Final Post Technology

 Final Blog Post

In my last blog I'm happy to be able to discuss something I'm pretty familiar with. My relationship with technology is pretty similar to many kids my age. It is a way for me to stay in touch with family and friends, as well as post my life on social media. After watching the ted talk by Juan Enriquz I learned a lot of insight about online presence and digital foot print. The way he explained it helped me understand it perfectly. He describes our social media presence like a tattoo. That whatever we post, tweet, like or comment will be out there forever. As this sounds scary it is beneficial to know so we’re mindful of what we’re sharing with the world. I personally feel as though I don’t have a big social media presence. I do post and interact with friends on these social media platforms but not on a daily basis. I use the iMessage application more than any other platforms. In my opinion it’s a faster and easier way to get in touch with people. I only use applications such as snapchat, instagram and facebook to post fun memories on special occasions. For that reason I’m not active on these applications often. I do however scroll through daily but rarely find myself liking and commenting. In regards to my social media presence, I am very satisfied with it and don't think I need to make many changes. It shows who I am as a person and I make sure to think very throughly about what I’m posting before I do so. I always make sure to ask myself what if my parents or future employers saw this? Due to how closely people pay attention to social media today, it is important to have a good social media presence.

It is amazing how much insight these videos give into how technology effects society as a whole. The first video represents how infatuated people are with technology and how much it’s growing and improving on a daily basis. They see a brighter more exciting future for themselves as well as future generations. For example in the video they discuss how with new technology they will be able to go deep in the sea and find valuable minerals and creatures that we don’t yet know exist. Personally if I heard this i’d be amazed that one day we would have the technology for this. I felt this video shows you the exciting and intriguing parts of technology rather than what the negative effects are. As for the second video they give you the rare truth many feel uncomfortable talking about or choose not to believe. They give sad visual representations. They show us how everyone is more worried about getting a situation on video than actually helping solve it. The video uses the gut wrenching example of a girl about to jump off a building and people just watching her emotionlessly with cameras recording. The don't make any attempt to help her, but make an effort to get the perfect shot. After the girl jumps, people keep burying their faces in their phones as they carry on with their day. As horrible and unrealistic as this sounds this is what our society has turned into today. Instead of making an effort to step in they think by recording the action is more proactive. It is sicking to think so many situations could have been prevented if people hadn’t had their faces glued to their phones. I had stronger feelings about the second video due to how true it is and how it’s crazy to think this is what our world has come to. As someone who’s going into the field of social media I know they’re needs to be a big changed made. I think technology has made big strides in todays world which is amazing but people need to be educated on both the negatives and positives of it. 

The idea of artificial intelligence is not a comforting thought to me. Thinking that one day computers could have the technology to do task that humans normally do is unsettling for many reasons. In my opinion, the most frightening aspect of technology improving is that a great deal of people will lose the jobs and professions they have worked so hard to achieve and make a living from. Artificial intelligence has already started to creep up on us through many of the technologies we use to do. As I did some research some examples of this is GPS, e-payments and digital assistance. I would be lying if I said I didn’t find these methods helpful and easier but it does hurt our society in some aspects. The cost to keep improving technology is not a cheap ordeal. Not to mention a machine will never be able to replicate a human and their abilities to complete these tasks manually. This also goes along with privacy issues. We already know that whatever we post and search is out there forever. Doesn’t this mean putting our credit card and social security information out there someone could find it? How do we know these companies are being truthful about keeping our private information safe? We don't know what information is being kept secure and what could get into the wrong hands. I hope as technology grows and improves that they keep other peoples safety and privacy at the forefront.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence 

 Artificial Intelligence, or A.I, refers to systems or machines that mimic human intelligence based on the information they collect. 

In today's society we are surrounded by A.I, not only in person but in our online presence as well. Technology can be good living in the Digital Age, but when too much power is involved, it's often more scary. 

Big companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram, etc., are not only providing with us with mainstream media, however they are hiding something from us: privacy. Every person has the legal right to privacy in which people have the right to be free from unwarranted publicity, the unwarranted appropriation or exploitation of one’s personality, the publicizing of one’s private affairs with which the public has no legitimate concern, or, the wrongful intrusion into one’s private activities in such manner as to outrage or cause mental suffering, shame or humiliation to a person of ordinary sensibilities. However, this is simply no longer the case. 

Not only has artificial intelligence taken over many basic human jobs, but it seems as though if no one is stopping them. The most scary aspect of The Age of A.I, is that we thought we were searching Google, however, little did we know that Google is actually searching us, too. 

Elon Musk issued a friendly warning saying "A.I is far more dangerous than nukes... it's capable of vastly more than almost anyone knows". 

It is know that there are 7 dangerous risks of A.I including automation-spurred jobs less, privacy violations, 'deep fakes', algorithmic bias caused by bad data, socioeconomic inequality, market volatility, and weapons automatization. As A.I grows more sophisticated the voices warning against its current and future pitfall grows louder.

Blog post 7

TED TALKS 

After watching the ted talk videos and hearing that apps I use daily don’t keep my privacy and data safe definitely freaked me out. In the first Ted talk which was presented by Juan Enriquz he talks about how our social media platforms are like a digital tattoo. The digital tattoo is basically everything you post, search up and what you view can be found by anyone. What scared me the most was hearing that if you were in the background of a photo someone could easily find you by using a facial recognition app. This affects me personally because it's a total invasion of privacy and none of my personal social media activity is private. 

Juan Enriquz’s ted talk was interesting and very easy to understand. He used the Greeks as examples to explain the results on negative effects of social media. For example he used Atalanta and Hippomenes and how they raced each other. Atalanta always won the race against her opponents but got rather distracted when Hippomenes kept rolling gold balls. This was a good example because it shows how we all get so caught up and distracted with social media we tend not to realize the bigger picture and what's actually going on within these media platforms. 

The same concept goes with Catherine Crumps  talk about how fast the police can know information and how they get it. Her whole talk is based around the protest in Ferguson, Missouri and hoe equipment and technology that is supposed to be used on the battlefield is now making its way into the lives of ordinary citizens. 

Today you can’t even drive your car and have privacy. The government has used license plate cameras that take pictures and overall track where you have been, what you are doing, and even who you are with. The sad thing is, is that the government isn't doing anything when it comes to the issue because they are in on it. 

Christopher Sogohoian  gives a TED talk on “How to Avoid Surveillance”. He explains that our telephone networks were first and foremost wired for surveillance. This has turned into a problem because now anyone could be listening in to our phone calls; the government, criminals, hackers, or stalkers. Apple has said that by using iMessage, FaceTime, and WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, has put in strong encryption to make it very hard to wiretap. He makes a point to say that because there is no specific “criminals laptop” or “terrorist laptop” that in order to have surveillance over them, they have to have surveillance on everyone which obviously comes at a cost. 

Lastly, in Darieth Chisolm’s  Ted talk, she talks about how she was a victim of having explicit photos of her posted all over the internet without her consent, known as cyber harassment, but she wants it to be known as digital domestic violence or revenge porn. She explains that there is a major lack of legislation to adequately protect victims and punish perps. The only thing out there right now is fines for the perpetrators. These victims are suffering and it is financially, emotionally, and physically draining to try and fight it in court. 

Overall, these TED talks show how dangerous the internet can be and we have to do everything we can to protect ourselves and everyone around us. 

Blog post 9

Diffusion Of Innovation 

 Diffusion of Innovation Theory is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. 

When thinking of a technology that would fit well into the Diffusion Theory, I immediately thought of the Apple IPhone. The first Iphone came out in 2007 and it is a revolutionary mobile phone and a breakthrough internet communicator. The widespread adoption of the IPhone embodies many of the network and sociology principles in the diffusion theory. 

The adoption curve that Apple made to show the diffusion of innovation: 

Innovators – the risk takers, willing to deal with setbacks related to time, money and effort. They seed a diffusion process and contribute to the curve about 2.5 %. These are people who wanted to get the IPhone at its initial launch. They mark the beginning or the stage of product development in a picture of the phones. The already loyal Apple customers were informed through emails messages about the launch before it was actually launched. The rest of the customers in the innovators strata were targeted by PR’s, blogs and buzz marketing.

Early adopters: also called opinion leaders, and also change agents as they are responsible for fueling the diffusion process; they constitute about 13.5 %. In terms of plc graph these are the consumers located on the introductory stage. Targeted after launch through strategies like printed media, blogs-industrial forums, apple fan club, TV ads , banner ads, interactive ads, outdoor media, exhibitions, social media- like Facebook and Instagram. 

Early majority: the cautious ones depending on the experience of the early adopters and contribute to about 34% of the graph. They are located in the growth stage of the cycle. 

Late majority: are also skeptical and cautious, respond to peer pressure and society and contribute the same amount as the early majority does. 

Laggards: the last movers, who adopt the technology when the technology has become a tradition of a kind and contribute to about 16% of the graph. They are usually located around the declining stage of a product.

The IPhone was not fully adopted overnight, however, it took over the cell phone market unlike any other phone manufacturer worldwide. This high rate of adoption and spread in diverse network environments suggests that there is a low threshold, which is directly relevant to the speed and effectiveness of diffusion in varying cluster densities. 

` I personally feel its international launch strategy was commendable. It accelerated its adoption rate as is apparent by the application of the diffusion of innovation curve by applying the right marketing mix to satisfy the perceived attributed within the diffusion model and by way of advertisements that it used to target the innovators, early adopters and early majority- it used the push and pull strategy- promoting product by full spectrum advertising. 

Sherman AntiTrust Act

 Kendall Krasinski 

For the last EOTO I researched the Sherman Antitrust Act. This act was created due to the people in charge of these big corporations would be making a lot of money and making it impossible for other businesses to compete. As a result of this the smaller companies would either have to shut down or be bought out by their competitors. This became a serious problem due to the monopolies having so much power they were able to do as they pleased with their companies. Such as under paying employees and creating high prices that they knew people would pay since they were desperate. These companies knew that if they were the only ones selling a certain product that they could price it as high as they wished because people wouldn’t be able to get it from elsewhere. Their economic power was only hurting society. 

Finally in 1890 the Sherman Antitrust act was passed. This law prohibited companies from merging into monopolies with the hopes of promoting fair competitions among businesses. It was passed in the 1980’s by congress to reduce the concerns of economic fairness and the transportation of goods across states borders. The Sherman Antitrust Act wasn’t very specific which made it confusing for those to understand what the law truly meant. Although The Sherman Act failed it did have positives while it was still a law. For example with this law in place congress was able to regulate trade and end the monopolistic practices. This helped smaller business grow and we’re given the opportunity to have fair competition with other companies. 

In 1914 the Sherman Antitrust Act was replaced by the Clayton Antitrust Act. The Clayton Act used the same ideas as the Sherman Act but just specified what the law truly meant and what was suppose to be upheld. In the article I had read it stated “The Sherman Act only declared monopolies illegal while the Clayton act prohibits anticompetitive mergers, predatory and discriminatory pricing, and other forms of unethical corporate behavior” (Investopida). What I found is that the main reason for these acts in the first place was to make sure businesses were acting correctly and being fair to their employees and their competitors. The Clayton Antitrust Act is still in place today and does a great deal for our society.

I enjoyed researching the Sherman Antitrust Act because it is something I have heard about but never truly know what it meant and entailed. It was so interesting to research and hear that some companies today have lawsuits against them due to this law. I believe this law is useful and helpful for the economy and society.

The history of the radio

 The Radio 

As someone who has an old car the radio is something I’m very familiar with. Especially all the good stations. I love listening to music as well as tuning in to comical radio shows. It was very intriguing to hear about the history of something I use daily. I found out that Guglielmo Macroni paved the way with his prototype that everyone builded off of to get where we are today. Reginald Fessenden who was a scientist was the first person to figure out how to transmit a human voice onto the radio. Hearing the radio today I don’t think twice about the logistics that went into making it. It never crossed my mind that someone needed to figure out how to get a human voice to transmit into the radio for others to listen. The first human voice on radio came out Christmas eve of 1906. The new invention was shocking to people. The thought of communicating with thousands of people from having your voice streamed through a box was foreign to society. A new era began where people not only were hearing news and music broadcasted but people started having entertaining talk shows through the radio. Which today is more commonly known as a podcast. This invention made it easier for those to get the news instead of news companies printing out thousands of newspapers. This made it easier and more efficient to relay world wide news. When you walk into stores, cars and restaurants you can thank radios for the catchy music playing. It’s crazy how much went into the creation of something that seems so normal and basic. 

Anti-war

 Anti-War 

In visiting these websites I have found a very different side to the news then I’ve seen broadcasted on television and in online articles. I believe this is is because what news outlets would publish would show their bias opinion towards the matter. 

I read into the website “The News Media and the Antiwar Movement” and found many reasons as to why writers and broadcaster don’t discuss anti-war in the news. One of the reasons that I felt made a lot of sense to me was that even if these writers aren’t super patriotic if they come off as such it doesn’t do well with their sponsors, viewers and careers. In todays society saying something that one person doesn’t agree with or finds disrespectful could put you in a position of being “cancelled”. Being “cancelled” in todays day and age can in simple terms ruin your life. These people have worked their whole lives for the opportunities they have today and families they need to support. Hence why many reporters don’t cover such a topic. 

I also read into the website “Antiwar.com”. They had a-lot to say about this topic and it was interesting being able to see this side since its not broadcasted in the media. In the about us section they state “the editors take seriously our purely journalistic mission, which is to get past the media filters and reveal the truth about America's foreign policy. Citing a wide variety of sources without fear or favor, and presenting our own views”. This says how they give the whole hearted truth without worrying about the backlash that could come from it. Unlike mainstream media who fear of backlash they will receive if they discuss such a topic.

It’s so sad we aren’t able to fully get the truth and everyones opinions on a topic such as this one because people are afraid of the consequences from speaking up. I fully understand why they don’t. If I was in this industry and had a career and family to worry about I wouldn’t want to jeopardize it either by speaking about anti-war opinions.