Is it always good?

I finally got the letter from one of my good friends in Taiwan today; I had been waiting for it for about 2 weeks. It took so long!! I sometimes doubted that my letter was lost or perhaps the postman put it into a wrong mail box. Anyhow, I got it now, thanks the postman!!

When I read the letter, a very amazing feeling welled up to me, and it made my heart felt so warm. (I do not have this kind of feeling even though I frequently chat with this friend through the MSN.) Seeing my friend's handwriting which I cherished the memory of, I immediately recalled our vivid life in senior high school. I finally found that we are so important to and have never forgotten about each other. This is actually the real feeling that I am looking for. I am glad that I got it from my friend's letter.

Befor receiving this letter, I did not like to write a letter since the e-mail and the MSN were so convenient to me; I could send messages to and receive them from my friends quickly. Also, Rowland (1999) points out that "mail was nowhere else nearly so rapidly or efficient, but despite the fact that it was not uncommon for an international letter to take half a year to reach it distination." I think that is why less and less people prefer to write letters. Although it sometimes takes a long time, letter itself represents many things that the MSN system is hard to come by. For instance, letter represents the intimate relationships with others such as families, friends, or lovers. By reading letters, people can recall thier memories in the past, and feelings that are hid in people's hearts will come out, no matter positive or negative, just like me. Letters represents more reality.

I take it for granted that the MSN system indeed fixes the problem of waiting messages through space, but it has less ability representing the reality. Moreover, according to the lecture, Smith (January, 18, 2005) states that some people criticize that the technology may bring negative social outcomes such as someone may feels annoying to receive unwanted messgaes. I agree since we just use computers and type letters on the keyboards to chat with others; therefore, sometimes we are even not sure that the people we are talking to through MSN is acutally those people we know. When writing messages, people who use the MSN involve less emotion than those who write letters in the paper. If a peson receives a hand- writing letter, s/he will think more that s/he is being cared by others; s/he may be able to maintain a longer intimate relationship with others.

Reference

Smith, R. (January, 18, 2005). Week 2: Introduction to Information technology-The New Media. Presented at a CMNS 253 Lecture at Simon Fraser University

Rowland, W (1999). The Need to Communicate. Spirt of the Web. (pp.31-40). Toronto, ON: Key porter Books.

A Popular Communication System

The MSN is an online chatting system which is classified as a new media. It has become popular and will continuously attract people in social interaction in the future. As the MSN enables pepople to send and receive messages online through computers back and forth, it is considered as a two-way communication system. According to the lecture last week, in order to use the technology, users need to have ability to operate computers. Moreover, the new media such as the MSN facilitates interactivity so that people use it to communicate and get information form others. As it is a popular system, it forms a very interesting phenomena that is when people just get to know each other, they are likely to exchange their MSN addresses. It seems that everyone uses this system. This also happened to me on the first day of the tutorial class. When I joined my group discussion about the communication function for a nail, students in my group started to exchange MSN addresses.

In the MSN, however, the senders and the receivers must share something in common. For example, by useing the MSN, they must understand the languages and words that involve in their convensations. Also according to the lecture, Smith (January, 11, 2005) talked about the relationship between the information and knowledge. Using the MSN, the users need to have knowledge to comprehend the meaning of the messages or they will just become information. When I just started to use the MSN to chat with my friend, I had a difficulty understanding some words she used. For instance, she used the word "cuz", but I did not know its meaning so that the word for me was just an information. After asking its meaning, I learned that it was actually the abbreviation of the word "because"; therefore, I gained the knowledge. After being familiar with the words she used, we immediately improved our communication through MSN.

Reference

Smith, R. (January, 11, 2005) Week 1: The Introduction to Information Technology- The New Media. Presented at a CMNS 253 Lecture at Simon Fraser University

CMNS 253 Introduction

My name is Yi-Jinq Sheu ( Louisa). I have just been accepted for SFU 2005 spring semester. I choose Communication as my major because I am planning working in a TV station after I graduste from the university. I used to work in a model agency as a manager for few years in Taiwan. Durning working in Taiwan, I had great experiences contacting with the mass media such as TV stations and advertising agiencies since TV commericals and advertising frequently need models to promote the products and transmit information to the audiences. I am interested in how mass media communicates with people and how poeple use it to interact with each other. The reason why I am taking CMNS 253 is because I want to learn how the technolong such as the computer affects our life, how the Internet provides convenience to finding information, and how the e-mail faciliates communication with others. I found that the Internet not only saves my time doing research for my course assignments and getting information, but also allow me to contact with my family and friends in Taiwan by using the MSN and e-mail.

1. According to my understanding, the professor has two dogs. I have never had a pet since raising pets require a lot of time of caring and money. Once I have to travel, I have to find someone to take care of them. Pets such as dogs, usually need a large space for them to doinjg activities. However, living in an apartment, the rule does not allow people to have pets. In addition, when pets get sick, I have to spend a lot of money taking them to a veterinarian. Therefore, I choose not to have pets.

2. The elive system does not work for me now. I would use the system to listen to the lecture and reviwe the lecture if the system worked. I think that the elive system is useful since it lets students understand more about the lecture after class. Once students miss the lecture, they can have another chance to review it.

3. I am using the social software; for example, I usually use the MNS to discuss course subjects and chat with my friends. Being an international students, it is sometimes hard to keep contact with friends in my country. Using the MSN, it provides convenience to me to communicate with my friends. Also, I frequently share photos online with my friends because they can know my life in Canada. I do not have a personal blog since I am not good at computer. However, I regularly check and use my e-mail everyweek. I do not like online discussing groups since I cannot type fast. Moreover, I do not use "introducer system" as I sometimes do not trust people who I meet online.

4.I have a moblie phone and I usually bring it everyday when I go to class. I have a $30 plan covering up to 75 text messages per month. I regularly send text messages to and receive them from my friends in U.S. As long distance calls charge a lot of money, sending text messages allow me to save more money. My mobil phone does not have picture taking ability because it is an old model; therefore, I prefer taking pictutes by using caremas rather than a mobil phone.

5.I do not think that I am a geek. What I need for the computer is just providing the advantage for me to do school works, communicating with people, and finding some information.