Automation
February 20, 2012
Manovich makes an interesting point about automation. Specifically, he mentions that there are low level and high level of automation. An example of low level automation is Photoshop where the program can automatically adjust photos. An example of high level automation is a human computer where it can speak to a user and adjust its conversation according to the emotional state of the user.
I find low level automation to be interesting because of how important it is to the media business. When we flip through magazines and newspapers, perhaps 99% of all photos are retouched with programs like Photoshop. It is extremely crucial to the media business because a photo is worth a thousand words. Companies may take advantage of these programs to reframe news stories or make front cover models more attractive. For example, the newspaper can purposely make a celebrity look thinner and say that he/she is anorexic. A magazine publisher may want to attract more consumers by making the front cover model tanner and more toned. Though these business tactics may drive sales but it is also influencing teenagers to believe that skinny is beautiful. I think it is okay for magazine companies to photoshop photos as long as it makes a small note somewhere on the page that the photo has been retouched. This can help teenagers realize that what they see are not real. The bottom line, computers are probably the best and worst invention of our generation.
February 21st, 2012 at 2:56 pm
I believe the main reason for photoshop and advertisement is to make everything appear real and authentic. Don’t you think if businesses gave any indications that the photos were retouched it would defeat the purpose of the advertisement?
Any great invention can be used in a negative way if you have bad intentions. In my opinion the computer is prooably the greatest invention of our generation.
February 22nd, 2012 at 4:41 pm
If we go back to McLuhan and agree that the content is secondary to the medium in which it is presented (or manipulated), what else might we say about the impact of photo reproduction and manipulation software? I think you make an interesting connection between the variability and its byproducts as they pertain to what folks do with photoshop. but keep in mind that there are other examples of variability and other uses of photoshop beyond its use in the publication of fashion magazines.