Made To Break (Critical Analysis II: p. 83-185)

Believe it or not, without World War II, technology and obsolescence might not have been invented for a very long time as it "changed radio radically...and was the first electronic war" (p. 100). These events in the 1900s essentially created a new culture for America, and Giles Slade introduces four men who contributed in creating the first technologies in America which led to obsolescence. It was Lee DeForest, Guglielmo Marconi, David Sarnoff and Edwin Armstrong that introduced FM radio. They did not only introduce radio itself, but they made the radio and FM so powerful that automobiles started integrating radios into the dashboards. Sooner than later, radios would be one of the cause of why automobiles were considered obsolete, because there was a constant demand for new technologies within a often used machine. Interestingly, Slade narrates that these four men were all in competition, always trying to better each others products and receiving the most credit for their inventions. Marconi, who owned Marconi Wireless, and Sarnoff, who was the creator of NBC and RCA were the masterminds behind marketing the new technologies invented by DeForest and Armstrong (not discrediting Marconi and Sarnoff's own developments). It is then explained how FM radio became such a huge hit, making AM stations, the phonograph, and certain televisions obsolete.

Further in, Slade goes into a larger view of obsolescence, taking a step away from using the small products that started the concept of obsolescence. He uses larger examples and concepts that illustrated a movement in America at the time, changing the culture. Much of these examples take place during the World War II era, which was a major time in history in developing technology and obsolescence. For example, Levittowns demonstrated suburban obsolescence. These small, easy to built houses were used for veterans coming back from the war, but mainly allowed a new way of living putting the old way of living obsolete. Even today, we see how obsolescence kicks into the housing industry. In East Brunswick, NJ, which has a mix of residential and commercial areas, the Golden Triangle Project is attempting to build apartments, studios and even condos for small families next to the transportation center (NJ Transit Buses) in which the parents work in the city so that transportation is easily accessible. Though, on the other hand, reading this portion of the book made me feel like I was reading "Computers" all over again. Slade introduced the very first developments of the computer, the ENIAC and ABC computer. However, a quote by Brooks Stevens explains business back then and even today, "our whole economy is based on planned obsolescence and everybody who can rad without moving his lips should know it by now. We make good products, we induce people to buy them, and then next year we deliberately introduce something that will make those products old fashioned, out of date, obsolete. We do that for the soundest reason: to make money" (p. 153).

You can't really argue with Stevens here. Today, it's almost guaranteed in every companies business model that there is some sort of 'obsolete' aspect incorporated within. Like Apple, Windows, Television in general, each company aims to having their product become old fashion at a point. Just recently, Windows has put my Microsoft Office obsolete, as the Office 2011 for Mac is now on sale. However, I will not buy it because it is $150 dollars, and the new MS Word is terribly complicated with a least functional design, in my opinion.

France to Subsidize Music Downloads to Combat Piracy (Current Event Article)

Music piracy- the stealing of music, is a major controversial issue around the globe, and almost impossible to prevent because of the technology we have today. P2P sharing networks, torrents, the ability to "rip" music off websites have allowed music listeners to obtain music without any cost, which is severely hurting the music industry, including the music artists.

In order to prevent music piracy, France is the first country to show valiant efforts in preventing this issue. As French culture is very distinct in keeping traditional ways, the government names this initiative "Carte Musique" to maintain the French pop culture and not using technology to steal music. This "Carte Musique" program primarily targets citizens of "12 to 25-year olds" as it will allow these citizens to buy a "50Euro gift card for the price of 25Euros" and the rest will be paid by the French government. Moreover, these gift cards, much like an iTunes gift card can only be purchased once a year, but online music providers are to lower the price of songs/albums so that the card serves its purpose and its value. Unfortunately, iTunes and Amazon will not be participating in this initiative because the "Carte Musique limits the benefits each website operators may receive from the program."

In my opinion, in agreement with the class discussion, this initiative is quite creative on France's part, and I do believe it will be successful only in France to an extent. With the technologies available today, such as hacking, and music blogs that share instant music, citizens in France are still going to download and steal music off the internet no matter the price. Though, it's a very true effort amongst the French to make these citizens get into a habit of paying for their music and purchasing media through the "Carte Musiqe" program. Unfortunately, if this was ever to come to the United States, it'd sure be a failure. Each person in the world with the little bit of knowledge of computers, has DC++, Limewire, or knows how to rip music off the internet. Our society wants to avoid costs on any product they can, unless they are true fans of the artist and want to support them.

Made To Break: Critical Analysis (p. 1-81)

"Made to Break" by Giles Slade is a fascinating read if you're "techno-curious" and how the business side of technology functions. This book is the perfect explanation on how each tech company are producing their products, but most of all, how obsolescence is business; "Once it is used and thrown away, 'the customer keeps coming back for more'" (p. 16). Much of the first half of the book historically defines how technology economically effected business in America and how computers, automobiles, and many of the important machines have formed the obsolescent society we live in today.

Briefly, Slade goes into the early stages of an obsolescent society. It seems as if it all started out with the development of name brands, packaging, designs of the products we use everyday, and then expanded to more luxury type products that became obsolete, such as the computer. I found it interesting that it was an industrial economy, the World Wars, and women in general were major factors in creating obsolescence. For example, "As wrist watches came into fashion near the end of World War I, pocket watches became obsolete" (p. 15), the demand for sharp razors, condoms and Kleenex tissues are just a few early products that were constantly replaced and formed obsolescence. Later on, it is introduced by Dalby that automobiles took obsolescence to the next stage. Henry Ford introduced the Model T as the first automobile to become obsolete as a result of "mechanical quality now more or less given, people became interested in sophisticated design and presentation, especially those Americans who had been exposed to European culture during World War I" (p. 37). Because of the Model T's bumpy rides, noisy and smelly quality, competitors such as Chrysler came into play, and women specifically designed cars came out into the market.

Later on in the first third of the book, Slade continues to narrate the growth and development of obsolescence, mainly focusing on the how it all started. Between the 1920s and 30s (Depression era), a more in depth type of obsolescence was invented that explained why "so much of the world was in transition, new things constantly replaced by old ones and so many old values were coming into conflict with new ones" (p. 62). This trend made obsolescence so powerful that it was involved with "everyday lives, ordinary people were becoming familiar with the need to discard not just consumer goods but ideas and habits" (p. 62). Moreover, I found it interesting obsolescence as a whole (not just progressive or planned), had even created a new profession, consumer engineering. Because American culture was changing the way we shop, dress, and the way we function using technology, obsolescence allowed companies to study it and take advantage of it. Ironically, Slade incorporates the Technocracy that Neil Postman writes on. Obsolescence became the definition of a growing Technocracy. From new demands for slicker designs, better efficiency, and products to constantly replace the worn out ones, obsolescence invented the Technocracy as a Technocracy depends on obsolescence.

The World and Wikipedia: Critical Analysis Part II (p. 114-225)

Being an infrequent user of Wikipedia, I could not really relate to Dalby's second half of the book as he primarily supported his reasoning through real-life Wikipedians' stories that exemplify his points. Indeed, Wiki is a great resource (in my opinion) and is proved to be used constantly despite the questionable content and quality, but I have not come across one person who 'wiki's' everything to get their information. Therefore, I don't fully agree with the beginning second half of "The World and Wikipedia" that starts off with "why we love it."

Do we really love it? Or do we enjoy having it at a couple clicks away? Dalby uses a multiple reasons, some repetitively stated in different examples to explain why we love it. One reason explains the American culture's transformation from living full of paper, to the "virtual nation" (p. 120). Again, here we can mesh in Neil Postman's Technopoly; because we are in a Technopoly and involved in an intense digital nation, we love being anonymous, and therefore, allowing us to edit/post anything we'd like on Wikipedia, it's ultimate freedom-- which brings Dalby to another interesting reason as to why we love Wiki: because "it lets us write about whatever we want...we have all the space we want" (p. 130). This reasoning is what I personally agree with most. Out of curiosity, I Googled every noun on top of my head, Pokemon character (as Dalby said there was a page for every pokemon), and towns across New Jersey, and they all had Wikipedia pages. The Internet has no space limit, and the access to Wikipedia gives us the unlimited freedom to edit and write whatever we want without having it deleted or not published at all. This is ultimately why encyclopedias on library shelves, the cease to using Britannica and Encarta have become obsolete despite Wikipedia's questionable credibility.

On the other hand, I enjoyed portions of the book where I gained some information about Wikipedia. Dalby pops in facts about who manages Wikipedia and how Wikipedia works along each chapter. I always wondered, if Wikipedia is not trusted, why is their relatively strong, well written articles? Surprisingly, Wikipedia have administrators, ones who are constantly on the site maintaining the site. Moreover, there are actually professionals who write a lot of the content on Wikipedia, such as professors, scientists and politicians. Even though a pure amateur can simply edit a Wiki page, there are a selected number of Wiki contributors who are trusted that contribute constantly, and it's not always a random Wiki user providing us with information.

Dalby concludes his well-supported thoughts of Wikipedia reiterating the multiple examples of articles constantly changing that end up spreading invalid information. Again, no matter how invalid the information Wikipedia holds, our society, and particularly this generation want quick, simple information at our fingertips. Wikipedia perfectly fit those needs, and we will always use it as our resource instead of an official encyclopedia. Yet, Dalby questions the future of Wikipedia and how it will effect society. He uses this statement to leave a thought on how we use it: "No one can claim that Wikipedia, as a whole, is a 'reliable source'. Instead, accepting it as not the least reliable of online guides, and drawing thirstily on its footnotes and external links, we - I'm speaking now for myself and all the others, writers and journalists, scholars and scientists, who actually use Wikipedia already - judge each article for reliability on its merits" (p. 220). This statement polished a thought I always had on Wikipedia. That is, Wikipedia can't be trusted for the information it provides, though, it's a great resource to learn the shallow details of your search.

The World and Wikipedia Critical Analysis Part I (7-113)

Andrew Dalby, the author "The World and Wikipedia" commences the book with real supported examples of how 'wikipedians' are editing reality.  Many of Dalby's examples of how Wikipedia is constantly changing explain why significant facts over this reference source can not be trusted or used for validity.  Dalby states, "it is the evidence of the awesome power wielded by those who write on Wikipedia.  Whatever they write." (p. 12), to set the tone for the rest of the book: why we should, and why we should not trust Wikipedia no matter how much we hate or love it.

Dalby interestingly introduces how Wikipedia has formed describing "three traditions of books specially designed to help in the quest for knowledge" (p. 19). The three traditions primarily are encyclopedias used as far back as AD 79, that have developed more sophisticated overtime such as Shen Kuo's and Pliny's first encyclopedias that grew from sections to volumes then finally to the digital format (Encarta/Nupedia). He continues to emphasize the rapid growth of Wikipedia across the world in more than 20 different languages; this is the perfect example of Neil Postman's Technopoly. Because the development of computers/technology world and how each piece of information can be accessed through the Internet, Wikipedia became an easy resource to obtain information that we would need to get at a library or pay for at a trusted/reliable website.

However, even though most of us students use it as our primary reference source and giving more credit to amateur writers/editors, we are also giving Wikipedia the dominant hand of encyclopedias over resources that are trusted like Britannica. There are millions of people out there that despise what Wikipedia is and what it has to offer because now, "Britannica simply couldn't maintain its business model with banner ads-- they would either have to become open content (and therefore have a moral justification to ask for volunteers) or become a pay service. It seems they've chosen the latter route, which is great news for Wikipedia..." (p. 53). Moreover, Wikipedia has become an internet bully, a source for internet vandalism. Wrong perceptions such as false biographies like of John Seigenthaler Sr. and, cyberspace threatening in France have all taken place through Wikipedia. Now known to some people as the "encyclopedia full of crap" (p. 62), we still use it despite Wikipedia's credibility and the trouble it started.

If it is so untrusted and not edited by reliable sources, Dalby perfectly explains why we always end up on Wikipedia. As Wikipedia was often edited, and rapidly producing articles, "the main search engines, like Google and Yahoo...systematically place Wikipedia pages at the top of their responses for nearly every enquiry and the great majority of surfers do not look any further" (p. 83). Therefore, when we are searching for anything in general, "Wikipedia is the largest available source of serious text across all subject areas. Favoring Wikipedia was the simplest way to ensure that the average Google results page would look useful" (p. 85-86).

The first half of the book concludes with a very popular issue today, plagiarism. Because Wikipedia has become the most popular reference source since 2005, the Internet, or shall I say this "Technopoly" we are in have caused the past couple generations including this current one to find information the simplest, most easy way. That is, use Wikipedia. Finding information that is useful and somewhat sounds right, we're all going to use it and we're not going to go out of our way to use other cited, reliable sources instead like Britannica.

As I'm sitting in the library writing this post, I'm looking at the bookshelves to the left of me, full of encyclopedias, and reference books. Not one of them looks like it has been touched. It might sound unfortunate that we have put these credited resources obsolete, but technology seems to be just as credible as finding information from the encyclopedia sitting on the bookshelves of a library since the growth of Wikipedia has taken over the Internet.

Posted via Blogaway

Technopoly: Critical Analysis Part II ( pp. 92-199)

Technopoly, to me, is one of those books where you end up not knowing what you read for a couple pages because it is so bland and straight up not interesting. Though, Neil Postman picked up the pace in the second half of Technopoly, and I became quite interested in what was coming in the next chapters.

Postman commences the second half of the book (Chapter 7) describing the evolution of medical technology in the United States. Much different from European medical practices, the "American medicine was attracted to new technologies. Far from being 'neutral,' technology was to be the weapon with which disease and illness would be vanquished" (p. 97). Postman expands on this concept by realizing that modern doctors perform their procedures differently since they depend on technology because 1) it's more profitable and 2) using machinery to spot the problem of a patient is likely to be more accurate so they won't get sued. However, that is the problem with the American medical system, and it can be simply supported by the fact that "40 percent of the operations performed in America are not necessary" (p. 105). That is the effect of technology, it changes EVERYTHING.

Having my right hand fractured twice, I went to my regular physician, a hand specialist and to the hospital all within a week. All of them wasted my money by taking more than multiple x-rays, despite taking x-rays at the the first doctor's office in which the photos could of been transferred to every other doctor I visited. Beyond the fact that it was clear my hand was broken from the discoloration and swelling it's pretty ridiculous that doctor's are not even asking me questions or analytically observing my hand without the tech tools they use.

Further on, Postman continues on by agreeing and disagreeing to a metaphor on how humans are machines. There are many aspects of a computer that are similar to a human, and Postman interestingly makes a point that "If computers can become ill, then they can become healthy. Once healthy, they can think clearly and make decisions. The computer, it is implied, has a will, has intentions, has reasons-- which means that humans are relieved of responsibility for the computer's decisions" (p. 114).

Vaguely knowledgeable on "scientism," I thought Chapter 9 was fairly interesting on the differences between social science and scientism, as these two concepts contributed into defining a Technopoly. Postman supports his arguments with examples from scholars/scientists like Stanley Milgram, Sigmund Freud and D.H. Lawrence. I found it interesting that unlike social research, the study of science aids the Technopoly to solve subjectivity with straight hard facts.

Postman concludes the last two chapters of this novel by discussing the importance of symbols in a Technopoly and how significant that symbol is. He explains how the computer is now the symbol of a technopoly and how the statue of liberty is the symbol of America's freedom. Most importantly, Postman uses the last chapter to answer, "Can a nation reserve its history, originality, and humanity by submitting itself totally to the sovereignty of a technological thought-world?" (p. 183). He uses this question to answer what technology has done to America, making Technopoly essentially a problem in society. Later in the concluding chapter, Postman reiterates the importance of an education (specifically science and history), and that technology is drastically changing the way students learn and behave in the classroom. Therefore, Postman proposes "a curriculum in which all subjects are presented as a stage in humanity's historical development; in which the philosophies of science, of history...are taught" (p. 199) to better our humanity and not have such a negative effect from this Technopoly.

P.S. Just witnessed a bunch of websites with these algorithms. Amazon.com emailed me about a sale on watches and how there is a sale...I searched watches a week ago!