“Learning to Deal”

            I was admittedly quite skeptical when it came to this course, especially after seeing the title of the required reading!  I have endured countless smart aleck comments regarding the actual “shape” of the earth because of this book.  In the beginning I would just smile and nod and say, “I know, I know”.  Not very far into the semester however, my opinion began to change, and I would say, “Actually it really is flat, believe it or not!”

            How incredible that it took thirty-four long years for me to learn this one really life changing fact.  I have mentioned in previous blogs about being on the receiving end of the dreaded phenomenon called outsourcing.  I was a happy passenger on the “dang foreigners are swooping in and stealing our jobs” train.  This course has opened my eyes to the reality of what was actually happening.  I was too mired in my own frustration to look around and see how truly amazing it was that technology was changing the face of the landscape.

            Although it is still extremely upsetting when you are on the unemployed side of things, I now have a better understanding of the necessity of it all.  Technology is very nearly an unstoppable force.  It is really about who can get the job done the best, in the smallest amount of time, for the least amount of financial burden.  When looked at from a distance, who can really argue with that logic?  Demand, OUR demand, has fueled the fire that has led to the incessant push for such drastic measures.

We live in a world of instant gratification.  We want what we want, when we want it, and not a second later.  We have all dug our own theoretical holes, and the time has come to get in and deal with the repercussions.  We have created this monster that virtually begged for the inevitable solution of things like outsourcing and offshoring.  (Those are actually two distinctly separate things. Another little tidbit I got from this course!)  I am not in any way advocating moving job resources from here in America to other parts of the world, I am however saying that I can see the sense in it from a strictly business standpoint.

I learned a greater respect for technology and the people that fuel its progress.  I gained a deeper appreciation for the luxuries, big and small, that innovation has provided.  I have considered the seemingly outlandish possibility that one day the very machinery we create could grow too powerful to control. What? Yes, I did, I really did!  Nothing is out of the realm of possibilities any longer.  When looking backwards with the extravagance of 20/20 hindsight, it is very easy to see the incredible upward march that has been slowly but steadily progressing toward where we sit today.  Who can say what tomorrow will bring, when all things are considered?

One thing is very clear.  Technology is progressing.  We can either use it to our advantage, or sit stagnant and be trampled under its tidal wave.  Every coin has two sides, and as long as we remember to deal with the negative aspects that go along with the indisputable advantage provided through technology, the progression will continue.  The trick, again, is learning to deal with the changes as they come.

“How to Boil a Frog”

While reading through the first part of this article, a series of thoughts kept running through my head.  This sounds vaguely like the story of cooking a live frog.  I have never, and do not intend to ever cook, boil, or eat a frog.  But just about everyone knows the theory that if you drop a frog into a boiling pot of water it will simply jump right out.  If, on the other hand, you set the frog in a pan of tepid, or even cool water it will feel comfortable.  As you slowly and gradually raise the heat by small increments the frog will not notice the change, supposedly, and will eventually be boiled to death.  Now the reason I bring this up is the similarity between the poor frog’s predicament and our own.  When faced with the daunting reality that technology may very well be on the verge of taking control, the author’s friend Danny Hillis said simply and calmly that “the changes would come gradually, and that we would get used to them.” 

The frog does not recognize the imminent danger posed to it because the changes are so miniscule it escapes attention.  Are we, as a society, really all that different?  If we look back even a mere decade, can we not see that the temperature in our pot has been in a continuous incline?  If a huge leap had been made we might have had to pause and say, “Wait a minute, is this REALLY a good idea?”  But small, step by step actions allow us time to adjust, and again become comfortable with the surroundings, just like the about-to-be-boiled-to-death frog.

Bill Joy states in his article, “Perhaps it is always hard to see the bigger impact while you are in the vortex of a change.  Failing to understand the consequences of our inventions while we are in the rapture of discovery and innovation seems to be a common fault of scientists and technologists; we have long been driven by the overarching desire to know, that is the nature of science’s quest, not stopping to notice that the progress to newer and more powerful technologies can take on a life of its own.”  In other words, like the frog in the pot, if we enjoy the water and the temperature that it is at right now, just imagine how much more we would enjoy it if it was just the tiniest bit warmer! But the important point that is being overlooked is, who is controlling the heat?

As a society we often get so caught up in whether or not we CAN do something that no one ever stops to ask if we SHOULD.  New and amazing scientific breakthroughs have almost become a mind numbing everyday occurrence.  I am also reminded of the article from a couple weeks back called “A Logic Named Joe”.  I can almost guarantee that this interesting and creative writing was met with harsh skepticism about the crazy idea of computers having a mind of their own.  Just as easily, we can write Joy’s fears off as being the fodder of science fiction movies.  The scary truth that many do not want to face is that technology is, in fact, increasing at a rate so rapid I believe it is a legitimate possibility in the very near future the hypothetical “point of no return” will be crossed.

Who are we to look to as a moral compass?  Who will draw the line in the sand that cannot ethically be crossed?  Without clearly defined limitations, we are all just sitting frogs.

“The Net”

        I honestly had never seen any of the movies that were listed as examples for this week’s module.  I wracked my brain trying to think of a movie that I had access to that dealt with computers in a major way.  I finally remembered a show that I had seen many years ago that was related to the topic, called “The Net”, starring Sandra Bullock.  The irony of the whole situation is that I do not own this movie, so I ended up looking it up on YouTube and watching it on my computer!

            This movie is basically a story about a reclusive computer programmer named Angela Bennett.  She doesn’t get out much and keeps mostly to herself, no fraternizing with neighbors, no dating.  She does get out to visit her mother, who unfortunately is in a mental institution and has no idea the person visiting her is her own daughter.  (This becomes important later when her life essentially gets erased)

She lives her entire life through the computer, being sent beta version programs with problems, and fixing the glitches.  One of her contacts sends her a disk with a program that appears to have a virus.  It just happens to get there the night before she is leaving on vacation.  When the pi symbol in the corner of the page is clicked, it connects with some very high profile and extremely classified sites.  Angela’s contact does not want to discuss this program over the phone and decides to fly his small plane there that night to meet with her before she leaves.  The computer navigation system on the plane “mysteriously” glitches and causes him to crash and the plane explodes.

            The next day as she is trying to fly out, there is also a problem with the computer system at the airport and so all flights end up cancelled for quite some time.  While she is waiting, there is the appearance of a person watching her from a distance. 

            On her vacation she is sought out and seduced by a handsome man who is, of course, the wolf in sheep’s clothing.  He arranges to have her purse stolen while they are on a date, and gets his hands on the disk containing the program.  She inadvertently manages to get the disk back, but not before sleeping with the guy and having him try to kill her!  She somehow gets back to her hotel and finds that, again, the computer systems are malfunctioning and show that she checked out days before.  All of her information has been changed and she, in essence, no longer exists.  She gets a temporary visa using another name in order to get back into the U.S. but finds that her car is missing from the airport, and her house is empty of all her belongings and up for sale.  She calls the police who obviously think she is completely crazy and run her record just to be sure.  These records have been changed as well and she now has a very extensive criminal record, which puts her on the run from the police, and cut off from help.

            The rest of the movie basically details her attempts to find out who is after her and what exactly they want from her.  The “bad guys” turn out to be a group of cyberterrorists called the Praetorians, and she manages at the last minute to beat them at their own game by infecting their program with a virus she had been working on in the beginning of the movie. 

            In watching this movie so many years later, I had a similar reaction to it as when reading the article from last week.  The technology shown is almost comical by today’s standards. Again, though, it is somewhat creepy to realize that as much as the story was made fantastical for entertainment purposes, it could, in all reality, happen.  At one point, she is sitting in jail, speaking to her appointed attorney and she says something along the lines of this: “ Think about it, everything about us, our whole lives are on the computer.  Our DMV records, our social security, our medical history, our credit cards.  It’s all just sitting there, waiting, asking for someone to come along and mess with it!”  If we stop and think about it, that is so much more true today than even 10 years ago.  Everything about us, who we are, is tied up in computers.  In the wrong hands, that can be a very powerful thing.

“Oh, How the Tables Turn”

 

                Reading the article for this week was an interesting, and somewhat creepy, experience.    I am sure that in 1946 when this was published, most readers thought it was insane, unlikely, and almost impossible for such things to actually happen in real life.  This had to be just the imaginative rantings of a technological mind.  Fast forward nearly seventy years though, and it is like reading the local newspaper about what is happening on a daily basis.

                The ability to simply “google it” has become an everyday, common luxury.  If there is anything that we want to do, and don’t know how to do it, we simply ask the “logics”.  I found the wife’s reaction to the new services absolutely hilarious!  She was nearly hysterical that anyone and everyone would be able to find any available information about her, and wanted to put a stop to it right away.  But not before, of course, she was able to look up all her neighbors and dig up whatever dirt she could find about them!  This is today’s society to a tee.  We all want our privacy, and to be left alone, in general. Yet who among us hesitates to read the latest tabloid style story posted on any random website about the newest so called celebrity we love to hate?  Careless users today may text, or post inappropriate pictures of themselves and then are devastated when the unintended person, or people (sometimes numbering in the millions), are able to view it as well.

                I do not believe that there is one person who uses the internet on a fairly regular basis who has not ever had the experience of searching for one, innocent thing, and having the dreaded pop up of explicit, and usually unwanted pictures.  "It was a nice kinda world once," I says, bitter. "I could go home peaceful and not have belly-cramps wonderin' if a blonde has called up my wife to announce my engagement to her. I could punch keys on a logic without gazing into somebody's bedroom while she is giving her epidermis a air bath and being led to think things I gotta take out in thinkin'.”  I personally live in fear of this exact thing happening to my poor unsuspecting children.  I monitor their computer use very closely in my own home, but they have so much access, in so many places, it is nearly impossible to watchdog every approach.

The idea that stood out the loudest to me was the conversation between the two workers. The main character is in a panic, and insists that they just turn the entire system off to stop the chaos that is happening.  The co-worker’s response to this is epic! "Shut down the tank?" he says, mirthless. "Does it occur to you, fella, that the tank has been doin' all the computin' for every business office for years? It's been handlin' the distribution of ninety-four per cent of all telecast programs, has given out all information on weather, plane schedules, special sales, employment opportunities and news; has handled all person-to-person contacts over wires and recorded every business conversation and agreement— Listen, fella! Logics changed civilization. Logics are civilization! If we shut off logics, we go back to a kind of civilization we have forgotten how to run!

Wow.  Now THAT is prophetic.  There is really not one single aspect of our lives in general anymore that is not completely overwhelmed with technology.  We have become utterly dependent on it to the point that it dictates and governs most of our choices day to day.  It is unimaginable to contemplate what the world would become if we were required to shut down the internet.  I am picturing widespread hysteria as everyone re-learns the incredible processes required to function and communicate in a world that is suddenly round again.  Who could have known that the machines we created to serve us, make our lives easier, would one day turn the tables and have us wholly in their influence?

“The Great Conductors”

Who knew there were so many people and places involved in the building of one small individual notebook?  I have to be honest and say that I read the first few stops and then just scanned over the rest of that really HUGE paragraph detailing all the possible locations for each key part of a Dell laptop.  It really makes sense though considering that each one is built to certain specifications requested by the customer.  How else could this be accomplished except by “just in time” manufacturing? An entire 747 just for computers? Sure! Why not?  I also think that having several suppliers for each specific part is brilliant on Dell’s part.  What a way to keep everyone on their toes, knowing that if you don’t get them what they need there are two or three other companies just waiting for the opportunity to do so.  They are rulers of the so called “supply chain symphony”, expertly organizing and fulfilling orders from around the world.

Unfortunately they are not the only ones to latch on to the power of the supply chain.  Al-Qaeda has manipulated the flattening of our world to their advantage as well.  They have formed a chain of destruction that only requires “recruits, donors, and victims” (Friedman p. 595).  They raise money, entice followers, and distribute their tools of annihilation all over the world.  Their reach is limitless.  It is terrifying what can be accomplished when the world is flat.  There are no longer barriers to searching out and connecting with one another.  It is now child’s play to locate and communicate with those that are already distraught or sympathize with radical movements.  I cannot wrap my head around the idea of the suicide supply chain.  What a gross misuse of human life. 

                It is infuriating to me to see that one group of people can take such an awesome invention and turn it into a tool for growth, collaboration, and good. Then another group of people can take that exact same awesome invention and twist and manipulate it into a tool of destruction, horror, and evil.  There are so many times in this life that I have said, “Man just imagine if they would use those brains for something productive?”  In this case, we already have proof of what can happen!  Two polar opposite effects from the same product. Each has become master maestros of the orchestra supply chain they have chosen to create.

            This same idea holds true with countries that are focused on tapping into natural resources such as oil.  The so called curse of having such resources is that while it provides money and assets for the country, it keeps the rulers from having to answer to the people because the wealth was not obtained through taxing the people.  Because they have no one to answer to, often times the ruling parties spend on “boosting wasteful subsidies rather than on much needed development and new technology” (Friedman pg. 627).  This is yet another prime example of wasting an amazing asset. 

            It is sad to think that even when the world is daily becoming more and more flat, and we complain about it due to the increased competition, there are still so many that are unaware and have not experienced the advantages that come with it.  Our experience is completely dependent on who is “leading the music”.

“Fish Out of Water”

            Asking me to explain how technology has affected my education would be similar to asking an oceanic creature how water has had an effect on their ability to live.  Literally every single aspect of my college education (well, since returning after a 12 year “break”) has been completed via computer.  Every single class that I have taken has been online.  Originally this was merely for scheduling convenience because I have two children.  One was in school, and one that was not yet school aged.  I needed extreme flexibility in my schedule.  This has now changed; it is still about convenience, but in a different way.  Now the convenience is location.  We have moved and live almost on the Idaho border.  This isn’t an insurmountable distance, but it would definitely be a time and financial drain to be required to travel the 100 miles round trip several times a week to attend school.

The ability to go to school on my time is completely incredible.  I am able to make my schedule work around putting kids on the bus, work, cooking, cleaning, kid’s homework, bedtime, etc.  I am absolutely, one hundred percent positive that my return to college would not have been even the slightest bit possible without computers. 

Class schedules, assignments, due dates, and syllabus are all related to me via the internet by connecting to Weber State’s website.  I complete, and submit assignments online, and receive my grades and teacher comments back the same way.  I request, and take tests through a designated proctor using a computer as well.  Technology has also allowed me to feel connected, not only with my professors, but with classmates.  I have participated in several group collaborations, and have the ability to contact each student individually, along with each professor regarding any concerns or questions that may come up over the course of the semester.  I feel like this is one of the most important benefits of the advancing age that we live in.  I have never seen, spoken to, or met any of my professors, yet I can quite easily communicate with each one when it is necessary through email. 

Computers have given everyone the exact same access to education.  No, I do not get the advantage of going to class, and hearing lectures in person, and mingling with other students, but I have the even greater advantage of scheduling my time around a very busy and complicated life outside of school.  I am required to complete the same assignments, and often am able to watch or listen to lectures.  How do I do that?  You guessed it!  On the computer.  Again, the beauty of this is that I can do it when I CHOOSE to (well as long as I am able to complete the assignments on time).

Computers have been the catalyst to my education, so to speak.  Without computers and technology, my education would have ended back in 2000, after completing only one year of college right out of high school. Technology took away most of the excuses that I had built around myself as a wall to justify the fact that I had not, and was not, doing anything to complete my education. 

 In this day and age, we (as in all of us, myself included!) have become totally dependent. I really feel that without our hi-tech luxuries society as we now know it would come to a standstill.

“The Golden Rule”

            We all (hopefully) learned some basic rules when entering our first form of schooling, usually at a very young, impressionable age.  The first several days of class were spent going over…..and over….and over how we should act when coming into contact with new and differing personalities.  “Treat others how you would want to be treated.”  In other words, show some tolerance.  Respect others, and their right to have a different view than yours.  This is the most fundamental principle for developing prosperous relationships. The same can be applied to developing countries that want to gain some advantage.  “When tolerance is the norm, everyone flourishes - because tolerance breeds trust, and trust is the foundation of innovation and entrepreneurship.”  Amazing!  Miss America has been right all along……world peace really IS the answer!  If only it were so easy.  But, an attitude of acceptance and the willingness to be open to new ideas has repeatedly led to success.

As the old saying goes…..necessity is the mother of all invention.  So, when we ask ourselves why exactly it is that some countries or regions are better at doing certain things than other countries or regions, the answer can be very simply put.  They have no other choice!  They actually HAVE to be better at doing those things in order to survive!  When the options are so black and white, cut and dry, generally the outcome is that you do what you have to do and come up with something!  Make… it… happen.  This is exactly what some of these seemingly podunk little countries have done.  By taking what they DO have to offer and using it to their advantage, they have managed not only to survive, but flourish!

            As consumers, we have changed over time as well.  We have very sneakily been led to believe that what we really want and need is just a bunch of choices.  The company that offers the greatest variety ultimately becomes the best.  “These companies create a platform that allows individual customers to serve themselves in their own way, at their own pace, in their own time, according to their own tastes.  They are actually making their customers their employees and having them pay the company for that pleasure at the same time!”  Wait……what the??   Yes, you read that right.  And the stink of it is that it is absolutely true! We are what is called a “self-directed consumer”.   I literally had no idea this is what is happening even though I actively participate.  And now that it has been brought to my attention, it is really quite frustrating.  Does that mean I am going to stop? Of course not.  There is no better way to get what I want than to make it myself!

            As Americans especially, we have been very nearly trained to expect what we want, when we want it.  On the other side of that, America has stepped up to the plate to offer a wide range of goods and services to fulfill these ever growing needs.  This huge wave of American products caused an even bigger wave…….concern.  With America almost literally able to produce everything, what chance did any of the other countries really have?  Globalization was just a fancy name for Americanization.  This was the general fear, but it did not come to pass.  The great balancing factor was uploading.  The flatter the world gets, the harder it becomes to exclude anyone.  Each individual has equal access to equal information, and the ability to share their own ideas and cultures as well. The trick now is to remember to keep an open mind and be willing to collaborate.

So we come full circle. Back to the simpler times of preschool and kindergarten where the greatest expectation was simple……..tolerance.