In chapter 15 our writer gives us a definition of technology that can seem difficult to understand. She defines technology as being political. Because of our standard definition of this word, as readers we may associate this word with governance. The author argues that we have been taught to have a one sided perspectives and that technology is a sort of social structure in and of itself. The discussion about technology being political is important to the writer because what we consider technology to be influences what we believe we can do with it. Technology is an important instrument but the author does not consider it to be one that is neutral. Those who are familiar with and are most accustomed to working with technology will be able to have the most advantage to its usage. 

An interesting idea was brought up by Winner in the chapter that in the same way we debate new laws and we have juries to set limits and laws we should also have a jury of citizens to rule for the limits of technology. This would allow the opportunities to discuss the how the advancement in technology is affecting citizens and what types of limitations should be set to avoid society to be influenced negatively by it. I believe that this is a great idea to a certain degree. One of the reasons people how found so much freedom of expression on the internet has been because its’ lack of governance. How can we be assured that those jury of citizens who would have jurisdiction over the decisions have our best interest at heart? On the other hand, jobs, our environment, local and global economy are so much influenced that it could be a method of controlling how much technology takes over our lives. 

Chapter 16 discusses globalization and the discussion of anti-globalization. Globalization has been defined as a method of progress and advancement, the questionable part is that a lot of the ideas are based off of lifestyles of the western culture. Development based off of what is going on in the western culture ignores the local conditions and knowledge and says that “our way is the best way”. The rest of the world can easily be seen as “peripheral to what really matters, or an exotic amusement (pg.189)” in this perspective. 

Slack introduces a topic in chapter thirteen that I believe many suspect but have not qualified with words in the way the writer does here. Slack approaches the topic of identity and how a person’s identity not only affects how they are placed in culture but also what possibilities are open to them, especially when it comes to technology (Slack 150). 

Though we all have our agendas on a daily basis and consider ourselves and our lives of utmost importance what we may not realize is that the process of innovation is undemocratic. The decisions about technology and how it should be dispersed are usually governed by the elite. The writer quotes Richard Sclove with his argument that a strong democracy requires that citizens have input in making decisions about technology because they should be able to decide on such a strong factor that influences their lives. True, that we as consumers have a choice and even though big companies create technologies to suit our needs, even needs we didn’t know we had, this makes some consumers feel as if they can resist this pull of innovation on their lives. The writer understands the idea that consumers may have that each consumer can buy according to their own need and budget but she argues that ‘if one group has money and another does not, whose needs will be catered to?” (Slack 153)

The writer presents a strong example of the unequal delegation of technology. In Africa there is a sleeping sickness that is becoming widespread. The current treatment of this sickness involves a drug that kills 1-5% of patients and it involves painful injections with some chemicals that even go into the creation of automobile antifreeze. There is another cure, which is a drug that costs about $600 per patient. Because this sickness affects these people in Africa who can’t afford this drug the company stopped making the it. This is an example the book offers but we can see evidence of this in our own country. Not everyone is offered the same access to certain doctors depending on their insurance type. The consequences of delegation are clearly seen in examples like these. 

Chapter 14 discusses ways that technology challenges identity. A strong point that chapter brought up is when the invention of the telephone began to affect the upper and middle classes. They were no longer able to distinguish if the person on the other side of the phone was someone they “should” be talking to. 

Identity is also challenged online, because people are allowed to be whatever “character” they chose to be. They can present their “real life” self or a fictional character they may deem more appropriate. It also challenges the notion that we are one-sided beings, that instead just as we are able to have multiple screens open on different topics on our laptops, we also have interests and ideas on innumerable topics. We can see in this aspect how technology has challenged even what it means to just be. 

https://www.nbc4i.com/news/inside-edition/little-boy-calls-911-over-039momo-challenge039-today-on-inside-edition/1826557311

Being the parent of a teenager is something that has been a popular topic of conversation amongst parents since the beginning of time. I would hear my parents talk about me to other parents like I was a walking phenomenon. Now, as a parent to a teenager myself, I ask myself why I didn’t take notes. 

Raising children is something most parents are concerned about doing correctly, and social media has definitely changed the way we parent. This article discusses some of the pressures teenagers have in the social media age and how it affects them. Compared to 78% of adults, 95% of teenagers are on the internet. The idea scholars are noting in this article is concern that teenagers are not emotionally equipped to handle some of what they see on the internet even though they may have more access to online information than some “internet illiterate” parents. 

Having a teenage son at home and three teenage sisters, I would have to agree with the statistic that girls spend more time on social network sites and use them more actively than boys. My son’s constant usage of his phone is geared more towards music sharing apps and sites. 

Girls are more likely to post pictures of themselves as well, according to the article. I believe this has a lot to do with the way media markets women. They are told how to dress, what shape they should be, how they should act and I believe young girls are almost trained to constantly seek the approval of others. 

Another interesting topic the article brought up is how teenage girls are more selective about their profile pictures, assuring they choose the most attractive picture and also trying to look sexually attractive. It’s an interesting topic on whether or not these young girls who are posting the provocative pictures are intending the “advertise themselves sexually or are just imitating the media and their peers.”

An important initiative I have taken is to control my son’s privacy settings. These were worries parents did not have before but I make it a point to monitor what apps he is downloading and watch the content he posts on social media. I believe as parents it is important that we are not internet illiterate so we can have informed conversations with our children as to the dangers online and also teach them to navigate the content they may come across. 

This week’s reading focused on our cognitive systems and how they have been altered by the usage of the internet. I appreciated this article the most out of this weeks reading, because although length, it offered an objective analysis of discussions about the internet and its effect on us. It seems sometimes that we hear a lot about how the internet is working against us and I’ve wondered many times if these studies are taking into account our ability to adapt to conditions as humans. Especially after reading the chapter on Luddism, I fear at times that we are critical of the growing process it’s been to learn to use the internet to our advantage. As the article states, the internet has only been available to consumers for 28 years. We are learning how to use the internet to our advantage and it’s important to understand the learning curve that comes with that. 

            After the reading and the different testing that were performed it was clear that many of the mounting suspicions of the internet’s impacts on our minds are real concerns. As Digital Natives it is evident that many of us have a very shallow mode of processing information. This is mostly due to our confidence that the information will be available to us at our beck and call. All we need to do is pick up one of our devices. 

            I think that it’s important to take studies like this and make sure we are mitigating the effects by putting healthier practices into place. For example, we may now have the understanding that “hyperlink” navigation is of no real value to us. So instead we could take time out to research a topic extensively to have real knowledge for it. Wolf and Barzillai discussed how “the shift towards shallow information processing can disrupt the development of deep reading skills”. There is a place for quick answers on questions we need to know, because not all information we seek in the moment is something we need to have long-term knowledge of, the problem comes when we treat all information this way and we have become experts in researching but have little knowledge we can bring to memory about the subjects we are researching. 

            As a parent, one of my arguments with my son is that gaming isn’t good for him. I found the investigate process of expert gamers very interesting as well. Expert gamers showed evidence of better visual working memory performance. The changes in the brains frontal-parietal network were correlated with better attention performance.         

            The internet may facilitate greater multitasking behaviors but I think it’s important for each person to do an examination of their own habits. The internet has many benefits and has brought lots of advancement to our technology and cultures but I do think it is important that as we advance in technology we are also aware of how to use the internet in a way that allows us to maintain autonomy. 

Both of the articles for this weeks reading have a focus on the importance of niches. The number of people who are seeking music, movies, books that is outside of the Top Charts is increasing. The development of media and how it has impacted the internet and the desire for continued expressions of artwork seems to be a basis for both of these articles. 

There is now more of a participator culture where media consumers have learned how to manipulate technologies and interact with it. Take for example Fan Fiction, because of a fan taking the movie Twilight and forming their own twist to it, this lead to the creation of the movie series 50 Shades of Grey. All of this began with a fan interacting with a fan site and creating content on their own. We have so much access now to technology and information on how to create it that many consumers want to become producers of their own content. 

The ability to produce our own content has led to lots of different cultural expression. The article mentioned the comparison of how parents put their children’s artwork on the refrigerator in the same way, the internet has become a “digital refrigerator” for those who want to exhibit their works to people around the globe. 

The internet has made it possible for media creations made by home producers to have visibility to people around the world.

I enjoyed reading how amateurs are taking pride in their own productions even thought they don’t have Hollywood budgets. That they have made “a virtue out of their limitations, often spoofing or parodying Hollywood genre conventions and stylistic norms through films that are intentionally crude or ragged in style.” Producers like these amateurs have been able to find a place for themselves on sites like YouTube. With enough views they are even able to make money off of their productions. 

Sites like Etsy and Lulu prove that we are a lover of niches. The number of content that is exposed on the internet gives development to new themes, groups and ideas for people to follow. 

“There’s something special about breaking free from screens and spending real, face-to-face time with family and friends—and that’s why our guests are loving the ever-growing board game trend. We’re out to make Target their go-to destination for great games, so over the past couple of years, we’ve more than doubled our assortment and we’re constantly working with the nation’s leading game makers to create even more unique, exclusive games for our guests to enjoy with those they love.” -Kelly Caruso, senior vice president of Hardlines, Target

In 2018 Target released a collection of board games with what they decided to call the “rustic edition.” I hadn’t even known there was such a thing until Christmas of last year. My best friend asked me for one of these games as a gift. He told me how he had recently begun to collect all of these vintage games from Target’s Rustic Edition, and how these board games had become one of his prized possessions. 

            The article for this week’s reading reminded me of my friend. There is a nostalgic feel to things like the article mentions; journals, old school cameras, vinyl records, board games. These items that are disconnected from the online world and cause us to use our senses and be involved and giving our full attention to something outside of our phones. 

            Our digital world has caused us to lose a feeling of connection. There are millions of gamers who talk on their headsets, and may even play with the same people on a regular basis but still feel disconnected from others when they turn off the screen. This was the reason I recently invested $80 into a new board game called Catan. I had begun to notice how connected to our devices my siblings and I would be when visiting our parents. I had read an article about this game and decided to purchase it and bring it over for a family get together. The game was a hit. We barely looked at our phones the entire night. Instead we laughed, argued, and got way too competitive. Now it’s one of our favorite things to do together and we constantly find ourselves looking for group activities we can enjoy that unplug us and our kids even more. 

Sax’s views in this article are not comparable to Luddism in my opinion, rather a stand on what it is to be balanced and finding value in things outside of the digital vortex.  

This weeks reading introduced us to Long Tail. It is a term I had not previously heard of, but that actually makes a lot of sense. When I examine the type of music I listen to, books I read, movies I watch, I have to admit that most of it are main stream productions. This article describes that much of what is popular taste in our culture has more to do with what is marketed and “a market response to inefficient distribution.”

            Television has the constraints of being able to show only 24 hours of programming, same with radio. The internet doesn’t have these parameters. You can go down a long rabbit hole of options on Netflix where one show recommends another and don’t have the limitations of only seeing options of popular programming. 

            Online distribution is introducing us into a world of an abundance of diversity with options to productions we haven’t had access to before. The article gives the example that because documentaries aren’t as popular, blockbuster would have a limited selection in stock (maybe a few dozen), but Netflix carries thousands. Long tail suggests making everything available and embracing the niches. 

            Also, in the Long Tail economy, it doesn’t make much fuss about evaluation. For example, the Sundance Film Festival will have thousands of films submitted to them. In Long Tail they believe it is more expensive to evaluate and that instead everything should be released, basically believing there is something for everyone. 

            There has been much debate in recent years over the music industry and pirating. Long Tail suggests that lowering the price of content would have people buy more. I agreed with this philosophy. Users have access to music so easily, by lowering the price it would definitely make sense for users to experience the “not worth it moment” the article describes. In this moment the user sees that its’ more work to find free quality music, plus the legal risks, and they determine that because of the low cost of music it’s a better option to buy it at the lowered price. 

            One of the things I can appreciate about Netflix is that it definitely encourages customers to explore. Amazon does this as well, as the article mentions, with its vast list of recommendations you are more likely to listen, or read something that you would have not looked into before. The article mentions the book Into the Air and that because of its recommendation of Touching the Voidon Amazon, the book started to sell again and more than a decade later, Random House had to rush out a new edition to keep up with the demand. 

            This article on Long Tail brought up great points on what the internet has allowed us in terms of diversity, distribution and how every production has its place amongst the huge stream of consumers and varied tastes. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jja7rOOOE54

This weeks reading brought insights on technological agency. The chapter begins by making a point of clarifying to the reader that while technological determinism and cultural determinism both have valid points in their view, they are both casual approaches. We are introduced to the concept of agency with technology as a relationship. I found it interesting to consider our relationship with our phones and how it is a mediator. A mediator steps between two parties to come to a common agreement. Likewise, when we are on the phone with another person, the phone acts as a mediator. The phone, reception of it, battery supply of the phone, has a lot to do with our conversation so we are not only interacting with the other person on the line, we are also interacting with the phone. 

These types of points were made to introduce us to the Actor-Network theory. Actors are defined by Michel Callon and Bruno Latour (these two men were part of developing this theory) as, “Any element which bends space around itself, makes other elements depend upon itself and translates their will into a language of its own.” This theory brings a stronger claim to the agency of technology. As authors Slack and Wise say, “Technologies are not mere tools that we use, but active forces in the world” (145). Technology shapes our interactions and our cultural space (as discussed in chapter 12) in this world. When reading of cultural space and technologies involvement, I thought of Starbucks. This coffee store has become a place where people are known to come study, drink coffee, meet with friends and have coffee dates, etc. Technologies impact in this space is evident as soon as you walk in. Some people are on their phones having business conversations, some studying or writing papers on their laptops, all of these have made an impact of on the cultural space of Starbucks. 

This theory makes it seem almost as if technology has a mind of its own. For example, now we are expected to have our cell phones on us. We are expected to always be in contact. So as the chapter states “the cell phone prescribes back a daunting range of behaviors, attitudes, and values.” The demand is that now we have to carry our cell phones on us. 

Technology does shape the way we use it. Reading these two chapters it is clear that technology does have its own agency. It made me consider if the agency it does have though, was it created by us humans and our intentions? Where we aware of what we were creating when we did it and how it would control our behaviors towards its use? All things these chapters left me thinking about.