Blog #10 - Final Post

I was so happy when I returned from summer camp as an eight-year-old to find a brand new MacBook Pro on my desk. Prior, I did not own any Apple product other than the iPod Nano so I was in disbelief with all the computer could do. From iChat with friends to messing around in iMovie, I was glued to my new computer and loved everything about it. Since I did not grow up with a computer, I understand what life was like without a computer. Now that I am focusing on a career that involves lots of time on the computer, I value the fact that I was not consumed with technology growing up and that I had an active childhood. Nowadays, I look around while eating at restaurants and see parents using iPads and iPhones like their pacifiers to keep their children busy, distracted, and content. But what are they doing on these iPads? I investigated two years back when on vacation with family friends that had a four-year-old daughter. The answer is that she was watching and playing nonsense. From watching random girls on YouTube opening up toy packages (unboxing videos, as they are called, are super popular amongst children for some strange reason) to playing mindless games, she was not learning anything or engaging with anyone else.

After having my first MacBook Pro for a few years, I began taking lessons in Adobe Photoshop. By then I had an iPhone and an iPad to go along with my computer but take pride in not being sucked in. I played hockey and played the drums all my life up until college as was always busy and active. In middle school, I slowly got into social media networks with the emergence of Instagram but I have always preferred Twitter above them all. To me, Twitter is the best way to get news and allows me to participate in a community of New York Islander fans, my favorite sports team. I am guilty of spending way too much time on Twitter, mindlessly scrolling for something that might be interesting or at least entertaining. When I am unable to watch an Islanders game, you can always find me refreshing Twitter looking for game updates for the beat reporters.

I would like to limit the amount of time I spend on my phone a day and have made a conscious effort in doing so. Although I haven't been able to pull myself away from Twitter, I no longer use Snapchat, use Instagram less, play zero games, and never fell into TikTok's addictive algorithm. However, I use technology a lot and that goes back to the Photoshop lessons I took. In high school, I decided to take Photoshop seriously and now, it basically consumes my life.

When I am not doing school work, I am photoshopping. Graphic design is a passion of mine and my goal is to either work for a professional sports team one day as the head creative or to start a design agency of my own. However, taking seriously for a few years now, I have learned that immersing yourself in technology and spending a lot of time looking at a computer screen requires sacrifices because there is only so much time in a day. When I am not doing school work, I am on Photoshop or another Adobe program since I have slowly been learning some of the other applications in the Adobe Creative Suite dating back to when Covid-19 ended my freshman year early.

At this point, and I guess the past decade or so has gotten us here, technology like the products pushed out by Apple are no longer gimmicks but essential pieces of equipment to navigate life. No longer can my grandparents say that an iPhone looks too complicated for them to use because everyone has one and Covid-19 has made FaceTime the only way we can communicate face-to-face. My grandparents tried to stay away from all these technological advancements but now, my grandmother talks to the Amazon Alexa like they're best friends. My father is an entrepreneur and technology allows him to start new ventures with ease. He used to have a truck that he drove around that rotated through different advertisements but now starting and promoting a new business is super easy with Facebook, Instagram, and the internet as a whole. My mother is a teacher and Covid-19 taught her how important technology is with distant learning through Zoom. What would have happened to our education system during Covid-19 without technology to keep us connected even when we are apart?

Overall, I do not think technology has taken over our lives but has rather enhanced them. Sure, there are people that spend way too much time with their heads down but for those who control technology instead of letting technology control them, the result is a quality lifestyle where technology is simply a tool to help you navigate and communicate.

Blog #9 - Alternative Media

Contrary to the mainstream media, alternative media is not for profit and for the most part, tries to deliver and analyze news in an unbiased way. Since they are not corporate-owned, alternative media has been referred to as the "citizen's media" with a social responsibility to replace objectivity with advocacy. Alternative media is full of large personalities who look to use their agenda-free platform to challenge the status quo and to ask the questions that mainstream media networks would be afraid to ask. Alternative media has a reputation for being radical at times with polarizing personalities who propose radical concepts and policies while also seeming to have their priorities out of line. Social media networks have given alternative media access to a larger audience than ever before and social media consumers enjoy hearing different perspectives and voices as a desire for a marketplace of ideas increases.

Defining alternative media any further is a tough task considering the term alternative media represents any type of media that is not corporate-owned or for profit. Examples of alternative media could quite literally range from a blogger in his parent's basement to a modest studio with a production crew. Alternative media encompasses blogs, social media pages, podcasts, radio shows, YouTube videos, and much more.

These independent companies are often small and understaffed, however, are essential to inspiring social and political action. As Chris Atton, a lecturer and scholar of alternative media, says, the goal of alternative media is "to change towards a more equitable social, cultural and economic whole in which individual is not reduced to an object... but is able to find fulfillment as a total human being".

As a whole, society needs alternative media to contribute to the rapidly-growing marketplace of ideas that social media and technological advancements have created. The corporate-owned mainstream media is biased and that bias depends on who runs the network and the audience they are trying to please. Not looking to ruffle any feathers at the risk of losing viewers and money, mainstream networks stay away from stories or avoid talking about issues in length when that story or issue goes against the perspective of the anchors and the audience. While there are only a limited number of mainstream media networks, there is an abundance of alternative media that can be found almost anywhere from newspapers to social media. Applications like Snapchat and Instagram are expanding from a way to see pictures of friends to a way of gaining information with options to subscribe/follow both mainstream and alternative media networks.

Since there are so many forms of alternative media, it is also a lot more diverse than the mainstream media which seems to be obsessed with hiring former politicians and old white men. Since alternative media is more diverse, it focuses a lot more on political and social issues than the mainstream media and attracts more minorities who look for news from people who share their perspectives or can at least relate to their struggles.

While some alternative media is radical and in that case, no different or worse than mainstream media, it is still important that we have media that is not agenda or profit-driven.

Blog #8 - Online Privacy

As technological advancements change the ways we communicate, the concern over online privacy grows. In the Digital Age, technology has given us so much. We can communicate with people from around the world, literally bringing us face to face with the ones we love no matter how far away they are. Social media networks have allowed us to keep in touch with friends and to make new ones as applications like Twitter and Instagram have created a large marketplace of ideas in an engaging way. But at what cost? Other than buying a computer or phone, usage of social media, the internet, and many other applications are free of charge.

Millions of people around the world take part in all different types of social media networks, voluntarily giving up personal information as a ticket to participate in these virtual communities. These social media networks, as well as subscription websites, then sell this data to other companies and use the data to help companies target consumers that are almost guaranteed to be interested. In addition to basic personal information, these social media networks can pick up on your interests, your likes, and dislikes, all by monitoring how long you spend on a post and how you engage with it.

One of the biggest social media networks is Facebook and dating back to its inception, it has been under increasingly more and more scrutiny for privacy violations. In 2014, for example, Facebook ran a mood experiment which the public considered extremely unethical when the results were published leading to the data scientist apologizing and removing the study for the web (although nothing ever disappears from the internet). The mood experiment, as outlined by NBC News, involved a large number of Facebook users as the test subjects although they had not signed up or consented. As a part of the experiment, algorithms were created to show users a timeline full of either all positive or all negative posts and to see if that could impact the user's mood.

It is good that these privacy issues have been getting media attention to inform the public to be careful with the information they share and to educate them on how their online privacy is being violated. However, this is only the beginning, and trying to hold all these different networks accountable is a difficult task as they will continue to adapt and find new ways to mine both information and data.

Blog #7 - Diffusion of Innovations

In 2013, Hoverboard took the world by storm with its self-balancing scooter. Made in China by Chi Robotics, the Hoverboard was an instant success in western countries and was endorsed by many celebrities including Justin Bieber, Kendall Jenner, and Chris Brown. This instant success, however, was short-lived after early units caught fire due to the battery overheating and lawsuits over patent rights plagued Hoverboard and their reputation. According to HoverboardHub.com, over 50,000 Hoverboards were recalled in 2016 promptly ending the fad although Hoverboards are not extinct and there are some late adaptors that happily and safely use them today.

Early adopters of the Hoverboard were definitely influenced by celebrities but also by its abilities. The Hoverboard can travel up to ten miles per hour, flawlessly riding up hills while maintaining the same speed and while ten miles per hour may not seem awfully fast, customers definitely noticed a difference in speed. The Hoverboard works as a controlled transportation device when a user steps onto the platform raised by two motorized wheels, they are able to control the speed and direction of the Hoverboard by shifting their balance/weight.

As previously mentioned, the Hoverboard's rise was as quick as its downfall. A U.S. News article reported that between 2015-2016, there were 26,854 hoverboard injuries that sent kinds under the age of 18 to the hospital. As kids fractured, strained, and sprained their bones in homes all across America, the lithium-ion battery of the Hoverboard was causing problems as well. Several viral clips of batteries bursting into flames coupled with all the injuries it was causing to children especially, people turned their back on Hoverboards and deemed them unsafe without at least using a helmet and other padding. As time has gone on, people have regained their trust in Hoverboards thanks to new manufacturers made possible by patent issues and although they will never be as popular as they were in the early 2010s, there are certainly late adopters who find pleasure and joy in their Hoverboard. 

Blog #6 - The Camera Phone

Over the past two decades or so we have seen many technological breakthroughs whether it was the introduction of social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram or video chat which has become an essential thanks to COVID-19. However, we can not leave out the camera phone, the advancements it has made over the past 20+ years, and the competition that drove these advancements.

It all started in June of 2000 when Sharp released a J-Phone that is credited as the first phone with a built-in camera. The J-SH04, which was released in Japan, took pictures at 0.11 megapixels and allowed users to share photos electronically. A few months later, in November of 2000, Samsung joined in on the fun, releasing the SCH-V200 in South Korea. The SCH-V200 could take pictures at a slightly higher quality than the J-SH04 at 0.35 megapixels but photos could not be shared electronically as users had to hook their phone up to their computer in order to obtain their photos. Additionally, the SCH-V200 only allowed users to take 20 photos at a time, requiring the photos to be uploaded to a computer after reaching the photo limit.

Two years after Sharp and Samsung introduced the camera phone, it finally made its way to the United States via the Sanyo SCP-5300 from Sprint. The 2002 SCP-5300 took photos as large as 640 x 480 pixels, had flash, white balance control, a self timer, digital zoom, and basic filters. It did not take long for the United States, or the entire world, to fall in love with the camera phone with over 80 million camera phones sold worldwide by 2003.

Looking to outdo themselves and capitalize on the camera phone's popularity, Sprint released the PM8920 in July of 2004 which took pictures as large as 1280 x 960 pixels and even had a separate button just for taking pictures and operating the camera. Most importantly, the PM8920 only cost $150 as opposed to the SCP-5300 which was priced at $400 a year prior. This significant price drop made camera phones more accessible and affordable, allowing everyday people to get their hands on the rapidly growing technology which in turn increased the demand and its popularity.

In 2005, Nokia joined the competition, releasing the Nokia N90 in their attempts to become the number one camera phone in the United States. The Nokia N90 featured a built-in camera that had flash, autofocus, and a rotating screen which resembled the camcorder that people were very familiar with.

Fast forward a few years and as the competition to be the best raged on, a new company entered the mix: Apple and their revolutionary iPhone. When the iPhone first debuted in June of 2007, the camera quality was inferior to many others we had seen in years prior but the touch screen, which was Apple's main focus, won people over and as we all know, the iPhone eventually not only caught up but is now the number one phone in the United States. In fact, according to Statista.com, over 40 percent of smartphone owners in America use an iPhone and it has been that way, with the percentage slowly increasing annually, since 2014.

All this competition played a big role in the rapid development of the camera phone. In fact, in 2013 the Chicago Sun-Times laid off all 28 of their full-time photographers preaching a need for more video and multimedia content. As a replacement for these 28 photographers, the Chicago Sun-Times used freelancers but also made their reporters go through basic iPhone training, relying on them to capture their own content for their stories using their smartphones. That speaks volumes to the power of the camera phone and the iPhone in particular. Keep in mind that this was eight years ago because it goes without saying that smartphone cameras are way more advanced now.

Since it was first released in 2000, the camera phone has come a long way. It has been an essential for all phones for over a decade now and continues to improve annually in terms of quality, accessibility, and features. Everything seems to happen so fast nowadays and the camera phone was no exception. There was money to be made, people to satisfy, and the competition between all these cell phone giants helped speed along the advancements of a technology we have all relied on and familiarized ourselves with.

Blog #5 - Speech Theories

One thing that makes the United States of America so great is the marketplace of ideas. The first amendment allows American citizens to speak freely and with that comes opinions that can be either true or false. A marketplace of ideas was first suggested by John Milton in his 1644 prose polemic known as Areopagitica. Milton was an English poet, scholar, and polemical author who argued in his speech that when both true and false claims are put out into the world, the truth will always prevail. Milton also suggested that the conversation that ensues when both false and true claims are out there makes the truth even stronger. Extending his argument, Milton adds that there should not be a license required to print or publish and that anyone should be able to publish their thoughts as well as their opinions.

In Milton's argument he says that needing a license to print or publish is "a dishonour and derogation to the author, to the book, to the privilege and dignity of Learning." By needing approval, the government has the power to censor opinions they do not agree with and even facts that they do not want the general public having at their disposal. The government has infamously done this throughout their history, especially in response to work that is anti-war. This also leads to authors having to conform their work to the government's standards in order for it to be approved, denying authors creative control, their own opinions, and for the most part, genuinely good intentions.

With the introduction of social media, message boards, and the internet, millions of people all around the world are able to freely share their thoughts and opinions which have been front and center in the action-packed and very eventful year that was 2020. In 2020 there was no shortage of ideas in the marketplace thanks to platforms like Twitter and Facebook and those ideas, claims, and opinions were heavily debated between events like the Presidential Election and the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Personally speaking, I do not like watching or listening to the news. I feel like each network has their own bias and I find it difficult to separate faction from fiction. The marketplace of ideas available to me on Twitter, however, helped me decide who to vote for in the 2020 Presidential Election. I saw and heard both positive and negative opinions, facts, and claims about both candidates and using that information as a starting point, I was able to determine what was true, what was false, and most importantly, I was able to form my own opinion with all the information in front of me.

Unfortunately, despite freedom of press and all the advancements we have made since Milton first delivered his speech, censorship is slowly but surely crawling back into the picture in a very noticeable and concerning way. Over the past few months we have witnessed the former President of the United States, Donald Trump, lose access to his Twitter account, Facebook deleting accounts without reason, and perhaps most alarmingly, the removal of the social media app Parler from both the App Store and the Google Play store. 

According to a New York Times article from January 9, 2021, Parler claimed itself as a "free speech" alternative to other social media applications such as Twitter and Facebook who were removing accounts and posts that they deemed to have incited violence or spread misinformation. In a few short months, Parler was one of the fastest-growing apps in the entire United States. On the same day that they were the number one app in the App Store, they were dropped by Amazon and their web-hosting service, putting Parler in jeopardy in the blink of an eye. The CEO of Parler, John Matze, was understandably outraged by this saying that it was a "coordinated effort" by tech giants in their attempts to "completely remove free speech of the internet."

Failure to properly vet their users and to remove content that was deemed to be incitement were the main reasons citied by Amazon, the App Store, and the Google Play Store for dismantling the application. The problem with that is there were nearly three million users on the application with around 1.5 million daily users. Realistically and statistically speaking, there is no way that all three million users were making threats and violent statements so why should they be denied their platform to freely speak their mind?

It has been an interesting few months to say the least as censorship begins to impact our daily lives and our access to a marketplace of ideas that Milton so passionately defended and fought for.

Blog #4 - Antiwar Voices

There have been many wars throughout the history of the United States and although all these wars were fought for different reasons and in different places, there is one common denominator: War can not be won without support from the citizens. Whether that be people volunteering to enlist or a large amount of money being spent, the government needs the support of their citizens when entering and fighting in a war. Over time we have learned that the United States is not fond of people who speak out against war as they try to punish and silence antiwar figures, voices and movements.

Websites like Antiwar.com and American Conservative have many well-written articles and opinion pieces but their reach and influence is limited to the traffic they get on their websites since there are no opportunities for them to get their message out through the mainstream media despite their coverage of important topics and concerns. These websites also cover the politics involved in war and what is happening in other countries.

To get a feel for the type on content on these websites, I took a look at an article from Doug Bandow titled "President Joe Biden Has a Moral Obligation To Bring America's Troops Home from Afghanistan" from Antiwar.com. In Bandow's story he writes that "Since Washington is entrusted with their welfare, its international policies should begin with their protection and not put them at risk as individuals for reasons other than ensuring their security as part of their larger political community." What Bandow means by this is that the troops have been in Afghanistan for much longer than they need to be with Bandow claiming that the only reason they are still there is to essentially assert their dominance.

In 1644, John Milton stressed the importance of a "marketplace of ideas" meaning a world in which ideas are shared freely and publicly, right or wrong, true or false. Ultimately, with all these ideas out there, the truth prevails and is even stronger because of it. In my opinion, the silencing of these antiwar voices, as well as the failure to give them a large platform, is disrupting the marketplace of ideas.