Over the weeks, we’ve learnt so much about the Internet. I went to class with really basic knowledge about the topic, I mean we use the Internet daily, even as I’m typing this post, I am using the Internet to play music in the background.
It’s amazing how far technology and the advancement of the Internet has come today. In week 1, we talked about the founders, and what the Internet was used for. Now, it has developed to something more than just research, but for entertainment, commerce, education and even socializing.
Though we are surrounded and immerse in the world of the Internet, there is still so much that we didn’t know. Like security wise, what is actually threatening our privacy, like Heart Bleed. The many tools that are actually helping us get through our daily lives. The power of the Internet, in bringing people together to start a social movement and bring about change. How it has changed what was traditional media, like journalism, allowing the citizens to be the people to bring the news.
And now, the future of the Internet, like virtual reality and Web 3.0.
I came out of the class richer with knowledge, and more aware of what’s going on online. This has also make me more interested in any developments of the Internet in the near future, as it brings so much promise, and it’ll be fun to see how the world has changed in the next few years.
And thanks to the Internet, I found a band called.. “The Internet”, here’s their music video to end this blog.
This week, we’ll be talking about the Future of the Internet.
The Internet has come a long way. A few decades old, and it has already experienced significant changes. From a small group of independent networks, now it is a global entity. It serves as a platform for business, communication, entertainment and education. In the past only certain computers could have internet with the assistance of modems, now you can be connected to this enormous network through dozens of different devices.
But where can we go from here?
One possible future is Web 3.0. Futurist John Smart, defines Web 3.0 as a convergence of the virtual and physical world. A Web development layer that includes TV-quality open video, 3D simulations, augmented reality, human constructed semantic standards, and pervasive broadband, wireless and sensors. Very Minority Report.
According to some Internet experts, Web 3.0 will enable the use of autonomous agents. An autonomous agent is an intelligent agent operating on an owner’s behalf but without any interference of that ownership entity. So, rather than having search engines geared towards your keywords, the search engine will gear towards the user.
However, can we really know what the Internet of the future would bring? We would like to think we know what the future would bring, but till then we’re none the wiser. Certain experts of the field made some predictions too, and they came out horribly wrong.
For example, in a 1998 issue of BYTE magazine, Edmund DeJesus made the claim that “[Y2K] is a crisis without precedent in human history.” So, here is a quick history recap about The Y2K problem, so most dates in computers were programmed to automatically assume the date began with 19, so 1975 or 1992. But when the date would turn to January 1, 2000, it was prophesied that computers would be so confused that they would shut down completely. I remember closing on New Year’s Day 1999, people were panicking and stocking up for fear of the Y2K bug, and… nothing happened.
Another example would be some predictions made by Raymond Kurzweil, Director of Engineering at Google and noted futurist in his book, “The Age of Spiritual Machines” from 1999. He thought that phones would already be auto-translating conversations for us by 2009. Though Google Translate can be impressively effective, we’re still a number of years away from being able to pick up the phone and understand what the person is saying in another language.
Docomo, a mobile phone company from Japan, thought that that technology wouldn’t be that far off too, they even made an advert for it!
However, we can’t ignore the developments the Internet has made, and we’ve definitely come a long way. In 1967 the Philco-Ford Corporation released a short film titled 1999 A.D., there are definite similarities to the technology we have today, like online shopping and paying your bills online, though it’s not exactly the same, but it isn’t too far off. Here’s a short clip:
The predictions were pretty accurate considering the film was predicting about the technology 30 years in the future.
Anyways, hope ya’ll learnt something new, till next time!
This week, we’ll be talking about the Innovators a.k.a the titans a.k.a the Big Three a.k.a Microsoft, Google, and Apple.
These three has been battling head to head on everything from computers, hardware, operating systems, applications, entertainment, search engines and more.
Now, they are battling on who got the better intelligent personal assistant. What is it you ask? It is a mobile software agent, that can perform tasks for an individual based on user input, location awareness, and the ability to access info.
Examples of Intelligent Personal Assistants are Apple’s Siri, and Google’s Now.
Launched in 2011 by Apple, Siri uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of Web services. So, people could use Siri to make reservations at specific restaurants, buy movie tickets or even get a cab. However, in Siri’s original release, its functionality was limited to certain locations. So, people could only use it when they are in the U.S. or using U.S. English. As of iOS 6, Siri is now able to function outside of the United States.
A year later, Google launched Google Now. Similar to Siri, it uses natural language user interface to answer questions and so on. On top of that, Google Now is implemented as an aspect of the Google Search Application. It recognizes repeated actions that a user performs on the device such as common locations, or repeated calendar appointments to display more relevant information to the user in the form of “cards”. However, commentators noted that the predictive power of Google Now reveals “exactly how much data and information Google actually has about [users’] routines and daily lives.” Scary~
Now, Microsoft just launched their intelligent personal assistant, Cortana, at the Microsoft BUILDDeveloper Conference on April 2nd, 2014 by Microsoft corporate vice president Joe Belfiore in San Francisco. Somewhat a combination of both of the intelligent personal assistants above, Cortana will replace the built-in Bing search feature and act as a digital assistant similar to Siri. It will borrow from Google Now’s “contextual power” by relying on multiple data sources from Bing, Foursquare, and information stored on one’s phone. One thing different about Cortana, compared to the other two is the feature called the “Notebook”. It is where personal info such as interests or contacts will be stored for access by Cortana. Then, Cortana will be able to draw upon it to learn about the user’s specific patterns and behaviours. The user will be able to view this information, with the aim of offering greater control over privacy settings, ” a level of control that goes beyond comparable assistants.”
So, we know that Apple got Siri, Google got Now, and Microsoft has just joined the party, with Cortana.
Let’s look at all 3 of the Intelligent personal assistants, maybe you’ll find a favourite.
This week we’ll be talking about Digital Journalism. What is it you ask?
Digital journalism also known as online journalism is a contemporary form of journalism where editorial content is distributed via the Internet as opposed to publishing via print. Besides the difference in platforms, online news can be presented solely or in combination of text, audio, video and some other interactive forms like hyperlinks, and can be disseminated through social media, and other platforms.
It has democratized the flow of information that was previously controlled by traditional media including newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. A greater degree of creativity can be exercised with digital journalism when compared to traditional journalism and traditional media. And this have given excess to people to write their own news.
However, the lack of control of the online media has also opened the doors to non-credible news sources.
Let me explain, even though I may not be the best person to.
For example, citizen journalism sites like STOMP, don’t even write about the news. Half the time, the “news” posted are random things that are not credible, accurate, objective or even well written.
The problem with these “citizen journalist” is that it insults professional, paid, rigorously trained, working journalists then equates them with people who thinks they know what journalism is all about, have a hand phone camera and wish to make a quick buck. STOMP is no longer a “citizen journalism” platform but a place for people with only a modicum of training in writing, or none at all to air their complaints.
This in turn gives actual proper citizen journalist a bad name. With the Internet, it’s meant to give people a chance to give the world their own perspective of a current event. An alternative view, that helps shape people’s understanding, unfortunately people has abused that power to use that medium to give bias views, and packaged it as actual news.
As seen on their website, “Award-winning STOMP, or Straits Times Online Mobile Print, is Asia’s leading citizen-journalism website with user-generated material fuelling its success… STOMP connects, engages and interacts with Singaporeans in a style and approach that is different from conventional news websites. Its strong growth reflects not only its popularity but its resonance with Singaporeans.”
HOWEVER, I do not have a problem with citizen journalism, just with certain sites that should have been closed down a long time ago. I like the concept of getting information from other informed citizens. For example, Arab Spring and Egypt. I also value the information I get from professional journalists.
All this though, needs a certain amount of control.
To allow people to just freely upload their “news” may not be the best way to go, I believe that all these should be vetted through by a professional editor/ gatekeeper, and hence ensures the quality of the information that we will be given. Though it defeats the purpose of us being able to access all this information freely and without any editing, it is important to keep in mind, that all the things we are presented are objective, accurate, current, have equal coverage and from a credible authority.
So, here I want to show a TED talk by Andrew McGregor, to look at when Citizen Journalism is done right, and how it can actually help people.
Yanru's Introduction to the Internet 