Technology Literacy Narrative Pre-writing Part 2

Thinking about the progression of technology in the last thirty years has revealed to me just how prominent technology has become in everyday life.  It seems hard to see without stopping to think about it, as we are so used to having our devices.  On the day I was born my parents were buying one of the "new" handheld calculators.  At that point technological devices were just tools, in the sense that they sat in a box or drawer and were used only when needed to perform some specific task. There was of course TV, radio and eventually VCRs and tape players, but again they only seemed to be something that was used at very specific times, they were not ubiquitous in the way things are now.  These days, everyone has so much computing power in their pockets that the calculator and even the telephone function are just a byproducts of a much more powerful device.  They have become so multi-functional that many people can find a constant use for them and no one is very far from a smartphone or PC anymore.  They have become so interconnected that the future we now live in has its importance in "the cloud."  I would not want to go back to the days where every electronic device was an isolated machine.  Access is the key factor of modern technology, whether it is being able to communicate with distant friends in a relatively short amount of time, or finding information quickly, or instantly finding media such as music or a movie-on-demand.  Everyone and everything is finding its way into this interconnected space, and this is why I always welcome the latest technology, as it is usually a step closer to better and more complete access.

Final Project Speculation Part 2

I'm still thinking along the lines of doing something with the technology narrative.  I'm certainly thinking of a web-based presentation, but I'm not sure if Prezi will be the right choice as it seems too much like a linear presentation.  I'm thinking either a more traditional web page or perhaps a blog.  This might be easier for a graphic-intensive presentation where much information can be presented in an economic way.  Using these I can break up the story a bit and classify things or times, and using the blog might be the easiest way of dividing this information.  By including many links that connect each post the narrative could be told in a less linear way, with each reader choosing to prioritize the information in the way that seems most important to them.

Final Project Speculation

For the final project I am thinking about doing something web-based.  One idea involves a paper I did about post-modern ideas in the novels of Douglas Coupland in reference to the theories of Fredrick Jameson.  Since many of Jameson's ideas are presented in a visual spatial-oriented way, I would think that graphics and photos might present a more interesting argument than just text.  But, I'm not quite sure how to discuss literature in a multimedia setting.  Another idea is do something with the technology narrative.  I think that would be far more interesting told through a technological medium, but I don't want to consider it too much until I've completed the text assignment.

Technology Narrative

I have always had technology available as a form of entertainment.  But aside from having electronics as isolated entertainment devices, my real technological progress began with my first computer in 1986, a Commodore 64.  Though it was limited in its functionality, and considered by many to be a glorified gaming machine, that electronic box became my introduction to making technology a consistent part of ordinary life.  In 1992 I upgraded to an IBM PC which seemed to be a much more serious device, and I subscribed to my first on-line service, Prodigy, which expanded the scope of computing beyond that simple box.  The introduction of Windows 95 made the user interface much more transparent and that seemed to accelerate they productivity of home computers and the deployment of broadband, which I subscribed to in 2001, made computing vastly more useful.

Now, its reached the point where I have four PCs at my desk, all networked together through virtual switches and connected to network drives.  Additionally, my house consists of two laptops, a Playstation 3 and a Wii, all doing their part in providing information and entertainment from the network.  While on-the-go I am never without my iPod, containing my entire CD collection and frequently I carry an iPad, ready to connect to my Google-assisted-memory.

I have found that learning a new technology is fairly easy when it can be done slowly and over a period of time, before its needed.  But, when something new is ignored for too long and then its needed for some immediate need, the frustration can be high trying to master it quickly.  My experiences with computer technology have been enjoyable enough that as devices proliferated in the 90s I obtained my A+ and Net+ computer technician certifications.  At that point I started building my own PCs rather than buying off-the-shelf ones. That makes me the most technologically literate person that I know and I'm the one that gets called when somebody's computer stops working.

I imagine that in the future technological literacy will concern the user interfaces of on-line sites and consumer devices, rather than the circuit-board filled components that still sit next to my desk.  Capturing and communicating one's life will be the driving motivation.  I find myself using cameras much more and upgrading to more high-tech versions and using programs like Photoshop more frequently in order to provide my content onto the Web.  I think that social networking is here to stay and that the future will be so much more documented than the past that the pre-net life will seem like the dark ages.  Anyone not contributing to networked collective will be irrelevant.