The computer is a tool that has become indispensable to the modern family and company. In flourishing so successfully the computer has passed from incredibly complex and unusable to anyone how was not well versed in its intricacies, to consumer oriented and user-friendly. In Ellen Ullman's essay, Programming Under The Wizard's Spell, she attempts to convince to reader that the computer has been over simplified to the point of no return. The simplification of the computer made it more user-friendly and there for more appealing to customers, this only blinded people into using the computer the way corporate America wanted them to, using without understanding.
First, this essay is a hybrid, it is a mix of the expository and comparison and contrast essay. In the first part she attempts to examine the differences between various Microsoft operating systems and the Unix operating system. Then the author tries to answer the question ''What is it ?'' and ''What is it not ?'' in paragraphs 3, Ullman states : ''Unix always presumes that you know what you're doing.'' and in referring to Microsoft she states it as: "Consumer-oriented, idiot-proofed, covered by its pretty skin of icons and dialog boxes [...]". She has tactfully drawn the boundaries between the two products which start to take one the appearance of the good and the corporate induced bad. Ullman has now inferred her goal, she wishes to convince the reader of her convictions of the new computerised corporate America. Also, she uses simple wording, narration and a somewhat comic anecdote of her experiences, effectively leading the reader into drawing negative conclusions about the new consumer oriented computer. She does not truly attempt to be objective but gives that illusion by shortly stating in the first paragraph: ''a reasonable, professional choice in a world where Microsoft platforms are everywhere''. This was a reasonably good statement that inspires in the reader to believe that Ellen Ullman is waying the good and the bad.
Further more, once finished, the reader can only conclude that there where so many more bad things than good things about Microsoft that it most likely a bad product hinged on reducing our computing freedom. This conclusion is of course the only one possible to anyone how reads the essay. she made it this way but without actually expressing this opinion herself, she is merle telling a story littered with an unfavourable tone that seeped out of the text by her choice of wording: "My computer.
Although ignorance is bliss, there is nothing more dangerous than a closed mind. Therefore, it is only bliss for those who choose to remain ignorant, not for the ones who suffer because of that ignorance. In Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, this historical, fable novel and love story tells of a moving testament to the transformative power of literature. It follows two “city-youths,” the narrator and Luo who are exiled from their hometown, Chengdu to a mountain village in the countryside for “re-education” in the midst of Mao’s Chinese Cultural Revolution in 1971 for being sons of doctors. While working among the peasants of Phoenix Mountain, the two ingeniously conceal their forbidden treasure, a hidden stash of Western
Carr starts off his argument by referencing a “2001 a space odyssey” released in 1968 about a computer named HAL that tries to kill the astronauts that are on the spaceship that HAL controls. Carr uses an excerpt from this movie to incite fear into his readers and fear clouds judgement and causes irrational ideas to be formed. This movie is an over exaggerated sci-fi thriller and not a realistic representation of what computers are becoming. At the conclusion of his argument Carr does not forget to leave his readers the way he greeted them, Carr quotes 2001: a space odyssey “i can feel it. I’m afraid” (Carr 328). Although emotions are a strong way to engage with a reader, strong emotions also distract readers from the actual argument and encourage the reader to make a decision based on their feeling rather than their actual brain. The fact that Carr uses emotion to convince his readers is quite ironic, considering he is arguing that new technology is limiting our ability to use our brains. In contrast Thompson’s article uses logic and reason to make his argument. At the same time Thompson’s article still engages readers and is just as interesting to read as Carr’s essay. Thompson’s article starts off pondering whether computers or humans are better at chess. To answer this
The earliest memory of my using a computer comes from when I was around four years-old; my grandmother sat me in front of a clunky, large desktop running off of Windows 95. It was like it was love at first site, and now it feels as if I’ve always had this sort of love-affair with computers. Technology is something that changes every day. From computers to eReaders it’s as if each time we turn the corner, there is some new update waiting to be downloaded or installed. For some this is no issue, yet for others it’s a massive inconvenience. The latter is left wondering why the current generation is so dependent on technology, or why more and more people prefer to read from a Kindle or Nook rather than “old-fashioned” books. For people with these questions, I strongly advise reading “Lazy Eyes” by Michael Agger, as it not only provides information that’s useful and thought-provoking; it manages to be funny at the same time while Sherry Turkle’s “How Computers Change the Way We Think” is dull, dated, and doesn’t provide any sort of helpful information.
As an opinion article, Straith’s intent is obviously to educate the reader in such a way that brings the person to his level of understanding- a level at which the hype behind new tech companies should be taken with a pound of salt. In general, the author relies heavily on denotative language to hold the article together, which essentially holds the audience in place. “The dotcom craze infected whole economies.” Deep reflections on society, religion, philosophy, or anything else representative of connotative language clearly have no real place in the article- it’s designed to inform...
On the surface it gives the reader a factual and extremely detailed account of a team of engineers who between them create a new mini-computer (those machines you more often than not find in businesses and which have now in the most part been surpassed in power by the now ubiquitous desktop PC), a machine, advanced for its day (the story begins back in the late 1970's), but in many ways just another machine that, set against the developments in computing technology that have taken place since then, pales into insignificance performance-wise.
Furthermore, my mind constantly stayed open to pursuing a new calling. One day, I was at Ruby Memorial Hospital where I was getting an ultrasound of my heart done. My sonographer came into the room; he was very professional, an all-around friendly person. He explained everything
Together they work together as a whole in order to persuade his audience of those involved in technology. Carr uses these strategies in order to back up his information and validate his point. Carr begins by using pathos by stating an anecdote from the movie A Space Odyssey, then he uses logos by stating factual evidence and statistics, lastly Carr uses ethos by stating appropriate vocabulary and conceding to opposition. Throughout the article Carr compares the past and present and how the Internet has changed not only himself, but also people. In order to show his credibility, Carr uses research and examples of other credible writers who have the same beliefs as he does on the Internet. Due to the article being lengthy in text we are able to assume that Carr does that on purpose in order to validate his point that the Internet is affecting our mind as it shortens our attention span and ability to think creatively. The purpose of the excerpt is to persuade his audience of those involved in technology that people in the society today are unable to have complete focus on a longer text due to the Internet causing us to artificial intelligence. For this purpose, Carr develops an influential tone for his audience
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a marvelous novel, written by Dai Sijie, which himself was re-educated between 1971 and 1974 during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Seamstress three separate accounts are given of an incident in which Luo and the Little Seamstress make love in an isolated mountain pool. Two of these perspectives are given by the participants while the third is provided by the old miller who observes their love making from a distance. Of all the accounts, I found the count of this incident of Little Seamstress most appealing as she is able to present at an imaginative description of this setting and allow the readers to understand her thoughts and feelings. In contrast the account of the Old Miller is more detached and is more focused about the physical beauty of the Little Seamstress, while Luo’s story to me is more focused on his own concerns and is desire to escape the remote mountain village which he has been sent.
Even though, the arguments put forth by the author are relevant to the central theme, they lack clarity. He tends to go off on tangents and loses the flow of the article. It seems that the author has a slight bias against our generation’s obsession with technology, but that can be attributed to him being a quinquagenarian. I feel that the author has not covered the topic thoroughly enough. He has not quite explained the topic in depth or covered it from various perspectives.
...ctioned, communicated, and performed their daily activities. In doing this however, they must stay on top of other competitors by creating new innovative ways to attract the consumers. Some had a long history while others had a short one. Some were provided great feature while others didn’t do so well in this area. One thing is for certain, each operating system provided a use for many consumers that helped not only in the personal lives of many but also within the business world. As we see the history shows that once upon a time what began as a way to for businesses to operate has now turned into a way that people communicate. Technology continues to grow and advance and with that waiting to see what the future holds is a mystery but I’m certain that it will be world of amazement especially seeing where operating systems have come from to where they are currently.
As our world expands through the growing abilities and applications of computers in our everyday lives, it seems that the role of the computer has been reversed. Before we knew that the computer only understood what we programmed it to understand; however, now the majority of our society is learning more from computers than they are able to input into it. Dumm (1986 p.69)
In conclusion, digital technology and the Internet have enormous potential and can be utilized to the advancement of mankind. Nonetheless, the detriments caused by the modern substitute of electronic data tools are infinite on the human mind and will continue to grow on the path on which we are heading. A limit must be created on the amount of technology man uses, or the beauty of man’s cognitive processes will be lost and never be the
Modern society heavily depends on the abilities of computers, Information Technology, and information processing. As such, since access to information occurs mainly through digital means and media, the way information is arranged and presented on the screen is crucial. Because of this need for fast access and easy arrangement arose, in the early 1980s, companies started to work on various graphical user interfaces (or GUI for short). Most dictionaries define a GUI as ‘a way of arranging information on a computer screen that is easy to understand and use because it uses icons, menus and a mouse rather than only text.’ Introducing such software allowed a human-computer interaction on a visual plane, and took computing to an entirely new level of experience. The first GUI started to emerge, as stated above, in the early 1980s, and within the last 3 decades have completely dominated the way in which human-computer communication occurs. Although some sources argue about it, it is acknowledged that the first company to use a proper graphical user interface was Apple. In 1984 they released the Macintosh computer, which used a graphical system to present information on the screen using boxes and taskbars, and utilized a revolutionary pointer device, now widely known as the mouse. Following this event, other companies started releasing their versions of GUI based operating systems, until in 1995 Microsoft presented Windows 95, which soon became a dominant power on the market, and along with its later installments, led Microsoft to be the IT giant of the 20th century. Since its appearance, the GUI have greatly influenced the IT-centered society, and the role computing and digital devices play in its growth.
The computer evolution has been an amazing one. There have been astonishing achievements in the computer industry, which dates back almost 2000 years. The earliest existence of the computer dates back to the first century, but the electronic computer has only been around for over a half-century. Throughout the last 40 years computers have changed drastically. They have greatly impacted the American lifestyle. A computer can be found in nearly every business and one out of every two households (Hall, 156). Our Society relies critically on computers for almost all of their daily operations and processes. Only once in a lifetime will a new invention like the computer come about.
computer. The electronic computer has been around for over a half-century, but its ancestors have been around for 2000 years. However, only in the last 40 years has it changed the American society. From the first wooden abacus to the latest high-speed microprocessor, the computer has changed nearly every aspect of people’s lives for the