Current Event in Tech 

       The coronavirus is having a major impact on the schools and workplace. Universities are worried that parents won’t send their kids back after the break, and the workplaces are switching to video conferences. People are trying to keep their interaction with others as minimal as possible during this time. The technology we now have is the one thing making day to day life still possible from home. You can still get your work done and talk to people without having to see them in person. “The coronavirus seems to be having an effect on all aspects of the tech industry, from social media policies around health misinformation to the way the big companies do business.” Major companies such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Microsoft have started using the mandatory video chats, keeping over 75,000 people from going to work. They are not only doing this in the US, Apple and Amazon have done this in their china businesses as well. Also, big companies have asked their employees to cancel all trips they had to China. Some companies, like uber and lyft, are benefiting from this because people don’t want to take public transportation. Also, companies like Airbnb, have given refunds for rentals that normally would not have been refunded. Although this coronavirus is new, it is just like the regular flu, but something we haven’t seen before. So, I understand peoples fear, I just believe it is slightly over the top. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/technology/coronavirus-tech-businesses.html

Netflix

Netflix 

        In class, we watched presentations on different evolutions of media. Netflix was one everyone was similar with and also a very interesting topic to actually learn new information about, instead of just watching it. Especially, since one of the founders speaks at High Point University often. 

        Netflix was launched in 1997, which was earlier than I realized before hearing this presentation in class. Soon after, in 1998, they released their first DVD rental. Over the years Netflix has introduced many new benefits. In 2007 they introduced streaming, in 2012 they started making their own series', in 2016 it became available in 130 countries, and on top of all that Netflix has won 5 academy awards for its original material. Although having Netflix has been a positive in general, and started a new society revolving around streaming, it has had some negative effects on society as well. 

          Movie theaters, and movie sales, have felt some backlash since the introduction of Netflix. People don't want to go to the theater, or buy the DVD for the movie, when they can just wait for it to come on the website they pay for monthly. Movie theaters are losing sales in tickets, and customers in general. A company that Netflix put out of business completely was Blockbuster. The Blockbuster was a way to rent movies for a few days, but now there is a way to watch them without having to leave your house to pick it up and return it. Netflix has also had a negative impact on family relationships. People used to spend more time with their families, but today research shows that people spend, on a daily average, about 36 minutes with their family, and about 1.5 hours watching Netflix. Being able to binge watch, encourages people to spend more time watching a show or movies. 

https://media.netflix.com/en/about-netflix

The Typewriter

The Typewriter 

The typewriter was attempted all throughout the 19^th century, but a guy named Christopher Latham Sholes was successful in 1867. He was inspired by an article he read in the Scientific American journal that talked about a similar British invention. There were others invented, by Sholes’ was the first practical one. In 1868, Sholes got a patent for his second model, and it wrote at a speed that far exceeded the speed of the first. Over time the typewriter developed even farther; in 1909 the noiseless typewriter came out, and then in 1920 the electrical typewriter came out. The electrical typewriter was said to “basically be a mechanical typewriter with the typing stroke powered by an electric-motor drive.” Even though portable typewriters came out in 1909, they weren’t common until 1950. This form was more similar to the laptops, but still less convenient. 

In general, the typewriter only has good reviews. The typewriter allowed for any document produced with it to automatically appear more presentable. The typewriter became ideal fast because no matter what type of document you were writing, it followed the same format. This made all documents appear clear and organized. Inevitably the introduction of the typewriter took the meaning of professionalism to new heights. This quick way of typing up documents meant that people and businesses had more time for other activities and work in their daily lives. One of the best effects that the typewriter had was inventing jobs for women at the time. Most companies would only hire women to do their typewriting, which created many new jobs for them. The article said that “It was from the typewriter that vital communication changes still in existence today were born.” 

Nothing bad really came from the typewriter, but some “cons” that led to new advancements were connectivity, cost, size, and noise. Connectivity is looked at a con, however when the typewriter was invented, there was no WIFI. So, it makes sense that it lacks connectivity, but it gave way for improvements to be made and progress throughout history. The cost was a concern because the paper and ink could get expensive, and there was not an “undo” button. This made mistakes expensive, and many people switched to computers as soon as they could for the reason of price. Compared to today’s laptops, typewriters were very large and not ideal to carry around. Even though they had portable versions, they do not compare to the portability of the laptops. The last complaint that was given against typewriters was the sound. Typewriters are known to be very loud and, in an office,  it could get hard to concentrate. Some people type loud on their laptops, it is quieter than typing gentle on a typewriter. None of these cons are really against the typewriter, they are more pro the new inventions that came after. Without realizing these little things, advancements never would have been made to get us where we are today. 

https://www.britannica.com/technology/typewriter

https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540sept12/2012/10/28/the-typewriter-a-remarkable-impact-on-communication/

https://chattr.com.au/2016/11/18/pros-cons-using-typewriter/

Progressive Era

Progressive

             The Progressive Era was very eventful, and we discussed the events between 1907 and 1929. There were three timelines we looked into: US history, the 14^th amendment, and the 15^th amendment. The first amendment inspired the Patterson vs Cole case which was when the journalist sued for being thrown in jail because the first amendment didn’t reach state and local levels. The mutual film came next, this was a case that revolved around a movie that was made saying that whites were being repressed. This later led to the Speech Action Dichotomy, meaning that since speech was protected, speech and action could be protected. Therefore, meaning that the movies can say and do as they please. In 1918, the sedition act was passed, which led to much controversy. The sedition act made it a crime to criticize the government. Which is why in 1919 four guys sued saying that it violated the first amendment. The government left them in jail for it, disagreeing with their claim, because they spoke out against the government. All four of them were communists or socialists and spoke out against war. Clear and Present danger test was too broad that the government could always win, so the Abrams Holmes case gave way for future cases. Holmes’ marketplace idea was not letting the “government squish ideas, each person can decide for themselves.” Then William Taft became the most important chief justice because he changed the court ideas and passed the judiciary act, which led to Certiorian. Certiorian meant that the supreme court could choose what cases they wanted. This led to increased power and prestige for the courts.  Although there have been advances is the court systems and courts have become fairer, there are still issues. To this day, the government still uses the espionage act to throw whistle blowers in jail and threaten journalists.


Source: Notes via Professor Smith 

The U.S. vs. Google

The U.S. vs Google

        According to the article, there has been some suspicious accusations against google, which led to 48 states (including DC and Puerto Rico) launched an investigation into Google. The allegations were that google was/is violating antitrust laws. Antitrust laws are laws developed by the government to protect consumers from predatory business practices. They ensure that fair competition exists in an open-market economy. The point of this is to keep businesses from lowering the price on their products to ruin the business of competition, while saving consumers money and keeps businesses from taking away benefits. There are three anti-trust laws: The Sherman Antitrust Act, The Clayton Act, and The Federal Trade Commission Act.  The articles says that the investigation will focus on determining whether Google is overly dominant online, mostly in the advertising market and when searches are made on the internet. This is not the first time that Google has been questioned. In 2007, google was fined 1.7 billion dollars under the claim of unfairly inserted exclusivity clauses into contracts with companies that advertised through Google. This was a violation because it was a clear disadvantage for the companies that can’t afford it. The outcome that the article gives is to force Google to spin off search as a separate company. The idea is to limit their control so that they stop violating the antitrust laws. Currently Google controls 31% of global digital ad dollars, which is why they have to power to add the unfair charges. That is also why, some of the control needs to be taken away, so that it is more fair and consumers are protected. 

https://www.justice.gov/atr/antitrust-laws-and-you

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-antitrust-probe-48-u-s-states-launch-antitrust-investigation-of-google-dominance-in-search-ads-and-data/

The Founding Era

                        The Founding Era 
       In class, we talked about the Founding Era that ranged from 1619 to 1808. In 1619 there were two important things to know about; Jamestown and slave trade. The pilgrims arrived in 1920, and soon after treaties and documents would begin to pile up. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was introduced, proceeding the revolutionary war and including state constitutions. The Declaration of Independence was important because it gave us our freedom, but also included the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights include the things we believe we deserve as citizen, and gives answers to the complaints, but are relatively broad statements. The Constitution is similar to the bill of rights, it just contains the "nuts and bolts."  The separation of power was important to keeping American Democracy in check, that way no one branch got too much power. Federal government, State government, and individuals all have vertical checks and balances, but the federal and state governments also have federalism. However, any power that doesn’t go to the government, automatically goes to the individual. The first amendment was important to give the right and obligation to criticize the government. In 1787, 3 comprises were introduces: 3/5 compromise, 20-year rule, and the fugitive slave clause. In the following years, there were court cases that led to new laws. An important case was Marbury vs. Madison which led to Judicial Review: which is the power of the court to review actions of all departments and deem them constitutional or unconstitutional. This was in the interest of the citizens, because if the ruling seemed unfair, it could be challenged. Many things happened in the Founding Era, but at the end something very important happened. In 1808, the slave trade ended. This gave way for the civil war era to begin. 

Sources: Class Notes via Professor Smith 

Social Media vs The First Amendment

Social media is rising in its reach of communicating with people all over the world. On private social media the owners have more control over what people can post because the first amendment is not as present. When the company is owned privately, they have the right to censor things they want on their website. In this article, they believe that the first amendment should be stretch over those private companies, meaning that people should be able to post whatever they want, without the company being able to remove it. I personally disagree with this. When you sign onto a private social media platform, the rules are stated clearly at the beginning. If you agree to those terms, you should not be surprised if your post gets taken down for breaking the terms and agreements. 

However, I understand why people want the first amendment to cover privately owned companies such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (etc.). They want this because they are used to being able to speak their minds, regardless of the impact it has on others. Since the first amendment applies to government, on public sights, people can say whatever they want. However, people think that agreeing to the terms, does not apply to them. They think that since it is their account, they should be free to speak as they please. 

This is where I disagree, since people say hurtful and untrue things on the internet on a regular basis. The terms are what keep people from going too far, and I disagree with the article. The terms and agreements are there for a reason, and therefore the first amendment should not stretch over privately-owned companies on the internet. They should have the right to censor as they please. 

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/the-ongoing-challenge-to-define-free-speech/in-the-age-of-socia-media-first-amendment/