Blog Entry #12

Current event blog entry

For my current presentation in class I brought in an article from msnbc.com titled “Facebook adds new perils to rituals of dating.”  This article talks about the development of dating nowadays and how Facebook has changed our social environment as well as how we meet people compared to how things were just 10 years ago when people were forced to call someone to get in touch with them.  Today the alternative to calling a person is to “friend” them on Facebook in order to get in touch with them. 

In this article Stuart Fox discusses how Facebook is sharing more personal information than giving out your phone number.  One man interviewed said: “if you give them access to Facebook, you give them your life on a webpage.”  I don’t think this statement is necessarily true for all people including myself, but you can learn a tremendous amount of info from a person by looking at their Facebook and in some cases people do put tons of information of him or herself.  With this ability to put information about you out onto the World Wide Web, people are able to showcase their talents to anyone willing to watch or listen which in some cases has been millions.  I have seen this happen first hand with one of my good friends from back in Boston who put his music onto youtube and now is performing in shows across the country as well as making into the Top 10 albums on iTunes.  This type of evolution may not have been possible for people 10 or 15 years ago where getting your name out into the public community was much more difficult.

Facebook has effected people so much in how they act in just the past 5 years it will be amazing to see what new technology the world has for the future. In today’s world things are constantly changing and if someone told me that I was submitting my school work over the Internet I don’t know that I would believe them even 10 years ago.

Blog Entry #11

Blog Part 3

The final section of The Facebook Effect, by David Kirkpatrick is a great finish to the book, as it helped me gain such a great appreciation for Mark Zuckerberg and the others involved in the development of Thefacebook. Although he did have help from others at his university, Zuckerberg was the main contributor to making Facebook the network it is today. The ending of the book proved that all along his intentions were to make a page that was useful and appealing to all and a way to assert ones right to be oneself (pg. 278). It describes his goals of creating different elements, features, and applications of the page that would be useful to people at various levels; such as college students, businesses, and even political campaigning.

With continual access by the millions of users, Facebook has succeeded through the frequent upgrading of features and components. Throughout the process of making Facebook the success it is today, Zuckerbergs focus has been solely on creating the page so that it can be used for almost any networking action you need. The fact that his dedication was not to making money and becoming the most popular person on campus is what caused us to admire his work in the first place. As we said before, Zuckerberg was patient in the way he decided to take on outside help, which is a main reason for the success. Being a person focused more on customer satisfaction than receiving money and other economic gains, he has successfully created a page that is rapidly growing in users and appealing to many different organizations for different methods of use.

This section of the book explains Zuckerbergs techniques to achieving success, describes the new approaches and recent changes in how the business is run, and gives ideas for the future success of Facebook. But, the part of this section that stood out to me the most is how it proved and concluded everything that has been described about Mark Zuckerberg over the course of the book. His constant dedication to customer satisfaction and creating and up keeping a social network page that can be used for various reasons by almost anyone, is one of the main reasons he and his page have become so popular. Even though it has been an extremely long process to get his page where he wants it, not worrying about the money that he was individually making but rather focusing his attention on his users has achieved his goals.

Blog Entry #10

Facebook Part 2

For this blog I will examine the second section of David Kirkpatricks book The Facebook Effect, pages 107-214. This part of the book interested me as it basically described The facebook and its features in the beginning of its development. Kirkpatrick talks more about the group of Harvard University students who started the page as well as, how they were being viewed by outside critics, and how they strategically developed the page in a manner that was sure to be successful. Throughout this section, Kirkpatrick also goes into more detail about the financial offers that Zuckerberg and his group were receiving from companies interested in buying their product.

During this part of the book I found myself flashing back a little to when I first heard of Facebook. It was appealing to read how Kirkpatrick incorporated the development of Thefacebook and how it reminded me of the minimal amount of features it had as well as the constraints that were placed upon it. After reading this book, and realizing that Zuckerberg is the mastermind behind all of this, I understand how and why the page became the extremely popular social network that it is today. I first heard of Facebook in high school after was visiting various colleges and talking to some of the students. One feature, which Kirkpatrick talks about, that reminds me of this time, is the excluding of certain people from Facebook. When I was high school, the only way to become a member of Facebook was to be invited by a college student. This not only was strategic by Zuckerberg in order to completely control his page, but it also made the page very appealing to a large number of people. I felt that the features and developments that David Kirkpatrick talks about in this part of the book are very interesting to read in order to truly understand how Mark Zuckerberg and his group made the page so successful.

This section of the book also touches on the financial support that Thefacebook had and gives us a better understanding of how the college students kept the page running. Within the first year, Zuckerberg had already been offered large sums of money by companies in hopes to take over his idea including a $75 million offer from Viacom. Internet websites similar to this particular page gain most of their financial revenue through advertisements and other sources of media. Kirkpatrick points out that, Mark was kind of against ads, as far as [they] could tell, (pg 16). As Zuckerberg had an idea in the back of his head of how his website would run and how it would be supported, the group began to find other companies to invest in order to support their invention.

I found this part of the book to be very interesting as it touched on two different important elements of The Facebook. David Kirkpatrick went into greater detail not only on the financial support of how the page continued to be supported, but also the various features and components that contributed to its development. He gave us a better understanding for why the page had to start slow, with some constraints and boundaries, and gradually expand to having almost every feature you could ask for. He proves Mark Zuckerbergs intelligence as he describes the different strategies he used in order to keep control of his company. I enjoyed reading The Facebook Effect by David Kirkpatrick, as it gave me more appreciation and a better understanding of the development and success of the social network I use so often.

Blog Entry #9

Facebook Part 1

The book “The Facebook Effect,” by David Kirkpatrick has so far been the most enjoyable book we have read. For this blog entry I will examine the first one hundred and six pages in which Kirkpatrick defines the history of Facebook. He begins with the story of Oscar Morales, who created a Facebook group titled “Un Million de Voces Contra Las Farc” in order to protest against the Columbian Communist Geurilla organization. Through his page, Oscar managed to rally 12 million people all in favor of protesting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia. After relating this story to the positive attributes of Thefacbook, Kirkpatrick then introduces the man behind the wand, Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg, while studying at Harvard University, gathered a group of people with similar desires of creating a Social Network that would appeal to a large number of people.

Zuckerberg and his roommates designed Thefacebook as a means for students, and other members of Harvard University, to use in order to contact and reach out to others at the University. Kirkpatrick explains the lack of acceptance that was experienced by the boys as they created this networking device. Not only did people think it would not be successful, but they also seemed to view it as a waste of time. Zuckerberg, and partners, continued to pursue their goals of the project. “Making Thefacebook fun was more important than making it a business,” (pg. 33). This statement by Zuckerberg is one that went against many of the things in which people criticized him for. As the project was looked at as amateur and a waste of time, Zuckerberg and his partners did not focus on the amount of revenue they were bringing in, but paid closer attention to the certain elements and features of the page that would make it successful.

The first part of his book, Kirkpatrick also describes what Zuckerberg’s intentions of Thefacebook were. As he proves that his intentions were not rooted in making money, but rather creating a page that would appeal to many students and be of frequent use to them. The early Internet software, ‘Course Match,’ was created as way for students to choose classes by seeing what students were already registered in them. This area stood out to me as I felt that it somewhat related to my life. Through this book I have noticed, after studying at Rutgers University for four years, that some tools and applications that you use very frequently, such as scheduling classes, choosing professors, and deciding which campus to take a class on based on their peer’s opinions, the person behind the idea of those pages is connected back to Mark Zuckerberg and the boys that supported his thoughts at Harvard University. After attracting much attention simply through course registration and reaching out to other Ivy League schools. It became a more intimate source of connection in which students used for various reasons such as study groups, meetings, parties, and other social events. The first section of David Kirkpatrick’s book “The Facebook Effect,” has gotten me very excited to read the rest of what he has wrote about the history and development of Facebook.

Blog Entry #8

Slade Part 3

In the final section of Slade’s book, “Made to Break: Obsolescence in America,” Slade extends on the idea that obsolescence begins to become so normal to our society that it is needed to survive.  Throughout this part of the book Slade provides many examples where disposability is very noticeable.  He proves the idea ‘Made to Break; with the example of America becoming suspicious of Soviets innovations during the 1970s.

Specifically in chapter 8, “Weaponizing Planned Obsolescence” Slade uses the story of Gus Weiss in relation to the obsolescence of technology in America.  America became suspicious to the “imbalance in the overall number of inventions that existed between America and the Soviet Union” (page 231), and believed that the Soviets were stealing or illegally buying technology that America needed, the strategy that America took in order to react to their actions proves the example that new technology is needed in order to succeed and be the more dangerous party.

The initial belief that the Soviets had been gaining newer technology and innovations from America is what sparked our strategy during the Cold War.  We believed that if we developed the most sophisticated and newest forms of weapon systems as often as possible, then we would eventually beat out the Soviets economically.  Through this story, Slade’s uses of the example of Eisenhower’s opinion on upgrading our technology so much as a strategy of defense.  I believe this statement that we must intelligently plan where we will force certain types of technology goes parallel with Slade’s point; disposability becomes so common in society that it eventually is heavily relied on to succeed.  Ultimately, through the cold War “repetitive consumption and planned obsolescence became one of the mainstays of America’s geopolitical strategy” (page 232).  Eventually, our dedication to inventing the newest, most sophisticated, and most expensive equipment and technology is what “doomed” the Soviets to loose the strategic technological game.

The final section of Slade’s book really seemed to put all three of the sections that I read together.  The first two sections focused a lot on how our society has conditioned them into consistently buying new technology even if it is not needed.  The final part gave great examples of how continuously upgrading technology and other innovations can be a great defense against national attacks.  He provided many examples that helped me understand American disposability to a greater extent.  Our strategy against the Soviet’s seemed the most interesting to me as it justified the title of Slade’s book.  He proved that our technology, and other around the world, is “Made to Break” and that although it can have negative impacts on our society it has been beneficial to us in the past.

Blog Entry #7

Slade Part 2

In this blog entry I will examine the next section of Slade’s book, Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America.  This section goes into more specific detail about a company’s effort to increase consumer purchasing.  In the first half, Slade brings to our attention the planned methods that companies have to ensure that their products will continue to be purchased.  This part of the book gave me a better understanding by providing specific examples of companies using “planned obsolescence” as well as the “model change.”  It also helped me to better understand the author’s perspective on the situation.

It seems that after looking into many companies and the various traits they have in their marking and production, Slade proves that technological obsolescence is very apparent.  Although we have seen in previous areas of the book that this obsolescence is noticeable, he provides us with reasoning as to why it can hurt the American system.  As we have started to understand, from reading Slade’s book so far, obsolescence is a trait that Americans have gradually inherited and become accustomed to.  Although a lot of blame can be placed on the company, we have also greatly contributed to the disposal of products.  With efforts to have the most advanced, newest, and most popular piece of technology, we have begun to shape our own opinions into believing that everything is replaceable.

This is where I believe that Slade is contributing his own opinion.  He is portraying the idea that if we don’t recognize our own faults in disposability then soon it will control and be a part of almost every aspect of our lives.  To think that you always have the option to go out and purchase a new piece of technology is a terrible mentality.  This could affect our country in many ways and I believe Slade does a great job proving that.  The area that could take the hardest hit from this disposability is our economy.  America’s economy is currently in one of the worst recessions in its history.  While the production and consumption of products does benefit, in many cases you will see a person purchasing some type of new technology or innovation that isn’t truly needed.  This type of purchase is usually pricey, ultimately leading to another expense that many cannot afford.

This section of the book was very interesting to me as I felt that it realistically proved American’s tendencies of disposability through examples.  By providing us with different companies methods of production I noticed how our everyday lives could be affected.  With afferent types of marketing, American’s are vulnerable to continue buying new technology and devices as they come out.  This book, Made to Break, by Giles Slade, has taught me a great amount about how a stronger focus on our habit to dispose of certain things, that may not need to be disposed of, can greatly help us in many aspects of our everyday lives.

Blog Entry #6

Slade Part 1

For this blog I have studied the first section of Giles Slade's book, “Made to Break; Technology and Obsolescence in America.”  The title of this book is a great basic of what the book will be about.  Throughout this section, Slade proves the idea that technology is “made to break.”  With the idea that technology, and innovation are constantly changing, he explains three stages of product obsolescence. Slade also portrays ideas throughout history that can justify American’s motives when purchasing new electronics and other products.

The first stage that Slade describes is referred to as “technological obsolescence.”  This stage occurs when new innovations replace old ideas about how to perform a task.  The effort to have the most effective device in order to get the job done is the main reason this first stage is known to replace old technology.  The second stage, “the annual model change’ is similar to the first stage but is seen mainly when initial devices are updated or changed by the company in order to bring in more customers.  Although it seems like company does this to sell more products, it also is an updated version of the old product motivating more people to buy the new version.  The third stage of obsolescence described by Slade is “planned obsolescence.”  This stage is best understood as it is simply talking about products durability. As he describes this stage, Slade suggests that companies will plan for an object to not be relied on as a lifetime device as some parts of it are bound to become old and ineffective.  While the efforts behind this stage are attempts to make a consumer buy a new product, Slade informs us that this planning is not legal but is still seen throughout our market economy.

As Slade describes the stages that have led to American’s upgrades in technology he continues to explain in detail how we feel the need to get rid of these products.  Slade describes American Disposability as a habit we have accustomed over the years that will be hard to break.  Since we know that in today’s society, new technology will eventually replace our old objects, it is hard to keep ourselves from wanting new ones.  This idea also begins to float into the social aspect of new technology.  Slade writes, “this self-conscious concern about being out-of-fashion is the key feature of psychological obsolescence” (page 55).  The psychological obsolescence that Slade is talking about is our personal desire for the popular, new technology that is on the market.  This disposal of items paired with the replacement of them is a great example of how technology is a constantly changing and improving in the American culture.

Throughout the first half of Slade’s book, “Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America,” he portrays the idea that technology is always changing.  To justify this idea, Slade proposes the three stages that possibly contribute to the average American’s desire for a product as well as our casual attitude towards how frequently we dispose of things in our everyday lives.  The first half of this book gave me a great understanding of how the consumer market can effect my perspective of technology and also that when I maybe WANT a new cell phone or iPod, I don’t necessarily NEED one.

Blog Entry #5

Wikipedia Part 2

The second half of “the World and Wikipedia: How we are editing reality,” by Andrew Dalby, continues the ideas that were developed in the first half about why people love wikipedia.  Throughout the second half Dalby goes into more detail and gives many reasons why we do love wikipedia but also portrays reasons we can’t trust the website but continue to use it. 

As Dalby gives many examples of why wikipedia has become so appealing he points out the feeling of achievement and satisfaction that people get when contributing reliable information to a topic.  During chapter 5, the interview of one wikipedian is provided and the topic is based on why he does so much for the website.  “Partly it’s that I’m proud of making knowledge freely available to the greatest possible number; partly that I’m encouraging the survival of the French language, and enriching it, too, because one day the French Wikipedia is going to be a great resource.  Wikipedia is a little of my time that I give to other people – and to myself as well, because, above all, contributing to it is a pleasure” (Eyone 119).  While this is only one of the many examples Dalby provides, he also goes into another area of being able to write and edit any topic you want.  Another reason people are so interested in using wikipedia is because it lets us write about whatever we want.  Although this does bring about a negative attribute, it also justifies another reason people are so tempted to use it.

Wikipedia applies equality among all people using it; no matter how long they’ve used it or how much information they know about the topic.  Whether it is because it is free and accessible information, or because people use it as a hobby to relay information on certain subjects, wikipedia is a popular source of information.

While Dalby describes why wikipedia is loved by so many, he also goes into why the website cant be trusted.  On top of the examples given in chapter 5 regarding the equality among people to contribute information he touches on the fact that, “you cant know why, or on what grounds, people make the edits that they do” (pg 174).  While elaborating on this particular issue, Dalby explains the idea of ‘info boxes’ and the reliability of them.  Info boxes are not intended to provide full and correct information and they are also known to make some uncertain information seem completely clear and understand.  Another example that is given throughout chapter 7, “Why you don’t trust wikipedia,” has to do with the amount of information that is edited and why it is contributed in the first place.  A question that arises in my head when looking at Dalby’s example of Sarah Palin’s page is ‘Are people adding information purely based on their personal opinions?!’  I think this question is asked by many simply based on how often popular articles became huge continued articles that are so frequently added to.  While people see wikipedia as a means to release information, some take it as an opportunity to make their opinions public; providing why the website cannot be trusted.

Throughout the second half of the book written by Dalby, I believe his writings take a more personal view on the website, wikipedia.  By going into detailed examples of why people appreciate wikipedia to such a great extent.  I have a more realistic opinion of how much I can trust it and how reliable the information is.  As he continues to give examples of why it cannot be trusted, after reading Dalby’s book, The World and Wikipedia, I begin to understand why most scholarly researchers do not accept it.

Blog Entry #4

Wikipedia Part 1

For this entry I will begin understanding the writings of Andrew Dalby in his book “The World and Wikipedia: How we are editing reality.” Throughout the first half of this book, Dalby does a great job explaining where wikipedia came from, and the advantages and disadvantages of it, while also proposing why we decide to use it based on these factors.

Dalby starts his book using examples of how wikipedia can help contribute reliable information into our lives.  First, he starts with explaining the interest of a law student in Chile who made many corrections to the Spanish Wikipedia.  Dalby uses this student as an example of valuable information being contributed to the wikipedia page.  After an earthquake in Chile, a Wikipedia page was developed for the issue in under an hour.  As data and statistics began to be added to the page, by intelligent researchers such as this Chilean law study, the page begins to become a credible quantitative and qualitative source of information.

While the Internet source also represents disadvantages in its use, Dalby talks about a Wikipedia user who was not contributing completely true information.  The user “kegking213” had set up and account and started adding false information or contributing to pages that were not necessarily anything he knew about.  Although Wikipedia is a very accessible source of information it is not guaranteed that everything written is 100% true.  For this particular reason, many teachers and researchers debate it whether it can be utilized as a credible scholarly source.

Throughout the second chapter, Dalby begins examining where an encyclopedia such as where wkipedia came from, and more specifically the three traditions of books.  The first tradition starts with a Romanian soldier, Pliny the Elder, being a friend of Emperor Vespasian, he was also avid in collecting knowledge.  During this time, the encyclopedia was better known as the ‘circle of knowledge’ and Pliny was one who contributed to this type of book. Pliny was a very hard worker and known for making excerpts of everything he read. The second tradition was referred to as, the dictionary.  It was a list of words in alphabetical order. During this time dictionaries related more to a Greek lifestyle.  From 1499 to 1619, the alphabetical encyclopedia was being used to reach a sensible and obvious conclusion. Dalby states that in 1499, at the beginning of their frequent use, “there had been some question as to whether huge medieval encyclopedic manuals like those of Vincent Beauvais…could really serve as reference sources in the modern world” (page 24).  As the new alphabetic format continued to be used the third example of the modern encyclopedia came about, the source book.

While attempting to continue the circle of knowledge’ theme, many changes were made in attempts to have the best possible reference of information.  Through this tradition, computerized text searching was invented and eventually the electronic encyclopedia was available in two forms.  As the CD-ROMs also brought about their own problems and finally today you see the wkipedia model of a computer reference.

While providing its advantages and disadvantages, and the background of encyclopedias, Dalby’s book also gives many reasons, based on these principles, as to why people believe in it and continue to use it.  As we have intelligently attempted to develop a ‘circle of knowledge’ to refer to, we have begun to rely on a source of information whose reliability is debated.  The reason for our frequent reference to this website is rooted in the troubles we had when attempting to make it the easiest reference to use.  As the encyclopedia became bigger, it became more expensive to produce, harder to revise, and it took up more space.  Dalby’s book, The World and Wikipedia, provides a helpful understanding of website wikipedia, its pros and cons, where it came from, and why it is so frequently used.

Blog Entry #3

For my third blog entry, I will analyze the second book I have read by Neil Postman, “Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology.” Throughout this book, Postman takes a more opinionated stance on the impact of technology on society. There are many areas of the first 90 pages in which I agree but also a few areas where I disagree, mostly where Postman begins to exaggerate.

It seems the main point in which Postman is trying to prove, is that technology has an effect on all things, and that all things are based off of technology. While we all know, Postman’s opinion is not all true; he makes a very good point. Our society has become so surrounded by computers and other forms of technology, they have slowly begun to take the place of many other old fashioned and traditional methods.

The first example that comes to mind when I think about replacing old methods with more modern ones, is Postman’s example involving Televisions. As TV’s have become extremely innovative, modern, and more ideal, they have also become more popular for everyday use. As the use of television gradually becomes more frequent, at the same time it replaces activities such as reading and studying.

Throughout this part of the book, Postman brings about two terms that play a large role in helping understand his view on this relationship between society and technology. The first term he uses to describe the development and process of our society gradually becoming dependant on technology is ‘technocrocy.’ It is described in more detail as the era where people began to recognize that “knowledge is power, humanity is capable of progressing, that poverty is a great evil, and that the life of the average person is as meaningful as any other” (pg. 38). This definition proves there was a time period where a main concern was improving technology as it would bring us greater knowledge, success, and power.

The second term which Postman describes is ‘technopoly,’ where he claims that everything throughout society and every aspect of cultural life is ‘sovereign’ to ways and makings of technology. Although, I agree that our society relies a great deal on technology, I have a hard time agreeing with the fact that our society and cultures are sovereign to it. There are still many aspects of life that have no relevance to technology and would not be affected if there were a breakdown in the world of technology. On the other side, Postman shows a great amount of support in his idea that a whole society can be, and possibly is, completely reliant on technology. He states, “Technopoly…is a state of culture…which means that the state of culture seeks its authorization in technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes its orders from technology" (p 71).  This last quote gives me reason to both agree, and disagree with the beginning of Neil Postman’s book. I do believe that our cultures and society as a whole are very reliant on technology, and do find a very large amount of satisfaction in its many abilities. I don’t, on the other hand, feel that every aspect of society focuses itself on the approval and ‘authorization’ of technology. The beginning of Neil Postman’s book, “Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology,” already, has given me a much better idea of the opinion the author has on the relationship between society and technology. 

Blog Entry #2

After reading the first half of Swedin and Ferro's book "Computers" The Life Story of Technology" I must admit I was not very excited about finishing the book. I am very glad I read the second half as it was much more appealing to my everyday life and I understand a great deal more of the things the author was explaining. In these chapters the authors moved away from just explaining the history of computer evolution and focused more on how the computers began to enter the homes of many families.

It was very interesting to me to learn about the specific companies, Microsoft and Apple, as I was very familiar with their systems and I have relied on them for a majority of my life. My family started out using Microsoft when we bought our first computer for our home in 1994. Thinking back to these times of technology it proved to me how much more efficient computers are today, comparing our dial-up modem to my iphone that has the equivalence of  any computer you can find today. The author's statistic of computer game sales averaging $1.2 billion by 1982 (pg. 103) helps me remember how rarely I relied on the computer and at my age, it was more for entertainment than anything.

This moves me to the main point of the second half of Swedin and Ferro's book, to recognize how largely technology is involved in society today and how greatly it is relied upon. Comparing my family computer which I used mainly for gaming and entertainment, to my macbook which is extremely necessary to my current success in school, I notice the immense difference in the usage of technology in today's society. I always think about what would happen to a majority of the people in the world if for just one day their blackberry, iphone, and other 3G networks were shut off. It is sad to think how reliable our society is on these types of technology but it also proves how efficient and innovative our world has become in order to provide success. The second half of Swedin and Ferro's book was much more interesting to me as I could put myself into this current era of technology and really understand how it has incorporated itself into the current world. Like I said earlier, these chapters were also much more appealing to me as I had better knowledge about the companies and types of technology they were describing, such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, and certain masterminds of technology such as Bill Gates.

Blog Entry #1

As our society is extremely dependant on technology, it was interesting to read Swedin and Ferro's book "Computers: The Life Story of Technology." This book gave me a better understanding of how the technology of computers has advanced and impacted society more and more over the years. Although it seems the book is outdated, but since this book was written in 1992 it helps give you a better understanding of how technology has gradually developed prior to 1992 and how greatly it has expanded and impacted our society up until today.

One idea the author portrays that I found very appealing was the idea that technology not only has advantages on society but also disadvantages. Living in the fast-paced world we do today, it is easy to see how technology is very popular and used by many throughout their everyday lives. This use of technology and computers helps them to have a very strong positive opinion about the impact technology has on the culture of our society.

Throughout the first chapter, the author explains three types of cultures that have been apparent over the years and how the technology of computers has affected them. In the first category, the 'tool-using culture,'  technology is seen throughout society but is not used to a point that it would be missed if it weren't there. The second culture the author explains is called the 'technocracies.' This culutre uses technology noticeably enough in the everyday world that it starts to seem that it is holding more attention than the other ways of society. The final culture in which the author describes is considered 'technopolies,' where technology is very apparent in the everyday society and has a very strong domination and impact on the everyday life of people within the community.

Throughout the first half of the book, "Computers: The Life Story of Technology" you gain an understanding for the development of technology through computers and the impact it has had on society as a whole. The part of the book that I explained greatly helped me to understand how much technology really has innovated over the years and how different my life would be without it. Based on the three cultures the author explained, it seems that our current society is stuck in the phase of 'technopolies,' where technology has become such a large part of our everyday life, it is almost as if our world would shut down without it. A term the author uses, "technophiles," and describes as someone who only sees the good in technology seems very compatable with our current state of technology. Being a college student in this century, I realize how many people rely on the technology of our computer systems and how they would not be able to succeed without it, in the same way they do with the advantage. The capabilites of technology today, prove how modern our society has become over the years. While our society strives to be more efficient everyday, it would not be possible without the innovations and development of technology over the years. The first hald of Swedin and Ferro's book does a great job describing the history and development of the technology of computers and has greatly contributed to my understanding of this technology and the enormous impact it has on our society in the current day.

First Blog

My name is Steve B and this is my first time blogging on the internet.  After completing the first assignment of charting how much I go on the internet I realized that I do not use it nearly as much as my friends do. Here is a chart of my internet use over Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday:
Tuesday.
30 min in study hall surfing the internet in the afternoon looking on espn.com and nfl.com.
About 30 min on the computer at my house looking at barstoolsports.com and also checking my email that night while hanging out.
Wednesday.
Spent about 15 min before practice on the internet looking at sports websites and check facebook
Went on the internet that night to go on sakai as well as check my email
Friday -
Was on computer for about 30 min before practice surfing the internet and checking espn.com

After looking at my chart for when I went on the internet I could tell that compared to my friends and other people I don't go onto the internet very much.  Doing this blog alone was something new for me and getting on the internet to figure this out was hard enough.  It was tough for me to transition to using sakai and my.rutgers when I got into college from being in high school when teachers would just tell you what the assignments were.  It is a good thing that schools are transitioning into this type of world where instead of wasting paper everything is put on the internet for students to look at.  I do not go on the internet enough and am not in a routine to check the assignments for this class so feel that it is easier for me when the teachers just go over the assignments in class and hand out the work that students need to do.

Another thing that surprised me about doing this chart and taking notice in when I used the internet was how little I use facebook compared to other people.  I am not a big facebook user and only go on from time to time just to stay in touch with some of my friends from back at home.  I don't really like to always be on facebook and would rather be doing other things along with the fact that I don't have that much free time to really surf and go on the internet for other reasons besides school.