Technology
Question One
What is Turkle trying to say? Why do Americans mistrust the American government? Compare Turkle’s position with the article in the Arthur (September 10, 2012, page 3).
Turkle is trying to say that technology has dominated the essence of modern life to the extent that human beings cannot exist for one moment without the influence of the interacting phenomena. In the traditional world, independent determined the growth of individual upwards. Individuals had the capacity to live their lives alone but not any more in the contemporary world. Technology plays a critical role in shifting the cultural roles resulting to the development of online relationships between friends, parents, couples, and students. This indicates the level of connection that exists within the community just because of implementation of technology to influence the aspect of human existence. Development of technology promises closeness in relation to the existence of human beings in the modern society. Individuals have the opportunity to interact effectively though the implementation of technology with the aim of shaping cultural roles and responsibilities. Turkle tries to illustrate the influence of technology in shaping the social and cultural lives of human beings in the contemporary world (Turkle, 2011).
Americans do not trust American government because of the influence of technology. In the modern world, the element of autonomy does not make sense since the government has access to personal life of the citizens. This limits the essence of loneliness or privacy by the Americans thus the development of mistrusts between the individuals. The American government also applies technology to exploit the society thus creating tension between the two entities. This tension is crucial towards the development of mistrust towards the government. The government also uses technology to watch the interaction of the citizens through the social networking sites. This also affects the privacy of the citizens thus creation of mistrust between the government and the Americans. Wrong application of technology is also a source of mistrust between the Americans and the government. The overriding factor in relation to the reason for mistrust is the adoption and implementation of technology towards shaping the social and cultural lives of the society members in the modern planet. Turkle’s position depends on the influence of technology while Arthur recognizes the influence of evolution and chain of being. Turkle identifies technology as the main drive in relation to social and cultural aspects within the modern society while Arthur believes that evolution plays a critical role in the relationship and interactions among human beings in the modern world (Turkle, 2011).
Question Two
Explain Steve Jobs’ approach to comprehensive design.
Comprehensive design by approach entails connection of technology to the creativity, arts, and engineering to meet the growing demands and requirements of the modern society. This approach led to the development of iPod to meet the growing needs of the market. It is in relation to the modern society where technology plays a critical role in shaping the social and cultural aspect of human existence. Comprehensive design according to Jobs should incorporate the three crucial elements (engineering, arts, and creativity) in collaboration with technology. This would play a vital role in initiating communication among members of the contemporary society. The other aspect of comprehensive design in relation to Jobs’ explanation is bold. To supplement the boldness of the new or comprehensive technology, the market must produce cheap designs to cater for the needs of different segments within the industry (Isaacson, 2011).
It is crucial for the design to be cheap and bold to command large share of the market thus obtaining competitive advantage in relation to other key players within the market. Comprehensive design should portray elements of ease in operations to allow numerous users to implement its applications with minimal difficulties. The ability to satisfy the needs and requirements of the consumer depends on the ease of its implementation. This indicates that the consumer would have the opportunity to maximize his or her wants through effective and efficient implementation of technology. Comprehensive design should also have the capacity to integrate in all or numerous systems thus maximization of the output. The development of iPod led to adoption of comprehensive technology that would integrate into computers, FireWire, devices, and software or content management (Isaacson, 2011). This implies that comprehensive design has the opportunity to execute multi roles within the technological market and industry.
Comprehensive design should also appeal to the eye thus attracting potential consumers. The attraction process would guarantee the organization on the increase in revenues and profits levels at the end of the financial year. The designers must ensure that the products are presentable with reference to the market content. This would enhance the position of the product within the market hence aiding attempts to obtain competitive advantage. This is a reflection of the adoption of iPod in relation to previous designs performing similar roles within the music world. Comprehensive design should also be portable to ease the essence of transportation from one location to another. It is critical for the design to enjoy a higher degree of portability in order to serve the needs and preferences of the consumers regardless of the location. This element of comprehensive design would enable consumers to maximize the productivity of the technological devices thus creation of effective bonding with the gadget. Comprehensive design should also provide large room for accumulation of a large quantity of data. For instance, the iPod designation was to accommodate numerous songs thus offering the consumer opportunity to enjoy vast pool of resources in relation to the design (Isaacson, 2011).
Question Three
What do you think of the Facebook story? If you saw the film, how would you compare the film to the Kirkpatrick or the Mezrich book? Is there a person, or are there persons, in the story that you could identify with? What are the various roles in the book that speak to your own personal experience?
Facebook story is a reflection on how technology has a great role in the shaping of cultural and social lives, in the modern world. The founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg implements technological knowledge to develop interacting site that enhance interaction among members of the community. The rapid growth and development of Facebook is an illustration of the embracement of technology by society members towards executing their goals and objectives. The Facebook story also illustrates the elements of conflict that might arise due to implementation of technology in enhancing execution of the roles and duties in the modern world. This is a reflection of the conflict between the co-founders of the Facebook program resulting into numerous lawsuits. Mark Zuckerberg decides to ignore other founders who played a critical role in the realization of the influence of Facebook with reference to modern technology. This results into conflict among the founders of the program thus the essence for the creation of the book and the film (Mezrich, 2010).
The book and the movie/film portray two different scenarios at the start with reference to the Facebook story. The film starts through dumping of Mark Zuckerberg by his college girlfriend while the book starts with presentation of the protagonists as two individuals fighting to put social acceptance behind their back. The characters in the book share the same names in the film. For instance, the film has Edward and Mark while the book also reflects the same names to foster the development of the plot. There is also conflict at the end that results from the implementation of the Facebook technology in the modern society thus the never-ending lawsuits between Edward and Mark as reflected in both the film and the book. The book also adopts the essence of dating sites while the film focuses on the development of Facebook program (Mezrich, 2010).
In the Facebook story, I would identify with both Eduardo and Mark because of their embracement of technology to shape social and cultural aspect of human beings within the modern society. This is in relation to the enhancement of communication among different individuals within the society. Mark goes further to make an enormous living out of this program as a reflection of business orientation. This makes him favorite character within the Facebook story thus coming out as a smart individual. The moral of the story would entail implementation of technological idea to enhance human development in key areas such as communication. Although Eduardo does not reap the benefits of the program, it is unethical by Mark not to share the outcome of Facebook implementation (Mezrich, 2010).
References
Mezrich, B. (2010). The accidental billionaires: The founding of Facebook : a tale of sex, money, genius, and betrayal. New York: Anchor Books.
Isaacson, W. (2011). Steve Jobs. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Turkle, S. (2011). Alone Together: Sociable Robots, Digitized Friends, and the Reinvention of Intimacy and Solitude. Basic Books.
