In recent days we have all heard much about acts and bills that could potentially change the internet as we know it. There have been several major ones including SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, C10, etc... The world at larges' reaction to these has been anything but minor and now has taken even further steps.
The internet has always been a place to share and express opinions and information. The above pieces of legislation though trying to accomplish "honorable" things just handcuffed individuals rights and powers of internet usage. While SOPA and PIPA have both been stopped it seems that society (or rather a very large group of individuals) have decided to use technology to further stop similar acts from being a threat again. The Free Internet Act is a huge collaborative effort under way within the Reddit community where everyone can put in their two cents. This is what, in my opinion, the internet is meant for, collaboration and sharing of information. It is also partially the reason society has embraced internet technology.
You can read more about the thread using the link below (or find the Reddit thread within and make some suggestions of your own).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/22/the-free-internet-act-reddit_n_1291853.html
Friday, 24 February 2012
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Technology as a Fad
As stated before this blog is intended to illustrate the relation between computers/technology and society. However sometimes this relation causes negatives reactions. Part of technology's impact on society is that most people think the latest hardware is a social requirement. This is in fact true. For instance cellphones and computers are now a part of everyday life and a business person without one of these devices is at a disadvantage to another that does. Similarly a doctor using outdated methods would not be at the top of their field. However we have come to a point in the technological world where this social pressure for the latest tech has gone a bit too far.
As a primary example let's use the iPhone. When the iPhone first came out it was a revolutionary concept. It was simple to use, powerful, and quite simply revolutionised the smart phone industry. It lead to several successors each more powerful than the one before (a trend that is quite common in the industry). However where this story takes a turn for the worse is the social reaction that came with each release of the devices. Consumers would flock to buy the latest version despite having fully functional versions of older models. See [1]. This is not getting the latest hardware in a healthy way, it is getting the same type of hardware with new trim.
Similar practices occur in the entertainment and automotive industries as well as elsewhere in the technological industry. For instance having already purchased a version of a film (say Lord of the Rings) individuals will go and buy the same movie but as an extended blu-ray version. The movie has not changed but has merely been updated.
The problem is, we all do similar things to this in one way or another. We do not need these upgrades and yet we pay obscene amounts of money for them. The only question is, is it social pressure or a need for new things on our part?
[1]http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/06/25/77-of-iphone-4-sales-were-upgrades/
As a primary example let's use the iPhone. When the iPhone first came out it was a revolutionary concept. It was simple to use, powerful, and quite simply revolutionised the smart phone industry. It lead to several successors each more powerful than the one before (a trend that is quite common in the industry). However where this story takes a turn for the worse is the social reaction that came with each release of the devices. Consumers would flock to buy the latest version despite having fully functional versions of older models. See [1]. This is not getting the latest hardware in a healthy way, it is getting the same type of hardware with new trim.
Similar practices occur in the entertainment and automotive industries as well as elsewhere in the technological industry. For instance having already purchased a version of a film (say Lord of the Rings) individuals will go and buy the same movie but as an extended blu-ray version. The movie has not changed but has merely been updated.
The problem is, we all do similar things to this in one way or another. We do not need these upgrades and yet we pay obscene amounts of money for them. The only question is, is it social pressure or a need for new things on our part?
[1]http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/06/25/77-of-iphone-4-sales-were-upgrades/
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Blogs
Blogs have been a common place item on the internet for appropriately a decade. Since their first inception in the mid 90’s the number of blogs has grown to over 156 million public blogs as of February 16th 2011. [1] Blogs are a free, easy and a readily available resource to anyone who has an opinion. While these opinions may not always be popular, blogs are an excellent tool from which society benefits.
Some argue that blogs have passed their prime, but with the staggering number illustrated above, it is easy to see this is far from the truth.
Blogs are not only popular, but one of their main benefits is just how many uses they have. This is to say blogs need not only differ on their subject matter. Blogs can also be used to discuss interests, deploy advertisements, act as chatrooms, etc… This makes them not only a good tool but a diverse tool as well.
An example of a popular blog at work is the Huffington post. It is one of the world’s most popular news sites and is in fact partially a blog. Not only this, but it is also respected showing just how much stock people put into blogs. This just reinforces how versatile and beneficial blogs can be.
For further discussion and information about blogs please visit reference links 3 or 7. The first link shows just how many benefits blogging has to offer an individual. The second shows the versatility of blogging.
Some argue that blogs have passed their prime, but with the staggering number illustrated above, it is easy to see this is far from the truth.
“In the 10 years since the first site known as a "weblog" went online, the blog has matured from a geek niche to the internet's dominant publishing paradigm.”
Blogs are not only popular, but one of their main benefits is just how many uses they have. This is to say blogs need not only differ on their subject matter. Blogs can also be used to discuss interests, deploy advertisements, act as chatrooms, etc… This makes them not only a good tool but a diverse tool as well.
An example of a popular blog at work is the Huffington post. It is one of the world’s most popular news sites and is in fact partially a blog. Not only this, but it is also respected showing just how much stock people put into blogs. This just reinforces how versatile and beneficial blogs can be.
For further discussion and information about blogs please visit reference links 3 or 7. The first link shows just how many benefits blogging has to offer an individual. The second shows the versatility of blogging.
Introduction
The articles within this blog will focus on personal views of how society and technology, more specifically computer related technology, relate. To get a better meaning of this I shall expand. In the world we live in today there are more and more pieces of technology that surface every day. These technologies inevitably have an impact on how we live our lives. This technology I refer to could be anything from a new piece of software to a revolutionary new item that we cannot, as of yet, even begin fathom.
The effects these leaps have on society could vary, both having good repercussions and bad. We saw the creation of Facebook completely change how people communicate on a daily basis. A more visible contrast of effects is how the invention of computers themselves impacted society through various means. Computers have aided in the advancement of almost every field. For instance medicine would not be where it is today without the use of computers to view scans of differing kinds. However, one of the earliest computers (ENIAC) aided in the creation of the nuclear bomb. [1]
The effects these leaps have on society could vary, both having good repercussions and bad. We saw the creation of Facebook completely change how people communicate on a daily basis. A more visible contrast of effects is how the invention of computers themselves impacted society through various means. Computers have aided in the advancement of almost every field. For instance medicine would not be where it is today without the use of computers to view scans of differing kinds. However, one of the earliest computers (ENIAC) aided in the creation of the nuclear bomb. [1]
To summarize, in this blog I aim to illustrate the effects new and recent technologies have had on society. The technologies will have some computer related functionality and the effects I discuss will either highlight the technologies’ benefit or their harm. Finally, these effects may be discussed in various ways, from an informative description of a topic itself to a real world event.
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