Technology week!
I. Last week I said that I wanted to research the latest and greatest technological advancements.
Most websites that I found didn't have specified lists of the most important or most beneficial advancements.
One website said the top 10 most influential tech advances of the decade are:
1) Flat-panel TVs/HDTVs
2) DVRs
3) High-speed internet
4) Wi-Fi
5) Smartphones
6) Bluetooth
7) Online Media Services
8) Online Gaming Services
9) Social Networking Sites
10) Flash Storage
source: Top 10 Most Influential Tech Advances Of The Decade - Next: The Birth of Facebook and the Death of the Disk | PCMag.com. (n.d.). Technology Product Reviews, News, Prices & Downloads | PCMag.com | PC Magazine. Retrieved March 27, 2011, from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/
fusion. (n.d.). Only 17 Percent Of Americans Own A Smartphone. Metrolic - World News, U.S. News, Multimedia and more.. Retrieved March 27, 2011, from http://www.metrolic.com/only-17-percent-of-americans-own-a-smartphone-140370/
II. This week in class we really started looking into how technology is affecting the present. We talked about how much social networking has done to our lives, because people can be anyone they want to be online. Also, we discussed the possibility that texting and online messaging are talking away people's ability to effectively socialize. Is this all true? Is society surrounded by a completely different and potentially harmful technological atmosphere? On Wednesday and Thursday we had a substitute, so we watched a film about cochlear implants. Various members of the family are faced with the decision whether or not to implant their children with hearing aids. The argument is that giving a child the ability to hear is taking away his or her "deaf culture". On one side of the family, every member is deaf, and the child is fluent in sign language. Therefore the parents don't want the child to be able to associate with the "hearing world". On the other side of the family, one of two twins is deaf, but the rest of the family can hear. Therefore the parents of this child want it to be able to become a part of the "hearing world".
Sign Language. (n.d.). • ASL • American Sign Language. Retrieved March 27, 2011, from http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/
My personal opinion on the technology argument is that it is potentially dangerous to our society. In all honesty, we say things differently over the phone or the computer than we would if we were face to face. This takes away individuality and the ability to properly socialize. I still talk to my best friend on the phone every day as opposed to texting him because I'm more honest and genuine that way. I also think that dating websites and social networks are detrimental to people's true identity. On the internet, you have the power to be anyone that you're not. I don't think that's a benefit to society at all. As for the cochlear implant debate, I think it's rather stupid that the deaf parents wouldn't want their child to have to opportunity to hear. I repsect that they want to keep her associated with her "deaf culture", but she deserves the chance to live normally as well. She's still going to have to communicate with her parents in sign, so she isn't losing touch with the "deaf world". I believe that there's no reason why the child shouldn't recieve the cochlear implant.
While watching the documentary, I was actually able to make a connection to my own life. I went to elementary school with two kids, a brother and sister, who were both deaf. I don't ever remember them without their hearing implants because I didn't know them prior to that. However I do remember watching them be able to communicate with the other kids. Both of their parents had perfect hearing, and I can imagine they wanted nothing more than for their kids to be able to communicate with them. Neither Kelly nor Kyle could speak very effectively, but I'm sure it was better than not being able to hear or speak at all. I still run into them at the gym occasionally and it makes me happy to see how they've grown up normall due to the hearing aids that they were provided with as children.
III. For next week's blog I want to know some statistics on deaf people in the United States. In this video they showed a whole entire community of deaf people hanging out together in a park, all speaking in sign. Are there really existing "deaf communities" where deaf people all live together?
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