Video Streaming gaining campus popularity

Netflix and other video streaming services are making a splash on college campuses around the US.  The major players in his business are Hulu, Amazon Prime, VUDU and Netflix. Personally I use Netflix and i love it. I know many people on our campus that use some sort of video streaming service.

Generally, many college students don't have much extra money lying around. That could make it hard for them to find the funds to afford such services. This could lead them to use either free services or finding a pirating site to get the shows they want to watch.

All of the providers have pros and cons. Making the comparison between them is key to finding out which one is the best for the viewer.

Netflix: If you are looking for a wide variety of movies and TV shows Netflix is the best video streaming service for you. You can also personalize your account with Netflix to that shows and movies that you might like. A negative to Netflix is that it does not have the most current seasons available right away. It is only $7.99 a month to get online streaming. You can add more to your account if you want to.
 
 

Hulu Plus: To get the most current episodes of your favorite shows then Hulu Plus is for you. They allow you to catch up on a episode if you missed it due to other plans. But a huge draw back to Hulu Plus is the commercials that hinder your experience. Hulu is the same price as Netflix and has about the same amount of content as Netflix.



Amazon Prime: If you enjoy watching shows from Comedy Central and Nickelodeon then this service could be right up your ally. This service also has a good balance of other movies and TV shows available. The only downfall for this service is that the price of it is $79 for a year subscription. That could burn a hole in the pocket book of many college students. 


VUDU: The pay-per-episode can be very cost effective for many college students who are aware of their budgets. VUDU offers this and that is a major plus for them. And the many choices you have to choose from makes it a nice service to have. The price of these services is variable based on how much you watch a movies or TV shows. A negative for this service is that certain features are not standard for all operating systems. 


There are many other options available online, but these four are defiantly the major players of online video streaming. And for college students needs, any of these services can be affordable. But the best choice is different for each student and what they can afford to spend on this kind of entertainment. Choose wisely my fellow classmates!

Communities online?

Can belonging to an online community impact your life? Many people connect with others that have similar interests via online communities. There are many positives to this kind of connections. But there can also be some negatives to this as well.

Some of the positives are that you meet people that you might not have met in real life due to where they live. With these connections many people feel like they belong. That is a really good feeling to have especially when they have no one else around them that likes the same thing as them. Online communities can also create connections that could possibly lead to job
opportunities in the future. 

But there are still the dangers of being involved with an online community. One example is the person on the other side of the conversation could be a fake and just trying to do thing to benefit them. Or you could have a person on the other side that just really upsets you with their view on a certain topic.

My view about online communities are that if you feel like you need to feel that belonging and talk to people without meeting them face to face then you can. But I tend to stay away from online communities due the fact that I can not trust the person on the other side of the conversation. Maybe it is just me not trusting people until I meet you face to face and building a bond that way. 

The Google Takeover

Google is a part of everyday life for most people that have Internet access. The people that use it search for anything that they want to know. But is it an addiction or just force of habit? 

There are some signs that it could be an addiction, but I think it is the fact that Google is growing and providing services for everyone to use. They make the services really easy to use so a person that is not very good with technology can use it.  

Has Google gone overboard with providing all of the services they have?

Personally, I use Google all the time for whatever I need to know. I even use Google Drive to save papers and projects when I don't have a flash drive with me. I have found that I use Google way too much, but it is a handy place to go to keep all the things you need and things you need to know. 

But, I do feel like they have taken over the lives of people. This could cause people to think "is all of our information safe with this company?"

With how much information Google has on just about everyone with Internet access. They have so much information that they can tell what you are looking for with just a partial phrase or even just a couple letters of the word.  

It is a nice feature that they get you the information that want quick, but it seems really creepy that they know what you like and could advertise to what you like.

Then you get to thinking, is Google making all of us less of an individual and making us what they want us to be?
Since they cater to what you like (from your search history) we still have our individuality in some form. But, some of or individuality has been taken over by them because they base the searches on what is popular, and not our favorite places to go to.

Overall, Google has started to take over people’s lives to the point that they know what you like and don't like. That can be a big issue of privacy and individuality. And this will continue to be an issue until Google stops expanding what they provide.

David Weinberger Reaction

Photo Courtesy of http://www.a-speakers.com/speakers/david-weinberger/

I just read the David Weinberger blog post by Rebecca Blood in January 2006. I thought that the answer he gave her were good and made the blog entry fun to read. I found that he joked around a lot and was sarcastic at just the right times so you didn't get bored reading it.

He had some good points when he stated blogging was more fun when you have a community that shares the interests that you have.

When I was maintaining my blog for my class, I found it easier to write about what I was interested in. Weinberger hit on that and stated "Sometimes it's because I'm saying something I think will amuse or bring new light on a topic. Sometimes it's to help spread word about a site, an idea, an outrage."

This shows that his passions are being reflected in his blog. Even if nobody agrees with him he still writes about it. But he does take enough caution to not offend anyone.

I also found it interesting that he read other peoples blogs to keep up with them. This is interesting because it shows he likes to be connected with other people. And I like how he does not like to look at his own blog unless it is to look at the comments about his posts.

The thing that I found was odd is that he did not track how many people viewed his blog. If I was him, I would want to know how man people has read what I wrote and out of how many of the people that read my post wrote a comment.

The only thing that bothered me was that he sometimes writes to provoke reactions out of people. That is something that people should not do in my mind. I learned as a kid if you don't have anything nice to say about a person or a topic, don't say it at all.