Blog Post 6: Respons to EOTO Presentations

 

One of the most interesting EOTO technology presentations was on Bluetooth. I am someone who uses bluetooth practically all day and everyday. Apple watch, speaker, car, airpods, laptop and many more things throughout the day. I had heard rumors about what the name actually came from but the fact that a viking king was nicknamed bluetooth is very fascinating. The tooth being blue is disgusting but bluetooth is something that shows advancement in tech but it also is strong. 

You can't use bluetooth without a strong connection between the devices so when I think of bluetooth I find it makes my brain just think of the word strong. This king that it was named after was very strong having the capabilities to unite Denmark and also be respected enough to convince people to convert to christianity so early on. Many people, such as myself, didn't know the true legacy that came along with the name bluetooth. My EOTO was on the IPod and how that changed the way we communicate and technology as a whole but bluetooth was the backbone of a lot of tech advancements and communication advancements even before the boom of updated tech that came in the early and late 2000s. Without bluetooth many of the items we have today wouldn't even exist or be usable if they did exist. Jaap Haarsten single handedly made the initial plan for almost every bit of tech that we use without even realizing that he was making something that was going to be so influential to all of society across the world and beyond as bluetooth has recently made its expansion into the field of space exploration. 

The coolest thing is that it is a byproduct of radio. As crazy as it sounds, radio and bluetooth have always been two separate things to me. I knew that bluetooth could, in a way, jam that of radio waves but I didn't know that it was actually just radio waves as a whole. It is crazy how advanced the technology behind bluetooth is, especially to be discovered and broken down to be studied and figured out in 1999. Even today the technology behind bluetooth is such an advanced field where not many can actually break down the process and explain why it even works. The presentation as a whole was one of my favorites because it opened my eyes into seeing technology very differently than what I thought it was even as someone who uses it everyday.

Blog Post 8: Diffusion Theory

 The IPod came at a time when the realm of music was at a pivotal turning point in history. This plays into the why as to why it caught on and spread as the advancements in tech during the time were making people drift away from the days of using CDs and walkman systems. People were looking for anything to replace the old ways of music technology for something that was both easier and more realistic for the timing. This system gave them exactly what they were looking for in a new sleek and much easier portable design that would also allow for communication with others. The IPod essentially fell right into the laps of those people. There are always those people who will remain stuck in their old ways because its easier than learning something new. At the time of the IPod it was the first of its kind and I think that's why the people who did not adapt to it did just that. They were scared. After using the walkman systems and CDs for so many years this little gadget coming on the market and replacing how we listen to music and communicate is a scary feat. 

As we discussed in class, there is always someone that will resist the change just to say that they didn't give in to the norms that were currently in society. The positive that the IPod brought to the market from the electronics market itself to the advancement of communication and music through a hand held device definitely outweighed the negative impact. The IPod was that early form of brain rot before the days of the cell phone really being a big deal. So the teenagers obviously were obsessed with the IPod just as todays teenagers are obsessed with their phones. Generally, there wasn't much downside to the IPod. To weigh the cost benefit with this you'd have to look at the cost of the IPod and then look at the benefits that it provided and then compare those 2 things to find out how the new communication technology helped the times or hurt the times. Doing the breakdown, the IPod exponentially helped society not even just in the early 2000s but its still helping it now. The IPod was the first thing that gave an indication into the way music could be streamed and found and even easier to be transferred into being portable. Without the advancement then, I doubt there would be nearly as much of the advancements on music and streaming and communication in general in a hand held device as there is now. This invention sparked a clear change in the mindset behind creating devices and it sparked a mini revolution thats still bustling today. 

Blog 4: EOTO Com Tech Timeline

 Music is at the core of everything in our society. Over time, the advancement of the way we capture music has become more and more advanced. Today we can throw on Spotify or Apple Music or even obscure sources of music like Tidal all with the click of a button on our phones and laptops. So much so that as I think about how to write this piece, there is music playing through my headphones. The goal of the IPod was to improve in the areas that the classic MP3 player was heavily lacking in. A guy named Tony Fadell was the charge of the creation of the IPod. He brought the project idea to Apple and they hired him as an independent contractor under the Apple Computers sector in 2001 and this caused directly led to the development of the new MP3. 

Fast forward a few months and Fadell jumps into a partnership with the company PortalPlayer which was founded in 1998 and is no longer in existence after a sale to Nvidia for close to 400 Million dollars in 2006. Within a few months of Fadell being hired, the initial prototype was released and the rest is history as it went on to sell at an incredible consistency across its run for the following years. Lets keep in mind that at this point in the world, the way we collected and subsequently listened to music was at a key shifting point. Society was beginning to shift away from the realm of CDs and the IPod was the way to curate the music into specific playlist making it easier, more enjoyable and quicker than that of the walkman. The IPod and the ensuing creation of iTunes, made the music industry survive in a time where the direction was heading towards the route of illegal music file sharing and piracy. 

The IPod creation entirely changed and inspired the way a lot things are today and some of those ways are things we don't even think about in our regular lives. The things we use everyday like bluetooth and podcast wouldn't be a thing with Fadell and Apple. The very name podcast is said to be influenced by the name. The bluetooth speaker was also a byproduct in specific the Bose SoundDock 10. Additionally, the IPod did something that no other device has ever done and that is put the consumer/user first in a way that they can both prioritize the usability and enjoyment of a product in the simplest way. 

Overall, over the run of the sales, there wasn’t a negative impact upon society. The negative impact came when Apple started putting iTunes on the phones and then that effectively phased out the creation of more IPods. 

For everyone involved in the time, including myself, the IPod changed the world. I never had to walk around with a walkman or a MP3 player but I can remember early on seeing the IPod and being thunderstruck by the design and everything that I could do before ever thinking about getting a phone. It was the one of the highlights of its time and to this day it is remembered as one of the most pivotal moments in our lifetime and history as a whole. 

Blog 3: Key Post

 The state of the US is something that is in immense turmoil.  Day in and day out we see the stories spreading as the presidential election becomes a closer reality. CNN runs a daily live update about the presidential election and the ups and downs of each side. Of course, this is met with backlash from everyone whether in favor of the democrats or the republicans or just all around not in favor of either side.This, to many people, begs the question of why? Why do people love to comment on politics with no actual logical insight most times. I look at politics and sit to the side. Although I have a vast knowledge on the political realm of the world, I'd rather not have to argue for my views on it. With all that in mind I think it is key to realize that nobody will ever all be on the same page with anything in the world. Politics is one of the biggest things that people will never be able to agree on no matter what the state of the US or the world is in. The fact that this takes place is what makes us all different. It is the thing that creates our identity as a whole which is why individual self fulfillment is one of the most important 8 values of free expression in my eyes. 

Individual self fulfillment is the concept of free speech that enables people to be able to express themselves freely which in part, creates our identity. By this logic, freedom of speech becomes a key aspect in looking at  human dignity, human agency and autonomy. If we all thought the same there would be nothing in the world. Of course, there would still be things in the world but everything would be the same. Lackluster and boring. With this protection under the 8 values everything is different and that creates the world we know and love despite the consistent arguing over politics or the consistent request for better from the world. Every person needs their own personality to succeed in life. I additionally think this concept plays into that of number 8 on the values of free expression. We are not human beings without the things that separate us. 

Number 8 protects minority views no matter what the circumstance the views are under. The key to remember is that everyone has the right to be able to disagree with each other and also disagree and publicize their opinions on the government to the point where this is practically our duty as citizens. To be fulfilled means that one is living in their own truth and additionally, when people speak on the government in a good or bad manner, that is apart of the truth that we aspire for and strive to find in our lives. If all of that was no longer where would we be. The world itself, as mentioned above, is in a terrible state. The US is in a bad spot on its own. Imagine it without having these clarifications into the values of free expression and freedom of speech under the First Amendment  and imagine how much worse things would be if it didn't exist.

Blog 2: Supreme Court

 Through the first video I found out that the justices meet up once a week to discuss and decide which cases will be accepted and additionally vote on the cases that have already happened. Another thing is the immense overall respect that every one has for each other by having the moniker “everyone speaks once before everyone speaks twice.”

Something that surprised me is the fact that the judges do their work in the eyes of the public. Most of the time the court is behind closed doors and the assumption would be that the highest of courts would be even more secretive and private then the average run of the mill local judicial system. 

The most important takeaway and the change of thought go hand in hand because the video opens the eyes to the fact that these people are also just as human as we are. I believe that it is easy to forget that the people in power are human too and they are faced with the hardest decisions that are capable in order to better our society as a whole.