Friday, December 10, 2010
Practicum-- Angela
The topics of ubiquitous computing and being able to take the internet everywhere, not being tied down to it has really been an important innovation for activities such as rock climbing for the sake of having help on the way in emergency situations. However, it has had some less practical effects as well. I've been following a couple blogs about climbing and a huge topic this semester has been an attempt of a ridiculously difficult, rather long climb in Yosemite National Park. The two climbers had spent days and days at a time in the middle of a rock wall. Because they had mobile devices, they were able to send updates from on the climbing wall as the whole community watched their adventure. There were multiple blog post updates on the climbing blog "circuit" from updates sent. I have mixed feelings about the "updates from the edge"--in some ways it's very cool to hear the latest news and get updates while big events are happening but on the other hand it seems now that some things are no longer "sacred", that you can't even sit suspended 2,000ft in the air without the ability to text or blog.
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I agree with you about about having mixed feelings when it comes to concepts such as ubiquitous computing. On the one hand, its amazing that people can share experiences with one another, "right from the edge." However, what does this mean for "living in the moment." Sometimes technology gets in the way of life and "living." How can you appreciate moments if your so busy updating your blog or tweeting to your friends. This reminds me of something a friend of mine did.
ReplyDeleteMy friend an I went to a concert together over thanksgiving break. While at the show, she spent almost the entire time sending voice notes of the songs to our friends who were not there. She also spent time tweeting and uploading pictures to Facebook. She probably saw the majority of the concert through her cellphone camera.
I just think that although mobile technology presents amazing opportunities for information sharing, its important that we don't let it get in the way of living and learning, because if we do, there wont be any new information to share! (sounds cheesy but I think its an unfortunate truth we may be headed for)