Lab+2

The term genre is derived from the Latin word "Genus" which relates back to its classical philosophy and is used in a sphere of classification (Breure 2001). It is widely used as a classifying statement mostly in the field of arts, traditional media and literature. e.g. a stage show, novel or a newspaper all belong to a different genres. Movies and books have genre labels such as thriller, horror, romance and western.

Years ago, it was easier to classify something without much of a headache, because then, things had only 1 or 2 elements which existed in a particular genre. At most, a movie or book would have 2 elements, e.g. action comedy or romance comedy. In our times this is a lot difficult, because a single thing can posses more than 2 elements which exist in various genres. With the evolution of "the Internet" one can now talk, watch, play and do virtually almost anything. Originally, it was created so that other computers will be able to talk to each other. But because society is always evolving, its products have evolved too, hence the convergence of its products/ways of doing things.

The iPhone for one can fall under the genre of book, electronic device and lifestyle. Originally intended as a mobile phone, it now has functionalities of a camera, GPS, stop watch, PDA, a book, web browser and can even be used as a flash light and a fan. In the late periods of the 2008/2009 US elections, Current president, Barak Obama took advantage of the iPhone by making it a ""Political recruiting tool" with an application aimed at getting the vote out" (Shiels 2008). designed to get "the people" more involved, users could visually group their contacts to battle ground states and even set a reminder to vote.

With all these elements into one device classifying the iphone would be a huge task. This is why the study of digital genres is becoming more and more popular. It is not only for the sake of categorizing, but also to get a better understanding of the functionality and evolution" (Breure 2001).

Breure, Leen. "Development of the Genre Concept." //People.cs.uu.nl//. Aug. 2001. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. . Shiels, Maggie. "BBC NEWS | Technology | Obama Uses IPhone to Win Support." //BBC News - Home//. 3 Oct. 2008. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. .
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