Technology Czar

            President-elect Barack Obama has promised the nation a Technology Czar or Chief Technology Officer (CTO). While this may sound good at first, there are several issues with this new position and their duties. This new position would be able to oversee the entire internet and control what happens, stop corruption, and create a new way of surfing the web. But would he use this power to do good for the people, would he limit the information that is available, or even create regulations to its current freedom? There are several issues that are at top priority and many other issues to consider for the new Czar. I would like to focus your attention to three of these issues in particular: Net Neutrality, money, and the “digital divide.”

            Net Neutrality is keeping the internet as it currently is. As of now, internet surfers are basically allowed to use which ever technologies they want how they want to. There is a possibility that the new CTO would stop this and create usage guidelines. It is not his place to decide what each user does on the internet, nor with which programs or utilities that person does such things. Just as a phone company can’t limit or restrict what you say on the phone, the new CTO should not be able to limit or restrict how or when you use the web. There should be a neutrality about it that allows users to express themselves freely. Another issue might be the possibility of a restriction of information or content on the web. The new Czar could possibly pass laws that let restriction be placed on the information on the web. He or she could limit what information gets to you first and fastest, even more so than the government does right now.

            A second concern of the new Czar or CTO would be the position itself. Where is the government getting the money to pay this new position? Is the position really needed? Would the Czar have a bias towards certain companies, programs, or websites over others? Which company would this new Czar be leaving to attain this new position and who would replace them? What would be the criteria for choosing such a person? What guidelines would they have and who would be their boss? How would this new position fit into the current system of checks and balances? The position itself creates many questions in my mind. I know that the Obama campaign is working on this position and trying to find answers to all of these questions that I have posed as well as the questions of others.

            A third issue would be the digital divide. This refers to the separation between people with effective access to digital technologies and the people who do not have access to such information. Question about this issue align very closely with question about poverty in America. Should the government assist its own people so that all would be at a technologically equal level or not? Should we assist people who do not have internet at all or let them fall more behind? Should we allow the government to pass out copies of certain programs to individuals to keep them as advanced as everyone else and if so, how often? Would things such as income, gender, and race be considered in selecting who get assistance? Would there be a built in hierarchy to the web in terms of who gets priority and top speeds or not? Should all web users be treated as equal, or would money be a factor as to who gets the best?

            These questions have yet to be answered and will probably not all be answered even after the Czar is chose and in power. It will take several years to see the fullness of this issue. And while we are waiting, what is going to happen globally because of this change? Will we ever have wars based on the internet?

Writing for the Web

AUDIENCE 1: a sixth-grade class’ social studies Website

 

New technologies are created many times because of military or industrial development.  Advances in these five areas happen because there is more money being spent in these areas:

1. civil engineering
2. manufacturing
3. information technology
4. food production
5. product distribution technologies

Technologies developed in one area of society help others areas. For example, Word processing technology was originally made for “information exchange” in the military and scientific projects. Now we use Word processing technology for educational purposes also. If we let “word processing” have a basic meaning such as the storage and display of letters and numbers, then we might even say that Word processing technology started from scientific and military ideas about language.

 

 

AUDIENCE 2: a general interest Website such as Wired or Digg where the main readers are technologically advanced

Technologies arrive often as a result of military or industrial development. Advances in:  1. civil engineering 2. manufacturing 3.  information technology 4. food production and 5. product distribution technologies result from economic and political prioritization, which is to say, that is where the money is. Technologies developed in one sector of a society often benefit others through adaptation and extension of principles, infrastructure, and production resources. Word processing technology, for example, was developed originally not for literary or educational purposes, but for the purpose of “information exchange” in military and scientific projects. If we allow a broad definition of “word processing” to mean the general storage and display of alphanumeric characters on printout or video display, then we might even allow that the word storage and display technology proceeds from a set of scientific and military-industrial assumptions about the nature and uses of written language.

 

 

 

AUDIENCE 3: a Wikipedia entry, where the audience could be most anyone.

 

Technologies arrive often as a result of military or industrial development. Advances in such things as civil engineering, manufacturing, information technology, food production, and product distribution technologies are because of economic and political prioritization, aka, where the money is. New technologies developed often benefit many other areas of society. Trough adaptation and extension of principles, infrastructure, and production resources, one new technology can benefit many other areas. For example, Word processing technology was originally created for “information exchange” in the military and with scientific projects, not for its common literary or educational purposes today. When we allow a broad definition of “word processing” to mean the general storage and display of letters and numbers on a printout or screen, then we might even allow the word storage and display technology to have come from a set of scientific and military-industrial assumptions about written language.

 

 

Web 2.0 and AJAX

Web 2.0 is a new kind of internet that allows the user to pick and choose, organize, and arrange a web page in the way that he or she likes. Web 2.0 allows users to interact with the website instead of simply reading it as in web 1.0. For example, www.flickr.com is an example of a Web 2.0 webpage. It allows users to become a member and upload photos, look at other people’s photos, and print photos. www.youtube.com is another common site that uses Web 2.0 technologies to allow it’s users to upload videos. But Web 2.0 is not just limited to visual media uploads like pictures and videos; it also allows users to change the page layout and sometimes content as well. Blogs, such as the one we are using, are internet pages where people can add text to a page to express their ideas and thoughts to other people on the web. Blogs allow users to change the words on the page much like a wiki. A wiki is an internet site that multiple people can change and edit. Wiki’s can be useful to plan events such as conferences, birthday parties, and family vacations. With blogs and wikis, you can edit the text, but you still can’t edit the webpage. Technologies that allow you to move pieces of the webpage around and create a look that is pleasing to the user are also classified in the scheme of Web 2.0. This technology is used on website like www.facebook.com and www.myspace.com. These 2 sites in particular are great examples of multiple Web 2.0 technologies in use. They not only allow users to change and arrange the page layout, but they also allow users to upload pictures, videos, songs, and change the text on specific pages.

 

AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. According to www.wikipedia.com AJAX is “a group of interrelated web development techniques used for creating interactive web applications or rich Internet applications.” AJAX allows web programs to run “in the background” so that they are not noticed by the users of the web page. As is the case for most websites, AJAX will allow the entire site to run faster. Instead of loading an entire page each time a new page is visited, AJAX will keep the information that both pages have in common loaded and only load the new information, thus creating a faster load times for web pages.

 

With faster page loads (and much more) from AJAX; combined with all the user-defined technologies of Web 2.0, the internet is starting to experience a rebirthing of sorts. Where as Web 1.0 was designed as a concrete thing, Web 2.0 is more flexible and dynamic. In the future we can only hope to see more of these new technologies in use and maybe a web 3.0 emerge.

The Internet’s Future

            What will happen in the future is not for sure and no one can know for certain, but it is fun to guess and dream. With all the new advances in technology out there, it’s hard to say what will or even what could happen. The internet is one of those technologies that changes rapidly, ever increasing in speed and content. What will the internet be like in 75 years?

            When we look back 75 years ago, the internet in 1933 was non-existent. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the internet first started to be created and used. The internet has only be around for almost 50 years, so when thinking about 75 years from now it’s hard to even imagine what could be. But there are some new technologies and hints about what’s to come. One of those hints is Google Chrome. It’s Google’s new web browser and operating system which surpassed all other operating systems. (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/comment/andrew-keen-on-new-media-googles-tenth-birthday-present-to-itself-ndash-the-age-of-chrome-is-here-922371.html) By doing this, other companies will have to upgrade their own operating systems so they won’t fall behind. This is the pattern of the internet. Upgrade, update, and improve constantly so that you don’t get behind. And with this in mind, it’s hard to see, but easy to predict that the technologies that are available now are only going to get faster and more reliable. For example, look at all the updates that are available for faster and improved technologies. www.download.com is a websites specifically for downloading updates and service packs and files that improve the technologies that you already have.

            Another fascinating idea that is taking place is called the Grid. In an article on www.wired.com, we learn that the grid is a massive database and a supercharged internet. (http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2001/03/42230) It will standardize everything and organize all of the technologies out there. They will now run at super high speeds and be able to be used by your every day Joe. It will allow for file sharing and transferring like now, but the Grid will make everything run faster and better. Like other technologies, the Grid will be an improvement of what is there and a small glimpse of what is to come.

            In another 75 years, there will be so many new technologies that we aren’t even able to dream about yet. Back when the internet started, they had no idea that today, we would be able to talk to someone in another country and half way across the world via webcam and instantly be able to see them and hear them. They didn’t know about e-mail and www.facebook.com and www.google.com, and would have never dreamed of such things. So it’s hard to say what will come of the internet in the next 75 years. But we do know that the internet will only be improved and expanded with new websites and new technologies, more and more people will be connected to each other faster and faster, and the internet itself will not be more and more demanded by consumers.