Tag: ZEVEDI

Who has a feel for or let alone knows the financial situation they will face when old? Especially when retirement is still a few decades away, it seems impossible to really plan ahead for it. And so we wait. And again and again, we put off the question of whether our money will be enough. Especially when we fear there might be a significant gap. In fact, many people don’t realise that they have to become active themselves in order to make a living in their old age. And when one realises the problem of a “pension gap”, what can actually be done? The situation is utterly complex : savings, assets and possible insurances are just the start. Inflation and the development of the housing market also come into play. For non-experts, the topic easily comes across as too demanding – hence, a typical case for digital aids. Is it possible, factoring in data, constraints and individual factors, to compute forecasts and even alternative scenarios for someone’s pension?

Andreas Hackethal is professor of finance at the House of Finance at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a.M. The economist researches household finance. And at Goethe-Universität, he is developing an elaborate app for simulating one’s own financial circumstances in old age – the “pension cockpit”. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, Hackethal explains why it is so difficult for many people to get a good idea of their own financial future and how an app can help to close such knowledge gaps. He describes how the complex app project came about and what is important when it is implemented. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Hackethal discusses how it affects your decisions today when you know their effects on your future pension, what opportunities this opens up for individuals and families – and what political consequences it can have to make pension gaps transparent.

Further informationen:

Link to the article on the “pension cockpit” in the magazine Brigitte (in German): https://www.brigitte.de/academy/finanzen/rente-berechnen–so-geht-es-12798828.html

What may once have been a gaming scene of insiders has long since been adopted by the full spectrum of society. Across all age groups and social classes, most Germans play video games – to relax or to shorten waiting time, as a serious hobby or even as a profession.  But not everyone who plays games would also like to describe themselves as a gamer. Although video games are recognised as a cultural asset, their public perception still seems to be dominated by the prejudice of the male, rather young gamer who spends far too much time with Shoot ’em ups – which in the worst case make people aggressive, but in any case are a waste of time. The large group of gamers and developers, however, is much more open and diverse; the gigantic range of video games is correspondingly versatile. So what do the gaming worlds look like today? What happens  apart from the infamous first-person shooters? And is gaming always “just” about entertainment?

Rae Grimm is Head of Digital Publishing at Webedia Gaming GmbH and responsible for their magazines GamePro, GameStar and MeinMMO. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the expert for video game cultures describes which facets gaming offers today and what characterises different scenes. She explains what constitutes innovation, what is important to gamers and developers and what innovations and debates occupy the gaming world. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Grimm discusses the social significance of video games and video game criticism, the gaming industry – and the uneasy feeling that chatting with AI-based, digital “friends” can give you.

Further informationen:

Link to Rae Grimm’s report “Wie ich ein Wochenende nur mit KIs geredet und fast den Verstand verloren habe” https://www.gamepro.de/artikel/ki-mental-health-verstand-verloren,3378382.html

It has been ages since listening to music did require being in the same place as the musicians themselves. However, digitalisation has absolutely transformed the production, availability and consumption of recorded music. And alongside with it, the music market: we have become used to as good as any piece of music being available at any time, and – at least in private – practically free of charge. If we wish to experience music as something exclusive and special, we have to seek or create such opportunities consciously and intentionally. With the possibility of recording and distributing music via streaming platforms, however, it is not only our relationship to music as a cultural event that has fundamentally changed: Digital technologies are bringing about a variety of upheavals in music production itself; a development that is perceived, evaluated and embraced – or refused – in very different ways by musicians and fans alike.

Sociologist David Waldecker researches and teaches at the Media Studies Department of Universität Siegen and has intensively studied how music is produced in audio recording studios. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the expert explains the significance of the studio and its respective technical equipment for music production, both historically and in a contemporary context. He describes the possibilities that digitality offers – both for amateur music makers, who can now independently produce their own music, and for professional musicians and producers. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Waldecker discusses the tensions that can arise between digitality and authenticity and how digital technologies shape our listening habits. And, after all, what importance does the distinction between “analogue” and “digital” actually have when we engage in making, listening to and experiencing music?

Further informationen:

Link to the article “Machine Learning in Context, or Learning from LANDR: Artificial Intelligence and the Platformization of Music Mastering” by Jonathan Sterne and Elena Razlogova:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2056305119847525

Link to David Waldecker’s book “Mit Adorno im Tonstudio” on the sociology of music production:
https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-5701-2/mit-adorno-im-tonstudio/