Final Paper Blog 3

I have now complete my final paper and am in the revising and editing stages.  I really enjoyed the opportunity to develop my own thoughts on the green movement in regard to technology.  I personally believe that the green movement will not gain enough popular support for change to occur.  I explore this idea in depth in my paper.

One thing that I noticed when I was working on my paper was that even now the green movement hasn't really reached into technology.  What I mean is that when we hear people discuss what it means to go green, we often hear about reducing waste in terms of the short term products such as disposable paper towels, plates, cutlery, etc.  Rarely do people suggest buying a durable printer so a new one won't have to be purchased.  No one has ever said, "don't buy that computer because it'll end up in a landfill in two years".

To me, the need to reduce the technological e-waste we produce is as important as everything else the green movement preaches.  I completely am for the green movement and so it was interesting to write a paper explaining how I believe our society will not advance enough to change our ways.  I wish and hope that we will be able to, but based on the information in Slade's book about repetitive consumerism I just don't understand how it can happen.

A perfect example is as follows:  This year I bought a Pur water filter and told all of my peers I was going green.  Since that time, I have probably gone through five hundred paper plates, a thousand plastic utensils, and more than a football field of paper towels.  Similarly, I have bought two new pairs of headphones (over the ear and ear buds, because I am a repetitive consumer unfortunately), and a new computer (because Mac's have so much more technology).  The point is, I know that I am hurting the environment.  I am aware of the state of our planet as are many of the other people in America.  However, it is simply just too convenient to not use disposable products.  Similarly, when I look at my technological needs, I know I didn't NEED both pairs of headphones or a new Macbook.  However, I know how badly I WANTED these items.  To me that is what causes people to continue doing things that are bad for the environment.

I believe that we are all selfish in when it comes to our planet and I just don't see our culture changing because it would likely have a negative impact on America's standard of living and no one wants that to happen.

Final Paper Blog 2

Now that I have had my thesis, my next step was to begin doing preliminary research.  My main goal during this stage was simply to get a better understanding of all of the topics that are going to be included in my paper.

As I said in my previous post, I believe that "going green" will not catch on for a while.  This is simply because it is more cost effective to continue using the already developed technology.  Slade explains that companies "make things to break" in order to increase their revenue and keep consumers active.  However, this process contributes to the waste in our dumps and directly contradicts the "going green" movement that is sweeping our nation.

I first began my research by looking for statistics that could quantify how much more expensive the "green" that way I could support my argument with real facts not just generalizations.  I found some of the following information:

• In a February 2008 article, the Wall Street Journal cited a study by Enermodal Engineering that found that green homes cost between 5 and 10 percent more to build than homes using conventional materials and methods. An estimate from "Building Products" magazine suggests a 19 percent increase in costs for home builders who opt to go green instead of using traditional methods.
  
  Read more: How Expensive Is it to Go Green? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_7327471_expensive-go-green_.html#ixzz17wluBIPB
• Three days after the new iPhone's July 11 debut, Appleannounced that it had sold 1 million iPhones. For comparison, it took 74 days for the original iPhone to hit the one million sold mark. The new 3G iPhone has already sold nearly half as many as the original iPhones in total.
• http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/08/technology/iphone-3m.fortune
• The adoption of 3DTVs is expected to spike next year.
  Futuresource Consulting predicts that 4 million 3DTVs will be sold worldwide by the end of this year. The figure could at least double next year to 5 million 3DTVs in the U.S. and 3 million in Western Europe, the market researcher said today. Futuresource added that so far, "year-one adoption of 3DTV is running at a far quicker rate in most territories than it did for high-definition."
  
  
  Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20023981-17.html#ixzz17wnTmynM

To me this information says a few things; first of all, it is clear that companies understand they are able to create new models and increase their profits.  These statistics only support the fact that newer models lead to increases in sales because you attract new people to try the product, as well as those using the older models already.

Another thing that I found interesting during my first round of research was that even if something doesn't explode right away (3D TV) the potential for expansion is always right around the corner.  The comparison of this with HDTV shows us that there is a good chance these new TV's will catch on in the future.  Now almost everyone has an HDTV and therefore it is not hard to believe that one day almost everyone will have a 3D TV.

Overall I believe that because going green is more expensive to do, and since creating new models is so profitable there is little chance that our culture of consumerism changes.  It is obvious that the goal of any company, regardless of their product, is to increase profits as much as possible and unfortunately trying to "go green" is not feasible in a society where being lucrative is the priority.  

I do believe that the public will put pressure on these companies though.  As time goes on and our planet's situation gets worse more and more people will begin to step up to have their voices heard.  Still, I don't think this will be enough to change anything.  Our culture is so driven by consumerism that it would be ridiculous to imagine things changing over night.  Now that I have an idea of statistics, I'm going to begin writing the paper.  However I still have many things to find out.  I definitely want to get some more statistics on the increases in "the green movement" over the years and to try and find some information about companies trying to decrease the waste they produce over time.  I believe that once I acquire that information I should have everything I need to finish the paper.

Final Paper blog 1

When deciding what topic to attack for my final paper, I thought back to this semester's readings to decide which I found to be the most interesting.  My answer was Slade's Made To Break.  I found this book extremely interesting due to all of the information I found in it about how companies try to develop products that cause users to get new ones after a certain period of time.

Slade explains that through all forms of technology there is always something new and exciting on the horizon.  An example of this can be the Apple Ipad.  The current model has no camera on it, and I am willing to bet that with new applications such as Facetime the camera on both sides of the Ipad is on the way.  Ultimately Apple did not release the "best" version of the Ipad yet because it is a way of getting some people to buy it now, and others to buy it later when a "newer, better" version comes out.  These tendencies can be seen across the global economy as nearly all companies try to maximize their profits through the techniques Slade discusses.

For my paper I will examine Slade's proposal and compare it to the new green movement.  Will companies who say "they're going green with long battery life" also reduce the e-waste that they produce by releasing new products?  It is a fact of life that often American's just throw something out when it becomes obsolete.  The computers of yester-year are already flooding our dumps and so is all of the other technological waste that has been created.

Upon first glance I would say no.  These companies will likely not change their ways.  It is not that they don't care about the environment, in fact, I'm sure they do.  However it is obvious to me that their profit margins are their highest concern.  "Going green" means nothing for a company if they can't use it to their advantage.  Companies love to give the illusion that they're doing everything they can for the environment by saying their reducing their carbon footprint and other things.  However if it really came down to the decision of money vs the planet, I think major corporations such as Sony and Apple would chose money.

This is the first thought I am putting into the paper and I'm pretty sure that this will become my thesis:  That companies will not change due to the new green movement because they care about their profit too much.

Dogster.com

As a recent new puppy owner, I have been using the internet constantly seeking training advice as well as medical information about puppies through the internet.  Google searches were sufficing at first but soon I began to realize like much of the internet, most of the websites are simply amateurs sharing their experiences.  I stumbled across Dogster.com and it has proven to be a great resource for me.

http://www.dogster.com/


On this website you can find out virtually anything you desire about dogs.  And other than a few recommendations to other sites, it is very clear that they are all veterinarians or professional trainers and are able to provide good tips and advice.  I believe the information on this site should be considered credible and of all the advice I've gotten from the website none has been bad information.

One of the best parts of the website for me, and any other new puppy owner would be the fact that they have "Guides" you can read based on your puppy's age.  For example, my dog is four months old and in the guide they explain all of the things one can expect from a four month old puppy.  They are very specific as well, including things such as when to get your puppies third round of vaccines and also how to control a dogs "prey drive".  Overall the information on this website has proved to be very useful and I'd recommend it to anyone with a dog.

In addition to the information on the website, they also have a mild social network side.  Users can upload pictures of their dogs as well as participate in a variety of games and other things like that.  Also the website pairs of with Petfinder, a popular internet website that is dedicated to helping people find dogs via rescue or purchase.  I believe this website attempts to do what all other websites want to do, and that is keep users occupied for hours by reading and keeping up with all the new information on there as well as the new features.

To me this website represents a change in the way the world is like we have discussed in class with other websites.  Before the internet I would be left in the dark wondering how to control my puppies prey drive, but now I can find information that I need in seconds.  Dogster has become a extremely popular website among dog owners and for obvious reasons, it makes things easier, provides great advice, and also has fun elements to it as well.

Critical Analysis #12

For this week I will examine the conclusion of David Krickpatrick's book, The Facebook Effect.  Kirkpatrick discusses the continuing development of the company and website in regards to making money, the new platform and ideas, and even proposes ideas for the future of Facebook.  

One thing that I found to be extremely interesting is the development of new ideas within Facebook.  Things that Facebook users take for granted.  Things such as Events, and Photos, which we use every single day, were completely new ideas by the Facebook team.  Zuckerberg explains that these applications were so good and so popular because "despite all their shortcomings they had one thing no one else had.  And that was integration with the social graph" (217).  The term social graph is used to describe essentially relationships among people within the virtual world.  A better description is on page 217.  But to be completely honest, I was shocked to realize this fact.  I can't imagine not being able to create a Facebook Event next time I wanted to do something with my friends and these men created it.  As I said in a previous blog, the people at Facebook didn't get lucky with one good idea.  They have had hundreds of good ideas and that is what makes Facebook such an integral part of our society.

When it came to making money, I also couldn't believe how the Facebook team did it.  Zuckerberg, who originally was against ads in order to promote the "cool factor" of Facebook, now was making billions of dollars off of them.  What I found to be most interesting is that "Facebook displayed 53 billion ads in December 2009, or 14 percent of all online ads" (272).    I couldn't believe what I read because that is a pretty startling statistic.  To imagine how enormous the internet is and how one company can control 14% of the market just blew my mind.  Also I was impressed to see that during the recent economic downturn Facebook remained profitable.  They said that their ad pricing has remained constant while other websites are reducing their costs.  I think this may be because people realize that with the economy so bad maybe people just spend more time on the computer, or maybe it's because Facebook is being accessed by so many people in many different ways.  Either way, I am shocked again by the information that Kirkpatrick revealed in this book.

Zuckerberg would clearly not be outdone.  Once the company started making money he immediately began seeking his competition and trying to find ways to be better than them.  Examples include Twitter, FriendFeed, and other companies that were also social networking sites.  In almost every instance Zuckerberg and his star programmers were able to succeed.  Facebook is such a incredible website and the way it brings people together is truly unbelievable and this book definitely helped me realize how hard these people worked in order to give the user such a quality product.

In the last chapter titled The Future, it becomes clear that Kirkpatrick has a slight bias towards Zuckerberg.  This led me to believe that perhaps Zuckerberg and his team may not be as perfect as they were made out to be.  In the Acknowledgements section the first thanks is to Mark Zuckerberg and so while I do believe all of the information is factual, I can't help but feel like the truth may be twisted a little.  Either way this was a great read.  It was a good experience to learn something about the website I spend the majority of my day on.

Critical Analysis #11

For this week I will take a look at the second section of Kirkpatrick's book, The Facebook Effect.  In this section Kirkpatrick discusses the investors and how Facebook was funded early on.  Again, from watching the movie The Social Network I feel like I did know some of this information, but I would say the majority in this section was new to me.  I can't believe that as college aged kids the founders of Facebook were as far along as they were.  They were already seeking, and eventually fighting off investors who wanted to claim their stake in Facebook.  One section of the book that I found to be very interesting is on page 110 when he writes, "As soon as word got out that Thefacebook was contemplating an investment, the Silicon Valley greed machine kicked into high gear.  Inquiries started pouring in."  To me it is shocking that so many people wanted to invest.

What I also find interesting is that since, "Mark was kind of against ads, as far as [they] could tell" Thefacebook had to find other sources of income to keep the website running.  So many people used the internet to make money and using ad space is the most simple way to create a profit.  However, because Zuckerburg chose not to, Thefacebook had to find money elsewhere.  I believe that this, combined with the enormous marketing potential of Thefacebook led to the immense amount of people who wanted to invest.

Later in the book Kirkpatrick writes about how Facebook developed into a young company and not just kids running a website.  He discusses many things such as how they basically reinvented privacy.  He writes that, "Only one in one hundred messages to Facebook about News Feed was positive" (189).  No one liked the News Feed at first, however now it is an integral part of Facebook.  I also found it interesting how Kirkpatrick explained how the Photos team decided to make it so you can click anywhere on the photo to advance and also how the photos were lower resolution so people can view many photos quickly.  I found this to be extremely interesting because it makes me realize how smart the Facebook team is.  Facebook is not accidentally addicting.  It was well thought out and I think that is the main reason Facebook has become what it is today.  Kirkpatrick describes these events and does a great job giving credit to the people behind Facebook.  Overall I enjoy reading this book and look forward to finishing it because it is about something that is involved in my life.

Critical Analysis #10

For this week I will examine the first section of The Facebook Effect by David Kirkpatrick.  Virtually everyone in our society is able to recognize what Facebook is, and an very large portion participates in it's online social network.  The popularity of Facebook is enormous and it is obvious that because it influences many people's actions every day.  Students across the country are tortured by the looming question: To do homework, or to check my notifications?  With so many people all using the same service one must wonder what effects it will have on our society.

The Facebook Effect begins with the history of Facebook.  I was pretty well aware of a lot of this information after seeing the movie The Social Network where they follow Zuckerburg from his young days at Harvard.  To me it is truly amazing that one person could be creating such amazing computer programs such as Facemash.  I have taken programming courses and the difficulty of them is almost unbearable for me and that helps me respect the work that The Facebook team has done in order to accomplish their goal so quickly.  As a side note: it seems like every time I get used to Facebook there is a new template and new features.  It baffles me that the company can remain ahead of the users so often.

A really interesting part of the book for me is how Facebook is largely considered the reason Myspace is no longer used.  For me personally It has been forever since I have even used Myspace to listen to music or anything like that.  After reading this section I began to think about what the differences between Myspace and Facebook were.  I realized that essentially they were the same, a social networking tool that people could use to stay in touch.  However, just like in the movie, I believe that Facebook was able to succeed because it was "exclusive".  Unlike Myspace, Facebook used to require a collegiate e-mail address and that made it "cool".  Myspace allowed anyone to use its website, and because of that a large amount of "creepers" joined the network thus making it less appealing than the exclusivity of the Facebook community.

The other thing that made Facebook last longer than other things was probably the fact that it began so simply.  Unlike Myspace users could not create flashy backgrounds with music and annoying ads etc.  Facebook only recently began using ads and they are not too cumbersome to be honest and due to the algorithms used the ads generally apply to the user.  By creating a more simple website, Zuckerburg erased the opportunity for users to be overwhelmed by the Facebook "world".

Overall I have enjoyed reading Kirkpatricks book The Facebook Effect thus far because it is something that touches my daily lives.  I look forward to continuing the book and hopefully will enjoy the rest of it as well.