cell phones disrupting family life

"like petty little dictators, school officials imposed a new ID system on elementary school students. Students were issued ID tags they must wear around their necks - just like in some prisons - and school officials have threatened disciplinary proceedings against any student who fails to do so. The tags include the student's name, picture, school, class year and school ID number. The tags also include an RFID chip that responds to a scanner with a student-specific serial number. "

read more...

and a response...

"The problem the school officials ran into didn't have anything to do with technology, but rather their own naiveté when it came to "selling" the project to the community.

I suspect that InCom was just as naive as the Brittan school board because there were so many flawed decisions in how this particular plan was conceived. Two major d'ohs come to mind: the foolish assertion that the system, as implemented, would improve security at the school, and the deployment of RFID sensors to monitor bathroom access."

smart technology, dumb people

So, I started thinking about the social implications of the shrinking ipods. Clearly, it’s more desireable to have the latest, smaller ipod, but what could happen if ipods become so small, you couldn’t tell that it was there? Would it be as cool? What could happen if ipods got so small, they could be implanted in your cochlea? You wouldn’t see hundreds of college students walking around campus with the telltale white headphones. However, this could also cause serious traffic problems…i.e. me on my scooter ringing my bell like a madwoman trying to get the person in front of me to move so I don’t run them over…however, they would be listenining to the cool jams. And what would happen with kids who are being lectured to by their parents, and instead of listening intently and feeling bad for what they have done, they are rocking out to the latest n’sync pop hit..?

The ipod has definitely become a symbol of social status in today’s world. Without an ipod, you’re out of the loop, to a degree. Even apple’s signature white headphones serve as a way to communicate to those who see you that you have an ipod, not an inferior music player. The shuffle and the nano are often worn proudly around the neck, especially in asian countries.

Would in-body devices, or smaller devices (such as earrings that play music) be as popular? The same attribute that would make them desirable, (their inconspicuousness), could also ultimately deter buyers. You can’t make a social statement with something that is unseen. However, for those living in large urban settings, like New York (where there has been a rash of subway ipod thefts), this could be an ideal investment.

I guess this same sentiment could be applied to may of today’s technologies. Smaller cell phones, smaller computers, eventually everything could be implanted in our bodies and we really would be the bionic, million dollar men. Could these improvements to the human body create less of a social hierarchy? Less greed? Or would these advancements simply not be possible, as their being would not promote future sales via user advertising?

Personally, I think that there would not be enough sales of technology like the ipod with out the high visability and recognition of the product. What do you think?

But is this invading your privacy? I realize that yahoo will only be using this information to send advertisements to you, but what could happen if someone with ill intentions accessed this info from yahoo, and used it to steal identity, or monitor/stalk others? Is it just me, or does this yahoo advertising method seem a lot like a virus?? ‘monitoring’ your activity through there site doesn’t seem like something desirable, in fact—it sounds scary. But whatev, as long as I don’t get ads for porn anymore right?

However, the more I thought about this topic, I realized, Yahoo is doing what magazines have been doing for years—but they haven’t needed to monitor their readers, because the magazine itself is geared toward a specific readership. This is also true for the internet, to a degree. Harking back to linked, the density of internet use is far more concentrated in developed, large cities, particularly in the U. S…so advertising can be geared towards a WIDE population, but not to the specificity of magazine ads. The internet would be the equivalent of someone receiving nature magazine, with an ad for hunting guns…it’s just not good enough.

But then there is spam—totally blind to any preferences, hobbies, or purchases. The equivalent of physical junk mail. Would you want spam that catered to your preferences? Personally, I would—this would mean that I might even open it before deleting it.

So anyway, I guess what it all boils down to is that the internet is becoming more intelligent and more aware of it’s users and their needs. I’m sure that advancements like this one will ultimately improve the internet, even if it is through trivial progressions like advertising. Today it will be advertising, tomorrow it will be automatic e-mail [intelligent] filtering, total voice command, etc. etc.

I’m guessing that these advancements will initially only benefit sellers on the internet…

The summary of the story is, that the principle of a roman catholic school in new jersey has ordered all students to remove all postings about themselves or about school from their blogs or websites…EVEN if they were posted from home. All of this hullabaloo was allegedly caused by a student who was chatting with someone online who they thought was another teenager, but who in reality was an adult. (Mind you, nothing bad came out of the situation, no meetings, kidnapping, etc)

This brings up an interesting point. Are blogs becoming so popular among young America, that they are interfering with their schooling? Or are people becoming so paranoid about the mystery that is cyberspace, that they feel censorship is the only option?

Personally, I believe it is the latter. We are living in a scary time, where placing on restrictions on freedom loving, red white and blue citizens becomes the ‘best’ way to ‘protect’ others and themselves from their actions and actions from others…while simultaneously infringing on their personal rights.

I understand that this was a private school, but one must draw the line between private lives and work/school lives. Even if it is a private school, the right to free speech should prevail! This is almost like saying that a school has placed restrictions on it’s female students saying that they may not date until they are 17. Is this not the job of their parents? Have parents become so separated from their children that schools are now doing their job?

If the school finds out that students are keeping blogs, they can be suspended.

I don’t get it. Is this a reaction to fear? Are the administrators of this school afraid that their students, presumably oppressed under the firm hand of their school administration, will become a ‘smart mob’, mobilizing themselves via the internet? If this is the case, they are taking the wrong mode of action…if it is blogs today, tomorrow they will have to ban instant messaging, text messaging, telephone conversations and eventual all communication with others outside of the school community. Ok, maybe I’m taking it a little too far. But you can see where I am going with this.

It is inevitable an underground revolution will emerge under this authority…how hard could it be to create an anonymous blog?

I think that blogs are a great way for kids to get their feelings out, or keep in touch with friends. In today’s crazy world, teenagers need an outlet where they can be themselves…somewhere to ‘digitally run’ to. Taking this away could create even more problems…I’d love to see a follow up on this story…

“Palo Alto, California-based {represent!} AltaVista was acquired by Overture in April [2003]. Overture also acquired in April the Web search unit of Oslo-based Fast Search & Transfer, or FAST, a developer of enterprise search and real-time filtering technologies. After the acquisition of Overture [by Yahoo], these search technologies and services will become the property of Yahoo, which also has its own search engine. Yahoo acquired Inktomi, a Web search technology provider in Foster City, California, in December [2002]. “
Full Text...

So where does google come in to all of this?
In 2000, Yahoo contracted Google to do some 3rd party searching for them; like we talked about in class, actual people were ranking these websites, and the 3rd party helps, because obviously, humans can’t do it all. But here is the interesting part, Yahoo has had 3rd party relationships with Inktomi, and Altavista. Hmmm..
Read it all here...

And speaking of mega-hubs, Yahoo was thinking about buying AOL—but has now dropped out, leaving Microsoft, Comcast, and GOOGLE at the table. Wow. Scary...

I think that clears things up???
it's weird that there are entire websites devoted to news about this stuff...

my head hurts.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8941034/site/newsweek/

article online, which talks about college campuses and the general move to “wired campuses”.

check out the "Star Trek"-like communications badges that they are trying to get for Dartmouth. Hello tabs and pads....

Reading the article, all of the news seemed predictable, like old news. But then, I had to step back and realize that we are at ‘the most powerful learning environment in the world (!)’ (ha, yeah, cheesy…) anyway. It made me think back to my freshman year. I arrived to case sans computer. I mean, no desktop, no laptop, no PDA, not even a cell phone. I can consciously remember telling my mom that I ‘probably [wouldn’t] need a computer, because hey, there are computers all over campus for me to do work on, and the library even rents out laptops…!’ man. Needless to say I was wrong. Besides being completely bored during orientation and freshman welcome days, I quickly realized that ALL of my classes had websites, ALL of them used blackboard for grades, and for my chem. Class I even had to submit homework online.

And besides, I had no distraction.

So anyway, I had been pondering computers all summer and I was eventually discouraged generally because of price. But after realizing that the grey box was a necessity for case, I started looking back into macs. I had been a PC user since middle school, but my family’s first computer WAS a mac IIci. I’d just got through bad experiences with PCs, my first PC burned up, literally, and my 2nd had to be returned to the store once for service before I could even open any applications. BUT, case has a contract with Hell, ahem, I mean Dell, so they were pushing it down my throat like no tomorrow. Finally I called the help desk, and I was like “can I get a mac?” and the guy, was like “if anything, I would recommend it.” So I went to the mac store, and it was pretty much love from that point on. It was so shiny, user friendly, and happy looking. No more black squares for me. I have a glowing apple now. Anyway, I customized my computer and it arrived in a few days, with a surprise…a $50 ipod. Awesomeeeee. The support from mac users has been absolutely amazing on campus, and ALAS! No more blue screens. My charger even broke and then just sent me a new one, no questions asked.

Anyway, I’ve strayed from the article. As I said, I was like “so what…?” but then I realized that case is not the norm. it is definitely gaining popularity across the nation. And then it struck me, I wonder if there are any colleges that specifically advertise a “No Technology” or “No invasive technology” policies…These colleges would surely be appealing to some parents, they could be assured that their children would not be distracted from the worldly pleasures of facebook or ratemyprofessor.com. But would this absence of technology give the students of said university a disadvantage when they left school and went on to the work world? I’d believe so, for obvious reasons. As well, would these students have a lighter work load than technological students? I mean, my parents went to school in an age of slide rules and type writers. They both majored in technical subjects, (my dad in engineering, my mom in chemistry), and both of them survived, and went on to procure great jobs. However, after talking with my dad about my classes, it soon became clear that my classes are moving at a much faster pace, and covering much more material than his did. i.e., I am studying differential equations right now, he did not study them until his senior year. So, is this due to the general progression of the field…a progression that would have happened with or without the invention of the personal computer and other technology….or is it directly related? That would be an interesting topic for a research paper…….

His inventions are no small feat to say the least. They range from dialysis machines to advanced wheelchairs. (His IBOT is the stair climbing, balancing wheelchair with the same gyroscopic balancing technology that inspired the segway.)

Anyway, the main purpose of his speech was dismissing the myths of innovation and invention. He wanted to be sure to convey that there is no formula for developing new products or methods, but that the potential inventor has to have a formula for himself, in the way that he/she develops the technology, and let it ‘develop itself’, so to say.

One story that Kamen shared with the audience was the story of the “south pointing chariot”. About 2000 years ago the Chinese developed the south pointing chariot to help navigate through the desert without straying from their desired direction. It was a complex machine, consisting of a large cart, whose axels turned a series of gears inside of a cart (similar to the differential gear on all cars). On top of the cart there was a figure of a man with an outstretched hand pointing. Through the complex gears, the gears turned the figure if the cart ever strayed from the straight path, indicating that the driver must correct their course to continued on the desired track.

Well, nowadays, there is a marvel, small device called a compass. The most ironic part of this whole story is that the Chinese had discovered that when they magnetized a needle with iron flakes and placed it on a cork in water, it would always point the same direction. Whoops.

Kamen uses this story as an example and as a standard for himself and the workers in his company. If they are inventing something solely for the sake of technology, instead of trying to improve or create something useful, he is always sure to ask “Are you creating a south pointing chariot?”

This struck me as extremely similar to the concept that Ben Schneiderman talks about in his book. He states that technology should be used to solve a problem, not to create new ones. He states that technology should be something that benefits humanity instead of complicating humanity. When I heard Kamen’s speech, I immediately thought of this. It’s interesting that this ideal was mentioned, and almost preached to the audience. I hope that this will impact the future inventors and innovators, to invent for PEOPLE instead of technology.

p.s. Dean Kamen never graduated from college and now he is a millionaire that owns his own island near New Hampshire.

PPS. If anyone is interested in “south pointing chariot”-like inventions, you should check out the book “Useless Japanese Inventions”. Amazing.

However, these designs were developed for third world countries…why is it that the need for computers in the United States most impoverished areas was first overlooked? Clearly, in the United States, citizens have more opportunity to computer access, be it at school or at a local library, but still, the need exists. Negroponte, the creator and himself an educator, must have witnessed this need on the home front. With technology moving at a break-neck pace in the United States, no one should be left behind!! In an article, it was stated that the governor of Massachusetts was to purchase a half of a million of these computers for school-aged students in the state, this is very encouraging, and I hope national government will take suit.

The article also discusses the problem of price. One hundred dollars is still a high amount in many countries. After living in Panama for a year, I can say that the number of people able to afford this computer would be small. With many agricultural workers who receive minimal pay (less than 100 dollars a week), who are also paying rent and raising a family, this would be impossible. Savings do not exist in Panama. Also, nearly 40% of the country lives below the poverty line. The only fathomable way I could think that this technology could be implemented in a substancial way, would be to make the computers cheap enough so the government could buy them in bulk, and distribute them to citizens on a need-based basis.

And holy man. I want those awesome features on my laptop. A heavy duty casing would be awesome in itself. My powerbook has been dropped a handful of times, leaving it littered with little dents, and this could ultimately affect its usability…if I crack my screen…that’s pretty expensive. A piece of machinery that i payed more than 1200 dollars for should be able to stand up to anything!! The crank is also a good idea. However, one minute of cranking = 10 minutes of power? That would have to be re-vamped. In some countries, there is NO way to get a steady power source….they would be cranking forever. This would be good in case the power goes out and you need to print a paper or something, for emergencies only, not for a sole power source. Hopefully, these features will make their way into the mainstream (expensive) computer market!

Bravo Negroponte, universal usability at it's best.