Some questions to answer from the first day of class...
1. What inspires you about new technologies? Post an example of a new technology you are excited about.
I'm a lifelong nerd and have always loved "new technology smell". I find some new technologies (like my Wacom tablet or something like an iPad) not unlike a new art tool, like a pen or a great, well-balanced pencil. Other technologies are means to communicate with others, whether it's news or entertainment or simple Point A to B communications. As for technologies I'm excited about? Anything that helps me get the ideas from my head to the screen in the most efficient means possible.
I also get a kick out of holding in my hand a device with more computing power than existed on the entire planet 50 years ago. Silly? Yeah, but those are the kinds of things that I find mildly amusing.
2. What confuses / deflates / repels you about new technologies? Post an example of a new technology you think is scary or stupid.
This is a biggie, and one I have definite opinions on. I'll tackle these in order:
Confusion - I can get my head around a lot of different technologies but some I simply don't *personally* feel a need to pursue. Pinterest for example - I don't need to get involved with that because it seems like an idle time-sponge for me for the same reason I don't load Tetris on my phone: I would do nothing but play Tetris all day.
Deflates - The speed with which new ideas and technologies are flying out for people's consumption. This is a great thing, make no mistake. We are living in exponential times! I've resigned myself to never really owning the latest and greatest of anything technological, because in 18 months or less (thanks to Moore's Law), even the most bleeding-edge technology is going to be obsolete, or at least not "bleeding-edge".
Repels - This is a big one for me, and I'm likely going to sound like an old hermit (in my shiny new blog. I love the irony). A hundred, or even fifty years ago, we could live in relative anonymity if we chose to. As technology has progressed, it has brought wonderful things with it, but as it grows, we lose our ability to work behind the scenes as it were. The Democratization of society we discussed in class is fantastic - are we not all equals now more than ever? - but it also has removed one's ability to unplug from it all for more than a little while. You *have* to get an email address to do some things. You *must* leave an online, digital footprint if you wish to exist in society today. An individual can be tracked easily by their online and digital activities. I have a digital footprint myself, so please don't think I'm some anarchist or anything, but I do enjoy anonymity when I choose it as an option. As it has grown, technology has steadily and systematically removed that option.
An example of a scary technology is right in our cell phones. The GPS modules in them allows "authorities" (this is a nonpartisan statement, used in quotations for a reason I can get into at another time) to track where they go. So the handiest means of communication for the individual is also a tether to society in general, and the "authorities" as well.
Once again, I love technology and what it represents. But you must acknowledge and accept the downsides as well.