The video did a really good job of re-iterating much of what Liz talked about in lecture in a way that helped me to solidify the information learned and further understand the history. It's interesting to think that computers and the internet were just starting to develop around the time my parents were growing up and yet it was so complex and underdeveloped then that it's really no wonder they (my mom) still have trouble figuring out the technology.
The simplicity of the graphics definitely helped to break down this extremely intricate development to the most basic of concepts and therefore easier to understand how progress was made in developing the internet. Sometimes just reading about something isn't enough and it was nice to have a fluid visual aid to help. Although a lot of details about the internet's history were left out, the creator did a good job of being concise when presenting the information. Having such a short explanation helped me to stay focused and not get distracted when listening to him talk about packet switching and interface message processors.
I think you make a really interesting point about our parents generation and the internet/computers. Ever since kindergarden computers have been a HUGE part of school. To think that our parents went through most of their academic lives without one, and if they had one it was very very basic, is unbelievable to me. I'd like to pose a question in regards to the social implications of the internet in academia...
ReplyDeleteWhen our parents were growing up, when they were assigned a paper they had spend hours at the library gathering information and then hand write a draft, type it on the typewriter, and white out any grammatical/typing errors. The whole process took A LOT longer. Now, when we are assigned a paper, we type in keywords into a search engine like google, read a few articles, and write the paper. We use a website to auto cite our sources, use spell check to correct it, and all the while sitting at home. I think that because computers, especially the internet, make everything go so much faster, more work is assigned nowadays. I also notice that students in our generation are being overly prescribed and abusing adderol or other medications like that. It makes me wonder if technology (i.e. the internet) has sped things up to an extent that the human body cannot handle and feel the need to look to external and unnatural substances to keep up. What do you think?
You make a great observation. Obviously technology has sped things up as it is very much all about making things more accessible at a moments notice. Although I'm not sure if it has necessarily sped things up to a point that we are being overloaded beyond what the human body handle without the aid of outside sources. Many people that use external substances in an abusive way are often using them to cram for exams or write papers at the last minute. It almost makes me think that due to new technologies and all the various ways we have to spend our time, the true problem is that we recognize how easy it is to get our information and find aids to keep us going late into the night. We thus chose to take on more obligations and are ultimately the reason for being so over-burdened.
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