Where do you think we would be now without the innovations of the telephone? Computer? Internet? I personally feel that we would have eventually gotten to the level of technological advancement we are now, but not as quickly. The amazing scientists and inventors that have ushered us into the "Age of Information" (as referenced in Gleick's work) have been both a blessing and a curse. The world is no longer one that we can depend on our neighbors or trust what we read because the webs of information are no longer purely factual or non-fictional but they are biased and often untrue.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Innovations
I never truly paid attention to the many modes of measurement, but my eyes were opened after reading a few passages by James Gleick. I really enjoyed the references to information as a unit of measure, such as information being "the unit of life" as referred to by Werner Loewenstein on page 9 of Gleick's work. I realize that as technology has advance people have grown to desire more information in a much more urgent manner. If you look out across campus, then you will struggle to find one person without some type of electronic device in their possession. I have realized how difficult it is to have a discussion with anyone without them having to look up what we are discussing or start texting. We would not be where we are now without the innovations of Bell Labs or the brilliant scientists mentioned in Gleick's work.
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You raise a good point! Without the inventions of the telephone, computer, etc, we would be right back at the beginning of time. Instead of sending a quick e-mail, we would have to send a courier by the pony express! We'd have to write on stone tablets. Not realizing how far technology has come is something we take for granted. We should consider ourselves lucky because we've advanced this far, and it'll only continue from there.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to imagine a world without telephones, computers, or the Internet. We've become so dependent on them as a means of communication of information.
ReplyDeleteI must agree with you when you say that we would have eventually created this technology. It would have been a slow moving process and, compared to our computers today, the ones we would have been using wouldn't have been close. We probably wouldn't have had Facebook, or Tumblr, or Youtube, but, at the same time, I feel like that would have been a blessing. Because of how quickly we can gather information nowadays, I feel as if we're living life too fast paced and we need to relax. It's great that we have such an easy means to communication, but it also takes a lot away from us.
I can remember a time that we weren't so involved with electronical devices. Don't laugh but it is true. I also can remember no cable and I remember when television went off (maybe 5 channels) and the national anthem song sang nightly with the flag waving and fighter jets fliying over head on television. I do believe electronical device have help over all with daily life but we have become more impersonal.
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