Monday, December 20, 2010

Friday, December 17, 2010

Mobile Technology Paper

Mobile Technology
                Our world today has become so technologically advanced. Think back a few decades when cell phones were comparable to bricks, and the internet wasn’t very popular. Everything revolves around technology, and our phones are no exception. Phones have changed our world as we know it. Our world as we know it is now completely available in one little device that we like to call our smartphones. Due to new technology there have been many changes in society, the economy, laws and privacy. Many of these (but not all) have negatively impacted our world.
                First up, the changes cell phones have made in our society. Some changes positive and some negative.  Cell phones have become a key necessity in the lives of many. Most of us couldn’t spend a day without our phones, much less an hour. Our society is addicted to our cell phones and I predict that it will only get worse. I can guarantee almost every student in high school who owns a phone has texted in class. I admit to this, but personally I find cell phones hinder our society. Since our phones now have everything from email to Twitter and the latest sports update, what’s not to love?   We are becoming lazy and dependent; however, since we have our phones to do everything, people are relying on technology to do things for us. People aren’t communicating as well as we used to. It’s now typical to send a text message or shoot an email; the old fashion phone call is disappearing. Society is negatively impacted by cell phones. 
                The economy as well has been affected by the “smart phone era”.  I see cell phones as having a positive impact on the economy.  People constantly invest in the newest technologies in order to stay up to date. Also, the amount of money spent on research and development of new technology has increased dramatically. Advertising budgets have also increased. According to MSN Money Central “more money is spent marketing cell phones, in fact, than any other object in America”. Cell phones are designed around the type of service such as 3G and 4G. Phones are made to be multi-functional to help people work more efficiently and this is impacting the economy because it is easier for people to connect with each other. Also, the economy is becoming based upon the worker.  The economy has been influenced positively by the smart phone era.
                Many new laws that mainly deal with cell phone usage and driving have been put into effect. People of all ages are guilty of texting or looking at their phones while driving. If 47 percent of teenagers can text with their eyes closed (Reported by Marketing Charts) imagine how many of them can text without having to look at their phones while driving. Since phones have advanced, there is even a new term according to Nationwide Insurance called DWD which stands for “driving while distracted”. The scariest part is Nationwide Insurance states that “driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent.  In Minnesota, some of the laws that have been adopted include one enacted in August 2008. This law states that it is illegal in Minnesota to text message, e-mail, or access the Web on a wireless device while driving.  The penalty for violating this law can result in up to a $300 penalty. The smart phone generation has caused awareness all over.
                Finally, privacy is a hot topic when it comes to cell phones. We all think our cell phone conversations and Google searches are private. We’re WRONG! While there are laws out there that are protecting us, cell phones are not nearly as private as we’d like to believe. According to Lawyers. com  “the US Supreme Court has found that the First Amendment allows an illegally intercepted cell phone conversation to be shared with others when the conversation involves matters of significant public interest”.  The lesson to be learned is that technology is increasing the chances that we could have our cell phone conversations recorded at any time.  Be careful what you do or say on your phone as it could be traced back to you. Most phones also contain a GPS or tracking system. With the use of today’s technology it is easier than ever to track someone; it is illegal, but possible.
                We live in the smart phone generation today. Our lives are based upon rapidly increasing technology. Technology has some good aspects; however, sometimes it may hinder us in the case of our society. Overall, cell phones do affect society, the economy, laws and privacy of lives today. As we look into the future, past decades of technology are ancient history. What will we come up with in five or ten years pertaining to cell phones? It is certain we will all be affected by mobile technology in some manner.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Blog Free Writing 11/23

The movie Julie and Julia, was quite interesting. I never knew blogging could catch on so quickly, especially in Julie's case. I also never knew the movie was based upon a true story. How cool would it be the make a living off of doing something you dearly enjoy. We all would love that. One part in the movie that struck me was when Julie got the call that Julia Child's said she was not a fan of her blog and did not like it. Like Julie I would have been crushed too. Transitioning into another topic, getting fired for blogging. I had no idea that freedom of speech was not applicable to published writing like blogs. This definitely startled me, I know now that I must be very careful of whatever I put on this Internet because someday it could possibly be traced back to me. Also, I did figure writing a blog could be anonymous but yet you still must be careful because if you write about things that certain people could trace back to you, it could come back to bite you in the future. I think blogging as a career is a really cool idea, getting paid to write your view on certain topics would be something really interesting and I personally would find that cool. Blogging is something that in our world happens on a daily basis. Whether we think of facebook as a blog or not, we do post somewhat of our lives on their for everyone to read. People follow us as well. Blogging is a very popular form of social media in our world today. I wonder what the next form of blogging will be like, probably even more accessible than it is now. Will blogging stay popular or will something else rise and steal the spotlight?

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Social Media Free Writing

My opinion on the video is that it is very accurate. I found many things to be astonishing. I never knew that it took so long for the radio to reach so many viewers, I believe it was 38 years then facebook hit even more than that number in a short 9 months. Crazy how things can change so quickly over time. The Generation we are in today is so extremely sophisticated when it comes to technology. Since everything is more accesible over the internet we dont need printed copies as often. I could tell that newspaper companies were sturuggling because even in my neighborhood there are only a select bunch of people who still recieve it. Phone are capable of almost anything and the handheld convience is perfect for all. We are all about accesibility in this generation and we are changing the world so quickly it is hard to keep up. It was almost yeaterday we had 3G phones and now we're up to 4G. How fast will technology be in 50 years from now? Will cars improve on that note as well? Life before our very eyes is changing constantly. Facebook is even adding an email site in for added convience. I never knew facebook would be the 4th largest country if it was one. People take there social networking so seriously. How many people find themselves straying away from homework to check the daily facebook or twitter updates. Its a new fad our pretty much lifestyle. I also never knew that online students performed better than those in front of the teacher. If this is true why dont we segway into online learning if it is so sucessful. Everything in this world is so technologically based now a days. What will the future years bring to our world, and out children. Will we be like our parents and reminess about how much slower the past was? Will people become parinoid if they dont have the latest update since that is pretty much what we are judged on in this world. Technology and social networks are the new face of our world.