Post due March 31st

Blog post due March 31^st “Always on Panopticon”:

Summary

            This article continues both Carr’s and Barone’s discussion of the definition and impact of intellectual technologies.  Rheingold discusses the “smart mob” technologies of the 21^st century and their potential impact upon society as a whole (p. 184).  He discusses how these technologies not only impact the way people use technology, but the fabric of how our society is structured.  For instance, these technologies have erased lines demarcating what is work and what is home life.   In addition, these technologies also affect our sense of time by allowing us access to information that is uninhibited by needing to be at a formal office.  In addition, the uses for technology and the consumer are discussed with these technologies increasing the power of the consumer.  However, Rheingold discusses that this power is contingent upon the Internet remaining open and unregulated and cautions against the increasing regulation of the Internet, similar to how television and radio eventually came under federal control.

Critique

            This article was interesting to me because I am usually dismissive of alarmist cautionary articles about the harm that technologies will wreak upon unsuspecting citizens.  However, I found the sections about Internet regulation interesting.   I liked his discussion of the advantages of keeping the Internet regulated and how this increases the power of the consumer in regards to having access to unbiased, uncontrolled information.  Rheingold discusses the harm of regulating the Internet by comparing it to technologies of the past: “Recent legal and regulatory actions are the first sources of a thus far successful campaign to lock down the formerly freewheeling Internet and return to the days of three television networks and one telephone company, when customers were consumers and no one sliced into profits with their own businesses or challenged old technologies with new ones” (p. 204).  These discussions reminded me of Carr’s discussion of Google and other discussions we have had this semester of how information is always curated for us, whether by people, media outlets, or computer algorithms and that it is important to be aware of such mediation.

Connection

            The panopticon chapter reminded me of Carr’s last chapter in that they remind the reader to consider both the advantages and disadvantages of technology not only upon the individual (emphasized in Carr), but also upon citizenry and society (emphasized by Rheingold).  Carr (2011) states, “Every tool imposes limitations even as it opens possibilities” (p. 209).  Rheingold focuses on the benefits of an open information system, such as the Internet, but warns against how the freedom provided by technology also comes at a price.  For instance, he reminds the reader of how the boundaries of home and work have disintegrated, making people feel like they are “always on.”  Similarly, Carr discusses the increased access we have to technology, but the shallow thinking and distractedness this constant stimulation may cause.