Apple iPod and the Change in Culture Industry

This is an assignment I wrote 2 years ago, now that I read it, I realize it is not written well but since its mine I post it:

With the rise of the Apple iPod, a device as big as a pack of cigarettes, which stores all the music one owns, a new shift in the culture of the music listening occurred which was mainly due to the technological advances of the iPod. Analyzing the whole notion of the iPod and other Apple concepts which are related to it, in the perspective of four different media analysts, Walter Benjamin, Horkhiemer and Adorno and Brecht, enables me to explore this concept, considering different aspects of it.

Considering the usage of the iPod, it has totally changed the way one experiences music, and as it is dependant on the reproduced music, the whole notion of the “aura” is misplaced. As soon as an album is released, people around the world have access to it and can easily listen to it through their white headphones. Taking into account the advances in the technical means of reproduction, and the arrival of the digital technology, where the copy is almost indistinguishable from the original, still the reproduced copy lacks the whole concept of the uniqueness of a live performance (original), and its presence in time and space, even though with devices like iPod we can experience any music, anywhere that we can think of.

The other reason why Apple iPod functions against the idea of “aura” is that it has a quality which erases the “distance”, and brings the music to the mass “closer” in a way which is much more effective than any other music player device introduced earlier. It was not long before that audience had to go to a concert hall to hear an orchestrated symphony, where now they can listen to the same music while walking from work to home. And this raises the whole controversy about the way we shall experience music and how the environment effects our perception of a song.

Although a concert is viewed by a large number of people, but considering this in a larger scale it is hidden from the mass, and this is why a live performance has it cult value and is still attended by a large number, although the same music is “exhibited” through distribution.

Apple iPod and the new technical progresses in the consumption of music have also had an impact on the production as well. First, the size of the audience is increased massively and it has become universal due to the new ways of distribution (i.e., iTunes). Secondly, as the aud

ience of a technically reproduced music is separated from the “original” they take the position of a critic. Thirdly, as I mentioned above the whole way of experiencing music is changed. The musician must also consider the fact that his music is going to be played everywhere, and it will be carried with people all the time.

We can also take into deliberation the concept of the “aura” in the perspective of the way iPod is advertised. The fact that each iPod contains the music, which belongs to a certain taste of a particular consumer, makes the product unique and creates an aura. Also the new features like engraving any message one wants on the back of his/her iPod add another kind of exclusivity to the device.

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The new methods of online distribution of music has made it possible for the musicians to get the feedback they need so fast, that it has made the iPod an apparatus of communication rather than an apparatus of distribution.

Also the new technological advanced features like the Pod cast, which is particularly developed for iPod is exactly the kind of the radio that Brecht was dreaming of, where everyone is a distributor as well as receiver, teachers as well as pupils.

Considering the two ideas mentioned above, this new way of communication has also effected the production of the media as well. The quality of the productions is going to increase, as the producer is always fed with the feedback that is coming from an audience, whom due to the qualities of reproduction are taking the position of critics. In addition to that, because the quantity of the production is increased, as everybody transmits his/her own show as well, a kind of competition will be fashioned, that will have a direct impact on the excellence of different programs whether professional or amateur.

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In the perspective of Horkhiemer and Adorno’s Culture Industry, the whole concept of the Apple iPod is debatable in the way Apple promotes and advertises its products, and tries to establish a new “style” or in other words culture.

In terms of the iPods advertisement Apple has used all of its power and intelligence in order to create a market for iPod. Their major goal in this area, I believe, is to “manufacture” a need for the product, or at least create an illusion of a need, using different methods. First, they have used any kinds of advertisement possible, from wrappings to TV commercials, employing the same simple attractive theme, and Secondly, by aiming the general public. Quoting Horkhiemer and Adorno: “the freedom is symbolized in various media of the culture industry by arbitrary selection of the average individuals.” This sentence clarifies very well the main theme of the Apple iPods, which is a dark character against a bright background. By leaving the character in the ads anonymous, Apple avoids addressing any specific class or cultural ethnicities, and they leave the decision to the spectator.

Apple also produces different kinds of iPod. According to Horkhiemer and Adorno this is not only to aim different classes and different individuals but also to create an “illusory strike.”

Another method Apple uses to generate such a “need” is by introducing a new “Style” where iPod is a vital part of it. First, not only celebrities present iPod in the TV commercials (which is not something new), but they also use the iPod in their shows and soap operas. They create a whole atmosphere where

the spectator will feel that he/she is the only one who doesn’t own an iPod. They feel like an “outsider” in a style which is practice by the “general”.

Living in a world of entertainment and Hollywood movies, most of the audiences try to simulate the experience of a movie in their daily life, and iPod gives a lot of them this opportunity in a way by providing them a choice of soundtracks that can be played anytime. The music becomes part of the life. Referring Horkhiemer and Adorno: the best orchestra of the world is brought into your living rooms free of charge, and this involves making the average heroic.

Having mentioned all the reasons for the practicality of iPod and it success in the advertisement, it easily justifies why iPod has become popular that any other electrical device in very short period of time. Everybody now have his/her own white headphones and enjoy this technological development, by listening to his/hers favorite music while waiting for bus.

Distorted Perception

I thought it would be a good idea to post this video as it is in the same direction of my next post which I am working on. So enjoy this 1min "Intro".

Marcel Duchamp

A great answer as an artist. This is how an Artist must feel about his work.

Khatami speech on Human Safety

I Have always respected Khatami He may have not succeeded as a president mainly because of his concerns for the Iranian safety, but he has always been great as a person and as a theorist. I really get upset when I see people including him with the rest of the regime when blaming it.

Modernism Vs. PostModernism

According to the World Encyclopedia the term Avant-garde is used to describe “innovators in the arts, particularly those whose artistic audacity surprises their contemporaries.”

Avant-garde always introduces something new and innovative. In art it can refer to something that has not been done before; a novel and innovative artwork which is much ahead of its time and in most cases radical and pioneering. Avant-garde despite modernism and postmodernism movements which chronologically followed each other in 19th and 20th century, could have happened in any period of time. In other words in every movement in art history there could have beenavant-garde, as there were, and because rather than a movement in art, it is a novelcharacteristic of an artwork, it could have even started a movement itself. For example Andy Warhol’s Brillo boxes can easily be regarded as an avant-garde piece as Danto specifically credited this work of art with the end of modernism and the beginning of the postmodernism.

Looking through the “possibility of universal communication” which modernists believe in and postmodernists don’t, it is even more likely to consider avant-garde in postmodernist art rather than that of modernist. Karen Hamblen (1991) argues that “most scholars no longer believe that art objects can communicate without viewers having access to knowledge about the times in which they were made and the places in which they originated.”

Where Immanuel Kant, who set the philosophic groundwork for artistic modernism, believed “when viewing art, people should put themselves in a supra state of sensory awareness, give up their personal interests and associational responses and consider art independently of any purpose or utility other than the aesthetics.”

Therefore viewing this notion from the modernist perspective, it is almost impossible to have an avant-garde, because one of the major requirements of considering an artwork avant-garde is to view it in regards of its time of production or performance. In other words avant-garde is temporal. For example in modernist point of view John Cage can no longer be considered as an avant-garde musician as his chance operation techniques have been practiced by different artists in variety of disciplines.

One of the major concepts that effected both modernism and postmodernism during the 19th and 20th century was the major advances and developments in the technology. In Both movements it attracted a lot of attention from both artists and philosophers. Many different articles were published concerning technology and its consequences. Many of the artists and philosophers deeply engaged themselves in producing material exploring, criticizing or admiring technology.

In modernist art Technology was still observed in the context of capitalist Industrialization, where postmodernism, because of its roots in Marxism, criticized modernity by mentioning the subjugation of workers under that system, and focused more on the implications of technology in the lifestyle of people and its relation with the society in a more general view. Artists not only made art about technology, but they actually employed it to produce art. The significance of the technology in art production in Modernist and postmodernist art is to an extent that Douglas Crimp (1990) mentions the invention of photography as the reason for modernism’s demise and postmodernism’s birth.

Technology, particularly in postmodern world, has benefited artists in various ways and has offered them so many different tools, or what Marshall Mcluhan calls extensions of our senses and nerves, that the possibilities and options in front of them comparing to that of the modernism, is extremely vast. As a matter of fact, if according to Douglas Crimp photography is considered as the end of modernism, many art disciplines including photography and cinema appeared during the postmodernism. Therefore the postmodern artist can express her/himself in a much larger variety of mediums and in this age referring to Mcluhan again medium’s characteristics gains such an importance that it overwhelms the importance of the content. Therefore as technology provides variety of tools and also creates a new subject in the philosophy of art, one can say the more a society is advanced in technology the more possibilities and options are open for the artist in that society, which means postmodernists have a much more diverse range of mediums and concepts to work on comparing to modernists. Thus it is more likely to see avant-garde in a postmodernist rather than modernism, because of the potentials that technology has granted it. At the same time in another sense it is fair to say that it is almost impossible to produce an avant-garde art today, because according to the definition of avant-garde one can refer to him/herself as an avant-garde if s/he believes that s/he is ahead of his/her time, where quoting Marshall Mcluhan: “in the electric age there is no longer any sense in talking about the artist being ahead of his time. Our technology is, also, ahead of its time, if we reckon by, the ability to recognize it for what it is.”

One of the key contributions of technology to art is the development of reproduction which photography as mentioned earlier is an important part of that. Therefore postmodernism has benefited the most from technology as one of its main qualities is reproducing existing information in new means. As Terry Barrett (1997) mentions: “Postmodernists flout the modernists’ reverence for Originality.” In other words postmodernists tend to, what he calls, “barrow” from the past and by placing the old information into new contexts, try to question the whole concept around the information, and of course this goes back to the nature of the postmodernism, as quoting Richard Tarnas: “The subject of knowledge is already embedded in the object of knowledge: the human mind never stands outside the world judging it from an external vantage point. Every object of knowledge is already part of a preinterpreted context and beyond that context are only other preinterpreted contexts.”

The reproduction developments have not only provided tools for artists, and particularly postmodernists, but have also influenced art indirectly by making it available to the public. The reproduction brings a work of art to all those people who would otherwise not see it; regardless of their position in time and space, although reproduced art lacks what Walter Benjamin calls the “aura” of it. In this concept one may reason that because postmodernists have the tendency to appropriate material from the past to remind us that the notion of originality is absent in most traditions of art, there can not exist an avant-garde in postmodernism. But the necessity of being considered avant-garde is more based on innovation rather than originality. In other words a piece of art can be new and innovative while it appropriates material from the past. A perfect example for this can be Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain. By “appropriating” a urinal, an object from the daily life, he pioneered and introduced the idea that art could take any form and he shocked the world. Therefore he was a postmodernist avant-garde.

As It is demonstrated above, avant-garde not only can exist is postmodernism but it is even more likely to appear in postmodernism rather than modernism, mainly due to the nature and structure that forms postmodernism: the nature of questioning knowledge and truth, its roots in Marxism and feminism and the appropriation from the past, Also considering the fact that postmodern era is exposed to a much more advanced technology.

Marshall Macluhan ::::: Electric Revolution

Rumi Again ::::: باز هم حضرت مولانا

No matter in what mood you are, you can always express yourself abstractly with his words.

All through eternity

Beauty unveils His exquisite form

in the solitude of nothingness;

He holds a mirror to His Face

and beholds His own beauty.

he is the knower and the known,

the seer and the seen;

No eye but His own

has ever looked upon this Universe.

His every quality finds an expression:

Eternity becomes the verdant field of Time and Space;

Love, the life-giving garden of this world.

Every branch and leaf and fruit

Reveals an aspect of His perfection-

They cypress give hint of His majesty,

The rose gives tidings of His beauty.

Whenever Beauty looks,

Love is also there;

Whenever beauty shows a rosy cheek

Love lights Her fire from that flame.

When beauty dwells in the dark folds of night

Love comes and finds a heart

entangled in tresses.

Beauty and Love are as body and soul.

Beauty is the mine, Love is the diamond.

They have together

since the beginning of time-

Side by side, step by step.

Virtual Music

One of the main qualities of games are that they usually help us achieve something that in real life is either unachievable or simply needs a lot of time and effort. Becoming a successful musician is one of those. In real life it take years of practice and performances to become a well-known musician. But in the world of games one as an Avatar can easily place him/herself in a position of a musician.
In the game that I have in mind The user experiences the whole process that takes a person to become a real musician, the only differences is that it happens much faster. The user goes through different stages, and actually that’s the thrill of the game, and simultaneously improves his/her skills much faster.

Navigation:
The only external tool needed, in order to play this game is a pair of goggles. By wearing these goggles the user can situate him/herself in any possible music scene; whether an amphitheater or a concert hall or in a football stadium on a rock stage.
There are two notions of “time” in this game:
• There is a continues notion where the avatar has to move in a virtual time and pass through different levels in order to become a professional musician. For instances it may take 15 virtual years for a player to perform in rock concert in a stadium.
• The other notion is that the player can experience his/her stages in different periods of history. For example one can become a musician in 17th century and play Aria with Bach himself.
The players instruments for performing music is nothing but their own hands. By performing different gestures, which are taken metaphorically from real music performance, one can play or conduct… any kind of music. For example one can easily create a ¾ rhythm by drawing a virtual triangle with his/her left hand, which is the same gesture used by orchestra conductors in order to conduct a ¾ time signature piece, or taken from position of hands on guitar, one can easily strum a chord by moving his/her right hand up and down, where his/her left hand’s shape dictates the tonality of the chord.
There is a feature in the game, which allows all the players to create their own instrument. They can easily grab and put different object together and see how they sound. In this virtual world there even exist object for digital instruments and effects.

Networks:
This game connects people from all over the world and positions them in a virtual place and allows them to perform music next to each other.
Because the majority of people do not have any understanding of the music notation this game uses another method to orchestrate different musician:
Each musician has a screen in front of him/her, which displays the his/her Avatar. The movements of the conductor or the bandleader is then translated into the movements that s/he has to make in order to become synchronized with them, and then this is what is going to be displayed through the Avatar in the screen. In other words the player can easily synchronize him/herself by mimicking the movements in the screen.

Avatars:
Each player has different options of character. S/he can be a Musician, Orchestra conductor, sound mixer, light designer, lyricist, composer or simply an audience. Of course one has to go through different levels in order to take any of these roles.
To each of the above categories are subcategories as well, for instance the musician group, includes the players of different instruments and vocalists. Another interesting thing is that once one gains a certain amount of skill, s/he can even choose celebrities as his/her Avatar.

Rules:
There are different levels to this game:
• Audience: Every one start at this point. The reason for this is that the beginners get a general image of how the game is being played, and the musicians, who are another users some where in the world, get to have real(not computer generated) audience.
• Lesson: each user has to take specific lessons for each instrument.
• Jam sessions
• Recitals and local concerts
• Concerts
• Record labels
• Soloist, band leader, Conductor


Each user can only used appropriate mediums in each genre. For instance no one can play electric guitar in a classical mode, and if one desires to mix different genres can do that in the “new age” or “contemporary music” mode.

In order to be able to place traditional instruments of each region one must have an understanding and general overview of that specific culture. In this way each player can utilize such instruments much better.
Each player has to improve his/her knowledge of music theory through he game by different tutorials and gadgets in the game, so that by the time they finish the game they actually become musicians.
Once every player reaches the “record label” level s/he actually gets to sign a real record deal. From that point all of his/her works are protected by copyright laws.


This is more than a game. It is a whole system of developing musician in short time, where almost anybody can become a musician. Although the performances happen in virtual spaces but all the characters and avatars are actual human, In other words this system is a different way of experiencing music.

Wear Sun Screen

This is not my video, but I love it. It makes me feel good!

Everyone Must See This! - video powered by Metacafe

Justified Racism

General public has always had a very abstract idea of “Racism.” It still has the same image as early 60s: calling an African-American with the “N” word, or generally abusing any ethnicity. But Racism has become such a bigger issue today, as the notion of Racism has become indecent. Therefore it is more veiled now.

What matters even more is that “Racism’ can be seen in many organizations, governments and systems, and yet nobody questions them, because it never seems like it. For instance the only reason which I have to pay 8,000$ tuition fee more than my Canadian classmate is because I am not Canadian. It is not because he has higher grades or anything else. It is just because of my nationality. One may reason that you haven’t paid tax all those years in Canada, but this is an absurd justification because it still does not solve the problem, it rather erases it.

The fact that a whole nation or followers of a specific religion should be humiliated just because of few terrorist is another example. A terrorist can be from any country ( for example in 9/11 while the Americans where busy interviewing and investigating Iranian applicants, a UAE citizen which are the most trusted in the middle east carried away the mission.)

All that being said, the only ironic reason now that I can not travel back to my country Iran is that I am actually Iranian. Because I am Iranian it has now taken more than a month to get the Canadian visa, something that usually takes less than a day for other nationalities, Even though I have been living in Canada for almost two years.


At the end this is me in Abu Dhabi trying to kill some time, waiting to hear that my application is delayed another two weeks!

Lebanon Crisis

The Crisis in Lebanon has worried every humanist. Until today more than 700 innocent civilians have died and thousands have become homeless, and that is what matters the most. The question that either Hezbollah or the Israel forces are responsible for all these massacres, or which side has killed more, is childish and irrelevant. What matters the most is an end to this disgusting battle.

And what is even filthier is that the UN Security Council has not come to a resolution just because everybody is playing politics. So what happens here when each country is trying to gain a winning point for their own future in UNSC sessions is that hundreds of innocent people die without any reason.


Help The Victims

Journey to Dubai

Traveling has always been fun, even when it may take almost a day to reach the destination. If you are traveling to a new place the excitement of discovering new things, and if you are traveling back to somewhere you have been before, the joy of seeing family and friends after a while and refreshing memories, make the journey impatiently fun.
I came to Dubai with Swiss Airline, to me one of the best airlines. (And trust me its not that expensive) I tried my best to sleep in the way to Zurich so that I can stay awake in the airport to guard my belongings.
I met a lady from Namibia who was a member of the Prisoner’s rights committee and chatting with her killed a little bit of time in Zurich airport, but apart from that I was pretty much bored. She was attending a conference supporting the abortion of death penalty law in most countries.
Thanks to the sleeping pills I slept the whole flight from Zurich to Dubai.
Dubai airport was the same. Same old things and the same cheap liquor store in Duty Free.
And at the end meeting my family after a year was the best part of my journey.

One Busy Day

Today was one busy day, and I really mean it. I had to take care of my new apartment's application and clear all my debts before going to dubai, and as Canadians are so much in favor of holidays, i realized that just like last week this friday is also a holiday aswell wgich made me rush to do things i was suppose to do tomorrow. And it is here that the last thing you need is a "Under training Bank employee" serving you, or a clicky landlord. Thanks to Hesam and Behnam's help I finally managed to do them all.

Traveling Home (well Dubai!)

After 2 month of frustration I was almost hopeless of receiving my study permit on time, that a phone call from the international student office woke me up, informing me about my status of my permit. They asked me to come and pick it up!

Now I am packing and getting ready. Although I still have a week time, I have to do so many things that my mind is operating as sophisticated as Windows XP ( yet as crappy as windows XP).

I will stay in Dubai till 28th of August and I will definitely visit Iran as well. Although this is not my first travel back to Iran but I am going to document everything this time so keep checking for photos and stuff!

Mazi

I have joined the MAC community

*Please ignore my mouse pad. I will get a real one soon!

Iranian President Writes Letter to Bush

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has written a letter to President Bush with suggestions on how to resolve current international tensions, Iranian officials said today, but there was no immediate information about whether he was proposing a solution to differences over Iran's nuclear program.

Frederick Jones, the spokesman for the National Security Council, was informed just after 2:00 p.m. that the letter arrived at the White House. He said that Stephen J. Hadley, President Bush's national security adviser, would examine it along with the council's staff. He did not have any information on the tone or content of the letter or on when Mr. Bush would review it.

Officials in Iran would not disclose the contents of the letter, which was forwarded to Washington through the Swiss embassy, which represents American interests in Iran.

The letter is believed to be the first direct public communication sent by an Iranian president to an American president since ties between the nations were severed after the American Embassy in Tehran was seized in 1979.

The United States director of intelligence, John D. Negroponte, said today in a briefing in Washington that he had not read the letter, but he suspected it could be linked to discussion in the United Nations Security Council over Iran's nuclear program.

"Certainly one of the hypotheses you'd have to examine is whether and in what way the timing of the dispatch of that letter is connected with trying in some manner to influence the debate before the Security Council," Mr. Negroponte said.

Source: New York Times

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There are 3 points about this news:

1. Why the Iranian officials have not published the content of the letter?
2. How come the White House has recieved the letter but still not read such an important mail?

Meera

Not long after O-Hum this Rock band was introduced in Iran, releasing their first album inside Iran, which later became the Top seller album in Iran. What is very interesting in their music, Particularly in the song "Wound", is mixing Persian music with western style rock which results in a new kind of experience. Ofcourse they are not pioneers of this style but yet they have done it very well. One thing I really don't like about them is their vocals. Its composed badly and sang very mediocre, at the same time the guitar solos are simple and brilliant, mainly because Babak Akhoundi, the band's guitarist, is undoubtedly one of the most professional Iranian guitarists and composers.
This is the Music Video for the Song "Wound".Listen carefully to the Persian Instrumnet called Ghichak, which plays a counterpoint melody in the back. It is really cool to see some of the Tehran Ladscapes in the video.

Meera members

Farzam Rahimi: Vocals
Dara Daraee: Bass
Babak Akhoondi: Guitar
Kasra Ebrahimi: Drums
Reza Moghadas: Keyboard

Marshal Mcluhan and TV

Here are three interviews of Marshal Mcluhan. very interesting:

Understanding McLuhan: McLuhan predicting the internet

Oracle of the Electric Age, Where he talks about advertisement and what is good TV and why

Do you like TV? - where he talks about hot and cool medium and how Canada is a backwards country

Munich Original Soundtrack!

John Williams has done another spectacular piece. The soundtrack for the movie "Munich" by Spielberg, is amazing. There is a female vocal in it that is so powerful. I haven't seen the movie, but listening to the soundtrack I bet it is very touching.

hear it from here!

Is Nuclear Energy Iranians' Absolute Right?

well, it is Iranians' right to have Nuclear Energy, but the question here is: is it worth? Is it that important to gang up the rest of the world against us? Are we that much in need of such an energy that even going into a war (whether cold or hot) with United States is worth it? The damage that the sanctions will impose on Iranian economy will be far more than years of benefit that Iranians will gain through the Nuclear power. Yet we assume that Islamic Republic's Nuclear program is peaceful, ignoring our handsome, cute president.

And trust me there are far greater problems in Iran than having a cheap energy. Even if one is willing to strengthen the Iran's economy and produce cheap energy, it is more rational to build oil refinery plants, so that we will not have to sell the oil to west and then buy refined petroleum from them in a far more expensive price.

Conclusion: Nuclear Enrgy is Iranians' absolute left!

Read this article on Workers protest in Iran

First Blogging

bla bla bla

as it is too late and I cant think of anything I leave you with this picture which is an animalistic impression of how I feel right now.