Answering Other's Questions Take 2

Questions from http://maggiestillatlas2000class.blogspot.com/

1.) Tools for Thought Chapter 1 and 2: 
When it states the difference between today's personal computers and tomorrow's intelligent devices will have less to do with their hardware than their software---- can you explain in more detail?
Hardware is a collection of physical components that make up a computer whereas software is the collection of computer programs that tell the computer how to operate. So I think what is being said here is that in the future hardware and the physical elements will be so much less important than the innovations in software that they're irrelevant. So much attention now is focused on the physicality and looks of the inner and outer computer design and that will all be obsolete compared to the software advancements yet to come. I am constantly in awe of the software updates on my iphone.Siri now reads my maps to me like a GPS and I can even book a flight on my phone... I can't even imagine what more updates there are going to be in the future. 

2.) The Political Power of Social Media
Explain the thought that the use of social media tools do not have a single preordained outcome?
I think what this means is that social media is an unpredictable tool in politics as well as everyday life. When posting something on a social website, you cannot predict how the audience will respond to it. It depends on the context or the experience of the reader and many other factors. That is what's scary about social media taking over so predominantly... especially since things we see on social media websites aren't always accurate. I remember reading crazy celebrity death rumors, people's crazy statuses from being hacked on Facebook, and many other stories that always make me question what is real or who to trust.

3. The Internet Revolution
What did they use before the mouse?
This is a question that I also was curious about! Since I did not know the answer, I looked it up. It turns out there was no need for a mouse with the original computers. Early computers were text based and only required a keyboard designed to handle computer code. The mouse we use today was invented by a man named Bill English in 1972. 

Answering Other's Questions

Questions from http://atls2000-hannahtuell.blogspot.com/

Resisting Technology: Regaining a personal ecology - Ravi Agarwal 2003

1.) What would be this author's definition of technology?
I think in this article, the author defines technology as any tool that we humans use that does thinking or work for us. I think the author finds humans intelligent and capable of doing many things on our own that technology takes away from us. He believes that we as a race are becoming too dependent on technology and machines that are substituting for using our own brain power.

Architectures of Participation - John Hopkins 2007

2.) In the seventh paragraph, are we being told that through the personal pursuit of intentional isolation, the spirit triumphs?

I think that we are being told that intentional isolation is never the answer. He believes that is it essential to always be communicating and interacting with people so that your body and soul can be fulfilled. Without communication and the presence of others who provoke intriguing and stimulating thoughts, we can never be fully satisfied with our existence. 

Some Tentative Axioms of Communication - Watzlawick, Beavin, Jackson 1967

3.) Was this piece written with a differing view of schizophrenia than what is commonly accepted now? As far as I know and as far as those with schizophrenia whom I know, the disorder simply eliminates a persons consistent ability to communicate effectively. The disorder does not eliminate a schizophrenics participation in the realm of communication as a human being. 

I fully agree with this point. I was also very confused as to what the author was talking about with schizophrenics. I think it is not fair to stereotype a group of mentally ill people and say that they can never effectively communicate. Although they cannot necessarily communicate as easily as most people, that doesn't make them incompetent. That would mean that anyone with a learning disorder or speech impediment is incapable of communication, which is false. I even know as someone without a disorder that at times it is extremely hard to get your point across effectively. This is not because I am an ineffective communicator or am speaking to ineffective listeners, it could be because of our differing languages, experiences  backgrounds or whatnot on the cause of communication.