Net Neutrality
Whoa, we just talked about this today.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/08/us-congress-internet-idUSTRE7376UR20110408
Add comment April 9, 2011 celiacroft
Call me “old school” but…
Like some who have already posted, I have never differentiated between “private entities” and the web. Though I am invested in Facebook, Netflix, Pandora etc. (those all count as private, right?) I don’t distinguish between the public and private domains, but rather, as a fellow classmate commented, “online” or “offline.”
Forget convenience Apps; I am all about the Google searches. Maybe I am just technologically ignorant because tech “toys” aren’t really in my life. I don’t own an iPhone, iPad, or smart phone, and the extent of the apps on my iPod(iTouch? whatever they are called now) are two games the kids I babysit downloaded. Until they showed me, I didn’t even know how to download an application.
In reading this article I started to wonder–where have I gone wrong? Am I missing out on something? Honestly, I don’t think I am. Call me old school, but I am functioning perfectly fine without the accessibility. Like I mentioned with the children’s books, we have SO MUCH technology in our lives that we don’t need to be persuaded to buy/ use it even more. And that’s the thing–if it eats at our pocket books or interrupts our daily activities–then is it all really worth it? Sure, my Netflix account was great at first, but when I started getting daily e-mails about upgrading and giving them even more money I became the customer who retaliated by deactivating all together. (I am also the customer who can’t sit through a movie because I get bored).
Maybe I just don’t appreciate technology–blame it on my major–but when is this all going to stop? Sometimes I really miss the days of dial-up. Convenience and the access to material are wonderful, but if we weren’t ever exposed to it would we be so preoccupied with it all?
3 comments April 8, 2011 danacazan
The Web is Dead?
I am not going to lie I was a bit mystified by this article. I understand that more and more people are using apps on smart phones, but I don’t know many people who prefer the 2 inch by 4 inch screen of their iphone to the far larger screen of their laptop. I do not doubt that web browsing in the U.S. has diminished, but I do not think that it is in any danger of becoming extinct. I have not heard anything in the past couple of years about the sales of laptops declining, on the contrary I would be willing to bet that the number of people that buy laptops rises every year. At the beginning of fall semester I continue to pass by newly minted freshmen on campus wit their brand new laptops opened reverently in their laps and they are struggling to figure out apogee, not a new app.
2 comments April 8, 2011 laurenpat
The Web is Dead?
While I was reading the article, a million different ideas and thoughts ran through my head. Above all, I disagree that the Web is dead. While I am absolutely guilty of having a smartphone and I would never, ever give it up, at the end of the day, I still come home and check my email on the actual computer and prefer to do so. While I do have a smartphone, I’m not a huge fan of apps. Most of them I find kind of pointless, and like Dr. Moon said in class, I don’t know how some of them get approved.
Add comment April 8, 2011 kreeder
Niches inside the internet
After reading both the blame us and blame them parts of the web is dead article all I can think about is the cycle of popular culture and capitalism we went over in the first week of class. The world wide web is invented, consumers find there niche or subcategories they like such as google, facebook, netflix, skype, etc., and then apps are made to by big business figures as part of capitalism, to meet demands and make money of the popular culture of the consumer. Input and feed back cycled back and forth. I also feel as though the web isn’t dead but rather more refined and categorized. Like any market such as soft drinks, there will always be the McDonalds and Cokes of the worlds as well as the rite cola and taco bells. Consumers want facebook so they get facebook, on the go, at home, anywhere because thats what they wanted.
2 comments April 8, 2011 ehamrick
Wandering the Web
Like many other members of the class, I was a bit mystified by some of the content of the piece on Wired. However, from what I could grasp, I was intrigued by the core concepts explored; specifically, the differences between the Web and the Internet. It does seem as though, in this day and age, more consumers seem to be headed in the direction of the more “directed” form of interacting with online content, through apps or dedicated websites. Most of the time, these locations serve as hubs that allow them to receive content that they would otherwise have to forage through various websites to find. However, for some, isn’t this the reason we are so fascinated by the Web? To see simply how deep the virtual rabbit hole goes? The possibilities of the Web are seemingly endless, and it demands to be explored to its deepest depths.
2 comments April 8, 2011 camerongb
Seriously?
Okay. The web is not dead.
Seriously?
The web is what ‘s in your browser (mostly, I mean FTP is, too) and what are we doing as students right now? We’re typing in a browser. We’re using HTML (what browsers and the web depend on) to send information. Sure, apps are gaining popularity and all of that, but I really doubt there will be a day when HTML will be obsolete and no one will know what the web is.
I understand where the author is coming from but this claim is a little much for me.
Add comment April 8, 2011 Charles
The Internet vs the Web
Last week I was having a conversation with a friend of mine in her 50s and she used the phrase “world wide web.” I told her that that phrase was seriously outdated and that everyone called it the Internet now. However, I was under the allusion that the Internet was a synonym of the web, as was the also outdated “information superhighway.” Is it public knowledge that the Internet is different from the web? Or have I been living under a rock? From this article I did find it interesting that the Internet is not as interested with singular sites but rather how they connect with one another. In theory the web is getting smaller, for we are mainly using sites such as Facebook, Google, and various email providers. It seems the “information superhighway” has gone down to a two lane street.
Add comment April 8, 2011 llbennett90
The Web is Dead. Long Live the Internet
It is astonishing to see how much of one’s life is run by applications and what the internet has to offer. In a day and age where people want things presented to them in the easiest and quickest way, the web is just too slow and time consuming. Applications for phones, ipads, and computers make life easier and less complicated. They can give us directions, let us play games, set our schedule, keep track of bank accounts, and access information with the touch of a finger. People use the internet to express themselves in other ways than just the web. The web isn’t the end all be all of technology; it’s only a piece of a bigger puzzle which is the internet. The great thing about the internet is that it can be used at a personalization level the web does not have because the internet is more dynamic and can be used in different ways.
Add comment April 8, 2011 rileybaver
Internet for Dummies
I’ve never considered myself a computer whiz by any means, but I know how to get things done, find information, troubleshoot minor problems, etc. But this article went over my head by…a lot. I thought the section about Facebook was very interesting because I could relate to it more easily than most of the article. I don’t want to get email on my phone – I don’t see that as convenient, I see it as just another outlet for someone to reach me, and probably annoy me or give me something to do. I think the accessibility that apps have given us (getting email on EVERYTHING, having a thousand different ways to reach a person) just cause more stress in the long run. You’re expected to respond quicker because you can get the same message in about a dozen forms. Remember the days when if you couldn’t be reached on your home phone, you simply couldn’t be reached? I wish I could do that. (There was a scene in The Fighter where no one knows where Christian Bale’s character is, and they’re all just standing around waiting for him. I was jealous of Christian Bale’s character at that moment. I was jealous of a crackhead.)
This also might be a really, really juvenile way of interpreting this article, but its emphasis on apps just didn’t appeal to me. I love Netflix and Facebook, don’t get me wrong. (Twitter is okay.) But I also love finding random sites that aren’t particularly interactive – StumbleUpon.com, anyone? You can find some really cool stuff through that site, and that’s what I love about the internet. I hope that doesn’t become obsolete. But what do I know, anyway.
Add comment April 8, 2011 celiacroft
