Where is society headed?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GYatZ322Y4

In this Kia commercial you'll notice one very important thing, robots. In the commercial a man kicks the tire of a car and the robot proceeds to assault him. The important thing to notice though is that the two robots are up next to the car in place of the usual human models. What does this say about society? Is this beginning to become acceptable, replacing humans with robots? I think this commercial really ties in with what Sherry Turkle talks about in alone together and the direction the class as a whole has gone in.

"7 Ways Your Cellphone Is Screwing With Your Body and Mind"

7 Ways Your Cellphone Is Screwing With Your Body and Mind


I'm not sure how familiar a lot of you are with Cracked.com.... it is website with very funny articles that are actually very surprisingly well-researched and credible... now, this DOES have a bit a of "foul language"  in it... but we're all adults here ;)

I found this article amusing, because it covers a lot of topics that we have been talking about in the past couple weeks, and is a fun, yet intriguing summary of our class discussions. I would highly suggest you all check it out.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/computing/it/technology-2013-as-predicted-in-1962-and-1988

Interesting article looking at how some old predictions about technology have panned out. One of the predictions was recently released from the CIA. The prediction was made in 1962 and has some ideas that are not far off. The second, found in the LA Times, was written in the late 80's. It presented a "day in the life" scenario from an average family in 2013. It accurately predicts driving to work "following an electronic-map system in a car that was highly automated." Some of their less accurate predictions involve robots being as common in homes as a sound system was in the 80's. I think these types of articles are always interesting to look at. 

Twitter and Facebook 'harming children's development'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9620117/Twitter-and-Facebook-harming-childrens-development.html

 Article discussing the harmful effect on children's development due to online social networking.  I think that these harmful effects are partially the fault of the parents.  They can keep their child from spending 30+ hours a week using video games and computers. If the parents teach the children to use these things in moderation, then perhaps these problems wouldn't be as serious as they seem to be.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/education/colleges-assess-cost-of-free-online-only-courses.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Technology, especially the internet, has allowed for information to be abundantly available to all who can access it.  This article shows the pros and cons to online learning from both a financial standpoint and an intellectual one.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2012/10/02/the-new-mental-health-disorder-internet-addiction/

Interesting article concerning internet addiction.  The article states that the internet has an addictive quality about it, much like a drug.  Much like Turkle suggests, I think people are developing a need to be connected with others and the internet has allowed for constant connection.  I think that internet addiction will become a much bigger problem the more it is available and the more connected one can become with others through the internet.

Addicted to Technology?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/debbie-woodbury/unplugging-from-technology_b_2967250.html

This will be short and sweet. This article talks about the advances in technology and how it affects interactions with others in person to person situations. Having technology has made us rude and obnoxious when it comes to social behavior. It seems that we can say whatever we want and act as rude as we want as long as we have our phones out and say we are busy. Advances in technology should not correlate to how we treat each other. The fact that having a smartphone has a direct relation to our manners is somewhat disturbing. Where will we be in ten years if this slope keeps up? Will we be attacking each other if someone want to interrupt our game of angry birds 32?

My aunt went out of tow and asked me to be responsible for my cousins. I had no problem with that as they are well behaved. however not 5 minutes after i walked in the house i didnt like what i saw. they are 13 and 11. both with their own video came consoles (ps3) complete with two flat screen tvs. to make matters worse they were both playing grand theft auto and everything knows you can pretty much do anything you want to do. That is not good for two kids that age to be exposed to things like that.

They also had their own smart phones. I didnt get my first cell phone until i was a sophomore in high school and it was a garbage phone for basically emergency or to keep in touch with my parents. they dont play sports they dont go outside they play video games all day every day and dont have any idea what they are missing out on and thats what bothers me about that generation.

Smart phones at sports events

I recently went to a reds game and could not believe what I was seeing. I got tickets from a friend who gets seats 7 rows up from the reds dug out so its not like these are dollar seats. The whole game people were on their phones and when I would cheer for the reds they'd ask me to quiet down because they were on the phone. Or when the reds hit a home run and fireworks started to explode they'd look at me and ask "oh what happened"?

That blew my mind. I have always been a sports fanatic so when i am t the game I am almost impossible to get a hold of unless its an emergency. the fact that people will spend that came of money and not have any clue what is going on in the game is an issue for me. all because of smart phones.

The last thing that bothered is that people were more concerned about getting something cool on camera with their phone so they could post it to social media rather than just watch it and tell them about it. and its not like their aren't 500 cameras at games so they'd see it anyway....

Images and focal point

Some one did a project that surrounded the idea of focal images in nature. He focused on the idea that technology gets in the way of seeing other things in nature. He had pictures of geese that were blurry and clear. It also had the phone in the picture. The geese was blurry in the picture demonstrating what often happens when people are out in nature. I am definitely guilty of this. A lot of times we get consumed by the technology that's in hand instead of stopping and enjoying the scenes around us. You will see parents who are out at a baseball game or some other sort of sport that they are supposed to be watching their child, but they will be on their phone instead. This is sad to me because they don't take the time to enjoy their children and maybe don't realize that they can't get those moments back.

I think that it is important to stop and smell the flowers every now and then. I enjoy that saying! People could learn from it in respects to getting off of their phones and enjoying life outside of technology.

Social Consequences of Advancing Technology

Technology, particularly the smartphone, has become a pivot part in the average persons life. We have developed a dependence on our devices and use them to solve most of our problems whether that be driving directions, answering a curious question, or settling a riveting debate with someone else. The smartphone has eliminated some of our most basic human to human interactions because anything we need can be found in the palm of our hand.  Today we see people sitting next to each other not even interacting until something interesting arises from their mobile device.
This type of living hurts our social skills because it eliminates our need to interact. Smartphones, although very useful for many reasons, can be more harmful to our way of living than helpful. Some people even will go as far to say that they feel like something is missing from their lives when they are separated from their cell phone. This type of dependence on a device hurts our social skills and we should make an attempt to take a break from our technology see the world outside the screen.

A day Made of Glass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38

The link above is a video produced by the Corning Company (a touch screen technology company), about their predictions where the future will be in not too many years. Their vision of the future is an almost completely touch screen glass world. From dashboards to windows, from bus stops to cell phones everything thing in a persons life will be completely touch screen capable and interactive with all of their surroundings.
This type of world will be incredibly simple to operate and energy efficient. The solar cell technology will turn everyday households into self sustaining energy sources. Bigger buildings such as schools and grocery stores can produce an excess of energy for other buildings therefore actually becoming small power plants in the area. After watching the video do you think that this type of world is possible in the next twenty years as they predicted or do you think that this type of technology is too advanced to mass produce throughout the entire world.

OK Computer

A common theme people don’t seem to pick up on in music is the theme of technology and its effects on society.  One example of this is the album OK Computer.

OK Computer is a Radiohead album released in 1997. Although Radiohead does not consider the album a concept album, the album shows a clear consistency of the theme technology and its effects on society. The album is an attempt to open the audience’s eyes and get them thinking about what is going on around them, and if it is a positive thing or not.

Airbag, the first track of the album, is similar to the video we watched in class where it was mentioned that the advancement of medical technology allowing transplants to save lives is followed by the need for car crashes, and therefore technology is very contradicting. The character in the song is surprised he survived, because of the danger of the car crash which would have never happened without technology in the first place, but his life was saved by the same technology that endangered him because of the airbag.

Fitter Happier is a track on the album that is actually a little disturbing. The voice is that of a computer automated voice, which is speaking of a person tracking their behavior and referring to the previous song Paranoid Android where the character repeatedly says “I may be paranoid, but not an android,” showing anxiety relating to the technology around him and how closely he’s being watched. In Fitter Happier, the characters new behaviors are being observed and noted, and the song ends with the conclusion that the man is “calm, fitter, healthier ,and more productive a pig, in a cage, on antibiotics.

The album seems to suggest that technology provides us with a false sense of security and advancement, when in reality we are setting ourselves up for disaster and/or danger.

"Ok Computer" (1997) 

·         Airbag

·         Paranoid Android

·         Subterranean Homesick Alien

·         Exit Music (For A Film)

·         Let Down

·         Karma Police

·         Fitter Happier

·         Electioneering

·         Climbing Up The Walls

·         No Surprises

·         Lucky

·         The Tourist

OK Computer is definitely an album that will hold your interest if you think about the meaning of the lyrics, and sometimes even disturb you. A song from another album that may spark interest is Idioteque. Nobody seems to know its true meaning, but it can cause your imagination to run wild with possibilities.

Digital vs. Analog

Last class we talked about digital vs. analog technology.  Growing up we used the disposable cameras that you had to drop off at the local store to have developed.  I always remember being anxious to see the outcome of the pictures and hated waiting for them to return.  I never experienced the phenomenon of a black room, but I understand the concept.  Now, we have cameras were we can see the picture as soon as we take it, make edits, and print them off all in the comfort of our own home.  Does this take away from the experience and art of taking pictures?  For some yes, and for others know.  It just simply makes their lives easier.  One day there will be a point were no one even remembers the disposable cameras.  Our society progresses based on our impatient needs.  One day there might even be an upgrade from the digital picture taking.

Sound Ecology! Groovy!

Today , we talked about a concept known as "Sound Ecology" and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Its basically the idea that new technology eventually blurs our concepts of history, culture, and ancient traditions. For example, we may have some sort of idea of what a village from the middle ages sounded like.... but we have no concrete evidence (such as a recording, for instance).

I have always wondered and imagined what life would be like if I lived in one of the ancient Mesopotamian city states, or how it would compare if I lived in New York in the 1700's. This has always been speculated upon, and many movies and television shows have delved deeper into this subject of course, but it definitely sparked a cord of adventure in me; I am now really bugged by the fact that I won't know what the daily life of Ancient Rome sounded like, or what living in Feudal Japan REALLY was like.

I'm not even a history major and I think this is the coolest stuff ever.

Technology allows us to have some sort of idea what this was like, but we will never TRULY understand what daily life sounded, felt like, and seemed like back then... and with the loss of focal things from daily life nowadays, future generations might lose an idea of what it was like to live WITH focal things and practices... and that in itself is a very scary thought.

Communication

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susantardanico/2012/04/30/is-social-media-sabotaging-real-communication/

The article above from Forbes goes into social media and its effects on our communication. I think the six bullet points at end can really help us in maintaining true conversations in order for situations like those at the beginning of the article do not occur.

Retail and Technology

Changes in technology have also affected the business environment (not just the social aspect). I work in retail, and they have begun to introduce the iPad into some stores as a trial experiment to replace our much outdated signing devices. I have noticed that other retail stores, such as Kohl's, have digital signs instead of paper signs. As one who knows how annoying changing paper signs are, I feel this advancement would make things so much faster. Whereas this store has already implemented this change, my store has only begun to talk about it. Change is very slow in coming, and this is what will make the difference between a successful company and an unsuccessful one. Being quick to change was not a skill-set businesses in the past had to really worry about too much, but in this new era of change, a slow-moving company may be left behind. I feel what makes a company successful is by setting trends, not following them. Ipads are expensive, and that is money that could be used to update other areas of our store, such as using digital signing, replacing our old registers with newer ones, or replacing our signing devices with something less expensive and more durable—because it won't be long before the iPad is “out”.

Sound Ecology: Different Sounds in Cities from the Past and Present

I would be extremely interested to hear the difference in noise in Times Square 100 years ago compared to now. It is amazing to me how loud and busy one place could be and it is only getting louder. One hundred years ago I guarantee there wasn't live music being played, hundreds of taxi cabs crowded around two blocks honking their horns mercilessly, and there definitely weren't as many people coming and going from work every single day. I think technology is no doubt to blame for the vast increase in commotion. There are multiple digital and video boards in Times Square now and there are always light up signs illuminated 24/7. This was never the case 100 years ago, and probably not even 50 years ago. My point is that  there are a ton of places where people can still sit back and relax with some peace and quiet and then there are many places like Times Square and The Strip in Las Vegas where loud noises and excitement are what it is all about. Neither are right or wrong, there is just a different world and technology is to blame and thank.

Unnecessary Technology Usage

I was at the Reds game a week or so ago and I saw something that really disturbed me quite a bit. A father had brought his two sons to the game, they couldn't have been older than 5 or 7. Initially it really brought back memories of the first Reds games that I went to with my Dad and then something hit me that wasn't quite right. For a vast majority of the game the two boys were sitting in their seats playing games on their Dad's iPad. This made me feel so sad and also a bit frustrated. Here this kids were at an event that I remember as one of the best bonding experiences I could have with my Dad and these kids were treating it as just another day where they could be beating high scores on whatever games they were playing. I initially was mad at the kids but then realized that they are so young and immature at this point in their lives that they don't even realize the memories that they were wasting that they would never get back. My blame then shifted to the Dad, who was also on his iPhone a good amount of the game. If your kids are going to play on the iPad all game then why not save some money and watch from the living room. Obviously he should understand the problem with what was going.

I hope that doesn't end up being the norm at sporting events and other activities like that. People don't even understand the memories that they are missing out on, just for a stupid game that can be played whenever. The point here is that there is a time and a place where these tools should be used. On the subway, right before bed, when you need someones phone number, etc. But it needs to be understood that this technology is not meant to be day fillers, rather, day helpers.

Online Education

I have taken a few classes online and they are really convenient, cheap, and it's great to work at your own pace.. however, do you really get as much as you should from an online class? There is talk about online classes and that one day there will be no more class rooms, it will all be online classes or virtual classrooms. I think that this could cause many problems, one being that if students have computers sitting right in front of them there is no telling what else they are going to be on (games, twitter, facebook, etc.) This is going to lead to them not taking in the information needed and while they are trying to multi-task with their assignment and their game, they are not going to be retaining information. Another problem is that school is not just a place to learn, it's a place to grow socially, personally and in some lives eventually find out who you really are. It is a way to grow into who you are going to be. If someone is looking to just take a few classes online to make it more convenient I don't see the problem, but to earn your degree online with no face to face contact with students, teachers and the atmosphere of learning I do not believe it is the best idea.