston, I usually keep my Pandora running, until I get tired of a station, then I’ll change it. I like how they somewhat upgraded the thumbs up and thumbs down and skips, so now I can have multiple thumbs ups and downs for different stations rather than just a total amount for the whole app of Pandora. This also applies to the skips. Also what I like about Pandora is that I can do other things on my phone while still listening to a station, unlike with YouTube.
I have also begun to use Spotify as well. When I first downloaded the app, it gave me a trial period of making playlists and being able to choose which song I want to listen to. I enjoyed this, but when the trial was over and I wanted to listen to a playlist, I felt like it would keep repeating the same songs. Unlike Pandora, with Spotify the skips are in general throughout the whole app, not just for the different stations. So I guess you could say I’m one of the people who doesn’t like paying for something that I can get for free. This is why I keep my Pandora, and Spotify, and don’t upgrade. I could pay the money and get Spotify so that I can choose exactly what song I want to listen to, but I use YouTube for that.

There are so many ways one could use YouTube. I probably don’t use it as much as a tech person would because I am not really that much into YouTube shows or anything like that. What I use YouTube for is just the basics. The main reason that I watch YouTube is for music. I have Pandora, and also Spotify but I do not have music synced to my phone. I don’t download music through iTunes, I actually don’t think I’ve ever had. I enjoy the music aspect I get from YouTube. I actually have no idea what YouTube red is. =/ I like the playlists on YouTube, for instance if I type in a specific song, after it’s over another one in the same genre will play. I use this while at work, I’ll sit in my office and listen to YouTube while I do my work. I’d rather YouTube over Pandora sometimes because I enjoy picking the exact song I want to listen to. The only thing I dislike is when I’m listening to it on my phone and can’t switch screens to open another app ( they should work on that ). That is the only downfall of YouTube on cellular devices. I also like watching music videos. My favorite are the live recordings of concerts, (ACDC), I think they are awesome, and I just love knowing that all I have to do is click a few buttons and they are right at my convenience.

I also use YouTube for audio books, which are a lifesaver for someone like me who is always driving. I listened to an audio book for one class and realized that I actually enjoyed listening to it. Obviously I would still prefer a regular book over an audio book, but I like the option to be able to listen to it on YouTube for when I really don’t have time to sit and read the whole thing. I like that most of them can be found on YouTube so I don’t have to purchase them, which is pretty cool. Every book I have tried to listen to I have found on YouTube.

Another way I use YouTube is for the outrageously cute and funny animal videos. I love cats so I use YouTube a lot for the super cute videos. I love the funny ones of baby animals doing funny things, or the kittens being fed by a bottle. TOO CUTE!!! I actually watched one the other day that came up and it was a baby sleeping on the bed and the family dog was covering the baby up with the blanket by his nose, it was the sweetest.

So that is what I use YouTube for, I have attached my playlist with my music videos and live concerts, my audio books and other cute animal videos. Overall I like YouTube and I enjoy the pleasure it gives me to be able to literally type in anything and what I want will pop up. The only thing they need to work on is the YouTube app for cell phones. It would be so much better if w could listen to YouTube in the background while scrolling through Facebook or Instagram,