title: The Coconut Tree and the Computer Tiger: Information Technology in Traditional Pacific Societies

authors: Philp, Roger

subjects: information technology

abstract: This literature review explores the extent to which Information Technology (IT) has affected the cultures of small traditional Pacific societies, with the South Pacific region as the point of focus. The assumption is that the educational systems of Pacific nations are in the developmental stage with the associated sophisticated technological applications. The thesis asks what if any, cultural challenges of adopting information technology have arisen? The review finds that traditional culture and information technology are in competition in the power stakes of human consideration, reflected in South Pacific indigenous academics seeking independence as researchers and acceptance in their own right. The realisation that culture and technology need to function together requires attaining academic freedom in the aftermath of post-colonial restrictions placed on the indigenous sociological and anthropological imagination. The first part examines the history of  information technology generally, and the significance of work already done, providing a perspective of how the subject has developed and become established, assisting in the development and acquisition of the appropriate vocabulary. The review explains and describes the occurrence of information technology in the South Pacific, the effect of globalisation and shared knowledge through ethno-methodology, every day culture in action, describing the ways in which people make the sense they do and through the ways they communicate. In the second part the focus is on the detail of the commonsense character of everyday life and the practices by which they make their actions understandable by others. Scrutiny of how people do what they do provides an explanation of what those people do and why they do it in the way they do. Western form of governance is a reality, with nation building based on Western models of development. National independence and  sovereignty with a wave of neo-colonialism and aid dependency led to economic globalisation, with resentment against value systems that erode indigenous values, producing a wave of re-indigenisation facilitated by the revolution known as  information technology . There is a coherent body of Pacific thought, with a shared philosophy and ethic on the public agenda. In the material covered, elements standing out are the awareness among growing numbers of Pacific academics of the need for a genuine and far-reaching contextualisation, acknowledging the relevance and applicability of indigenous cultural values in contemporary settings. Second is the success of communities whose initiatives have followed familiar traditional ways they know and understand, reaping rewards. The region has development and governance failures in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji to name a few; the national state of affairs in some countries is not encouraging. Where  good development and governance are occurring, it is usually through the direct initiative of local communities using their knowledge base. The information upheaval is creating new opportunities in the lives of people from small traditional societies. Information Technology expands throughout the social structure of the Pacific in direct proportion to personal computer access literally at one's finger tips.

text: The Coconut Tree and the Computer Tiger: Information Technology in Traditional Pacific Societies This literature review explores the extent to which Information Technology (IT) has affected the cultures of small traditional Pacific societies, with the South Pacific region as the point of focus. The assumption is that the educational systems of Pacific nations are in the developmental stage with the associated sophisticated technological applications. The thesis asks what if any, cultural challenges of adopting information technology have arisen? The review finds that traditional culture and information technology are in competition in the power stakes of human consideration, reflected in South Pacific indigenous academics seeking independence as researchers and acceptance in their own right. The realisation that culture and technology need to function together requires attaining academic freedom in the aftermath of post-colonial restrictions placed on the indigenous sociological and anthropological imagination. The first part examines the history of  information technology generally, and the significance of work already done, providing a perspective of how the subject has developed and become established, assisting in the development and acquisition of the appropriate vocabulary. The review explains and describes the occurrence of information technology in the South Pacific, the effect of globalisation and shared knowledge through ethno-methodology, every day culture in action, describing the ways in which people make the sense they do and through the ways they communicate. In the second part the focus is on the detail of the commonsense character of everyday life and the practices by which they make their actions understandable by others. Scrutiny of how people do what they do provides an explanation of what those people do and why they do it in the way they do. Western form of governance is a reality, with nation building based on Western models of development. National independence and  sovereignty with a wave of neo-colonialism and aid dependency led to economic globalisation, with resentment against value systems that erode indigenous values, producing a wave of re-indigenisation facilitated by the revolution known as  information technology . There is a coherent body of Pacific thought, with a shared philosophy and ethic on the public agenda. In the material covered, elements standing out are the awareness among growing numbers of Pacific academics of the need for a genuine and far-reaching contextualisation, acknowledging the relevance and applicability of indigenous cultural values in contemporary settings. Second is the success of communities whose initiatives have followed familiar traditional ways they know and understand, reaping rewards. The region has development and governance failures in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji to name a few; the national state of affairs in some countries is not encouraging. Where  good development and governance are occurring, it is usually through the direct initiative of local communities using their knowledge base. The information upheaval is creating new opportunities in the lives of people from small traditional societies. Information Technology expands throughout the social structure of the Pacific in direct proportion to personal computer access literally at one's finger tips.

year: 2009

title: Making global audiences for a Hollywood ‘blockbuster’ feature film: Marketability, playability and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

authors: Davis, Charles H.

subjects: fans

abstract: This article interprets two key concepts in movie marketing (marketability and play-ability) through an empirical examination of the effects of commercial interpellation of audiences for a Hollywood ‘blockbuster’ fantasy film, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). The article reports results of two online surveys of Hobbit audiences, one in November 2012 in the weeks preceding theatrical release, and one in February–June 2013 among post-viewing audiences, employing a mixed-methods approach that includes Q sorting and a questionnaire. We identify and describe five main pre-release and five main post-viewing audience groups, show-ing that the film had greater marketability than playability. Three of the pre-release audience groups expressed a high degree of anticipation to see the film, but only one post-viewing audience group expressed a high degree of enjoyment, while the others expressed various degrees of disappointment. We discuss the attributes of the film that most affected the film’s marketability and playability for each of the audience groups during the interpellation process from prefiguration to reception.

text: Making global audiences for a Hollywood ‘blockbuster’ feature film: Marketability, playability and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) This article interprets two key concepts in movie marketing (marketability and play-ability) through an empirical examination of the effects of commercial interpellation of audiences for a Hollywood ‘blockbuster’ fantasy film, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). The article reports results of two online surveys of Hobbit audiences, one in November 2012 in the weeks preceding theatrical release, and one in February–June 2013 among post-viewing audiences, employing a mixed-methods approach that includes Q sorting and a questionnaire. We identify and describe five main pre-release and five main post-viewing audience groups, show-ing that the film had greater marketability than playability. Three of the pre-release audience groups expressed a high degree of anticipation to see the film, but only one post-viewing audience group expressed a high degree of enjoyment, while the others expressed various degrees of disappointment. We discuss the attributes of the film that most affected the film’s marketability and playability for each of the audience groups during the interpellation process from prefiguration to reception.

year: 2016

title: An analysis of the rhetorical organisation of selected authentic Maori texts belonging to the text-types argument and information report

authors: Houia-Roberts, Ngaere

subjects: Te reo Māori

abstract: I report here on the findings of an analysis of the overall rhetorical structure of authentic Māori texts belonging to two different text-types – argument and information report – which were written by highly competent users of the language. I also suggest ways in which this type of analysis could underpin the development of teaching resources designed for Māori-medium educational settings.

text: An analysis of the rhetorical organisation of selected authentic Maori texts belonging to the text-types argument and information report I report here on the findings of an analysis of the overall rhetorical structure of authentic Māori texts belonging to two different text-types – argument and information report – which were written by highly competent users of the language. I also suggest ways in which this type of analysis could underpin the development of teaching resources designed for Māori-medium educational settings.

year: 2004