Magazine in Review

It is hard to believe that magazines were made before the 1900. As a matter of fact, magazines first made an appearance in mass media back in the mid 1700. Almost 300 years later, they are still in existence. But how? Television, cable, and satellite created tough competition over the years for magazines. Why would you want to buy a weekly magazine when a person could watch a constant stream like cable television.? Magazines have the power to be distributed to people all over the world in a process known as internationalization. A person from France could get the same Slate magazine in the States with this phenomenon. Also, there is a magazine out there for anyone. Plus, magazines are on the go. It is harder to watch television in a doctor's office, before a job interview, or on the toilet. Like television and newspaper, magazines are online now too.

If a person has a particular interest, there is probably a magazine for it. There are magazines for tattoos, health, cars, recipes, tennis, fishing, teens, etc. There is even a magazine for Pokemon.

 

It is still hard to believe that people still buy TV Guide even with the guide on cable and satellite. In fact, TV Guide is in the top 5 of most revenue for magazines. It must be that good.

 

My favorite magazine is Men's Health. I try to stay in shape and get today's news on better health. They have plenty of good articles and advice Also, as an athlete I try to find the best workouts. Most covers have buff, ripped out dudes with six packs. The cover to the left has football MVP Drew Brees of the champion New Orleans Saints. This article has stuff about twitter which is interesting. It is basically trying to give men the heads up on twitter. I like how it has a football star on the cover. He makes me want to get it because I think he knows what he is doing since he won a Superbowl. I can have this with me for as long as I want and can read it when I have a chance on like television where I have to watch a program when it is on.

Television Revisited

How did people ever go without television? Forget the radio, just kidding, but seriously I kind of consider myself spoiled compared to my parents and their parents. I guess that’s why the elderly say my generation is getting dumber because people watch too much television these days. It has come a great deal since its creation. The tube itself has changed significantly along with its accessories. Look at the image to the right. This television set was one of the first of its kind. It is more speakers and switches than screen. That’s like a computer screen to contemporary standards if that. The television was still not in color but I really think that’s a bonus. Some movies and shows wouldn't be the same if they were in color. Imagine To Kill a Mockingbird or I Love Lucy in color. It would not be the same.

A lot has certainly changed from the old tube from above. The big, flat screen TV is almost the same size as the older version above. It hardly takes up any room because it is flat. There is plenty of more screen then speakers; more than likely the speakers on the flat screen work better. Also, the flat screen is in color. It is weird because my family still has the original television sets but only as a decoration. We actually have our newer, bigger TV sitting on top of it.

I remember watching a scene from Back to the Future II when they were in Hillsdale in 1955. Marty was eating dinner with his mom's family watching The Honeymooners. During the start Marty says that he has seen this episode but he doesn't realize that the first ever showing was on that day. He says it’s a re-run and the family asks him what that was. I can't imagine never watching re-runs. Back then in 1955, if an individual missed watching an episode, he or she probably would not have seen it again for years. Now we have TiVo for that. If I miss something it will come on again if I did not set it to record to my TiVo box. What a blessing.

Currently, companies are in the works to making television 3D. There will be more to come after that and after that. Sooner or later it might just be inside people's brains will some microchip. It wouldn't bother me. Less energy bills.

The Evolution of Mario

Ever since I remember I have been playing video games. From the old Nintendo all the way to the Playstation 3 (PS3). Gaming has change so much in my lifetime alone and I'm only 20 years old. Some of the characters have significantly changed in the past couple of years. Lets look at the picture to the right. This is one of the earlier versions of Mario in the game "Super Mario Bros." for Nintendo in the 1980s. He barely has a face that can be recognized. Look at the clouds in the background; are they even moving? The graphics are terrible to modern day graphics but then they were the best thing since sliced bread. 

Now lets look at the same game in the early 90s.  This game to the left is called "Super Mario World." The graphics are a lot better. There is more detail to his face and hands, plus look at that honker of a thing he calls a nose. The clouds are a lot better. One could see this almost as a real world. It is still not in 3D but just wait.

This game looks like it took a couple steps backwards to some but it was the game next in line for development. The game to the left is named "Super Mario 64." Mario finally became 2D but what's up with his hands. They look like he wearing boxing gloves 24/7. I wonder how he picks things up. Their are clouds but it looks like the game before should be after this one. This game was released six years after "Super Mario World." No way Mario was going to be down for this count.

Well, Mario hasn't quite went 3D yet but here he is in 2.5D. In the game to the right, "New Super Mario Bros.", he almost looks like a real person; at least if people were to turn in to video games. His hands look like human hands. The clouds are a little off but you can't get them all. In this games he can do spins. The graphics look great. Mario and other games and characters like so have come a long way. The first game I can remember was pong. All that was was two sticks and a ball on a flat surface with only two colors. Some how people loved that. I would probably read the dictionary before I ever played that game. Hopefully in the near future, video games will be in 3D. We already have the TV for it.