When reflecting on Did You Know? 4.0, I felt many emotions.
I was thrilled to ponder the future of a small super fast computer. The possibilities for education, economics and managing health care are awe-inspiring. I am optimistic that the prices for these devices will drop, and I look forward to their reduced profitability for corporations.
I was struck by the thought of all the garbage and toxins we are creating along this evolutionary path to convergence. I hope we can find efficient ways to recycle the materials and mitigate the toxins emitted into the environment by the metals and plastics used.
I was disgusted to learn that 90% of the 2 billion emails sent every day are spam, but I was amazed when I realized that I have a relatively small spam problem. I guess thousands of bot wars are happening behind the scenes to help us maintain our sanity.
I was delighted to learn that Twitter played an unprecedented role in sharing information during the 2009 Iranian presidential elections. This has been my dream and my hope for the future of social networking. People will be able to shine a light on abuses, and individuals will have an active voice constructing the cultures they live in.
I was stunned by the fact that Myspace, Youtube and Facebook weren’t even around six years ago. I love Youtube and think there must be some kind of crazy voodoo in software that can magically compress videos and maintain such good quality on the web. What a boon to creativity and education.
Even though I am enjoying from afar my nephew’s adventures living in Europe, I am still not moved by my Facebook account. I have been deluged by students and acquaintances who want me to come on board. Frankly, the thought of managing this account is daunting, and I have to be cautious because I can turn anything into a full-time job. I keep thinking I will have an epiphany and my reason to participate in Facebook will become clear to me. But so far, not so much.
I was not surprised to learn that 95% of all songs downloaded aren’t paid for. I have often wondered how intellectual property laws will be forced to change over the next decade. Young people have a completely unique view of peer-to-peer sharing, and they glaze over when the issues of copyrights enter the discussion.
Observing my international students over the years has been like watching a market unfold. They average between 18 and 24 years of age. They are early adopters whose smart phones seem welded to their palm. They try to get through class without checking their phones, but usually don’t make it through the full two hours without some correspondence. And yes, I have found smart phones under sleeve cuffs during exams. But then I thought… perhaps my exams are becoming irrelevant.
I was initially annoyed by the rapid spewing of statistics in Did You Know? 4.0. Then I realized it is a video metaphor for the lightning fast speed at which the world is changing. It is meant to overwhelm and it does.
