Let’s take a look at Economy and Power to begin with. In this weeks study, Mike Kent explored how economy is changing from the analogue to the digital. The Internet has made reproduction and distribution, and access to good and services, easier. Now no matter where I am, I can buy and sell things to anyone. There are no barriers to (enter) or exit and there is equal access to production technology for everyone. (Kent 2010). The Internet also blurs the lines of copyright. Who the originator is and who has the ownership of an idea, product or service?
The Internet changes the meaning of power and control. Do we have control and ownership of what we put up on the Internet? I own and run a website called www.inparenting.com.au and here there are online discussion boards, the ability for users to comment on articles, and the ability to share articles on other networks such as facebook. The challenge I faced was the ability to control who and what is put up on this website. Comments need to be approved by the administrator before they are published. I have encrypted our sign up module so spam bots can’t randomly sign up users to the website, which stops the flooding of non-existent users.
Identity and Community go hand in hand. “In many ways the internet connects people that would not be able to be connected to in conventional ways.” (Comyns, 2010). I join communities because other users within that community have similar interests as me and it gives me a sense of belonging. It’s human nature to want to be connected and be apart of a community. The Internet brings a new dimension to those who would otherwise be bound by space. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, I can be apart of a community, and weather or not I show my true identity or weather I hide behind an avatar is my prerogative. Communities exist for the same purpose, both in my online or offline space, to give that sense of belonging.
“Social forces and the Internet mutually affect each other” (Kent 2010). In the week of Society and Technology I learnt that technology can affect how society operates. The introduction of new technologies affects daily tasks, by making it easier and quicker for me. In my online discussion on the blackboard, I focused on the developments in the banking and finance industry. I discussed the many changes from the first ATM to the online banking available today. As people responded to my post I agree with Karen Cooper’s (2010) comment “technology is redundant without society to make it useful and society also influences how technology can be used.” It is all about supply and demand, and the Internet is no different to any other form of business. If there is a need and demand for a faster anytime experience for banking, they will develop new technologies to meet these requirements. It’s the same in any industry.
We are living in the “Nowism” trend. “NOWISM represents a case of consumers jumping on something the moment they actually can. So, the need is never new, the new ways to fulfil it are… While the appeal and influence of ‘now’ has been building for years, societal attitudes, sky-high consumer expectations and new technologies are currently converging in such a powerful way that brands truly have no choice but to go ‘real-time’: in their business intelligence processes, in their customer conversations, in their innovation labs, in their distribution, sales, marketing and branding departments…” (Trendwatching 2010). This article I found on Nowism really sums up the topic of Society and Technology. Without us as consumers wanting to be the “first” at finding something “new”, new technologies would not be developed. It’s an interesting article and I highly recommend taking the time to read it.
The lecture by Matthew Allen on Time and Space completed the serious of module 2 by bringing all of the above elements together. Without these two elements the other topics would not exist. Though I do tend to use the Internet as a place to “escape” time and space, but it is essentially just another form of the two. Time still passes; it does not stand still while you enter cyberspace, which you are physically not a part of.
As mentioned above “Nowism” is about consumers wanting it “now”, and so the Internet is now a tool used by many businesses where their goods and services are available at anytime, anywhere, overcoming the physical barrier of time and space in the offline world.
Grant Beatton’s (2010) example of the “Remote Presence Robot” where surgeons can operate from a remote location has intrigued me to research more on other new technologies that are being developed to make everyday life easier and changing life for the better.
Please read further on my understandings of these topics on the blackboard (thread address’ below in the appendices.)
Appendices
Economy and Power- NET102 INTERNET AND EVERYDAY LIFE (OUA SP3) (302044-VICE-CHANCELLO-475503275) > COMMUNICATIONS > GROUP PAGES > TIM HOLLAND’S DISCUSSION GROUP > GROUP DISCUSSION BOARD > TOPIC 2.1: POWER AND ECONOMY > ECONOMY & POWER > KATRINA COMYNS > 10/17/10 2:06 PM
Identity and Community
- NET102 INTERNET AND EVERYDAY LIFE (OUA SP3) (302044-VICE-CHANCELLO-475503275) > COMMUNICATIONS > GROUP PAGES > TIM HOLLAND’S DISCUSSION GROUP > GROUP DISCUSSION BOARD > TOPIC 2.2: COMMUNITY AND IDENTITY > COMMUNITY AND IDENTITY > KATRINA COMYNS > 10/25/10 7:30 PM
Society and Technology
- NET102 INTERNET AND EVERYDAY LIFE (OUA SP3) (302044-VICE-CHANCELLO-475503275) > COMMUNICATIONS > GROUP PAGES > TIM HOLLAND’S DISCUSSION GROUP > GROUP DISCUSSION BOARD > TOPIC 2.3: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY > Are technologies neutral? > KATRINA COMYNS > 10/29/10 7:25 PM
Time and Space
- NET102 INTERNET AND EVERYDAY LIFE (OUA SP3) (302044-VICE-CHANCELLO-475503275) > COMMUNICATIONS > GROUP PAGES > TIM HOLLAND’S DISCUSSION GROUP > GROUP DISCUSSION BOARD > TOPIC 2.4: THE SHAPING OF TIME AND SPACE > TIME > KATRINA COMYNS > 11/6/10 6:22 PM
- NET102 INTERNET AND EVERYDAY LIFE (OUA SP3) (302044-VICE-CHANCELLO-475503275) > COMMUNICATIONS > GROUP PAGES > TIM HOLLAND’S DISCUSSION GROUP > GROUP DISCUSSION BOARD > TOPIC 2.4: THE SHAPING OF TIME AND SPACE > SPACE > KATRINA COMYNS > 11/6/10 6:51 PM
Kent, M (2010). The Internet and Everyday Life: Power and Economy. Retrieved 10th October 2010 from http://dbs.ilectures.curtin.edu.au/lectopia/lectopia.lasso?ut=3152
Comyns, K (2010). Community and Identity. 17th October 2010. http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_40432_1%26url%3d
Kent, M (2010). Society and Technology (Facebook and Google). Retrieved 26th October 2010 from http://dbs.ilectures.curtin.edu.au/lectopia/lectopia.lasso?ut=3152Cooper, K (2010). Are Technologies Neutral? 1st November 2010 http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_40432_1%26url%3d
Trend Watching (2010). “Nowism” Why currency is the new currency. Retrieved 7th November 2010 from http://trendwatching.com/trends/nowism/Beatton, G (2010). Space 2nd November 2010 http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_40432_1%26url%3d
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