Technopoly Part 2

In the last half of Technopoly, Postman shares mainly negative views towards technology in our society.  He feels that technology is using people and that it has become the culture and taken away what we used to have.   There are advantages and disadvantages to all the technologies that we have today.  I think that the positives do out weigh the negatives and that these technologies haven’t taken over us completely.

When we think about technology its hard to think about how far we’ve come.  We’re so used to it because we’ve grown up with it that we take it for granted.  We don’t really know what it’s like to live like without most of our “necessary” items.  We can’t really remember what they days were like when we didn’t have a cell phone to constantly stay in touch with people or computers that we could take everywhere we go so that we’re always on top of things.  So in this way, technology has taken over our society.  A lot of people would rather sit around a play video games or be on Facebook for hours instead of working or going out and doing something not involving these forms of technology. 

However there is good that comes from these advances in technology.  Without it, the medical fields would be completely different.  We wouldn’t be able to find out what’s wrong with someone so quickly, cure sicknesses that we couldn’t before or diagnose someone a lot sooner than we were able to.  Having the cell phones has made it a little easier to be safer because by having a phone on you all the time you are one phone call away from help when you need it.  There are many other advances that are helpful more then there are distracting to us which have made it a lot easier to function.  Postman believes that these technologies are using us.  He believes that these new machines that we have in the medical fields are more controlling towards the doctors because they are so powerful and may need special training.  However, the doctors have to know what they are doing to cure the person in the first place, with or without the machines.  The new advances in machines just help to make they’re job a little easier.

I do believe that technology has become the biggest change in our society over they years because now there is so much more that you can do and access with out any trouble.  Though it can be distracting at times, these technologies have also helped to make our lives a lot easier and help us get through tasks more quickly.  So even though we forget what life was like before all of these advances, the technological culture isn’t as bad as Postman makes it out to seem. 

Technopoly Part 1

In the book Technopoly by Neil Postman, we begin to see how he feels technology has changed over the years going through different times in history.  With all the technology that we have today, we sometimes take it for granted.  I feel like this is one of the points that Postman is trying to get across.  He has such a negative view on technology and the changes they have made to our society.  He talks about tools in society, which he believes is a good thing.  He says that “tools are not intruders.  They are integrated into the culture in the ways that do not pose significant contradiction to its world-view.”  However, when he talks about technocracy, he believes that “tools play a central role in the thought-world of the culture.  Everything must give away in some degree, to their development.  Tools are not integrated into the culture; they attack the culture.”  He feels that the knowledge you have in your culture makes the tools necessary because you have to know how to use them and they make it easier for you.  However, when it comes to technology, he feels that these new tools attack the culture because they will soon become the culture.

            I feel that there is good and bad to his argument.  We have so many new tools today because of the changing technology.  It is good because with the advancements made with these technologies we can do many more things that we couldn’t have achieved before.  I also believe that these new technologies have become a major part of our culture because they are present everywhere.  9 out of 10 people you see probably have a cell phone.  It’s not 100% necessary that we have a cell phone, but it makes our life more convenient.  It’s hard to imagine what life was like before we had them because it’s something we’re so used to since it’s present 24/7.  So in a way Postman is right because these technologies have become our culture but they have not totally destroyed it because there are some advantages that they bring.  

Computers: The Life Story of a Technology Part 2

In Part 1 of Computers, we learned about how the computer was born.  We saw the growth of the computer over the years and through out the world.  It has gone through many changes which have improved the machine greatly.  Over time the computer has gone from something that could be the size of an entire room to something as small as a book.  It’s amazing how something that started out so big and powerful can now perform the same and many more tasks in a much smaller form.

            In Part 2 of Computers we get to take a look at how the modern day computer took flight.  We go through the journey of Microsoft being started with Bill Gates and the Altair 8800 to the beginning of Apple with Steve Wozniak.  As you continue to read you start to recognize more familiar computer names such as Xerox, IBM and Macintosh.  This section also begins to talk about more of the advances in software which improved the computer games.  It then goes to talk about the beginnings of networking.  It shows us how much the internet has changed over time and the impact of what we can now do with our computers.  We got to see the beginnings of the wireless internet and the development of search engines.  These are something that we are so used to using on a daily basis and sometimes forget what it was like before them.  This book shows us how much of an improvement it was when these were developed and how advanced technology has become.

            It seems as though everywhere you go today there is a computer of some sort.  Technology has come a long way and this book really shows that.  We see how a computer is first developed and how all of the applications that we are so used to were developed.  Just sitting down at your computer and getting on to the internet to look up something is so simple.  We forget about how much this technology makes our lives that much easier.  This book really shows how this system works and makes you appreciate this growing technology even more.

Computers: The Life Story of a Technology Part 1

 I don’t know a lot about the history of computers or what it takes to make one function but after reading the first section in Computer: The Life Story of a Technology, I have a much better idea.  Seeing how the concept for the idea of a computer was created and how this idea has evolved and changed so much over the years shows us how amazing technology really is.  Most people don’t think about the various other uses of a computer when they’re sitting at home using theirs, but I got to see the involvement computers have had on our society throughout history.  This section talked about how computers were used in World War II to assist with battles. It also talked about ENIAC and the Zuse computers being born which showed how various people in different parts of the world were building and evolving the basic ABC computers.  Reading about the UNIVAC was also interesting because it showed how the census was using bigger computers and how this computer could predict the outcome of the presidential election.  Seeing how a computer transitioned from vacuum tubes to transistors was interesting because it showed us how powerful computers were really becoming.  The use of these computers with the SAGE system allowed for computers to communicate with one another along with military bases, airplanes, ships and other places that had computers linked to the wavelength.  Seeing how this evolved from the simple computer shows how fast technology can grow.  Also, reading about the different types of programming language and how that too evolved from a simple binary code to words that allowed to computer to perform more functions was interesting.  Along with these new codes, the birth of software and Microsystems also showed how quickly computers can change.

            Computers have changed so much over the years.  The authors of this book make it easy to understand how one machine can go through various transitions to become one powerful machine.  Seeing how they can take one large machine and eventually make it into something small and compact that can perform the same, if not more functions is amazing.  The use of computers over the years goes beyond someone sitting at home on theirs for personal use.  They have changed the way we work, the way the military runs, the way the census has changed, etc.  When you use your computer you don’t think of the functions and programming codes that go along with making your computer work.  You don’t realize all the behind the scenes work a computer does to allow your life to be that much simpler.  Just learning about the history and beginnings of computers, gives me a better understanding of how amazing these machines really are.

Technology Log Reaction

     After keeping track of my internet use over the span of three days, I wasn't surprised at the amount of time that I had spent on-line.  It seemed to me that in those three days I spent the usual time I do on-line and visited pretty much the same websites that I normally do.  One website that I checked on the most was Facebook.  I usually check on that when I get some free time which is mostly after work or class or before I go to sleep.  I usually work during the day and then have night classes.  Then I would usually go on-line before I left for work and after I came home from class.  There are days when I'm off from school and one day where I have classes during the day.  Those times I usually work late so I'll go on-line when I get home.
     I don't use the computer to check my e-mails because they go straight to my Blackberry so I usually check them as soon as I get them and it varies through out the day.  I also use my phone to check baseball scores when I get a free minute at work or school.  Also, now that football season is starting I use my phone to check scores for myself and co-workers.  My primary use of the internet on my phone is usually score checking, reading and responding to e-mails and the occasional Facebook/Twitter update.  I have also been researching ideas for Halloween costumes (yes, I know it's kind of early but I usually create my own and get a head start on it).  I would do searches on google and that would link me to various other sites.  I also visited Chegg.com and Amazon.com to finish ordering my text books.
     The websites that I visited the most are Facebook.com, Twitter.com, MLB.com, BostonRedSox.com, Google.com, Chegg.com and Amazon.com.

     I am excited to start a blog.  I was actually thinking of starting one up a couple of weeks ago because I would love to write a blog about baseball or the Boston Red Sox.  A friend of mine was also thinking about starting one up or working on one together since it would also be a baseball/Red Sox blog.  I didn't make one yet, but I feel that starting this blog and seeing how it runs and what it takes to keep it would be good experience to help me create my own baseball blog.  I have a friend who works for MTV and blogs quite often and that inspired me to try and start one but I wasn't sure what direction to go in.  I know this blog is geared more towards our class and reactions to the texts but it will help me gain some blogging experience so I'm looking forward to see how it goes this semester.