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Monday, October 22, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Second web writing assignment
The internet far exceeds the potential capabilities of the Memex device described by Vannevar Bush. Not only is it a database of infinite proportions, it provides revolutionary new methods of communication and information sharing. The internet is a collection of thousands if not millions of Memex like devices connected through a global network of satellites and phone cables. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fear that new technological advances can have negative effects on society are not unfounded. The internet, more so than any invention in history, has the potential to revolutionize the way society communicates and functions.
As far back as the 1940's, Vannevar Bush saw the need for some new method of organizing and storing information. Thousands of years of recorded human history has resulted in mountains of material that are nearly impossible to wade through without some new form of indexing. The Memex device that he described would not only condense this wealth of knowledge into a area the size of a desk, it would also provide a way to efficiently search the database (Bush 1). Bush realized that traditional methods of organizing information in libraries alphabetically and numerically were far to cumbersome. He proposed a new method called “associative indexing”. A search of one topic would also bring up several related topics in a way similar to how the human brain operates (Bush 1). This is precisely how internet search engines work today. When a search is preformed millions of pages are scanned for key words. The results are then listed in order of relevance. The internet improves upon Bush’s ideas by allowing for customizable search options. We have the ability to search for complete phrases as well as the capacity to exclude certain words or names from our search. One of the advantages of the Memex device described by Bush is for a person to have, “the privilege of forgetting the manifold things he does not need to have immediately at hand, with some assurance that he can find them again if they prove important.” (Bush 1) Anyone familiar with the internet today knows how to use the “favorites” function. This saves a webpage url into an organized list that can be easily consulted at a later time.
Bush thought the Memex should not only be a repository for material created by others, but that the owner of the device should have the ability to insert his own writings and photographs. These new additions could be shared by printing out a copy and handing them to a friend who could then insert that material into his own Memex (Bush 1). He never could have dreamed that information could be shared instantly between machines on opposite sides of the world. Bush also thought the Memex would be limited to text and photographic information. He had no idea that in the future people would have the ability to share music, audio files, video, and computer software as easily as text or pictures.
Blogging is a new form of internet communication. It allows users to upload any information or material that they desire to a worldwide network. One doesn’t even need to own a computer to do this. The web can be accessed through any number of locations like libraries and cafes that have public computers. When a person does a web search for a topic, blogs are scanned as well as regular websites by search engines. If the information in your blog is relevant to the search topic, it will appear in the list of results. Blogs make it possible for anyone with a basic knowledge of computers to make contributions to the web. It is no longer something that only people with money and extensive computer programing knowledge can do.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, although born decades before Bush, was concerned that advances in technology are not always healthy for society. In his essay, “Fire Worship”, he talks about how the replacement of traditional open hearth fireplaces by wood stoves caused a breakdown in communication between families. No longer did all the members of a house have to crowd around the fireplace during the winter, they could enjoy the same heat in any room with a stove (Hawthorne 1). The internet has the ability to transform social intercourse much more dramatically than the adoption of the wood stove. People can have instant communication with others all around the globe. Text messaging, email, webcams, and blogs allow an unprecedented access to a worldwide community. These innovations surely are wonderful new tools for communication, however the very real possibility exists that as we focus on global communication we may loose the ability to communicate with those closest to us. Internet communication is easier than face to face or telephone communication. Important social skills like eye contact, patience, and the ability to vocalize your thoughts in a clear and easy to understand manner are not necessary for internet discourse. Reflecting on the adoption of the wood stove, Hawthorne remarks that, “...the effects will be more perceptible on our children, and the generations that shall succeed them, than on ourselves.” (Hawthorne 1) This is true today of the internet. As a new generation of children are raised with an ever increasingly open access to the internet, we may see a dramatic change in person to person social interaction. There needs to be a healthy balance between real life and online communication. We need to use the new options that the internet provides to enhance our ability to relate to one another rather than have it breakdown our social relationships.
Bush, Vannevar. "As We May Think." The Atlantic Monthly July 1945. 13 Sept 2007. http://www.ps.uni-sb.de/%7Educhier/pub/vbush/vbush-all.shtml
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Fire Worship." Mosses From an Old Manse.1854. Eldritch Press. 13 Sept 2007. http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/fw.html
As far back as the 1940's, Vannevar Bush saw the need for some new method of organizing and storing information. Thousands of years of recorded human history has resulted in mountains of material that are nearly impossible to wade through without some new form of indexing. The Memex device that he described would not only condense this wealth of knowledge into a area the size of a desk, it would also provide a way to efficiently search the database (Bush 1). Bush realized that traditional methods of organizing information in libraries alphabetically and numerically were far to cumbersome. He proposed a new method called “associative indexing”. A search of one topic would also bring up several related topics in a way similar to how the human brain operates (Bush 1). This is precisely how internet search engines work today. When a search is preformed millions of pages are scanned for key words. The results are then listed in order of relevance. The internet improves upon Bush’s ideas by allowing for customizable search options. We have the ability to search for complete phrases as well as the capacity to exclude certain words or names from our search. One of the advantages of the Memex device described by Bush is for a person to have, “the privilege of forgetting the manifold things he does not need to have immediately at hand, with some assurance that he can find them again if they prove important.” (Bush 1) Anyone familiar with the internet today knows how to use the “favorites” function. This saves a webpage url into an organized list that can be easily consulted at a later time.
Bush thought the Memex should not only be a repository for material created by others, but that the owner of the device should have the ability to insert his own writings and photographs. These new additions could be shared by printing out a copy and handing them to a friend who could then insert that material into his own Memex (Bush 1). He never could have dreamed that information could be shared instantly between machines on opposite sides of the world. Bush also thought the Memex would be limited to text and photographic information. He had no idea that in the future people would have the ability to share music, audio files, video, and computer software as easily as text or pictures.
Blogging is a new form of internet communication. It allows users to upload any information or material that they desire to a worldwide network. One doesn’t even need to own a computer to do this. The web can be accessed through any number of locations like libraries and cafes that have public computers. When a person does a web search for a topic, blogs are scanned as well as regular websites by search engines. If the information in your blog is relevant to the search topic, it will appear in the list of results. Blogs make it possible for anyone with a basic knowledge of computers to make contributions to the web. It is no longer something that only people with money and extensive computer programing knowledge can do.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, although born decades before Bush, was concerned that advances in technology are not always healthy for society. In his essay, “Fire Worship”, he talks about how the replacement of traditional open hearth fireplaces by wood stoves caused a breakdown in communication between families. No longer did all the members of a house have to crowd around the fireplace during the winter, they could enjoy the same heat in any room with a stove (Hawthorne 1). The internet has the ability to transform social intercourse much more dramatically than the adoption of the wood stove. People can have instant communication with others all around the globe. Text messaging, email, webcams, and blogs allow an unprecedented access to a worldwide community. These innovations surely are wonderful new tools for communication, however the very real possibility exists that as we focus on global communication we may loose the ability to communicate with those closest to us. Internet communication is easier than face to face or telephone communication. Important social skills like eye contact, patience, and the ability to vocalize your thoughts in a clear and easy to understand manner are not necessary for internet discourse. Reflecting on the adoption of the wood stove, Hawthorne remarks that, “...the effects will be more perceptible on our children, and the generations that shall succeed them, than on ourselves.” (Hawthorne 1) This is true today of the internet. As a new generation of children are raised with an ever increasingly open access to the internet, we may see a dramatic change in person to person social interaction. There needs to be a healthy balance between real life and online communication. We need to use the new options that the internet provides to enhance our ability to relate to one another rather than have it breakdown our social relationships.
Bush, Vannevar. "As We May Think." The Atlantic Monthly July 1945. 13 Sept 2007. http://www.ps.uni-sb.de/%7Educhier/pub/vbush/vbush-all.shtml
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Fire Worship." Mosses From an Old Manse.1854. Eldritch Press. 13 Sept 2007. http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/fw.html
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Back in the Day
The speed of innovation and improvement in the world of computers is almost inconceivable. Over the past two and a half decades, personal computers have changed from slow and bulky machines affordable only to the wealthy, to the sleek, powerful, and affordable computers of today. In this essay I will discuss several moments in this progression that stand out most in my mind.
My earliest memories of computers are from first grade. We had an Apple PC in the corner of our classroom. I don’t know what model it was, but it was gray. I remember that it had a small blue screen with white letters. It also had a 5.5 inch floppy disk drive. The only thing I remember ever doing with it was playing a geology video game. The object was to break rocks of different harnesses with the right kind of hammer. During the rest of my early elementary grades, my only contact with computers was in the class room. I do remember when my family got our first PC. It was a Packard Bell in '93 or '94. I played different DOS games on it. It also used Windows. That was my first experience with that operating system. As a kid, I don’t remember ever having trouble learning how to use the computer. Paintbrush, on Windows was probably my favorite program in those days.
I think my least favorite memory of computers is from typing class in fifth grade. It was horrible. It should have been exciting, after all we weren't in the classroom reading books. My teacher, Mr. Levy, constantly stressed that, "This isn't a game...these aren't toys...". It was very frustrating trying to remember where the letters were located. We had upside down shoe boxes covering our hands so that we wouldn't look at the keyboard, but we all peeked anyway as soon as Mr. Levy turned his head. It wasn't until several years later that I was finally able to type proficiently.
I don't remember my earliest experience on the internet. I do remember using my dad's work computer to send my first email. This was probably in 1995. I lived overseas for a few years after that and the internet was not available in our home. I got to use it at school and at my dad's office though. When we returned to the states we finally got internet access in our house. It was a big change. Our access to the net was pretty limited for the three years that we were abroad. When we got back to America, pop-ups and banners were making their first appearance. They were so frustrating. What did we ever do be for pop-up blockers were invented?
The next major event that I remember was the change from dial-up to cable modems. My friend next door was the first person I knew who got cable. It was absolutely amazing. I couldn't believe how fast it went. I never realized how slow our modem was until I got to use his. My parents wouldn't spend the money on cable internet for a few more years though. The spread of cable internet seemed to happen around the same time that Napster came out. It was definitely a cultural phenomenon. Being able to download any song you wanted in just minutes for free was so awesome. I also remember when Napster was first shut down. It didn't stop p2p music sharing though. Now there are dozens of Napster rip-offs.
I definitely spend more time on the internet than ever before. I check the news, watch all sorts of media, and connect with friends from around the world. I have to check my email several times a day. Vie never used a typewriter in my life. I also cant remember the last time I used a card catalogue in a library. The internet has become an integral part in our daily lives. The newest advancement in technology that interests me is the portable handheld devices with the ability to access the internet. Within four or five years, today’s model of the iphone will look like an antique. The new devices will be cheaper, more powerful, and more widespread. I cant wait!
My earliest memories of computers are from first grade. We had an Apple PC in the corner of our classroom. I don’t know what model it was, but it was gray. I remember that it had a small blue screen with white letters. It also had a 5.5 inch floppy disk drive. The only thing I remember ever doing with it was playing a geology video game. The object was to break rocks of different harnesses with the right kind of hammer. During the rest of my early elementary grades, my only contact with computers was in the class room. I do remember when my family got our first PC. It was a Packard Bell in '93 or '94. I played different DOS games on it. It also used Windows. That was my first experience with that operating system. As a kid, I don’t remember ever having trouble learning how to use the computer. Paintbrush, on Windows was probably my favorite program in those days.
I think my least favorite memory of computers is from typing class in fifth grade. It was horrible. It should have been exciting, after all we weren't in the classroom reading books. My teacher, Mr. Levy, constantly stressed that, "This isn't a game...these aren't toys...". It was very frustrating trying to remember where the letters were located. We had upside down shoe boxes covering our hands so that we wouldn't look at the keyboard, but we all peeked anyway as soon as Mr. Levy turned his head. It wasn't until several years later that I was finally able to type proficiently.
I don't remember my earliest experience on the internet. I do remember using my dad's work computer to send my first email. This was probably in 1995. I lived overseas for a few years after that and the internet was not available in our home. I got to use it at school and at my dad's office though. When we returned to the states we finally got internet access in our house. It was a big change. Our access to the net was pretty limited for the three years that we were abroad. When we got back to America, pop-ups and banners were making their first appearance. They were so frustrating. What did we ever do be for pop-up blockers were invented?
The next major event that I remember was the change from dial-up to cable modems. My friend next door was the first person I knew who got cable. It was absolutely amazing. I couldn't believe how fast it went. I never realized how slow our modem was until I got to use his. My parents wouldn't spend the money on cable internet for a few more years though. The spread of cable internet seemed to happen around the same time that Napster came out. It was definitely a cultural phenomenon. Being able to download any song you wanted in just minutes for free was so awesome. I also remember when Napster was first shut down. It didn't stop p2p music sharing though. Now there are dozens of Napster rip-offs.
I definitely spend more time on the internet than ever before. I check the news, watch all sorts of media, and connect with friends from around the world. I have to check my email several times a day. Vie never used a typewriter in my life. I also cant remember the last time I used a card catalogue in a library. The internet has become an integral part in our daily lives. The newest advancement in technology that interests me is the portable handheld devices with the ability to access the internet. Within four or five years, today’s model of the iphone will look like an antique. The new devices will be cheaper, more powerful, and more widespread. I cant wait!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Welcome
Hello Everyone and welcome to my blog. My name is Mark and I am a Latin American Studies Major. I have lived in a lot of places, but my hometown for the past ten years has been Richlands, NC. This is my first experience with blogging as either a contributer or a reader. I took Dr Stanovsky for Marx's Capital last semester and it was really interesting. This should be a fun class.
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