Essay in Lieu of Exam (Final Essay)

Q4.     When publishing changes, so does society. Investigate and compare the impact of two publication technologies, one pre-1900 and one post-2000, on a specific aspect of society (e.g. education, politics, creative industries, science, entertainment, social relationships)

Advancements and developments in publication technologies have had profound impacts on education in society because they have provided the general public greater access to knowledge and introduced new ways of standardized learning. The progression in publishing also illustrates the changing ways in which individuals understand and gain knowledge of the world (Brannon, 2007). This is why one of the most vital developments of publishing has been within education, which has been consequently redefined by publishing practices and assemblages (Shaviro, 2007). The education system proceeding to the 1900s vastly contrasts post 2000s education, through the advances in such technologies, from the printing press to the internet.

Printing press

Gutenberg’s Printing Press

Proceeding to the discovery of the printing press, books were luxuries only provide accessibility for the upper echelons of society because of the extremely time-consuming and expensive cost of the printing process. So that there was clear class group as learning was a symbol of status for the elite, on the contrary, the poor were ignorant and unable to educate themselves. Most noticeably of all influences on the printing press in the area of education was its promotion of the dissemination of knowledge to the general public. The printing press is a publication technology which was designed and created by Joannes Gutenberg in 1440. This process no longer employed handwritten replication of a manuscript, but rather a manuscript that would be molded by page and afterward pressed with ink onto paper into many copies (Arthur, 2004). In addition to this, the printing press also encouraged a standardization of spelling, punctuation and grammar (McLuhan, 1962). It can be seen that the public at present had access to printed information as books were more affordable and. Thus, it can be regard as the beginning of literacy amongst the general public began. As a result, in comparison with the previous way, the printing press enabled greater and faster distribution, contributing to the newfound, broad marketplace of knowledge.

Furthermore, the efficiency of the printing press in its initial stages, which utilized faster distribution affecting numerous audiences that turned into an attractive way of spreading religious propaganda (Farzaneh, 2009). Even so, the benefits of the printing press became well-known to a greater plenty of publishers, those of whom hoped to publish literature, manuals and paraphernalia. Therefore, the proliferation of such publications allowed for a comprehensively educated audience who were receptive to entertainment, education and new beliefs (Farzaneh, 2009). One example of a change in society due to this new access to knowledge and the competency to explain it was the general public’s undermining of the massive spiritual impact in society and ultimately the beginning of the move away from the Church to a secular society (Rubin). Even if such censorship became a challenge to the liberalism of publishing, these improvements and developments formed a chance for the public to find diversified evaluations, opinions and knowledge.

Another remarkable affection of the printing press on education was its transformation of learning. Besides, this type of publication revolutionized the school system, be without any prejudice of class or wealth. As a matter of fact, prior to the printing press, information was passed verbally from scholar or teacher to student, which meant the pupil would certificate such teachings through dictation (Eisenstein, 1983). Nevertheless, because this reason, this kinds form of education were enabled for biased, subjective teaching that could not be learned without being in the presence of an instructor. Fortunately, the printing press created a textbook in which could not be manipulated by the particular tutor’s opinions or beliefs. It also allowed for a greater student population with the ability for learned abilities to be learned at home, away from the school setting (Eisenstein, 1983). As a consequence, such flexibility and diversified knowledge, provided more excellent education environment enhancing interaction and exploration of the 1400s.

Moreover, according to McLuhan (1962), the printed book was a new visual aid for all students, which changed the relationship between the student and the teacher and the way students learned. It is the same as what Eisenstein said, the printing press impacted the way students researched and encouraged the view of academic writing as a source of formerly owned material (Eisenstein 1979) and scholarly reading as the gathering and interpreting of this original material (Eisenstein 1979). This laid the foundations for modern student research. These newly allusive language rules changed on the student and their interpretation of information, which finally furthered their literacy levels. The printing press was a catalyst for the introduction of the Education Act (1870) (www.parliament.uk), which made education compulsory for all British children. It can be imagined that once literacy among the general public increased; societies were a continuity of both oral and literate cultures (Rosenberg, 1987).

Unfortunately, the act of publishing during this period also enabled various forms of plagiarism which caused the level of reliability in education. This form of education allowed for biased, subjective teaching which could not be learned without being in the presence of a tutor. The author was not highly compensated for their publication and thus individuals did not seek acknowledgment for their efforts (Olsen, 2011). There is no doubt that this formed a large misinterpretation of information that inadvertently impacted education in a negative way(Hall, 2008). These debates over plagiarism are widespread within a contemporary setting, with modern publishing practices such as the internet proliferating plagiarism。In all, it can definitely be said that with the introduction of the printing press, and thus a new form of publishing, came with it the change of society. In particular, the education sector has changed and benefited primarily from the printing press as it led to a more educated society but also bring hidden problems at the same time.

Internet

Internet can be regard as a remediation of the printing press, which has had profound influences on education in society. In comparison to this, the Internet can be treated as another publishing tool that once implemented, has changed society soon after. Certainly, with the rise of the Internet and participative social Medias, publishing experience another kind of conversion with the digital age. Consequently, society’s strategy to deciding who can publish, when they can publish and how they can publish was also revolutionized. Once entering the 21stCentury, because publishing became normalized, individuals do not need to be required to have the highest qualifications for becoming a publisher. This has lead to a shift away from the traditional hierarchical structure of publishing power. Similarly to the printing press, the Internet has widened the access to and spread of information within the general public, which has empowered them.

Prior to the Internet, audiences were viewed as homogenous masses that were unable to negotiate or reject the information or media messages they were injected with (Errington & Miragliotta 2011). However, the advent of the Internet has shifted this view of audiences. It is comparable to the printing press, the internet has initiated a whole new way to access data, facilitating parts of society who previously may not of been have chance to access information the ability to now do so. The internet has given the ability to anyone who owns a computer and be able to access to the internet to produce, publish, distribute, access and reuse information and knowledge. When talk about education, the Internet has changed the sector, and thus an aspect of culture, immortally. In the online databases, journals and websites are some of the new approaches society can access a range of information online. It has made information and education available within people’s fingertips. If an individual long for learning about a certain topic’s answer or a particular question, all needs be done is to seek a computer, survey online or search on the web for various pieces of information in regards to their enquiry.

Similarly to the printing press, the Internet has transformed the way students learn as it encourages the active participation of producers (Jenkins et al. 2005). Lots of schools and universities in any country now adopt the Internet as a tool to promote in their education process for their students. Generally, Class work and information is usually stored on an online database such as Blackboard and Moodle for university students like New South Wales University, while schools now prefer implement online textbooks rather than physical textbooks can be seen as a means of easier access to educational content.

In extension, if a student misses a class or is incapable to attend class physically, for whatever reason, the knowledge point always can be accessed through the Internet for them to go over in their own time. For extending from this idea, learning online can be provided for students who live in remote areas or cannot easily attend an educational institute in person. Via posting educational content online through the Internet available for students to access, they are still being granted an education, and society on the whole is benefiting from wider access to education. Completing research assignments on relatively unknown topics has never been easier thanks to the Internet. In Gray’s opinion, teachers need to get on board and learn how to integrate the technology. Schools and educators have the opportunity to use these tools in a very creative way. Teachers need to continue to support to do it well(2012). Enhance, the application like e-book on the internet is becoming more comprehensive, playing an important role in regulating education systems around the world and consequently, promoting a general, global community.

It is essential to consider any negative change on the education of society that may have resulted from widespread use of the Internet. The ability for a user generated content online has flourished, causing the possibility of inaccurate or downright misleading information available to the general population. This can be seen through sites such as Baidu which can produce both beneficial and detrimental effects on education of society because there is much room for inaccuracies as people can post information with no canonicity requirements, no matter how incorrect it may be, this also encourages free-thinking and spreads knowledge and ideas.

Similarly to the printing press, Plagiarism is another issue that the internet causes for the education system. Even if it was previously possible to copy from a book like the printing press, it is much easier and more likely for this to happen with the internet around. Some educators argue that the ease with which people can ‘copy and paste’ information makes it too tempting for students to do just that - rather than thinking and developing their thoughts and ideas. According to the 2011 study called ‘The Digital Revolution and Higher Education’, “most college presidents say that plagiarism in students’ papers has increased over the past 10 years” (Parker et al, 2011). Fortunately, The internet also has developed methods to combat this plagiarism phenomenon and protect their copyrights with sites called ‘Turnitin’ and ‘The Plagiarism Checker’ which explicitly cross check for phrases and sentences elsewhere on the internet.

In conclusion, via a detailed analysis of the influences of print and digital publishing technology, it can be concluded that as publishing changes, community is both immediately and discursively affected in the process. Through exploring both the positive and negative impacts the printing press and internet, in their particular contexts, an in-depth understanding of their role in the societal shifts of education has been obtained. Gutenberg’s printing press transformed the lives of many by spreading religious propaganda, transformation of knowledge and delivering education to an audience beyond the privileged and brings better access to the greater community even if it still have piracy problems. In a similar way, the introduction of the Internet has further enhanced our methods of publishing like e-book and knowledge sharing, though coming at the misleading information and plagiarism. Overall, speculations are continuously raised in relation to what the future has in store as emerging publishing technology proceeds to revolutionize society.

Reference List:

Arthur, Peter (2004) The Impact of the Printing Press, Accessed 06 November 14, <http://educ.ubc.ca/courses/etec540/Sept04/arthurp/researchtopic/index.html>

‘Education Act 1970’ Accessed 06 November 14: <http://www.parliament.uk/about/livingheritage/transformingsociety/livinglearning/school/overview/1870educationact/&gt>

Eisenstein, Elizabeth (1983) The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Eisenstein, E. 1979. ‘Defining the initial shift: some features of print culture’ in The Printing Press as an Agent of Change Vol.1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p.43-163

Errington & Miragliotta 2011 Media & Politics: An Introduction, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. CHAPTER THREE: ‘Understanding the media and their effects’ pp. 41-56

Farzaneh, Arash (2009) The Historical Influences of the Printing Press, Suite101, Accessed 06 November 14, <http://suite101.com/article/the-invention-and-repercussions-of-the-printing-a87609>

Hall, Bjornstad (2008) Borrowed Feathers: Plagiarism and the Limits of Imitation in Early Modern Europe,Akademika Publishing, Norway.

Jenkins, H. & Puroshotma, R. & Clinton, K., Weigel, M. & Robison, A. J. (2005).Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, Accessed 06 November 14: <http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF&gt>

Jon Fortenbury(2012) Digital textbooks: Are they a solution or a distraction? Accessed 06 November 14,

<http://www.schools.com/articles/digital-textbooks-solution-or-distraction.html>

Martin G. Walker(NO DATE) Brain Training for Career Advancement

, Accessed 06 November 14,

< http://www.mindsparke.com/articles.php?id=5>

McLuhan, M. 1962. The Gutenberg Galaxy: the making of typographic man. University of Toronto Press.

Olsen, Rachel (2011) A New View on Plagiarism, The Lost Diadem, Accessed 06 November 14, <http://reinventingknowledge7.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/new-view-on-plagiarism-printing-final.html>

Parker K & Lenhart A & Moore K 2011 ‘The Digital Revolution and Higher Education’, Accessed 06 November 14<http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/College-presidents.aspx>

Rosenberg, B. 1987 ‘The Complexity of Oral Tradition’ Oral Tradition, Vol. 2, No. 1. Accessed 06 November 14: <http://journal.oraltradition.org/files/articles/2i/7_rosenberg.pdf&gt>

Rubin, J. (NO DATE). The Printing Press, Reformation and Legitimisation. Accessed 06 November 14: <http://www.stanford.edu/dept/islamic_studies/cgi-bin/web/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/rubin.pdf&gt

Shaviro, Steven (2007) DeLanda, A New Philosophy of Society, The Pinocchio Theory, Accessed 06 November 14, <http://www.shaviro.com/Blog/?p=541%3E>

Week Twelve Culture and Data

According to this week’s reading and lecture notes, Edwards illustrates the terms ‘infrastructural globalism’ and ‘data friction’ which both play a important role in his discussion about the collection and processing of data on a global scale. The key point can be found as data friction and infrastructural globalism. Firstly, data friction can be defined as the process of copying data information gathered from historical data through the years. For this reason, this process is significant in the publication and distribution of data on a global scale which hence shapes perceptions of society. Edwards then describes ‘infrastructural globalism’ to be the collection of global institutions which aid in collection of data and present global ways of thinking (Edwards, 2010). These two terms combine together to demonstrate how society and individuals not only engage with global data but build and add to it, finding new ways to interpret it and new ways to think.

I have chosen Instagram as it is one of my favorite social media applications which is something I view every hour. Another reason why I choose instagram is that it is a interesting and creative form of publishing and which provides a chance for every individuals to produce and publish their own photos or videos without any formality or judgment. In another word, it is a means of expression and aggregates to form a personal archive of memories which can be distributed either privately or publicly depending on the individual. Actually, instagram is not only a form of distribution and aggregation, but also can be used to trace history through the gathering of images or videos to categories data.

Instagram is included in the development of ‘data friction’ and ‘infrastructural globalism’ because it provides useful data in making these data publishing possible while further categorizing data through the use of personal profiles and hashtages. Actually, through using instagram, it is possible for individuals to follow others they are interested in on the application from all over the world and universally and collectively join this aggregation process. Therefore, instagram is a description of how all sorts of data collection from historical political data to personal photographs or videos of a holiday or weekends are now being distributed globally and shaping views to generate a global way of thinking.

rederence:http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/instagram-android-app-debuts-in-google-play-store-223939

Task 2: Visualisation Project

Myriad minutiae in our daily life impact our choices of different lipstick color in countless ways.  Our visualization project explores  people choose different lipstick color based on their skin tone. Visualization to us is an interactive visual representation of data that highlights a link of data. Not only  it is a useful tool in demonstrating this relationship， but it is also useful in researching and processing large amounts of data and correlating it into a simple pie chart or representation. The aim of this visualization is to provide a useful suggestion of choosing suitable lipstick color based on different skin tone from several of women’s choice experience.

Additionally, women are able to see to how they are supposed to choose lipstick color at certain occasions. For example, many women wrongly believe they can’t wear red lipstick. however, it can be seen from the visualization that red lipstick is timeless and bridges age and culture and you can't go wrong with this universally flattering color for all skin tones. Therefore, this information would be very difficult to communicate without this data visualization.

The methods we used to get the pattern are online researching and survey. Here is the templet of our survey and we interview 12 women both in the uni and cosmetic counter.

From the online researching, we can find some information about the pattern in the written texts but lack of data. Therefore, we gathered the raw data, put the information together and created the visualization to make this pattern visible.

The base of pie chart is the range of skin tone, from fair to dark, and the circle above is the people’s selection. Each little circle indicates different colors and the size of circle represents the percentage.  

The result shows in the middle is color true red, most of our interviewer choose  this color for their formal occasion. And the second layer shows 25-30% people choose pink based colors. The third layer represent 15-20% people used orange and purple based color, as for the outermost layer, less than 10% interviewer will select nude or wood colors.

Fair: blue based lipstick

medium: cherry red or bright berry pinks, nearly nude

tan: bright and poppy oranges

dark: purple, darker lipsticks

The color, size, texts and the base pie chart. Every aspect of this visualization is important and with these elements, we can present the best result to the public.

If it make to publish such a visualisation, people can easily find the most suitable lipstick from the data and surveys corresponding to the skin tone on the questionnaire, the difference that makes it to publish such a visualisation is it can give people who are going to buy lipstick some recommendations so that can reduce the risk that will buy unsuitable lipstick for them and reduce the waste of lipstick since some people think lipstick this kind of cosmetics is okay to buy more and more, anyway it does not expire. However, anything would like to be the same as lipstick effect, people use their little spare cash to buy a lot of non-essential items.

Visualisation is the form of control, if we can see the pattern, we can easily control the information.

For the cosmetic production, such visualisation helps to target different groups better in the global scale.

For the consumer, obviously, they can pick the products easily because they know which color suits them best.

Makeup artists, fashion bloggers and magazine publics: they can recommanded some useful things to the public

Week Eleven Distribution, Aggregation and the Social

Furthermore, we discussed “distribution” and “aggregation” in tutorial class. It is an interesting topic, and according to reading, Edwards Paul argues that without models, there are no data; and data can combine models to measurable realities. I strongly agree with this idea, because I and other two classmates saw many attractive, functional and safety information which was presented on notice boards in Food Quad. This is one mode of publishing in campus, notice board is a model, and information (post) on it is data, when they are united, they play a great role of “publishing” in university. This information can teach students; and it for students to learning, researching and socializing.

Although some students may not notice this information, but a group of students still realise and recognise it, like they will attend to some activities and learn safety knowledge. Besides, many students like to organise groups on Facebook, so they can communicate with others easily, and they can share photos and music with each other. It is the way of “aggregation” and engagement of technology; like people are connected and share contents together.

In according to this week’s resources and lecture notes, “distribution” and “aggregation” can be treated as two main points which need us to research and discuss. First of all, when it comes to talk about publishing, it has an impartible relationship between aggregating and distributing. The truth is that publishing is the process of gathering, collecting or combing texts, images and sounds, and then spreading or sharing them with the public. Actually, because of development of advanced technology, it is possible for us to have the chance to enjoy various ways of aggregating and distributing. Making information much more accessible has a huge influence on our daily lives, which can affect us to be better informed than ever before. The Internet helps in collecting data from all over the world, and spreading them in a much faster and easier manner.

According to Gregory Bateson, “… see the world not as a collection of things or persons, but a network of relationship, that network bound together by communication”, it can be seen that aggregation and distribution of information allow us to receive the exchange of data connects users, forming a network where everyone can easily aggregate and distribute information. Actually, there are many social networking websites or apps like Facebook, Twitter, instagram and so on are the illustrations of this worldwide aggregation and distribution network, however, one of my favorite site or app (it both has) is called mogujie. Here is its website address: http://www.mogujie.com/?f=mgjlm&mcfp=19_12rkefq

Mogujie is a community and shopping center website which enables users to post and upload photos of their outfits, and the other users can ‘like’ the look so that the photo will appear on the front page of the site. Users can leave comments on the photos, and also ‘become fans’ of their favourite fellow users, so that they will receive updates when the ‘fanned’ user uploads a new photo.

However, unlike Instagram or other photo-sharing SNS, the Mogujie is a site or an app which dedicated to sharing fashion inspirations. It aggregates street-fashion photos from users of different styles, and distribute them to fashion lovers all over the world. In other words, the Internet enables Mogujie to build a huge network worldwide, which will bring increasing the diversity of content available on the site or the app. For example, I used to buy fashion magazines every month, but they would only publish fashion trends that are popular in the country or that are suitable for the season. But on Mogujie, because the published content are contributed by users from different parts of the world, we can see the photos of people from the Chinese wearing beautiful floral dresses and shorts, as well as users from the Australians rocking the leather jackets.

Overall, it can be concluded that the community websites or apps like Mogujie can empower each and every one of users have the chance to become a publisher, providing a platform for us to aggregate and distribute. Just as how Andrew put it, “we all distribute and aggregate, and we’re all more interested in distribution and aggregation”, which means that It is not impossible to predict that there will be more and more these kind of sites or platforms in the future for us to participate in.

Week Nine The Visual, the Body and the Social Body 2013

According to this week’s reading and lecture contents, it can be seen that new forms of media enable people for the enhanced modulation of visual expression and in doing so, create new forms of engagement between this visual content with texts, sounds and proprioception (Murphie, Lecture 9). However, the message which the visualization attempts to express to its publics is finally in the hands of its creator, the artist. In another word, it seems that rather than being objective, visualization has a subjective nature. In exploring the subjectivity of visual content and the ways of it affecting the publics’ engagement with it. Therefore, in the following content, I am planning to point out a picture which regarding perspective.

According to ARTS2090 Lecture Slides, there is a picture which demonstrates the ‘different perspectives of the same flower’. With the development of advanced technology today, it is possible for people to see the things they normally are not able to see. Nowadays, they are essentially making the invisible visible. The truth is that many insects and birds have instinctive skills which are able to see these seemingly “invisible” occurrences without any forms of assistance whatsoever, ultraviolet light is one of the significant examples. According to science NASA, Ultraviolet (UV) light can be defined as that ‘Ultraviolet (UV) light has shorter wavelengths than visible light. Although UV waves are invisible to the human eye, some insects, such as bumblebees, can see them. This is similar to how a dog can hear the sound of a whistle just outside the hearing range of humans’ (NASA, 2014). Moreover, it can also be found in lecture notes that butterflies are known to have the widest visual range of any animal, it means that they can see the ultraviolet nectar in flowers, resulting in the image I post in this blog(Murphie, Lecture 9). It can be concluded that according to the comparison, it can be treated as a meaningful power which is one of the most prominent representative in the visual experience. This experience is highly up to the subject and why we need to visualize certain things. Whether it is a human, insects or a butterfly, the engagement with visualization up to the subject’s perspective and what they’re trying to see.

Furthermore, Visualizations are now being commonly used by publishers in order to handle the lazier population of the cyber-world. People have become so inclined to assimilating information through visual sources, other than learning from the more traditional way by reading scholarly texts. For me, I prefer to learn visually other than spending hours and hours trying to read and understand a text, simply for the amount of time that could be saved. This week, we also specifically focused on the use of visualizations to illustrate and explain on scientific findings as well as scientific researches. From Anon's article written in 2008, it can be seen that he looks at the issues surrounding the globe because of the extreme climate changes which called global warming. He also specifically focuses on how the US governments are taking little action to prevent the endangered polar bears from becoming extinct.

The article published on an online news site which called 'Metro' use a powerful visual image of a polar bear struggling to clench onto a small bit of ice berg. Automatically, readers are gravitated to the image and soon after it was assumed that a strong sense of sympathy towards the bear is gathered. From this use of such a powerful visualization, it can be concluded that Anon was successfully attracts the attention of individuals and people were willing to join this calls for action to be taken to help save the lives of polar bears, as well as Mother Earth.

Overall, visualizations are not only being used to demonstrate the certain ideas and teachings, but it also in order to create a social bond amongst people by expressing issues surrounding society.

reference:

http://moodle.telt.unsw.edu.au/pluginfile.php/904956/mod_resource/content/1/lecs8to10visual_culture.pdf

http://missionscience.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves.html

Week Six The Commons: Collection and (re)Distribution/Assembling Attention

According to this week’s reading, it can be seen that this week’s blog word is focused on the ‘commons’. Actually, even it is a very broad concept for me, it also simply can describe as a piece of publishing information that is available for every individual to access. It can be defined as that belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole, public and all of society and its public can have access to this ‘common’ piece of information. The other way to say it is the published material is thus open for all the public and has no boundaries.

It is obviously to see that the modern world which we all live in today is dependent on resources encompassing biodiversity, education, the technology sciences and the digital world. When it comes to media publishing, the word commons must be related to the availability and access of published information. For example, not all television channels can be easily accessed like the pay TV companies called Fox tel which needs to pay money if you want to access those channels. This restricts who can view certain television shows, movies and sports games. Whereat on Free-to-air television the channels are open and ‘common’ for all the individuals with TV.  Therefore, in my opinion, the truth is that the information is not completely free but an issue. Society as a whole would perform much better if every individual have equal access to the most basic published news and updates as to what is occurring within their society. An informed public creates an educated public and finally leads to an all round more active and liberally involved society because of the shared information of the common.

In the lecture, Andrew has mentioned the idea of ‘economies of attention’ that all attention is distraction which is just attending to something else. Attention is a private experience yet in today’s world it has become a common. In modern media society, having the attention of someone is very powerful as there are numerous distractions and interruptions. Advertising revolves around grabbing our attention like we are always being distracted and made to focus on something else. An example can be founded is that when the TV channel we are watching changes to an advertisement, we are being told to draw our attention to the product being advertised and momentarily forget the show. This is what Andrew said about the attention in the lecture. 

Week Seven Making the Invisible Visible

From this week's reading and lecture, the key point I want to talk about is ‘making the invisible visible’ and particularly I will pay more attention on the process of visualization. Actually, visualization can be defined as a mental image that is similar to a visual perception. In terms of the advantages of visualization, it can be seen that visualization can enable people to understand the way of using archives to create different forms of content and expression, while it also influences the way of people interpreting excessive amounts of information society produces as well. Actually, through the use of information graphics, visualization has influenced lots of arguments, and these graphics can not only be able to visually represent data, but also it helps individuals to have a better understanding of the information and the way it can be utilized in every daily life.

Moreover, the purpose of visualization is help people to discover and explore the unknown or sealed things in the world, and the most important and significant is make the invisible visible. Visualization is one of the methods of publishing and it can be also treated as an effective way in presenting data which may be difficult to digest in text form. When it comes to visualization, the first thought in my head is that it means those creatively designed diagrams or pictures, but visualization is more than just a simple picture. By using graphics or charts, visualization can enable people to observe complex patterns or the relationships between information sources that people couldn’t notice when reading a bunch of text, these patterns can either be showed through the aesthetic means that usually attempt to show experiences, or through the methodology that shows the way of how patterns are organized. Actually, visualization attempts to ‘make the data invisible visible’, this sometimes resulting in a greater sense of control over this information. With the changing technological nature of publishing and society in a general way, the increase in the functionality of invisible such as wifi and Bluetooth that shows is the ever-present nature of wireless connectivity in people’s daily lives.

For example, Mind map is one of the kinds of data visualization. It enables people to present ideas in an organized manner, and give people a directive and easy way to see the connections between each concept. This picture below is a mind map about the law of control. Instead of writing a long essay explaining different arguments, a mind map containing only keywords is an efficient tool in conveying complicated message to the public.

This kind of visualization enables people to appreciate the content of the text in another form. Even if some visualization is made up of only words or patterns, it is still different from the usual written text or drawn form. By rearranging the position of text and using different colors and lines, it is a lot more attractive than the pure text. Thus, this also shows the aesthetic nature of visualization as a form of publishing data. 

Overall, visualization plays an irreplaceable role in the world of publishing today, and in certain circumstances, data can be represented to interpret certain trends that were not  apparent.

reference:

http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.iqmatrix.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F06%2FLaw-of-Control-Mind-Map-2000px.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.iqmatrix.com%2Flaw-of-control&h=1414&w=2000&tbnid=mF9aw0_pDkiCPM%3A&zoom=1&docid=fPxdP8VjTkqr6M&ei=2QxQVPz-MILRmwXOkYL4Aw&tbm=isch&ved=0CCQQMygcMBw4kAM&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=406&page=24&start=414&ndsp=20

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandsfish/15414556221/in/photolist-pu8CwH-pcVMx4-pcA2xG-pczFgZ-pcAJ7V-pczKYW-ps3rKE-pczomM-ptNdTD-p7PXqW-p7ez35-pof2Nr-oxrbq4-ojuyqD-omSk8P-o5nHmJ-omSo7V-omSo36-o5nR3A-ojQu39-ojQu1A-o5nB5s-omA1HF-o5nARw-omEovd-omQNtb-omA1tn-omSnsZ-ojQtxm-o5oKmT-omA1mD-omQNdS-omA1eK-ooCen4-ojQtg9-o5nQbW-o5nAaw-omSmU4-o5oJVx-omQMP5-ojQsWG-o5nG4K-omSmLZ-ooCdVH-o5nFUM-ooCdTD-o5nPG9-o5nzKy-o5oJzH-omzZy6