MAC281 Essay Questions 2009-10

Answer ONE question from the following. Your essay must be word processed
and be 2000 words in length. The hand-in date is Week 14: Tues May 27th at
the LRC.
See Module Guide for advice on writing your essays. If you need help contact the
lecturer responsible for the question you are attempting (contact details in
module guide).
Be sure to identify the appropriate essay question number you are attempting
1) “Our vision is music availability everywhere, at any time and in any place. But
the biggest question is how do we monetise it in an environment of widespread
piracy?” (Eric Daugan, Senior Vice President, Commercial Strategy, Warner
Music International, in IFPI Digital Music Report 2010). Considering the UK as
an example to what extent has the music industry lagged behind ‘pirates’ in
providing music ‘everywhere’?
2) “Illegal file-sharing has been a key factor in the recording industry’s 22%
worldwide sales declines between 1999 and 2004 (Source: IFPI), and the halving
in size of the British singles market over 1999-2004 (Source: BPI).” To what
extent is file-sharing a response to the failings of an industry predicated upon an
outdated business model?

3) “Politicians and music companies need to recognize that the nature of music
consumption has changed, and consumers are demanding lower prices and
easier access” (Peter Bradwell, researcher at Demos, 1st Nov 2009). To what
extent are music consumers forcing a rethink of copyright law and what it means
to be a ‘pirate’?

4) When podcasting first emerged in 2004 it seemed to be a ‘disruptive

technology’ (Clayton M. Christensen & Joseph L. Bower, 1995). Evaluate the
impact and legacy of podcasting upon the traditional radio business.

5) “Social media tools have lowered the cost of doing things to the point where
our desire to engage with one another is enough to get things to happen at a
very large social scale rather than a smaller family and friends scale” (Clay
Shirky cited in Us Now, 2009, Banyak Films). Assess the democratic
significance of social media with reference to at least two examples in which
Internet technologies have been employed to organize large-scale activities
quickly and/or effectively.
6) Focusing on the emergence of ‘citizen journalism’, assess the threat posed by
participatory media to professional practice.

7) “The interface has become a crucial site, a significantly ambiguous boundary

between human and technology. The interface relocates the human, in fact
redefines the human as part of a cybernetic system of information circulation and
management” (Scott Bukatman 1994). Given the necessity for the ʻhuman-
computerʼ interface, does virtual reality make us liberated prisoners of
technology?

8) ‘Much of the industry and … academic commentators see the need for
"narrative" structures in order to understand games and make games "better." ...
This is a debate that shows the very early stage we are still in, where the struggle
of controlling and shaping the theoretical paradigms has just started’ (Aarseth,
2001). Assess the extent to which contemporary debates surrounding video
games still seem stuck in this ‘very early stage’, obsessed with narratology and
ludology as critical approaches.

9) In relation to video game design recent attention has been focussed on

concepts like ‘emergent narratives’ (Warren Spector, 2004), ‘transmedial play’
(Stephen Dinehart, 2006) and ‘interactive drama’ (David Cage, 2009). Assess
the extent to which narrative matters in relation to contemporary video games?

10) To what extent do you agree/disagree with the statement ‘we are all
photographers now?’ Discuss how the Internet and digital technology has
impacted upon the role, meaning and aesthetic of the still photograph and
critically evaluate these changes within our image culture.

11) Sex/sexuality in virtual worlds (TBA via Julie Lord)

12) ‘Net neutrality means simply that all like Internet content must be treated
alike and move at the same speed over the network’ (Lessig & McChesney,
2006). Assess the implications of a two-tiered communications network upon
consumers and content creators.