Artifact 4a & 4b

Artifact 4a

                When I first started watching this video, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was watching. I thought the girl was helping the man with some kind of experiment. As the camera got closer to her face, I found out that she is a robot. She looked very normal from a distance, it was almost frightening. Technology just keeps evolving day by day. Someday we won’t be able to tell the difference at all between a real person and a robot. It is hard to grasp the fact that something that isn’t alive could look like it was. Even though I had trouble hearing what the men were saying, I think she was following the orders of what they were telling her to do. She was able to bow her head up and down without hesitating. That is the part that looked the most realistic. The blinking was a bit off when you were able to look close up, but it was still incredible. I don’t agree with making robots as people mainly because they are not necessary. What would happen if robots that looked like people began taking over the few jobs that were left? They wouldn’t need to be paid therefore they would be easier to deal with. Unless there is an absolute need for them, such as an experiment too dangerous for real people, I do not think they are necessary to have. In movies, you sometimes see a robot is a maid or a butler. I am sure it would be a nice luxury item to have if it was possible to get them, but real alive people are more reliable that a machine. 

Artifact 4b

                My first thought when I saw this video was when this came out? Most people use mechanical pencils or pens these days if they even write, so why would a company come up with a pencil sharpener? It is common for people in class now to take notes on their computer. Most teachers have papers submitted electronically, or they want a hard copy that is typed. A pencil is usually used by math classes or to write rough drafts for a paper. It seems to me that this is a waste of a product because it won’t sell. However, it was very interesting to see that sharpener with two different spots. The first spot sharpened the pencil so that you could see the lead, and the second spot sharpened the lead therefore you definitely had a sharp end to your pencil.  When I was in elementary school, I used those pencils all the time and I know it was extremely frustrating to sharpen a pencil but it still wasn’t sharp enough! The creators of this pencil sharpener should know that this would have been nice years ago, but not now. Thank goodness for computers with the backspace button because pencils and erasers would be a lot more common if we didn’t have one. This just show how much technology has evolved. We used to use pencils that needed to be sharpened, but now we use computers that are easier and quicker. What will be next that will replace computers? It would be cool if we could just say words and they automatically became typed out for us. Who knows? It may happen someday. I just hope I am around to experience it!

Artifact 3

Nicholas Carr’s book “What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains” made me think a lot. Even though I know most of the positive and negative effects that the internet has, I never really thought about how it personally affected me. The good news is that our generation didn’t really start using the internet until middle school rather than my 11 year old brother that has had a Facebook for almost a year now. I thought it was very interesting that he brought up the question “Is Google making us stupid?” When you think about it, people do not necessarily have to do research the way they used too. I speak for most people when I say that whenever I have to do research on a topic, the first thing I do is go to Google to see what kind of articles pop up. It is much more convenient for people to use Google because we are used to doing it so much. Technology is addictive to a point. He began to see correspondence in his technology use to his lack of concentration. He couldn’t even sit to read a book without thinking about his email. I think a lot of people can relate to him because technology is such a huge part of our lives. We take advantage of little things, such as maps, because now we have MapQuest and Google Maps that you can go too rather than mapping out your route on the actual map. We were more abstract thinkers before we decided to rely on the internet for many important and unimportant parts of our life. Whether it is for a class, entertainment, or information, the internet is the technology that makes our lives easier. He compares technology to a clock, because the gears all work together so well. When the gears move and grind together, our lives are going on while using the internet. I found it interesting that he said “we like to be interrupted.” If I am on Facebook and someone chats me, it is an interruption to what I was previously doing, however I don’t mind it because it shows that someone wants to talk to me. Whether I am doing homework or not, I am usually always on Facebook which is very easily distracting. When Carr talked about the guys that checked their email 30-40 times a day, I was shocked at first. After a while I realized that many people probably check their email that often. If I am waiting for a teacher to post a grade, I check BlackBoard and my email quite often. Technology is very distracting, just as Carr says, because it is so overwhelming and there are so many things to do on there. When you forget the reason you got up, your short term memory isn’t working as well. When you are on the internet 40 times a day, there is no way you can obtain all the information and recall it when you need to the information.

Artifact 2

William Powers' book Hamlet′s Blackberry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age starts by explaining how people are constantly on their phones without even realizing it. He was inspired to turn off his phone because of the people around him that didn't have phones. I have never realized how often I check my phone even if I didn't hear it ring. I rely on my phone for communication usually through texting, but occasionally phone calls. Powers began by studying paper which is interesting because his book is about the new technology that has replaced paper. He states that paper is "eternal" because it will always be used, just not as often as it used too. So many people are connected with their cell phones, sometimes they take advantage of the privilege it is to own a great piece of communication.  He uses some of Shakespeare’s language which is why he cites Hamlet in the title because it was recorded on paper.  In his search for answers Powers’ searched through history to read material from other philosophers and thinkers during times throughout history when great technological change occurred.  This includes among others Emerson, Thoreau, and Socrates and he searches for references to the changing connectedness.  I thought it was very interesting to think about how philosophers from as far as two thousand to two hundred years ago were discussing how a greater sense of connectedness from the world was changing the way they lived.  The most substantial example for me was the post office example that Thoreau mentioned people’s reliance on going to the post office to hear from their correspondents constantly.

 These days, when people receive letters in the mail, it is more meaningful than receiving a text. Letters take time to write out and it feels as if the person took time out of their day to write you.   There is also a sense of more permanence when you receive a letter, as opposed to a text, which will get deleted once your inbox is full. Sometimes people are not able to use the phone so letters are a good alternative. I have a friend that is at boot camp right now and I received a letter in the mail the other day. It was one of the best feelings ever to hear from him again after over a month of no communication at all whatsoever.  I will not be able to see him for 6 months so letters are the only form of communication between the two of us. Even though people use phones as their main form of communication, it is not always possible.  Another advantage of paper records is they are useful for recording history and although electronic data can be used to do this as well, it’s hard to know how sustainable these records will be as opposed to written paper records.  Overall I found it very interesting to think about how technology has changed the interconnectedness of our communication with one another over time.  This does not just apply to the cell phones and other modern gadgets, but written alphabets, printing presses, and the internet have al radically changed the era that they were invented in.

Artifact 1

http://mashable.com/2011/01/04/internet-surpasses-television-as-main-news-source-for-young-adults-study/

I am not shocked at all to find out that the internet is the main source for news for adults ages 18-29.  Although I did find the numbers to be a bit shockingly high, because the amount of people that use the internet has doubled since 2007.  If I ever need to find out current information then I go to the internet. I occasionally watch the news for school closings or if I have extra time in the morning, but it is not my main source for information.  Not only is the internet a more frequently used place for news than radio, television, and newspapers, but all of this is available on the internet itself.  Television shows that you miss live are available on the internet and I frequently watch shows there myself.   Many people have also started to listen to radio programs on the internet when they are at work and using their computers.  Along the same lines you can use the internet to read newspapers and this is often a free service, which makes it more convenient than having a hard copy of the paper.  The fact that the internet provides each of these other three forms of media readily on the internet it’s easy to see how they are quickly coming obsolete.  The internet provides all of them in one easy and opportune place.  The internet also has its own forms of media, such as videos and podcasts, which can provide news and entertainment that you can’t find in other places or forms of media.

CMC Unit 3 & 4

     In unit three I learned about invisible technology, which is something I had never thought about.  A modern example of this idea is Facebook, we often log in unconsciously, it has become such a part of the fabric of our lives that we log on constantly without even noticing or thinking about why we are doing it.  I was surprised to discover some of the myths that people have with technology.  People at one time were genuinely concerned about disintegrating in a car that was moving too fast or going deaf when using the phone too much, its incredible to imagine living in a world like that.  I was interested to find out that technological determinism is the idea that technology is the major player of historical influence in the world.  In other words technology is the sole factor in what changes changes the world as opposed to social constructivism, which implies that the way people use the specific technologies is what makes the world change.  Social realism helps us understand the relationship between technology, culture, and social interaction.
     In unit four I learned that CMC is seen as a form of bad communication by some people, because the quality of communication is reduced and it also effects peoples ability to communicate face to face.  Basically what I learned from this chapter is that the major critics of CMC are worried about the deterioration of our face to face communication skills.