tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70841293213984903122024-02-20T10:36:27.597-05:00Information 3.0Brandon_Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04322609358484327540noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084129321398490312.post-58266329328335564612012-12-03T13:26:00.001-05:002012-12-03T13:31:59.733-05:00It’s Only a Matter of Time, But Some Predict Mobile Technology Will Render Laptops Obsolete<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Even though
tablets and smart phones are being distributed at rates higher than ever, many
people still turn to their laptops or desktops to complete time-consuming
tasks, such as computer programs, books, and essays. The main difference
between all these devices is the ease of typing on a computer that iPads and
iPhones don’t provide. For this reason, quick, recreational tasks are perfect
for mobile devices, but it can be very frustrating to attempt to use them for
long periods of time.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A main difference between the two
types of technology is the keyboard, which allows longer pieces to be written
on laptops and desktops.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<object align="middle" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,115,0" height="250" id="qikPlayer" width="330"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://qik.com/swfs/qikPlayer5.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#333333" /><param name="FlashVars" value="streamID=43df894d97e143fd812322c37ad51430&autoplay=false" /><embed src="http://qik.com/swfs/qikPlayer5.swf" quality="high" bgcolor="#333333" width="425" height="319" name="qikPlayer" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" FlashVars="streamID=43df894d97e143fd812322c37ad51430&autoplay=false"></embed></object></div>
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The reality is that right now, the
lack of a keyboard on smart phones and most tablets makes it hard to produce
content, such as essays, emails, and long blog posts. Unless an iPad user buys
a keyboard to attach to his or her device, typing up these things can be a
pain, as usually people only type with a few fingers on mobile devices. Also,
people often associate these new devices with recreation, using them for quick
Facebook or Twitter checks when they do not have much time to sit down and get
serious work done.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSSKlFZxmvTPxdjchvaHOA80DUJKa4ILZb-k7ECiktcvUIAIB2RbA" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="124" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSSKlFZxmvTPxdjchvaHOA80DUJKa4ILZb-k7ECiktcvUIAIB2RbA" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <a href="http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2012/11/30/microsoft-surface-pro-price-an-release-divulged/">Phones review</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">University of Maryland graduate student
Nathan Jurgenson, who has been researching mobile devices for a few years,
believes that all of these devices (smart phones, tablets, laptops and
desktops) will start to look more like each other in the coming months and
years. He says, “It’ll be a more fluid spectrum between the smaller devices and
the larger devices, instead of these very discrete categories that we have
now.” I think we are already seeing the beginnings of this trend with the
Microsoft Surface, which can either be attached to a keyboard or used like a
tablet. Dr. Benjamin Bederson, computer science professor, agrees with
Jurgenson, saying, “With wireless and detachable keyboards and lighter and
smaller laptops with touchscreens, it is really more of a continuum of designs
than two completely distinct types of computers.”</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Smart phone sales outpace those of
tablets, laptops and desktops, and that trend is expected to continue into the
near future.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> New <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9223956/Smartphone_shipments_outpaced_PCs_in_2011_for_first_time">research</a> done by Canalys found that, for the first time, in 2011 more smart phones were
shipped than personal computers (including laptops, desktops, and tablets). The
report was that 488 million smart phones were shipped, compared with 415
million PCs. These results are expected based on the fact that much of the
globe has yet to join the web, but many of these places are using cell phones.
“Many people, especially in the developing world, have ‘leapfrogged’ the wired internet
and the desktop computer,” Jurgenson says. “[They’ve] moved straight into
mobile devices as their first entryway into the internet.” The belief is that
if and when the two-thirds of the world that is not on the internet start using
the web, it will be through mobile devices and not through traditional laptop
computers or desktop computers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mobile devices, though, do not lend
themselves very well to creation or production of books, long articles, or
computer programs, or the editing of audio and video.</span></b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cfRH_OzvqTQ?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe>
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Even though handheld devices can do
so much and are so convenient for us, there are still some obvious benefits to
sticking with computers to do complicated tasks. For example, tablets are able
to shoot videos pretty well, and the quality of the videos is not too much
worse than that of a video camera. Obviously, there is a decline in quality but
not enough to make shooting video on a tablet worthless. But as for editing
videos and editing audio clips, the iPad doesn’t have nearly the capabilities
that a laptop has. </span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> In the same way, software developers
and computer programmers would never be able to do all of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">the writing and
testing of code with the same effectiveness on a phone or even a tablet as on a
computer. For these tasks, people like to have the control that computers
offer, not the convenience of handheld devices.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> For these reasons, it
will take time for mobile technology to fully surpass traditional devices for
every task; tablet producers will definitely have to think about how they can make
it easier for users to type for a long period of time or write and test a long
program. The Microsoft Surface seems like a good start, as it provides not only
the convenience of a tablet, but also the vast capabilities of a laptop when
the user needs it.</span></div>
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<a href="http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/tablets-1.jpg?w=400&h=278" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/tablets-1.jpg?w=400&h=278" height="220" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> If Apple comes out with a product
similar to the Surface, and I do not see why they wouldn’t, it would further
this merging of different technologies that Jurgenson and Bederson pointed out.
Companies will always be trying to create better devices, but for the next
couple of years at least, a blend between the laptop and tablet could be the
direction in which much of the world decides to move.</span> <span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">With these new blended technologies, some experts are predicting that
<a href="http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/15/tablet-computer-sales-will-overtake-notebooks-by-2016/">tablet sales</a> will outnumber those of traditional computers and laptops by 2016.
The feeling is that today’s population, especially in the United States, is
much more concerned with convenience than performance. Ultimately, experts
believe, handheld devices will be small, convenient and easy enough to
substitute for the laptops of much of the population.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1079003-will-tablets-ever-substitute-for-laptops/embed">
<a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1079003-will-tablets-ever-substitute-for-laptops">listen to ‘Will tablets ever substitute for laptops?’ on Audioboo</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Brandon_Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04322609358484327540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084129321398490312.post-71472071737401973692012-11-25T23:29:00.000-05:002012-11-25T23:29:04.367-05:00Word on the Street about Tablets and Laptops<div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1079003-will-tablets-ever-substitute-for-laptops/embed">
<a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1079003-will-tablets-ever-substitute-for-laptops">listen to ‘Will tablets ever substitute for laptops?’ on Audioboo</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Brandon_Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04322609358484327540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084129321398490312.post-73520938938922198192012-11-21T12:37:00.000-05:002012-11-21T12:37:17.076-05:00Mobile Technology and Its Impact on the Laptop Industry<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In today’s
world, technology is advancing faster than it ever has before. It seems like
there is a new and improved tablet or smart phone hitting the market almost
every month. With this type of quick advancement, it seems like it’s only a
matter of time before tablets and phones become our primary use of technology,
ahead of laptops and desktops. I find this topic very interesting, so I decided
to try to find out more about it for my research project.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Right now, there are still many tasks
a laptop can perform better than a tablet or smart phone can.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The purpose
of the tablet and smart phone, as of now, is for people to be able to receive
updates (emails, Facebook posts, tweets, etc.) conveniently and quickly, even
while casually playing around with a game, such as Angry Birds or Doodle Jump.
However, when authors, computer scientists, or journalists want to get some
actual work done, they most likely turn to their laptop. The fact is that
writing a book or even a short story on an iPad, especially one with no
keyboard, is much more inconvenient than typing it up on a laptop. And even
with a keyboard, the applications used for writing aren’t nearly as convenient
as Microsoft Word.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Will handheld devices ever be able to
substitute completely for a laptop?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For the most
part, the answer I’ve been hearing is no, but the main goal of my project is to
continue looking for experts’ opinions on the issue. In my opinion, the slightly
higher convenience of tablets and smart phones will not counteract the ease of
writing a paper or story on a laptop. These computers are not much bigger and
they are so simple to use. Some people become frustrated when trying to do
things on a tablet, so I think it will be hard for that industry to completely
replace the computer industry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Brandon_Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04322609358484327540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084129321398490312.post-72664920533162475992012-11-19T13:17:00.001-05:002012-11-19T13:17:25.665-05:00Why I Chose My Project On Mobile Devices<object align="middle" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,115,0" height="319" id="qikPlayer" width="425"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://qik.com/swfs/qikPlayer5.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#333333" /><param name="FlashVars" value="streamID=26df4fe63e2a4393a28f47887a5d51c9&autoplay=false" /><embed src="http://qik.com/swfs/qikPlayer5.swf" quality="high" bgcolor="#333333" width="425" height="319" name="qikPlayer" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" FlashVars="streamID=26df4fe63e2a4393a28f47887a5d51c9&autoplay=false"></embed></object>Brandon_Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04322609358484327540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084129321398490312.post-52779558586264243242012-11-11T23:54:00.001-05:002012-11-11T23:54:43.521-05:00Freshman thinks blending learning classes create a more self-orientated approach to learning.<div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1053883-freshman-would-like-to-take-a-blended-learning-class-due-to-their-more-independent-nature/embed">
<a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1053883-freshman-would-like-to-take-a-blended-learning-class-due-to-their-more-independent-nature">listen to ‘Freshman would like to take a blended learning class due to their more independent nature.’ on Audioboo</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Brandon_Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04322609358484327540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084129321398490312.post-31561246721931280552012-11-11T23:53:00.001-05:002012-11-11T23:53:43.649-05:00Freshman: iPad is desirable because of its portability, along with its large text.<div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1053876-freshman-wants-ipad-because-it-is-like-a-mini-computer/embed">
<a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1053876-freshman-wants-ipad-because-it-is-like-a-mini-computer">listen to ‘Freshman wants iPad because it is like a mini computer.’ on Audioboo</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Brandon_Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04322609358484327540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084129321398490312.post-78747259476166135252012-11-02T18:53:00.001-04:002012-11-02T18:53:24.144-04:00<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Recently, there has
been a growing trend of using iPads and other tablets instead of computers,
laptops, and smartphones, especially on long plane or train rides. Tablets
provide almost all of the convenience of a small phone, and they also have a
large enough screen so information can be easily read. The increase in usage of
tablets prompted the Nielsen Norman group to conduct multiple studies of iPad
users to see how usability would change over time. They made some very
interesting findings about different applications and reasons for why some apps
are better or more usable than others. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With
a small sample size, it is hard to get an accurate representation on how a
majority of people use their iPads, but it may still help in improving future
applications and future devices.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The second edition of
the study the Nielsen Norman group conducted involved only 16 people who had
had an iPad for two months or more. With the number of people who are now using
iPads regularly, turning away from laptops, I don’t think that this sample can
possibly represent the population accurately. However, the length of each study
(90 minutes) may still provide enough information for application designers to
improve their apps and come up with useful new ones. The studies were very in
depth and examined a large number of apps, across a wide range of areas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://images.ientrymail.com/webpronews/article_pics/amazon-ipad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images.ientrymail.com/webpronews/article_pics/amazon-ipad.jpg" height="155" width="200" /></a><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most
users prefer to use a company’s website on their iPads, even though the apps
should provide a more tablet friendly experience and are made specifically for
that company.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The most surprising
information that I got from this survey is that using apps for specific
companies are not always the most effective way to accomplish a task. In this
study, many users became frustrated when trying to use apps for different
companies. Reasons for frustration included confusion over which graphics were “tappable”
and which ones were not, and stemming from that problem, knowing how to get
back to the previous page when an accidental tap occurred. Also, the apps had
less content available than the actual website, which seems strange to me. I
would think that companies would try their hardest to include everything in
their applications because theoretically, people will try them before putting
in the time to browse online.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A
good amount of applications switch pages, remove progress, get rid of text or
media, or display different information when the user turns the iPad.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://thingsuwant.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Confused-iPad-523x240.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thingsuwant.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Confused-iPad-523x240.png" height="91" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Much confusion occurred
during the survey due to information being lost when the user decided that it
would be beneficial to switch the tablet’s orientation. Sometimes the subjects
rotated the iPad, and the app they were in took them back to the home page,
making it hard to get back to the previous page. There were plenty of
navigation issues that were hard to replicate, especially inside apps the
subjects were not familiar with. Also, a few graphics were in the report,
showing how one picture was shown next to an article in landscape view and a
different graphic was shown in portrait view.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
report gives plenty of advice to companies deciding whether or not to create an
iPad app, including having a feature specific to the app that is not available
on the website.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Many companies have to
make a decision to make regarding creating an app or not. The consensus is that
the application should differ in a good way from the main website. Too many
apps have even less content than their website counterparts, creating no
benefit or reason for users to download the app. A main example given for a
possible benefit is to have larger text in the app, especially for recipes,
which are usually read in the kitchen when the person’s hands are dirty. In addition, a suggestion is that your app
should not be more confusing or more difficult to make sense of than the actual
website. Too many apps have nuances that make the overall experience more
negative than going through the trouble of browsing the web.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Even
with these small problems, the iPad still provides users with close to
everything that both an iPhone and laptop provide, with the look and feel that
attracts buyers.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While the report
focuses on all of the negatives they could find about the device, the
researchers had to dig deep to find subtle problems to talk about. The overall
iPad experience is a positive one, and I think that the device will eventually
become the main technology people use (other than cell phones), both on trips
and in the house. The size is perfect, big enough to see everything on the
page, but small enough to transport easily.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Brandon_Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04322609358484327540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084129321398490312.post-28751933495783760892012-10-24T13:36:00.001-04:002012-10-24T13:36:54.132-04:00Will the Digital Divide Ever Go Away?The digital divide and participation gap that Kevin Guidry mentions in his piece are not all that apparent in "The State of the 2012 Election - Mobile Politics." The article talks about a survey of registered voters in the United States. The survey found that almost 90 percent of all registered voters own a cell phone, and almost 50 percent of voters own a smartphone. These results suggest that, slowly but surely, people are improving and advancing technologically as a whole.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-prn1/27520_124105917608125_9253_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-prn1/27520_124105917608125_9253_n.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a><b>Liberals tend to use their cell phones to keep up with election or political news more than conservatives.</b><br />
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The article "The State of the 2012 Election - Mobile Politics" mainly talked about the differences in mobile phone use to keep up with the presidential race between political parties. However, there was not all that much difference in any category, except that liberals are more likely (37%) than conservatives (25%) to use their cell phones to "keep up with news related to the election or politics." In most other categories, the differences were almost non-existent, with percentage differences of only one to three percent.<br />
<br />
<b>The digital divide is slowly decreasing, but it definitely still exists, especially for people over the age of 50.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<a href="http://richardlstansfield.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/eba78ced8f89.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://richardlstansfield.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/eba78ced8f89.jpg" height="200" width="199" /></a>The main thing that I took out of the survey talked about in the article, and something that I expected, is that smartphone owners over the age of 50 are far less likely than those under 50 to use their smartphones to read political comments, post political comments, or look up further information about political statements. Although the piece by Guidry mentioned the digital divide with respect to actually owning Internet access or computers, a different divide exists among people that have these devices.<br />
<br />
<b>The participation gap is what actually may be prevalent among the different age groups and their uses of technology.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Guidry cites the participation gap as "different skills, predilections, and comfort levels with different technologies." Older citizens may not use their phones for political reasons because they grew up with other ways to get political information, or they have just started to buy smartphones and are more concerned with just calling and texting than other fancy applications.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.androidguys.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/google-goggles.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.androidguys.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/google-goggles.jpeg" height="141" width="200" /></a><b>Constant technological innovations will prevent different generations from ever being completely equal and undivided.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Many people might think that as this generation ages and becomes the older generation, they will still be "hip" to technology because they grew up with it. However, as is the case throughout history, even the most advanced individuals of their times would be baffled by the new gadgets we have today. As we advance in time, new technologies will always be invented, and it will be this way forever. When we grow up, I am convinced that we will be as confused by new technologies as our parents are by Facebook and Twitter. The digital divide and participation gap will always seem to decrease, but they will always be there to some extent.Brandon_Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04322609358484327540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7084129321398490312.post-40104591330156102282012-10-05T16:06:00.000-04:002012-10-05T16:06:08.367-04:00Is Your Facebook Password Secure? It Should Be.<br />
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Before Monday, it never even crossed my mind that companies could
and often do ask for the social media passwords of their possible future
employees. I had obviously heard that businesses check applicants' Facebooks,
Twitters, LinkedIns, etc. during the hiring process, but to actually ask for a
password is a full violation of privacy. There are ways, even on these public
sites, to keep information safe, such as through direct messaging on Twitter or
Facebook chat, and we deserve to be able to keep that area private. </div>
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<a href="http://5.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/facebook-privacy-lock-260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://5.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/facebook-privacy-lock-260.jpg" /></a></div>
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A few
months ago, Maryland became the first state to pass a law against this
practice, and several states have followed suit, such as <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/27/social-network-privacy_n_1920916.html">California</a>. Personally,
I believe that people should not put anything publicly on Facebook if it could
severely hinder their chances at getting a job, but as I said earlier, these
sites have more private ways for people to let friends know what they've been up
to, and those are what should remain completely unseen.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another
issue that should be discussed is the fact that it is way too easy for
non-friends to see all of our posts, personal information, “likes,” hobbies,
and interests on Facebook. The fact of the matter is that maximizing privacy on
Facebook is a daunting and very confusing task; most people don't take the time
to navigate through the menus to change their settings. Twitter makes it much
easier to become private, but Facebook is still the most dominant social
network.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://media.zenfs.com/en-CA/blogs/rightclick/protecting-kids-online.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://media.zenfs.com/en-CA/blogs/rightclick/protecting-kids-online.jpg" width="240" /></a>That
issue may soon be a non-issue, as California is trying to start a movement to
make the default settings “private” when someone creates a Facebook. The plan,
hopefully, will give users in future generations the privacy that our
generations lacked when we first got on Facebook. It is thought that, while
this bill is originating in California, it may spread globally due to the “think
of the children” angle that it presents. As we all know, the privacy issues
spread beyond just not wanting others to know about you; it is also a safety
issue, particularly for users under the age of 18. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The
bill will allow parents to monitor what their children are doing on Facebook.
While that may not sound appealing to people our age, I'd much rather my
parents see my Facebook than my possible employer, especially if it means I
will get the job. Parents are there, in part, to keep their kids safe, and I
think this bill would allow that to happen in the online world.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am
hopeful that a law similar to the ones passed in Maryland and California will
soon spread to all states and eliminate the use of our social media activity
for hiring purposes. What we post online should be visible only to those we
give permission by accepting their friendship. Facebook and other social media should
be a positive way to stay in touch with people we care about, not a way to get
penalized in the job industry.<o:p></o:p></div>
Brandon_Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04322609358484327540noreply@blogger.com4