another context: Pixar

Another context that relates to the 4 themes are animation studio companys, such as Pixar. Inorder to make a new movie, the company would have to become consumers by researching through, questions and watching videos of others to see what they all like in a animated movie. After they have satisfied with their research they would then have to turn to being a producer to create the movie. As a big company, the team assigned to the creating of this movie will be doing so mainly on computers. Due to their jobs, pretty much everything they do(with the exception of sketching drafts and mamking live models) will involve the use of computers. This makes computeres a major influence in their lives, as it's pretty much what their lives revolves around. A good interface is also needed inorder to help mediate between the animators and etc, and the computer, this will make their jobs much easier. Because Pixar requires the use of animation and 3d modeling, and because they have a high level of detail to their movies, they must use softwares that are bugfree and powerful. Instead of using mainstream programs such as 3DS Max and Maya, Pixar tends to at times use alternative softwares that they have created themselves if other programs gives unsatisfactory results. Also in order to render the frames afterwards, either a supercomputer or alot of computers linked together is nesscary inorder to reduce the time it takes to render. Thus top of the range computers are also needed.

another context: small IT company

another context that can relate to the 4 themes, are people who wishes to start a company, say an IT company. These people would have gone through university with an IT degree. To begin with these people, were originally consumers as they were taught information and recieved service from other IT professionals. For them to start a IT company means they will become producers as they will be the ones providing service for others. These people will also need decent computer systems with cheap but efficient interfaces due to their limited budget. As a IT company dealing with computers is what they do, therefore a computer is compulsory. Computers will not only be part of what they do, computers will also influence their lives greatly. Since being small and relatively new, their budget is limited, therefore buying softwares such as Microsoft office would be too expensive. As a company they will need to look at alternative softwares that are either cheaper or free. As you all can see the 4 major themese covered in COMP1900 relates extremely well with other context such as people wanting to start an IT company.

the 4 themes and Multimedia

Currently i am Studying a bacholar of Multimedia degree. Because of my course, having access to a computer is absolutely compulsary in order to achieve anything at all in this course. My course requires me to use a variety of programs to design a multitude of things such as web pages, 3-d models, and applications and etc. Doing so requires a good computer interface what will allow me to interact with the computer in an easy and efficient manner. Due to my course, I have found myself being influenced greatly by computers(more so then before). I have even ended up by a laptop, so I can do work more efficiently. Also a powerful laptop spec wise was needed in order for me to run programs such as 3ds max which requires alot of memory usage. Certain subjects in my course have also shown me alternative softwares like, Google docs, jarte and zoho. These programs like Google docs were great in helping me collaborate with my peers during group assignment. Also i used to be mainly a consumer, looking at animations and admiring 3d models and such, now that I have began creating animations and 3d models myself, I have since became a producer(of course without all the issues).

more topics that can be used in this course

Since COMP1900 is a new course this year, there is always room for new topics to be added for future years. Here are some of my suggested topics that I reckon would make COMP1900 more interesting:

1: Human Computer Interaction or "HCI". This topic will teach students about interaction between a computer and it's user. Although HCI can go beyond just simple computers, if this topic is implemented into the course, the topic should on stay between users and their computers. Learning this topic can help students find ways to improve interaction between user and his/her computer by improving on things such as computer functionality and etc. An assignment on this topic could be to write a report about the HCI improvements that could be make to user and his/her computer OS system.

2: Operating system. This topic will teach students about the different types of operating systems, how they work and what functions/applications they offer. Students will also learn about the advantages and disadvantages of different OS's and the differences between each of the GUI's. An assignment could involve students creating a Mockup of an OS and giving a report on the functions that this Os contains.

3: Web Communications. This topic will teach students how people comunicate through the world wide web. This topic will show how communication applications such as msn, skype, and motomusic works. This topic will also teach students on how forums, online games, google docs and chatrooms are used by people to communicate. An assignment could involve each student given a certain theme about Web Communications and allowing them to create message boards on a certain forum site and letting other students comment on their board.

from consumer to producer

Covered in week 12 lecture, consumers can be seen as the customers who buy products while producers are those who create the products. An example is when a producer creates a post of wikipedia, and the consumer are the ones who view the posts. Eventually a consumer will start creating posts of his/her own, thus making him/her a producer. Many issues however have arisen when a consumer advances to a producer. Examples of such issues are: Ethics, Privacy, and copyright. A instance of such an issue is when a consumer reads a post created by a producer and decides to copy the post and use it as his own, thus creating the copyright issue.

alternative software

Covered in week 2 and 4 lectures, today, many alternative softwares that can be used instead of mainstream software like: MS office, adobe creative suite exists. Software can by catorgorised into 4 types: Productivity, Media, Home entertainment and Business. Each of the 4 types are currently dominated by large companies such as Microsoft and Autodesk. However because of the price range of such softwares, alternative softwares which are free of charge have been developed to counter the price range. Although free, theses alternative softwares are noticeably worse off in terms of useability and efficiency compared to that of paid softwares. Alternative Softwares are noticably downgraded when it comes to the amount of functions it can run, the amount of information it can process and it's efficiency at completing tasks. However these software are easier to learn due to their limited functionality, and takes significant less memory on a computer as they are smaller in size then that of paid softwares.

the power of computers

Computers have become a main part in today's society. Computer's are now present in most homes and almost every workplace requires the use of one. Computers are indeed a powerful device, capable of performing a massive variety of tasks and minimising the time it takes to complete them. Each computer runs by performing 4 major functions. theres functions which makes up a computers architecture are: gathering data, processing data, outputing data and storing data. To this day, technology continues to develop, thus computers are becoming easier to use, while at the same time are becoming more efficient at peforming the 4 key functions. Also because of the rapid rate of developing technology, people will rely on computers more and more making them a powerful tool indeed.
this theme was covered in week 2 lecture