This past week I came across a game that has me transfixed. Cut the Rope. Its an app for my phone and I know it's been out for a while, but I randomly came across it while goofing around in the app store and I LOVE it. For anyone who isn"t familiar with the game, theres a frog thing that you have to feed. It eats candy but the candy is suspended by ropes and other obstacles and you have to figure out how to feed the frog in the least time possible without losing the candy. Conceptually its pretty simple but as you progress through the levels more obstacles pop up and it can be pretty challenging. I'm impressed not just with the game but with the ingenuity that went into creating it. each level brings a new puzzle and I really have to think outside the box in the upper levels to get the frog his candy!! I think I like it so much because its not just a mindless game. I have to think and be engaged in the activity thats going on to do well and since I can spend 2-3 hours straight just playing the game, its nice to feel like i didn't waste all that time doing nothing. I feel like my brain gets a workout every time I sit down to play.
There are tons of other games that I've come across that do the same thing; Angry Birds, UnblockMe, Words With Friends, and also Hanging with Friends are just some of the games I've come across. They force me to be creative and at the very least put some thought into what I'm doing when I play them. And the funny thing is, I can't get enough of them. I play all the time and I never get tired of it. They really get my creative juices flowing so to speak. I feel like I always have to approach the games, like the ones I've mentioned, differently and constantly change my strategy.
My point in bringing up these games is that technology like apps and online games have changed the way we think and we don't even realize it. It's really cliche, but when we play games like the ones I've mentioned and even video games like COD or Dead Space, our generation is learning new skills like critical thinking and effective strategizing. We may be the "laziest generation yet" but we're also the smartest and most cunning and ironically its thanks to the games and programs that are supposedly corrupting us the most.
This week, I'd like to discuss the thought processes that go into making commercials and selling big name products to consumers. When I think of the best commercials, I think of the Superbowl. Everyone knows that big companies pull out all the stops and spend all year planning and creating fantastic commercials to air during the prime time Superbowl slot. Last year, my favorite commercial had to be the Snickers commercial featuring Betty White. I want to look at this commercial a little closer and delve into what the creative designers and commercial specialists at Snickers were thinking when they came up with the concept for this particular sales pitch.
To do this, I'm going to be using a method of analysis called Toulmin Analysis. If you haven't seen the commercial or watched the video I've posted above, the commercial opens on Betty White playing football and getting tackled. It's obvious that Betty White's presence in the commercial is a metaphor for the guy that is playing football not being himself. His friends tell him he's playing like Betty White and his girlfriend gives him a snickers and he turns back into himself.
Because this commercial originally aired during the Superbowl, the target audience was the people watching the game, thus people who enjoy football, so having a commercial featuring a football game is appropriate for the target audience. Through this commercial, Snickers is claiming that it is a satisfying snack when your hungry. Their slogan is "You're not you when you're hungry. Snickers satisfies." Its evident, by using the contradiction of Betty White (an old woman) playing contact football, that Snickers is trying to show when you're hungry, you don't perform at your highest level. This can be applied to almost any situation, not just the case of a pickup game.
Warrants used in this commercial include the assumption that the audience knows who Betty White is and can see the humor in her playing football. Also, Snickers assumes that the audience will know that in a situation like playing sports, you don't want to eat a big meal if you're hungry because you'll get sick, so a light but satisfying snack (like a Snickers bar) is usually the best way to suppress you're hunger until later. Another big assumption that snickers is making is that the target audience will be able to apply the commercial's message to other situations like snacking throughout the day, or a quick pick me up before a test or between classes.
Here is the link to the commercial where I found it on Youtube.
Over the course of this blog I've discussed creativity; being creative, creation, how it influences others, and I've also touched on piracy; what it is exactly and the issues that surround it. I'd now like to shed some light on the topic that I think ties creativity and piracy together. Intellectual Property.
Intellectual Property is one of those phrases where you're almost 100% sure you understand exactly what it means, but you're unable to put it into words the right way, so you're not sure if you're really understanding it. I'm going to clarify so don't fret. Basically, intellectual property (IP) is anything you think up. If I were to make up a song about leaves or forks, no matter how dumb it is, that song is mine because I made it up. That's a very basic example and in reality, IP stretches over everything that can be thought of and according to Wikipedia that encompasses "intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs." That includes works on the internet as well. Any logo on an ad that pops up while you're searching google or on Facebook. Videos and clips on youtube ranging from music to vlogs. IP includes it all, which when you think about how large the internet is and everything that is available for your viewing pleasure, it can be somewhat overwhelming.
Now, its time to connect the dots. IP is, in my opinion, the brainchild of creativity. (no pun intended) Every blog we read, every picture we look at on flickr, all the songs on itunes are all there because of a series of collective innovations that someone thought of and then created. I'm not just referring to the works we consume. The websites are the IP of the computer engineers that coded for them and iTunes itself is the IP of Apple. IP is everything we consume and touch. What then keeps IP from being stolen and us, as the consumers who enjoy the brilliance of others, from getting in trouble for having it? That is where copy right law, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets come in. These guidelines/laws are all put into place to not only protect the vast array of IP of people, but also as sort of a filter for those that may be trying to duplicate something that has already been made and pass it off as their own. These thieves are also called pirates. So we've come full circle. Creativity leads to IP, which is protected by copy rights and patents from pirates and piracy.
with all that being said, I'll leave you with this, In our world of the internet and constant updates and new products like the new iPhone 4s, where do we draw the line on whether something is completely new or just a better version of what we've had before and how do we label each as such?
Over the last few days I've been searching around trying to find some other blogs that relate to what I consistently write about. (creativity, piracy, and intellectual property if you hadn't picked that up already) I came across two blogs John Palfrey and jill/txt which deal with the issue of on campus internet usage by students. Although they are not about exactly the same thing, they can still be compared quite nicely.
I'd like to start off by saying that both authors are educated and teach at the collegiate level. Both do research in their fields and attend regular conferences and summits regarding their area of expertise. In many ways they are similar, and thus, so are they're blogs in some respects.
John's blog, Laptop and Filtering Policies for Classrooms, is centered around the idea of what the rules or policies in schools of both higher and secondary learning should be regarding students and laptops in class. He did an exercise with his class (which consisted of teachers and professors) where they split up into groups and discuss whether there should be policy or not and who should control that policy. John doesn't explicitly give his opinion. Rather, he appeals to the logos of his readers and presents what the class groups came up with, letting the readers decide for themselves what they think. His blog is run much like his classroom it seems, where he gives a little insight as to what the assignment is and then leaves it up to the class (and readers) reach their own conclusions.
Jill discusses her plans for a discussion/class assignment for her students where they will examine the Norwegian policies of privacy for college students using the university wifi network. She doesn't really go in depth as to the policies that are currently in place, but does post a few links to information and articles discussing the policies. This is, in a way like John, where she posts the information and lets the reader/students do with it what they may. She does briefly touch on he main point of the policy which bans universities from keeping identifying information about what students are doing on the internet at school, even if the students are downloading illegal files. She, like John, gives the facts (using logos) and doesn't directly give her opinion, but instead, asks for feedback from her audience.
These two blogs also differ in writing style. John is very formal almost like he's writing a report. Whereas Jill is pretty casual in the way she talks about her ideas for the lesson and also how she asks for feedback from her readers. I'd also like to point out that this difference in tone and presentation is noticeable even in the addresses of their blogs. Jill uses the name jill/txt which is very casual and youthful, almost like a screen name and John uses his full name, which is formal and gives off a more mature, professional vibe.
Up until now I've been talking about creativity and what it takes to truly be creative with the technologies that are at our fingertips and now I want to look at creativity from the other side of the spectrum. How does other peoples' creativity affect the general public? Take Apple for example; Mac has revolutionized the way computers are used, viewed, and marketed. With the invention of the iphone, ipod, ipad, and tons of other cool gadgets that people can't fathom living without, it's easy to see how much a little creativity can do to influence the population.
I myself, have a MacBook Pro, an iPhone, an iPod Shuffle, and an iPod Classic. (I don't use the latter all that much anymore but I like to think its a way to save my phone battery when traveling to have the iPod with all my music on it.) My roommate has a MacBook, an iPad, an iPhone, and and iPod Nano. That's not counting the THOUSANDS of students that have just as many if not more Apple products that live on and off campus. It's wild to think that one company could in just a few years take the world by storm with its products. I'll be the first to admit that its scary sometimes how much I depend on my phone or my computer. Everything important to me is saved on my computer; contacts, music, files, pictures, school work, receipts, even goofy videos that my friends and I have made. A day without my phone is a day of seclusion and confusion. I could never fathom designing something as small as an iPod and watching it explode onto the market, knowing it was my creation, my idea that opened so many doors to change the way we think about communication and the accessibly of technology. Apple is the root of so many innovations. Since the launch of the iPod and iTunes its easier than ever for artists to showcase their creativity and everything from videos to music to movies is all right on one place easily searched and purchased in one application.
Computers and gadgets aren't the only types of creativity that touch the lives of millions of people. This past summer I interned at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) in the Houston Medical Center. I was exposed to so many types of technology from high tech machines to life saving drugs. Almost everything about TIRR was complicated and advanced. With all the tools there to use and help in the recovery of patients I was intrigued by the methods of the physical therapists. A lot of the tools they used were things you could find in an average home. Duct tape was used to hold together absolutely everything, broomsticks and foam were used to make obstacle courses and balance aids, and as the patients' abilities changed with the progress of their recovery little tweaks were made to challenge them on different levels. I was floored by how little things like a stretch band or a full length mirror could be utilized so many different ways to make such a momentous impact on the quality of each patients' life. I came into the hospital looking at patients who couldn't even stand and left at the end of the summer watching them walk across the gym by themselves.
I used to think that creativity was something that left you with your mouth hanging on the floor from astonishment, but I've seen first hand that from iPods to duct tape, a little noodle work and elbow grease can have big effects on thousands of people and their day to day lives.
