Are Wii the Children of the Revolution?

To me, the Wii is truly a technological revolution.

This is because of the way you play the system. You have to actually interact with your game with the controller instead of just mashing buttons. This factor is the reason I say that this is a technological revolution. Many people who don't like gaming could be attracted to this style of play because it's more realistic and fun then just sitting down pressing some buttons. This system has the ability to appeal to all gamers around the world.

For the people that aren't into the whole "Moving around while playing" can use their Game Cube controllers to play instead. The people involved in creating the Wii stated that the purpose of this system wasn’t to battle Microsoft’s Xbox or Sony’s Play Station, but to just open up the gaming world to more people. They purposefully tried to come up with something different and unique that would attract people that don’t play on any game systems because of the way they are set up.

The name of the system even indicates that it is for everyone. Wii sounds a lot like “we” and Nintendo named it based on that.

“Wii sounds like 'we', which emphasizes that the console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii”

This was said by a Nintendo executive at a press conference revolving around the Nintendo Wii. I agree with this statement because it’s true. Wii is very easy to remember and can’t get confused easily in different languages. It also symbolizes how the system was meant for everyone to be able to play and enjoy.

To me, this system really is the next technological revolution in gaming.

How Napster Changed The World?

Napster changed the world in numerous ways. The first way was by gaining so many new users in such a short amount of time. They went from only one million users to about 7 million users in just a few months. Napster's soul purpose was to provide people with a way to purchase individual songs instead of buying a whole CD. Record labels didn't like this idea because of their contracts with their artists. They had contracts that only covered CD sales, which means all their songs being sold at once. Napster's way was to sell songs individually and create more of a profit for the artists. This was a whole new way of thinking at the time and wasn't accepted by the record labels.

Record companies can never really win against pirated music because there are so many ways to acquire the pirated music. If these companies didn't push to shut down Napster, the companies would have actually gotten some money out of everyone downloading all the songs. Now, there is no change for these companies to earn any money of these new programs out there because its impossible to shut them all down.
Emerging technologies in our society have to be careful that the same thing doesn't happen to them. New technology needs to remember not to go ahead of the market because creating a new market, business models, and value propositions is very time consuming and costly. They have to understand who their customers are, the problems they are trying to solve, and how much they are they are willing to pay for it. New technologies also have to remember to never focus on solving a big company's problem because the big companies usually will reject your new idea. Also, they have to be sure to test their assumptions before heading to the market. They can do this by interviewing potential customers.

I personally think that Napster introduced a whole new way of acquiring songs and music and changed the world to millions of people.

Journal Entry #4

BBC's Click

This episode I watched taught me many new and interesting things I didn't know before. This episode talks about how everytime a new device comes out to the public people want to make it smaller and portable. It talks about how they are making devices that can access your computer wirelessly so you don't have to worry about being at a computer. They tell you that all you have to do is download a free program onto your main comupter and it can become a broadcasting device so that you can access your computer on anything with a browser. I also found it interesting that you can also do the same thing with your television. With a certain product that you attach to your T.V. you can access your television on your phone or P.D.A or any wireless device connected to the internet. I also learned that they have come up with picture frames that you can load your pictures onto it and it displays it as if it were a regular photo. Another intresting fact I learned in this episode is that they have even come up with shoes that left you jump 6 inches higher and a machine that makes your mucles contract thus making you loose weight by doing nothing. They also covered all this new technology from downloading music at the gas pumps from wirelessly transmitting your iPod music to your shower. They also deveolped T.V. screens for your car to watch as you wait for a parking spot. Its amazing to look at all these new technologies that exist and that are coming out but does technology know when to stop? Although all these new devices are coming out to make our lives 'easier' or more 'enjoyable' I think that all these new advances bring thier own disadvantages.

Although transmitting our personal computer data wirelessly to our hand held devices can be intresting and revolutionize how we work, this can also cause a safety hazard. Hackers can probably find a way to 'intercept' or access your wireless transmission, thus giving them access to your home computer. Also, people could also do the same thing with the T.V. wireless broadcast. People could access your T.V. for free and can just abuse your transmission. Having a T.V. in your car maybe be usefull so that you have something to do while you wait for a parking spot but because of the temptation of a T.V. in your car, more car accidents will be happening because of them. All this technology can be good but it also runs the risk of furthering out connection with the real world with the cyber world.

It also comes down to what's really neccessary. For example, do you really need to watch T.V. while waiting for a parking spot? Do you really need to access your home computer while waiting for the bus? Do you really need to listen to your iPod while you take a shower? Of course you don't have to, but many people want to. Although most of this is really neat, it's unnecessary.

When War Meets Video Games

Journal #3

War games are really becoming popular currently for many reasons. The dominant reason I can think of is because of its realism. War games like Call of Duty let you play the game as various war heroes and they let you play in some key battles that they fought in. This also adds to the war game’s popularity because of the feeling of destroying/dominating your enemy. I know this because I myself enjoy playing Call of Duty and other various war games and shooter games. I also think that these games have become popular is because of the rush you get while you play; the feeling of victory. War games also attract many history buffs to them because they are, again, so realistic like the actual war.

“If it’s not realistic, it’s not worth playing.”

Many people will debate that the realistic war games desensitize people to the horrors of war or if it’s just plain fun. The answer to this question doesn’t have a right or wrong answer because many people will have different views as to how war games affect us all. I for one think that war games do desensitize us from war just a little bit. This is because people that play war games a lot will tend to forget that war has catastrophic after effects that aren’t shown in the game. Although I haven’t played every war game out there, Call of Duty is an exception to this. The Call of Duty series not only is an enjoyable game to play and have fun with, it is also informative. In between missions the game shows footage of World War II and doesn’t make it look like nothing happened and it’s just for fun. They make the game realistic and actually intimidate what the war was actually like. For example, watch the video I got for the intro to one of the Call of Duty games; (Please turn off my music video at the bottom of the page before viewing the video, thanks.) Please watch all of it because it really does show how horrible the war was and that in this game you’re not in the unrealistic scenario of one man vs. an army, but in the scenario of an army vs. an army.



I personally can’t get enough of the realistic war games. Not the war games that have unrealistic battle but the war games that actually are accurate with history. These games don’t desensitize me from war; they make me more aware of what it might have actually been like to be there. I for one have loved these games for that reason because it makes you actually come as close as you can to trying to realize what it must’ve been like for those soldiers who fought in the war.

Basically, it depends on how you use the game and to what extent. If you take the game too seriously and think that war is exactly like that, it’s not. The games are just based on some of the events in the war and the game creators just tried to make it as realistic as possible and tried to make it fun for the gamer while informing them about war.

In real life, no one has extra lives.

Journal Entry #2


The iPod Classroom

Firstly, I think that is incredible to be able to incorporate the new technologies out there to new ways of learning. I think I would learn well using an iPod because of the freedom you are given with your learning. Watching lectures or seminars while you’re waiting for a bus or on the subway can be a great way to learn and even save time by not having to go to the teacher and attending the seminar. Using an iPod to watch your lectures can revolutionize the way people learn online and submit work via the internet. I also believe I could learn well from this method because while I’m doing the actual work I can listen to the lecture and pause it or rewind it until I understand what to do.
Embracing such technology at Mary Ward wouldn’t be very wise even though this method supports Mary Ward’s self directed learning structure. This is because this would require every student at Mary Ward to own an iPod or some sort of way of receiving the pod cast. Not every student would be able to purchase these devices in order to receive the seminars and teachers don’t really even know if the students will watch the seminars. Also, this would create another reason to slack off at Mary Ward. This is because people would often just say “I’ll watch it later…” and never get around to it and procrastinate watching the seminar. This also can create further distance between the student and the teacher at Mary Ward because there is already many students not seeing their teachers and this would only add to it. Embracing this technology would also boost Apples wealth tremendously because everyone would be buying iPods for school. There is also one more concern about using this technology and that is trust. The teachers would have to trust that the students are watching the seminars on their iPods and not some other videos because the iPod can obviously view any video and not just the seminars. So kids could be watching music videos and/or movies during class and the teachers wouldn’t know, thus resulting in even more slacking done in Mary Ward.
Although there are several disadvantages to embracing this technology, there are several advantages that follow. Using iPods can be useful for a lot of students because they can watch the seminars when they need them and don’t have to work around the teacher’s schedule. Many students at Mary Ward already own an iPod so it would be more convenient for them already. Another advantage to using the iPod for watching seminars is that the kids at Mary Ward can technically never miss the seminars and the students don’t have to waste periods during the day to go to seminars, they can simply watch the seminar as they work on the unit.
Overall, I don’t think Mary Ward should embrace this technology yet because of all its flaws and how it clearly has more disadvantages then advantages. Although, I personally think that I would be able to benefit from such a learning method, I don’t think that absolutely everyone would benefit from this method of learning as much as actually going to the seminars and seeing the teacher personally.

Journal Entry #1


It's finally here.

The Good and Bad of Web Cameras for Computers

Web cameras or “webcams” is a camera that is usually attached to a computer and used for taking videos and storing them on a computer and sending live video feed. This modern-day communication technology is very useful for a lot of people. A webcam allows distant relatives and friends see each other as long as they have an internet connection and it can be used by people who need to conference with other people around the world but can’t be there. They can also be used for sending pre-recorded videos to friends, family members, and co-workers. Other uses of webcams are to give live video feeds of traffic so that traffic reports can be accurate and quickly constructed. Another use is to use a webcam to record what goes on in the room when you are not there (for example, you may want to watch the baby sitter with your child while you are at work). Webcams are also used for much more in everyday life.

Although the webcam seems to be very beneficial, there are also many negative points about it. Your webcam is connected to your computer which can be entered by an unauthorized user which means they can view whatever your webcam is looking at. This is a serious invasion of privacy and a serious concern if you are unaware of it. There are several ways to misuse a webcam. Some teenagers have been using webcams to send videos online to people they know online. You have absolutely no reassurance of the true identity of people you meet online; therefore sending a video of yourself to strangers is really dangerous to your privacy and well being. Also, some teenagers participate in live video feeds from their computer which is also just as dangerous for the same reasons except it’s even worse. This is because anyone can access the site where the video is being streamed live.

Just like any modern-day communication technology, if used correctly it can benefit you and if used incorrectly, it can be dangerous.

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