The Misuse of Technology and the Future Towards Which it's Heading.

Currently, there are many ways our society misuses technology today. From internet issues such as cyberbullying, copyright infringement, and cyberstalking to an over dependence on technology, whether it's watching too much TV or texting too much, our society has a strong relationship with technology. Technology misuse is also not limited to the home, but is found in businesses and schools as well. Over the course of this blog, I've discussed the different ways in which society misuses technology.

Technology isn't all bad. If it weren't for technology, we wouldn't have items such as MRI machines or other medical equipment that helps to save lives everyday. However, there is a fine line between technology helping to facilitate our lives, making them easier and safer, and running our lives. People such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates started the personal computer revolution. Without this technology, businesses would be less efficient, doctors would need to wait longer for patient histories, and people wouldn't be able to connect with others all over the world.

However, this technology also creates a dependence with people who use it. Almost every college student is guilty of spending several hours procrastinating by watching TV or by browsing Facebook. Over the course of this blog, I've discussed the many ways in which society misuses technology, but I think the most important is the over dependence on it. Seriously, could anyone image going an entire day without a cell phone or internet access? When I've done this, it's always made me more relaxed. However, it tends to stress out others because they can't reach me. 

So my final words are this: technology is useful and at some points completely necessary, but it can also cause isolation and dependence. Be careful how you use technology, and remember that technology isn't supposed to control us (as it does in my blog on 2016), but we're supposed to control it.

Technology Racing Towards a Future with Less Privacy?

A few months ago I received a call from an aunt of mine asking me who the boys in my profile picture were. Now this call caught me off guard as my aunt didn't have a Facebook and my profile has the highest privacy settings, so that even most friends can't see my pictures. However, my aunt quickly assured me that her friend (who is an IT guy) had shown her how to cyberstalk. This basically meant that she could find any information on basically anyone.

Cyberstalking is a relatively new thing. Even the most computer illiterate can easily run a background check on someone as long as they have a credit card and are willing to pay. One website will search for someone's criminal history with simply a name and a state. I did try to find myself, however, I have a pretty common name, so the results didn't yield anything. (Also, I don't have a criminal record.) For further details on cyberstalking, go here.

Now there are applications on social networking websites such as Facebook that allow you to tell everyone where you are at any given time. If you need an update on what Facebook places is exactly, here you go:

And if you want to disable it:

re these applications really necessary though, or are they just further facilitating cyberstalking? After all, if you really wanted to see a friend, you would have invited them along in the first place? So really it boils down to a basic thought: while the idea of being able to check in with people through Facebook and know what they're up to is a simple one, will these kinds of technology lead to further misuse by people who really shouldn't be using it? 

2016: The Acceleration of Tranquility

While I was reading "The Acceleration of Tranquility" the August 2016 section, my first thought was working at home sounds like a good idea. After all, according to the sociologist Hochschild (who I've mentioned before), one of the biggest problems facing the workers in the U.S. today is not having enough time at home. The work such long weeks that almost all of their time at home is spent running errands, cleaning the house, shuttling around kids and other menial tasks without a moment to relax. The idea of a home office so fully equipped that you can attend office meetings and never leave your house seems like the perfect answer.

However, once I kept reading I started to become horrified. Is this really the direction our society is heading in? One point that stuck out to me was when the author wrote that things such as paper and doing algebra were obsolete. Everything is done instantly and by computers and you have software to control the software to control the software, etc. My first problem with this is somewhat obvious: the no algebra and complete dependence on computers. If people are forced to do basic mathematics by themselves they lose the brain power to do so, and aren't we supposed to become more educated as a society as we progress into the future? If we aren't doing basic tasks such as mathematics or writing by hand, our species will lose the ability to do so and then aren't we going backwards instead of forward. Also, my favorite part of reading is being able to hold the book and curl up. A computer, no matter how well it's made to stimulate it, does not have this effect.

If we're facing a future with complete reliance on computers and failed interaction with other people, our species will suffer. This is the ultimate misuse of technology. According to this excerpt, they even have virtual sex! (Which kind of defeats the purpose of it being an intimate act with another human being.) Technology that controls technology that controls technology can lead to bad things. In the excerpt, Mark Helprin describes an ARS technology that went rouge and built a golf course in Africa. If you've seen the movie Eagle Eye, it's the perfect example of technology that has the ability to run itself, which is  a scary though.

Overall, in the present day we can only misuse technology as much as we like. We can shut off our computer when we go to sleep so that we don't get emails in the middle of the night. We can turn off our cell phones so that we can enjoy vacation. While we as a society thrive on new technology, do we really want to take vacations halfway across the world in "primative resorts" so that we can get a break from it all? And do we really want to lose the need for direct human to human contact?

And in case you haven't seen it, here's a trailer for Eagle Eye:

Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism: How People Misuse the Internet

The invention of the personal computer started with a revolution in the 1970s. Small start up companies, which were basically nerds in basements putting together computers, slowly started to run the word. With the help of venture capital and competition, companies like Apple, Microsoft and IBM were started and names such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates started to become household names. With this invention of the computer, came the inevitable invention of the internet. The internet slowly evolved over the years from becoming something that businesses used to connect to a household necessity. Now the internet is something most people use on a daily basis. In fact, according to a techcrunch.com article, the average adult spends 13 hours a week online.

While the amount of time spent online is a misuse of technology in itself, it's what people are doing while online that can be seen as a problem. There are three main misuses of the internet that are most relevant today: copyright infringement, plagiarism and cyberbullying.

The first of these, copyright infringement on the internet. The mass attention towards online copyright infringement started in 2000 when Napster, an online company for pirating music, faced several court cases. (A brief article on that case can be found here.) However, pirating music did not stop with this court case. According to www.podcastingnews.com, in 2008 the average teenager had $800 of pirated music on their ipod. Music isn't the only type of entertainment that is pirated. The movie industry also faces this problem. There are websites, such as this one, who post lists every year of the most pirated movies and the top contenders were downloaded millions of times.

Plagiarism is another misuse of technology that is found through the internet. Most college and high school students have a section of their student handbook that addresses their school's plagiarism rules and the consequences that go along with violating these rules. Along with that, most college professors also include a section on plagiarism in their syllabi. Statistics on plagiarism are hard to find, but I was able to find one article that stated that University of Florida had about 66% of students had plagiarism had one point or another. However, now with the internet plagiarism is easier and easier to get away with. There are websites that specifically sell papers to college students, with cost correlated with the grade it guarantees to earn you. Because of easy internet access at most colleges, these websites are easy to find and easy to use, thus making the plagiarism problem worse. (Side note: I did not include any links to these sites because I did not want to encourage plagiarism.)

The third recent misuse of the internet is cyber-bullying. According to www.stopcyberbullying.org, "'cyberbullying' is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones." The most infamous case of cyber-bullying is most likely the one of Megan Meier. Megan Meier was 13 when she began receiving messages from a boy. When these messages turned mean, she committed suicide. It eventually was discovered that the boy had never existed and the myspace profile was in fact created by the mother of one of her classmates, who was aware that Megan was on antidepressants. An article with a bit more detail, and the article where this information came from can be found here. Several other cyber-bullying cases have been in the news over the last few years and the results of cyber-bullying are never good. 

PC Love

コンピュタの頭
Originally uploaded by -Sebastián Vargas-

not technically relevant, but a cool picture considering this weeks movie Nerds.

"A Nerd is someone who uses a computer to use a computer."

The Nerds and The PC

Many people wake up every morning and log onto their email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. without really noticing the technology. Forty years ago this was not the case. The personal computer was just a glint in the nerd's eye in 1970, but one that was being fast created. The personal computer allows people to do so many things within the comfort of their own home and with the ease of clicking a button. Talking to friends, paying bills, shopping, and even working out can all be accomplished through the ownership of a personal computer.

However, not everyone uses their computers the way they should. Cnn.com is cashing in on this misusing phrase through their column Netiquette, which, just as it sounds, teaches people about the way to handle online affairs. In their most recent article, they discuss the appropriate way to handle leaving a job via online transactions. This is sadly a much needed article as I'm sure everyone has heard a story of someone who was fired or left and job and sent a mass email out to everyone in the company airing their grievances. While this may feel like a good idea at the time, it's a severe misuse of the access that person has to the company email and probably not good for their reputation either.

"Nerds" such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are the ones we have to thank for inventions such as Microsoft Office (Gates) or the Macbook Pro(Jobs). Inventions such as these make our day to day life that much easier and quicker to handle. However, this advanced technology could have a rather vast downside. According to a set of statistics I looked at that cited an LA times poll, teens and kids spent about an hour and half online everyday in 2009. I can only assume that number has continued to grow. Computers, televisions and cell phones take over a vast amount of our free time. (I know I'm guilty of spending too much time online). So yes, the computer is definitely an invention we can be thankful for, but it's also one our country needs to learn how to manage.

Misuse of Technology in the Workplace

I recently read a study about the misuse of technology in the workplace that includes a section I hadn't thought about previously: what people do on the internet while on corporate time. Dr Kimberly Young and Dr Carl Case recently published a study that includes email, adult websites, online gaming and many more websites that workers are accessing while on the clock.

When Weber talks about the ideal type, he discusses a kind of chain of command that deals with how businesses are structure (in somewhat of a pyramid form). He also discusses the idea of functional specialization (employees having specific specialized jobs that force them to do certain tasks). This study found a way where these ideas can become an issue. According to the study, managers of companies are supposed to monitor what their employees do online, as well as successfully execute their other managerial demands. Weber might look at this structure and automatically see how unproductive it really is. In this case, it is apparent that companies really need departments to monitor internet usage if they are concerned about what their employees are doing online on company time. 

Doctors Young and Case talk about some companies having internet policies in place (roughly 48% of those studied). However, it is apparent that policies aren't always followed. Weber would suggest a specialized department whose sole function it is to watch internet usage in the company. He would also suggest leaving the managers to do their primary jobs. This readjust, according to Weber, would make the company much more efficient over all.

Pop Up Ads: Marketing and the Internet Combined

Two of the topics studied this week were marketing (session 8) and the internet (session 10). When these two topics combine, we are left with pop up ads. No doubt anyone who has ever spent any time on the internet has experienced the annoyance of pop up ads. Granted, for certain websites they have their perks. Occasionally pop up ads exist to advertise a sale on a store's website or to offer you to sign up for mailing list. However, some websites make their profits off of allowing others to advertise through them. This can cause a whirlwind of pop-up advertisements. A wonderland, if you will. Once you click on one advertisement or even exit the window, five more pop up and pretty soon your computer screen looks like the picture above. This whirlwind is an example of how companies abuse internet technology in order to force advertising. On television, companies buy spots during certain viewing periods that allows them to control who and how many people are aware of their product. However, on the internet, they don't have that control because people can pretty much view what they like. Companies have solved this through utilizing pop up advertisements in order to spread the word about their products.

A technology has been developed to counter-act this problem already. Most internet browsers come with a pop up blocker already set up in them. All the user has to do is turn on this technology and the annoyance of pop ups is gone. In some cases, you can even view what is being blocked in case they're are any pop ups that you want to view. This technology allows people to pick and choose what they are able to view whiling browsing the internet.

This video is a parody of some of the more annoying internet pop up ads:

Cell phones and the Business Etiquette

One aspect of business growth that I failed to mention in my last entry was the invention of cell phones. Cell phones allow people to get in touch with you anywhere at anytime. This allows people to do things such as take conference calls with other countries while driving to work, check an email the second the get it and allows them to be on call when they are needed.

Cell phones can cause problems in some cases though. As this video demonstrates, cell phones can create a sense of isolation from those around you and can harm business relationships.


General Business Etiquette:
How can the misuse of my cell phone affect my business relationships?

Sociologically, this is a negative thing because it creates a more isolated society. The United States is already extremely dependent on energy technology and the cell phone is another technology to add to that dependency.

This article goes on to discuss how greatly cell phone use affects our society. Especially in the business world, where males tend to use their cell phones as a sign of their status according to the article. Also mentioned in this article is the sociological view that extreme cell phone usage causes extreme disengagement from society. Later on Goffman is discussed. This sociologist had a theory that in an interaction between two people, they must both be available to react to each other. If one or the other does not fulfill this interaction it as seen as hostile. In the case of cell phones, if someone answers a phone call or text while talking to another person, it can be seen as that person is not important enough to keep your attention. So while cell phones allow business to expand much more easily, the way they are used is just as important.

Business and Technology

Business and technology have coexisted for many years. In fact, their relationship is a symbiotic one that allows both to grow much faster than they would if left to their own devices. However, there are several ways that this relationship can be misused. Occasionally there are businesses that utilize their technology to allow goods that are in demand to be available at lower prices for the general public. One example of this would be Ford's Model T. When it first became available to the public, it was expensive. But as he made more money and the car became a higher demand product, he was able to lower the prices until the car was affordable to everyone. This is a business model emulated by business such as apple. Whenever a new version of the iphone is developed, it starts off at a certain price. However, if you wait for a few months, the price starts to slowly drop as the phone becomes more and more popular, the business no longer needs to charge so much for this product and is able to lower the price.

Some businesses use technology in the opposite direction though. There are many business who use the fact that they own a technology to charge more than necessary for the product. An example of this would be the apple laptops. Although macs are a completely different breed of technology, they are still $1500 more expensive then most PCs. This has a lot to do with the amenities that come with the Macbooks. These computers have many more functions than PCs do, but they are still extremely expensive. However, people are willing to buy these computers regardless of the price to have access to the technology.

Another aspect of business and technology that occurs is when it involves the state. Currently in the UAE, blackberry is facing issues about succeeding to government power. According to this CNN article, blackberry is the dominant smartphone in the UAE. Because of this the government is threatening to ban service in their country unless blackberry will allow them access to tap people's phone. These taps would allow the government to access people's texts, phone conversations and personal emails. This idea may be necessary to help the government find terrorist or criminal operations. However, this is a major invasion of privacy for the citizens of UAE. This whole situation is an example of misuse of technology. However, in this situation the government is forcing the business to misuse the technology that they own.

Anonymity: Encouraging People to Misuse the Internet?

A recent article on Cnn.com discusses just that. It would seem that many people have been taking advantage of newspaper comment boards in order to write messages of hate, ones that they don't have to attach their names too.

According to the article, one woman blamed all of her neighborhoods issues on the "blacks" and expressed her outright hate for this group of people. To combat this issue, many online newspaper sites are now requiring all users who wish to comment to register their names, state and phone numbers to discourage these kinds of inappropriate rages.

This kind of intense registration project has deterred many users from commenting on the articles, however. One newspaper engages in a community policing program, where users can flag inappropriate comments to allow users to remain anonymous while still getting rid of the inappropriate and hateful commenting that occurs.

If you would like to read the whole article, you can find it here.

Using Social Networking for Cheating

Although there are many different ways that technology can be considered "misused", a recent CNN.com article sheds light on the idea of conducting affairs using the internet. Many people are able to reconnect with exes and old friends via social networking sites, and although the information placed on the websites is mostly public, these sites allow easier communication between people conducting an affair. This form of communication is not something that the cheater's spouse would be concerned about and this allows for the affair to be kept much quieter.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/07/14/facebook.cheating/index.html

Introduction

Many people view technology as a source of comfort, as the future, as a vital component to our society. However, many also fail to view the downside of technology. Not everyone who uses technology uses it with good intentions or uses it the way it was intended. Lately, Social Networking sites such as Facebook have taken over college campuses, causing teachers to ban laptops from the classroom in effort to force students to focus on the subject at hand. According to the New York Times, Teenager send an average of 2.272 texts per month (New York Times--Teen Texting). This number alone astonishes most adults.

The misuse of technology also appears in other places, one that incorporate the justice system into technology. Shows such as To Catch a Predator on MSNBC illustrate how sexual predators are using technology to connect with their prey (To Catch a Predator). The use of the internet by sexual predators is becoming more and more common.

Teens have also figured out a new way to bully each other, a way that isn't detectable by their teachers and parents--cyber bullying.

Although, technology has without a doubt improved life, there are also drawbacks which many people fail to notice. Technology has become such an integral part of our lives that people do not see how some people have taken this integration too far and are misusing technology, for their own ends and purposes. Over the course of the next few weeks, I intend to discuss the different ways in which the misuse of technology has shown up in society and possible solutions to these problems.