"Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss you'll land among the Stars" - Les Brown
Progress so far:
Computers and the human race
By: Zephyr Smith
Desert Mountain School
Computers and the human race
Humans have always been shaped and changed by the technology around them, computers were no exception. All kinds of technologies have come up from today’s computer technology.. We have changed the way people talk to each other. The way that money flows through business is vastly different than it was before. Even the physical makeup of people is different than it was B.C (before computers).
The History of Computers
Computers in the past were far different then they are today. Computers were designed for doing advanced math calculations. They were like gigantic calculators, most taking up a large room. Computers took off in the 1940’s with huge developments made by individuals and organizations in Germany, Britian, and the U.S. Eventually the computer became more compact, more complex, and more disposable.
SixthSense
New technologies are being created everyday. With the technology we have available today a group of students from MIT created a technology that they call SixthSense. It was created with a camera, a smartphone, marker caps, a projector, and a mirror. SixthSense allows its user to be connected to the Internet with ease and use that connection to help the user interact with the world around him/her. For example if you were trying to figure out what type of ketchup to buy you could let the camra see the ketchup and give you its suggestion based on data you have already put in, like if you prefer cheap vs. healthy or vice verse.
Our Choice E-book
As we have seen in the last 5 years e-books have become extremely popular, even more popular than regular paperbacks. Our Choice is the next step in the evolution of e-books. Kind of like an electronic pop up book Our Choice features many animations, videos, and bits of narration. With this kind of technology behind them books can do things we have never seen them do before.
Disposable technology
As Jesse Schnell (2010) states technology is becoming disposable. We will be able to pick up our mini c and throw it away. Imagine when every box or bottle is capable of the amount of processing a modern desktop can do. With the use of that disposable technology producing computers will become faster, easier and, cheaper.
Too Much Data
What could this mean?
This technology is only the beginning of what is to come. We’ve gone from calculators to computers, so what might be next. We could have robots or extreme supercomputers. The possibilities and their effects are endless.
Social effect of computers
Internet Communication
The Internet has become the major social tool in the 21th century. People don't send things through the mail anymore. Sending an email or a Facebook message is much more efficient. Things like this give us the ability to instantly communicate with people around the globe. Society is slowly pushing out non-computerized communication. Eventually all people who wish to be socially active will need to have a Facebook and Google account. The Internet has become integrated into everything.
When I first got my Facebook account I was 10. In the 3 years I have had it Ive had it I’ve accumulated 207 Friends. Some people get even more than that. There are people out there that use Facebook as their main form of communication. What if Facebook were to crash? Would we have people who become lost without it? What if Facebook was hacked? I have heard all kinds of things about how unsecured Facebook is. There was also a report on the radio about how Anyonymus planned to hack Facebook. So if Facebook were made to release viruses there would be hundreds of thousands of crippled computers.
The psychology behind facebook gaming
Why do people even play games? I always though it was because they thought they were entertaining. For most regular video games that is true. Facebook games are a different story. Schnell (2010) explains how Facebook games are designed based on competitiveness between you and your Facebook friends. You play them to prove what you already know, that you are better than Joe, Bob your roomate, and that weird guy who you added as a friend yesterday. Then you play for a long time or you pay 20$ to make sure of it.
Gaming
Today kids have been highly exposed to gaming. Games are everywhere. Kids grow up seeing video game advertisements and wanting to get them. They hear things from their friends and want to get games Soon they become addicted to games. Their games become more important then everything else. There are already people like that out there. As a society we should try to stop ourselves from losing our grasp on life.
How far is too far?
Reality in the virtual world
Life is a game and you have to play
With the development of disposable technology that was mentioned earlier games are moving closer to our real life. The technology allows almost everything you touch to be connected to the Internet, display something on a screen, process your interaction with it, and watch what you do. It will probably come through mainly in advertising to see how many times you buy something or how much you pay attention to ads. The games are just a trick to make you pay more attention to the advertisements within them, but still they are hard to avoid. Everyday we see the billboard advertising Diet Coke. Eventually we’ll be seeing the electronic tattoo advertising Diet Coke.
2+2=?
When somebody asks you to do a long math problem like 24x67x137 what would you do? Most people would want to get a calculator. As a society we are devaluing the ability to do math on our own. Computers were developed on the theory that we need something to do our advanced math but it has gone too far. A simple problem like that should not require a calculator. It doesn't seem like we are using calculators for speeding up calculation, we are doing it because we aren't capable of doing the calculation, or we are just too lazy to do the calculation.
Emotion vs Logic
Judith Perrole (1987) writes of the ideas of the ides of Daniele Belle. Belle (1980) believed that computers were going to take over the logical processing people have. When somebody has a machine doing all the logical thinking for them then they wont need the logical processing ability. Without the logical processing emotion takes over. That prediction was made in 1980. I think it is holding true. From the stories I’ve heard people in the past were far less emotional then they are now. They also held a higher valut to logic then we do.
Computers vs Culture
In the book Computers and Social Change: Information, Property, Power, Judith Perrole refrences Joseph Weizenbaum (1976) and his opinion on what computers are doing to our culture. He predicted that with the de and popularization of computer technology would cause people too forget their culural values.
Economical affects of computers
Internet Gaming
Do you play Farmville? Well a lot of people do. In fact there are more Farmville players then Twitter accounts. In fact Farmville isn't the only Facebook game. There are hundreds just like it. With the use of their Facebook connection the corporations behind these games are making lots of money. Zynga makes hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and most of the games aren't really that fun, but for Zynga and all the other companies the games arent really important. What matters is the money.
