For today’s class, you read Carr, The Shallows, Five. Spend the first ten minutes of class writing a summary of your reading of this chapter. What was Carr’s thesis in this chapter? What were some of the examples that he gives to support his argument? What were some of the names or terms that you researched on your own to help you better understand your reading?
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In this chapter we talk about how new inventions were created and how it changed the way we do things. Back then everything was done by hand. Carr talks about how The Alan Turning machine is known for its high power performance then most other technologies. This type of machine was a type writer, printing press and was capable of other types of functions. It was like a universal machine that had speed. Over time computers started to evolve more efficiently. One thing I found interesting was how overtime the technology triples creating all new softwares, coding, etc. People all over the world use it. It is said that we have replaced our unique ways of doing stuff by using a all-in-one machine to do the work for us. In a way, it is good to have a computer because it can help us perform better, but on the other hand we make our brains get very depending on it the we don’t pay any attention to whats going around us. When we look up information using hyperlinks, they are broke down into multiple searches.
In chapter 5, titled “A Medium of the Most General Nature” of The Shallow by Nicholas Carr, we talk about how new technology affect experience and disrupts concentration. Nicholas Carr quotes a blogger and science fiction writer, Cory Doctorow, who says digital media is an “ecosystem of interruption technology”. This means that with all the different types of technologies that we have access to nowadays, we are easily distracted from what we’re doing and put our focus onto these technologies. An example of this would be people who attend concerts. Most of the people who attend concerts will have their cellular devices out or some sort of technology to record the performance. This isn’t completely a bad thing but why be distracted with recording a live performance when you can experience it when its happening and not re watch it. You can either watch it after the concert on your device or you can have the full experience watching the show. Another example would be when people go out to a fancy dinner or any dining experience. Most of us can relate to this because as soon as the food comes, we would be taking pictures and uploading them to social media outlets such as Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. This is taking away from the full experience of just eating. Instead of eating which is what food is meant to be done to, we are taking out of the experience by using our digital devices. After reading this chapter, I’ve realized that i also partake in these actions that Nicholas Carr speaks of and with this knowledge, I will try my best to live for the moment instead of experience it later on.
In Nicholas Carr’s book “The Shallows” chapter 5, he talks about how new technology affect our experiences and could hinder our concentration. According to blogger/science fiction writer, Cory Doctorow, “digital media is an ecosystem of interruption technology”. Meaning that with all the advanced and upcoming types of technology that we use these days, we can get easily swayed from our task and devote all our focus onto these technologies. One example of this would be when people use their phone for homework. A lot of the time, people who use their phones whether it is for the internet for their calculators, they could end becoming distracted by random notifications. Mot every notification is a bad thing but we there are so many interesting things that can require our attention rather than just doing homework. You either turn off your notifications while you work or you just use a computer for research only. After reading this chapter, I come to realize that I am no exception to these actions that Nicholas speaks of and with this information; I will try my best to live for the moment instead of experience it later on.
In this chapter, Carr talks about how within our own nature the medium in which information is brought to us is highly influential. He talks about how companies have changed the way they release their information due to changing ways of our technology in the beginning of the chapter. For example, with the internet being on the rise in the 70s and 80s and so on. The news companies have had needed to change the way they distribute their news on their websites would help generate more publicity for their company and more profit. As a result, big companies that changed with they times thrived into modern times, while companies that stayed with their traditional and old-fashioned methods eventually succumbed to the new wave of technology that resulted in their shut down and bankruptcy. Carr also speaks about how the major distraction that comes with the presence of all of this overflowing information that surrounds us on an everyday basis. Overall, Carr focused on how technology has shaped our way of receiving information and has flooded us in its surplus.
Technology had impacted our lives so much that everything we have is tech base. It has become our typewriter, telephone, Television, and calculator and our computer. A computer is a crucial component in our everyday lives, since the day the internet was introduce. Every day the internet has evolve to the point that is now a necessity and no longer a want. We used it to search up our problem, news, reading books, and staying in touch with friends or family. Once an information is uploaded to the net, the need for the original copy dissolve. Not only does the internet gives unlimited knowledge by the click of a button away, it makes it affordable for company to send news and save their money. The cost of creating information that would be process to the net, cost a small fraction of what it would cost to created physical goods and shipping to them to stores. We often perceive the web as evil, but is it really when we gain infinite knowledge of our world.
In chapter five called ” A Medium Of The Most General Nature” of Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows”, the idea of this chapter revolves around the idea of technology beginning to take over. The chapter starts off with mentioning the time where computers began moving into mass production. This was sprouted due to the blueprint that had been made by the brilliant British mathematician, Alan Turing. This very blueprint would pave way for the dawn of, what I like to call based off of information provided in this chapter, information overflow. This information overflow came about with the accelerated advancements in technology. These advancements have caused us to rely greatly on machines made to do multiple things, as well as distractions from mass media. Although we have made these advancements in order to aid us, in a way, these advancements slowly but surely, can end up becoming our demise.
In chapter five called ” A Medium Of The Most General Nature” of Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows”, the idea of this chapter revolves around the idea of technology beginning to take over. The chapter starts off with mentioning the time where computers began moving into mass production. This was sprouted due to the blueprint that had been made by the brilliant British mathematician, Alan Turing. This very blueprint would pave way for the dawn of, what I like to call based off of information provided in this chapter, information overflow. This information overflow came about with the accelerated advancements in technology. These advancements have caused us to rely greatly on machines made to do multiple things, as well as distractions from mass media. Although we have made these advancements in order to aid us, in a way, these advancements slowly but surely, can end up becoming our demise.
During the fifth chapter of carr’s book he introduces more about how does the interment make people more dependent of the same, he also expand the argument of how does the computer and the net expanded throughout the years. He compared the average from previous years that weren’t long ago with each other. he also explained how everything happened step to step to get to the point we are now with the technology. It started first with a single computer that can not do much, it can just do the job of calculator, writing machine and little more. There is when the mathematician Charles Babbage had come up with a new idea or invention that was called “a machine of the most general nature” This new technology (computer) was able to do many things and all of them in just one machine or devise, This new computer took aver many things like the net, radio, clock, calculator and more, but never took over TV even thought people used the net in a gauging way. TV still number one in the technology business and still on top of everything.
In this chapter Carr talks about the medium that we use. One of these revolutionary media is the computer. He starts off by giving the year computer was put into mass production, 1954. The early computers were program by using very simple digital calculator ability. It uses coded instruction to write, read, and erase symbol. It was consider a universal machine. He also talks about how media are use in different ways, how we take the old one and reshape and refashioned it to something complete new and more advance. This is true to me because I experience it throughout my life. One example is the phone, the phone was first made just to talk on, but as the year goes on more features started to be added on it, making it to what we know today as a smart phone. It went from just talking to a mini personal computer in less than a 4 decade. In the end he went back to his point and talks about how the Net is reshaping our brain. He said that the library is also a media, but it’s not what it used to be. We normally use the library to find book and gather information physically, but that is rapidly changing. Today’s library are more computer base, using the web for most of it information gathering. Today they are an average of eleven computers for every library and they keep adding more. We are doing this because it seems to work and I agree with that because using the web to gather information is so much faster.
Nicholas Carr’s fifth chapter,”A Medium of the Most General Nature”, talks about the ways in which the net has changed how we take in information as well as how it has replaced and outdated all other forms of accessing information. Carr talks about the powers of the net being so immense it is immeasurable. He says that once something is digitized, there is no boundaries to that information. Meaning that when you access that information on the web, the possibilities are limitless as to what you can do with that at the touch of a finger. For example, if someone uploads a popular novel to the internet as a PDF file, a person could not only read the novel, but could now, without moving from their station, look up the authors credentials. The could also, find references that the novel makes, read how different people analyzed the authors message and so much more. Carr also goes on to state that when text is shifted from print to media it also changes how we view it. We no longer read the entire message of the text, we instead skim the text for an overlaying message and end up loosing out on the deeper meaning. The net has made us so used to shorter versions of things that, I suspect, within a few generations the average attention span of people would be cut almost in half.
In chapter 5 of Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows” he talks about how the internet is a different sort of media all together. Carr says it’s a media that trumps all other media before it by reshaping them into their own form inside if the web. He says in the example of writing, writing on the web is different than in books because on the web articles are full of hyperlinks and links leading you to other articles related to the one the person is reading so they can have a deeper understanding of the text. The problem with this according to Nicholas Carr is that this interrupts your reading flow making you lose focus and concentration. He actually points out that the entire internet is full of things trying to distract you and get your attention. He points out that the internet over the years has taken over all the others. Newspapers and magazines are read less frequently because it’s much easier to carry a phone than a physical copy of any written article. TV is now partly watched online because you can choose exactly what to watch and at what time to watch it. Radio has taken huge hits for the same reason. Apps like spotify that let the user stream music lets the user listen to music from their favorite artist at all times.
Chapter 5 in the book “The Shallows” by Nicholas Carr start of with history dating back to 1954 when the first digital computer started to mass produce. The he mentions the death of alan turing, he killed him self by eating a cyanide-laced apple. i agree with a point the Nicholas Carr made, is that the Internet has changed the way traditional products are made. is true because the makings of most of the newspapers, magazine, and journal are digital and more people are starting to read their daily dose of news on a screen than a hard copy. he also point out how technology has changed and the fact that we don’t need so many electronic devices to do the same thing as just one can do now a days.
Carr starts off chapter 5 of “The Shallows” by introducing a man named Alan Turning. Alan Turning was known for many things such as a lead member of the team tasks to decoding the enigma machine and the creator of an imaginary computing device that acted as a blueprint for computing today. In Turning’s paper, “On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungs Problem,” he stated that there is no such thing as a perfect system of logic or mathematics. He also mentioned that some statement were uncomputable and that all computers can be programmed to do that same tasks as another so there was no need for multipurpose computers. Turning thought that the only limiting factor to a computer was speed but today that is no longer a concern. The net has become one of our most useful tools today. The ability to send and receive data along with the ability to upload and download data has turned the net into a great tool for businesses.
In chapter five of “The Shallows” by Nicholas Carr, it discusses about how the computer came to be and all the technology aspects after it. As computer technology gradually evolved into better and more efficient computers, the old ones were supplanted by the new ones. This usually applies to every single technology that is created because there will always be innovations to technology. However, the old technologies will going to survive for a long time, but they lose their economic and cultural force. Nicolas Carr also focuses on how the internet disrupts concentration. One name he mentions is Cory Doctorow and this writer said,” digital media is an ecosystem of interruption technologies.” One example of this was where people attended this twitter event. There they could share their experience while others, but they wouldn’t be actually be able to experience what was actually happening. This is how digital media is a form of interruption technology.
In this chapter, Carr discusses Alan Turing, and how his innovation of a large decoding computer is now remembered as. His innovation was used in World War 2 as a decoder of Nazi hidden messages. It was a machine that made algorithmic calculation to decipher these messages. We didn’t know that Turing was the person behind it until after his death, since it was a top secret detail. We now know that for the time it was built, it was the biggest advancement in Artificial Intelligence. Of course, now we have computers that can do what the ACE decoder can do. Then, Carr talks about how the net has progressed into an alternative to television. We use things such as Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, and so on. He states that the time we would otherwise use for watching TV is used to navigate the net. Of course, we can do much more with the internet, since we can send and receive messages. Many resources that are in paperback are being replaced by the internet, but the internet won’t get rid of the resources itself, since “A new medium isn’t an addition to an old one.”
In Nicholas Carr”s “the shallow”, Carr mentions couple of hard facts about today’s media and who is is responsible. Carr describes how in 1954 the digital computers were moving into mass production. The British mathematician Alan Turing who during the Second World War played a important part in cracking the codes of Enigma. Turing’s elaboration with the typewriter was essential to winning the war. However, Turing had sexual relations with another man, so he was arrested and humiliated. During that era homosexuality was a crime. I honestly think that was harsh to arrest him for what,if he wants date or have relations with anyone that’s his problem.
Turing kill self over this. Turing is the creator of an imaginary computing device that anticipated, and served as a blueprint for, the modern computer, according to Carr. Carr also mentions McLuhan whom wrote Understanding Media. McLuhan says that “A NEW MEDIUM is never an addition to an old one,” I do agree with McLuhan. Propaganda has been around for awhile now. Companies still want more customers, so they need to change things. Car talks about how the Web has become distracting with with all the link to online stores. This is causing research much frustrating because of all the ads in search engines like google or bind.
In chapter five of “The Shallows” by Nicholas Carr, entitled A Medium of the Most General Nature, Carr talks about how technology transitions and begins to become an important part of our daily functions. These new technologies have a large impact on media, such as books, music and movies. The internet holds a large quantity of these types of media, making it accessible to virtually anyone, for them to be able to access it anytime. These technology takes us in and in a way makes us zombies to it. This all comes from “a new medium” according to Marshall McLuhan in Understanding Media, and it is “never ad addition to an old one”. This means that there is really no balance between the old and new technologies. Once we grow addicted to one, we basically abandon the other.