Reader Responce 1

“Hirschhorn has cautioned me against thinking of the telephone as a device to talk into, urging me instead to think of the mobile telephone as evolving into a ‘remote control for your life’” (p11). This quote overall can express the main points of chapter one alone. It shows how all over the world technology such as cell phones, are emerging and becoming the center of many people’s communication and lives. Keitai the mobile telephone in Japan, is shown to show both positive and negative affects on the Japanese people. It is scary to see the negative effects the text messaging option can have as the “Mad Wing Angels” using texting to engage in a violent communication setting. It’s actually horrifying to think about the fact that something that could be considered a remote control for our lives, can also contribute to making an easy way for violent people to communicate and act upon that. On the other side mobile phones, can set a certain amount of privacy. For example texting can give an individual privacy for their social communication. In a public setting, text messaging allows you to carry on a conversation without everyone around you being about to soak in your whole conversation as well. Also as Rheingold explains, families such as in Japan do not have large enough homes to entertain guests, so a cell phone is a more reliable social network that gives anyone the private space they may need. Cell phones have become nothing less than a sheer necessity to most individual’s around the world.

Chapter two discusses how concepts such as Reputation, Cooperation, and Reciprocity can affect as well as be affected by communication behaviors and practices. Reputation is derived by combination of self interest and public good. When dealing with Cooperation, Reputation allows us to differentiate between who can be trusted and how to warn others about those we cannot trust. “Many people are contingent cooperators, willing to cooperate as long as most others do. This quote stuck out to me because, I believe that this is true in most everyday situations between people. Many people will not always go with what they believe, but cooperate because that is what the majority is set at. I found it interesting how in this chapter cooperation is related to the animal kingdom as well as Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Humans as animals do are inclined to help each other as a natural tendency which I believe is not something that always exists. I wonder as with scientist Robert Axelrod does, when are we supposed to be cooperate and when should be selfish. Just because one individual in a situation is willing to cooperate does not indicate the other individual will reciprocate. Within such concepts as well as other social dilemmas and networks, new technology can be evolved and created.

Peer to peer networks compose much of Chapter three. These networks are not controlled by a central authority, but by a combination of consumer internet connections. Peer to peer networks is something that I believe can acquire much power and control. Numerous amounts of information is being shared around the internet. This chapter goes on to discuss Napster which is the most well know peer to peer network. I am very familiar about Napster because I myself use to get music from there. Opps! To show the power of peer to peer networks, Napster at its heights included 70 million users, trading 2.7 billion files per month. Many other Peer to Peer networks such as GnutellaNet were also evolving and gaining more control due to social networks. What I acquired from this chapter is, the power comes from people with similar interests forming these social networks, and these peer to peer networks enable people to build these public goods because of the “free rides” networks like Napster hand to us.

Introduction !!

Hello! My name is Jessica Morocco. I am 20 years old and am a Junior at SUNY Cortland, majoring in Speech Pathology and Audiology. I am from Yorktown Heights, which is about 45 North of New York City. One of my main interests is dancing and I have been on the Cortland Danceworks team since I was a freshman. I love watching and playing sports and am a crazy Yankee fan! Mainly, I love just relaxing with my friends and having a good time.