29 January 2007
uncomfortable and unsettling
My opinion of theses 04-06 in the Everyware reading is low at best. I found it really disturbing to think of a very near reality where I'm bombarded by spam as I walk past a Mc Donalds or Blockbuster. I hate the pervasiveness of today's spam, the ubiquitous bulk emails I get number around 50 a day, I don't even want to think about the massive volume of unsolicited crap that'll constantly flow around me assaulting my senses with commercial catch phrases, and clever marketing schemes. It reminds me of really bad science fiction but the really frightening thing for me is this stuff is closer to reality than fiction. I consider my own level of computer savyness to be remedial at best. I still can't figure out the damn email list for this class. Greenfield's musings showed me just how quickly this everyware could progress and the rapid acceleration of IT today assures me that this is merel inevitable. I liken my fear of this background radiation of IT to my grandmother's irrational fear of the cell phone my aunt bought for her. The woman refuses to use it most of the time and has no desire to even learn how to work the phone book option. I'm afraid I feel the same way about the IT advances Greenfield expounds upon in theses 04-06. I can imagine restrooms with streaming ads flying across the mirror or maybe even a stall door or above a urinal. Ads for men's products of all kinds, captivating me as I relieve my bladder
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3 comments:
It seems that in our society if a person is over 80 then they just dont get technology and dont really care for it. They have seen a life that operates beautifully with out it. As our generation grows older I know that we will not push away as our elders do but, we will be embracing it. Im sure when the car first came out there were people who just would rather ride horse and buggy till they die. We have been born with computers all around us. Just as our parents were born with TVs all around them. I do not know many parents who dont watch TV. I also dont know many people in my generation who dont use a computer on a super daily basis. (super meaning a substantial amount of time) I wonder what our kids will be into as we grow old? What will the next few generations of kids be into? Im excited about being a part in the future.
Your post really makes me wonder who will be taking most advantage of the upcoming technologies. After reading the chapters from everyware, I was under the impression that it would mostly help the average citizen, in the form of id tags and gps navigation and such, but your post made me wonder if it might not be used more by advertising companies. It sounds like something they would jump on, doesn't it? It opens the world up to having advertisements on everything, from your morning coffee cup to, as you mentioned, the most private of places, the restroom. A great example of this is the movie "Minority Report". I think someone mentioned it in class, and it seems so feasible to me, and yet, so annoying. Truly, I hope that version of the world never comes to exist. What a horrible waste of such a potentially helpful thing.
I find it unlikely that McDonalds ads will be frolicking anyone anytime soon, although I am sure advertising will advance with technology. Just think though if you wanted to find a good burger place, perhaps high tech ads would not be such a bad thing. Instead of relying on 411, you could simply pull out your GPS enabled phone and do a quick search for burgers, and bam you see that a In-and-out burger is a block away!
What about the “mobile campus” program going on here at UT. You can sign up to have your cell phone be sent coupons on deals around campus. In theory it’s not such a bad idea, people use their phones daily, and it is a viable medium to receive information. Ads in moderation could actually be a good thing.
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