New Technology

The innovation of snapchat 

Snapchat was created in 2011 by Evan Spiegel, Reggie Brown and Bobby Murphy who were all students at Stanford university. The app was designed to communicate but using elements such as photos that disappear 30 seconds after sending. The app became highly popular and is still used by many teens everywhere. It is only about 10 years old however it dominates the social media industry and it used by millions around the world today. 


Social elements probably highly contributed to the use of this social media platform. Once one person started using it it diffused to other teens and became a main form of communication for their age group. Our generations were at the age where we were acquiring cell phones and getting social media accounts and snapchat just happened to be on the uphill. It was a new innovative way to talk to your friends and send photos to make chatting a bit more personable. It also was a convenient and free app so anyone could get it, which made it spread even more. Its one of those apps that nobody ever really got tired of and stopped using, its kinda just a natural habit for teens to use snapchat on a daily basis and multiple times a day to communicate. 

It has a lot of positives because it is a quick way to communicate and build stronger relationships however it is all being done behind a phone screen. Alot of less face to face interaction is taking place now in society because of social media such as this. Teens resort less to spending time with friends and playing outside with their friends, because they'd rather be on their phones. Its also easier for some people to say certain things within snapchat then face to face. It has just become the norma as a way to communicate rather than doing it directly which could be seen as bad. Generations after us could be even worse and less social as technology advances even further then it is. 




Articles Used:
https://www.thestreet.com/technology/history-of-snapchat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations

Eight Values of Free Expression

The Most Important Value

One of the eight values of free expression that sticks out to me is the marketplace of ideas value.While not only does it represent freedom of speech it exhibits the rights to have opinions different than others too. It is one of the most important because it touches on everyone contributing their own ideas to possibly develop an even bigger one. Everyone has a different outlook and sometimes judgement is clouded by other biases or personal experiences, so having everyones ideas put into one and being able to draw conclusions from that is pretty cool.  i personally could relate to sometimes not contributing my thoughts/feelings towards something and later regretting not speaking my mind. I have the power to do so, so why wouldn't i use that to contribute to a greater idea. I see it as a bunch of different minds are coming together with all kinds of different thoughts that maybe build off of eachother to form a huge idea that maybe hasn't been thought of before. 

It also shows just how important community and contributing ideas is because if people didnt all come together and do this there wouldn't be new ideas made today. Opinions only stay opinions unless they are expressed and put out into the world. I think it is important that people are able to come together to share ideas to possibly form a bigger one. While all of the values of free expression contribute differently, i see this one as benefiting not only the ones contributing ideas but society as a whole when they are put into place for public use. New inventions, ideas and ways of thinking all come from these ideas that were once thought up and eventually expressed to others. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketplace_of_ideas

Technology Continued...

History of Cassette Tapes

Originally refereed to as the compact cassette, introduced by Phillips in Belgium in 1963. It wasn't until 1965 that completely blank cassettes were created for recording devices and playback. By 1953 1 million households contained tape recorders that allowed the actual cassettes to be played and listened to. The actual casette  It contained 2 miniature spools that had an analogue magnetic tape made of polyester that had the ability to record and playback. They were originally created for dictation machines but later developed into something much more. It could come in blank forms for recording purposes or already loaded with content such as music. It allowed for easier and cheaper recording and playback than previous devices. Both Phillips and Sony related portable cassette platers that allowed those to listen to things such as music anywhere. Some cars even developed cassette players within them so that things could be plated while driving other than the radio.  For almost 2 decades they were extremely popular however  in 1980 they began to decline because of the discovery of CDs and other forms of playback. In 2001 less then 1% were sold due to this drastic decline. They are much less used today with the formation of smartphones and new technology. When Phillips created this device they had no idea what it would transform into as years progressed. From the walkman to the iPod to the first smart phone. All of these devices contained playback services as well as recording capabilities. 

Today, we probably cant imagine life without a portable device that we can listen to music on while walking to class or driving in our car. The advancement of something so small has turned in to a bigger idea that has transformed the way we listen and stream today. 




Related Articles.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassette_tape
https://southtree.com/blogs/artifact/the-convenience-of-the-cassette

Technology I Learned About

Technology Innovation Pt2 :

The first Personal Computer- 

The first non personal computer was Created in 1822, The word Computer oring referenced a person who did calculations, not the invention itself. They served to be of importance within the industrial revolution to automate tedious tasks and perform functions of making things. The "loom" was created out of this that automatically could weave fabric designs within the warehouses. During world war 2 the first digital calculating machines were developed. Later in the 1950's integrated circuits were created and implemented within these newly created devices in order to also perform various tasks and make a-lot of things simpler for workers. 

Apple computers were released April 1976, by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak ,with a single circuit board. It wasn't until 1977 that color graphics and more advanced graphics were incorporated within the product, as well as bigger drive space. The first personal computer by apple  dropped in 1983 and it was called "lisa". It had icons and even featured drop down menus and options.The flip factor it incorporated started to be referenced as a "laptop" and the term has been used ever since. Search engines such as google started up around 1996, and wifi was created soon after in 1999.

It wasnt until the creation of the iPhone in 2007 that internet became available on cellular and personal devices. This innovation changed the use of internet and computer like softwares forever.

Technology Timeline Topic

The 1st Camera Phone-

The first camera phone, known as the  Kyocera Visual Phone, was created in 2000 by Sharp. When it was released it cost around $400 to the public. It was made up of a 1.5 inch screen, weighing 74 grams and containing only a back facing camera. it had the ability to take up to 20 photos that then had to be accessed through plugging the phone into a computer. If even a small video was taken it would take up most of the space on the phone. They also could be accessed by taking out the memory card. The photos were limited to a 0.11 pixel quality, which left them grainy and blurry. The flash was made up of an LED light that gradually dimmed if used for too long, making it hard to adequately take flash photos. The phone ended up being a flop because of its build and limited storage.

In 2002 Nokia took on the task of recreating something better. The screen was 2.1 inches of display and it contained 4MB of storage.It was referred to as the Nokia 7650, and it was much more desirable than the original model that had been made. It marketed for around $329 even though it contained more features than the previous one. In 2005 the Sony Ericsson released, it had an amazing flash and 1.9 inch display and used the new cyber shot technology that had been recently created. It was alot less bulky and easy to put inside a pocket which made it even more desirable then the others. In 2007, however an even more advanced form emerged, the LG viewty. it resembled camera on the outside, including being able to turn it sideways to take the photo. It also had a touch screen that was 3 inches. It included a xenon flash, slow motion video capturing, and 16x visual zooming power.

Today, we dont know what its like to have minimal space on our phones, we can take thousands of pictures and access them on the spot. We can share them on any platform instantly with the entire world. Out photo quality has drastically changed and advanced throughout the past few years. Looking back at how the camera phone started and where it currently is makes you realize just how quickly times and technology is changing. Its hard to even imagine how camera phones will be within the next 10 or even 20 years.


Articles referenced- 
https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/camera-phone-history/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_phone

https://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/flashback-the-past-present-and-future-of-the-camera-phone-1209860

Antiwar? Never heard of it

We don't see many themes of antiwar throughout the US because war has become the center for solving problems and disagreements. War isn't always seen as a bad thing because its ability to resolve issues that may not have been resolved otherwise. While the idea of war can seem scary, especially for those fighting within it, it is a natural part of our history that has been happening for decades. Antiwar activists see war as maybe a waste of money or lives that are sacrificed when it occurs. They see bloodshed as not worth it for the end result.They think there may be other ways of dealing with issues other than war itself. The website also looks into other countries and investigates the brutal deaths of millions of lives on the other end of our war doing. Even the innocent ones who may have lost their lives protesting just because of war. The theme of anti violence and not having to kill mass amounts of people. But what other ways can we resolve issues with countries that we cannot simply speak an agreement to? We engage in war because it is easier and fairer because the strongest party wins. It has nothing to do with verbal agreements like antiwar activists seem to think are influential. While everyone sees the topic differently its hard for our society (mostly) to think that there is any option other than war. While yes, there are certain arguments that should be solved more civilly, i dont think war will ever be outlawed or stopped for solving certain things. It has been around for years and the results have been seen therefore theres no reason to change what we are already doing.

We dont hear about antiwar much because not many people are antiwar.The US has engaged in wars for decades and it doesn't seem that they are going to stop anytime soon, considering wars have shown to be effective in decision making and eliminating of problems. It has shown to be beneficial, and because of this we keep doing it. While antiwar activists do shed light on the millions of lives lost, innocent or not, they do not give alternative ways that would take place of war for solving problems efficiently. The 1st amendment gives us our rights to fight this way, but it also gives activists the right to say their part. 

Related article:
https://www.antiwar.com

Can we Trust Social Media with our Personal Information?

Washington (CNN), September 9th, 2019-
Eight states are being investigated by the attorney general looking into facebook's consumer data and privacy. The concern whether users data has been put at risk in order to enhance advertisements and fit consumers interests and information. Facebook, as well as other tech companies such as google agreed to work with the attorneys general and answer further questioning on what consumer data is used when promoting and advertisement purposes. The fear among policy makers is that this is also hurting competition, due to the system being "rigged" in their favor. While social media platforms have been accused of doing so, there is never a real scope of what information of the users is actual put out to others. Our privacy has been breeched for years and i do not doubt that it will continue to happen because we let them do it and get away with it. People dont (usually) stop using platforms after hearing their data could be compromised and therefore they aren't afraid of losing users due to this. furthermore they won't change what they are doing because it isn't losing them customers or profits. 

I do understand the concern for consumer privacy, but i also do sympathize that markets want to reach the biggest audience they can. If they are putting advertisements out for guys on a girls facebook timeline, it doesn't do as much good as if it was placed on a same-sex timeline. Knowing small snippets of info that doesn't directly hurt the market shouldn't be a problem. Target markets and segmentation is a bit easier when tailoring it to your consumer. I think as long as the personal information of the people isn't released to the wrong source it isn't a breech in their rights to their personal information. They choose what they put on their account and its basically public knowledge so facebook has the ability to access it. Putting your information out there is always warned about, so it isn't a shocker that your information gets used for other things such as advertisements. Its all about marketing and promoting each other and facebook needs to put advertisements on their site inorder to run and be profitable.

Related Article:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/06/tech/facebook-antitrust-investigation/index.html