Thursday, December 9, 2010

My final thoughts

I have noticed this whole blog was very focused on opinion. I kind of liked that aspect of it because it was easier to communicate my opinions of what went on in class. The internet is a strange invention and after learning how it worked I do not think differently now. It is a device through which people discover new ways to experience life they would not otherwise even think of. This class although mostly a refresher showed me a few things that may help later in life as the internet grows and old ways of doing things die out. I plan to become a computer programmer and would like to give my appreciation to this small step to reaching my goal (even if it is only 3 credits worth) :)

What online entertainment will look like 10 years from now

I do not expect much change to the online sources of entertainment in the next decade. While the source may change, such as facebook ceasing to be popular, the idea behind it will not. Online forms of entertainment have not really changed in the last decade only been updated and improved with newer technology. I believe this trend will continue because as long as it is refreshed with new ideas, all forms of online entertainment have no reason to stop being as entertaining as they are right now.

What makes a community

A community is essentially a gathering of groups or individuals that share a common reason for communicating with each other. This use to be constrained to who a person lived around and the location was the common reason to communicate. This later evolved into hobbyists who share a similar past time finding ways to come together and share their interest. This form of community is not a constant such as the living near each other type of community, but happens whenever the participants can form the community. It still follows the basic principle of community. The internet later brought this form of community together and become more accessible. It is still formed whenever the members of the community can get together, but it made the act of getting together much more available and convenient.     

Thursday, December 2, 2010

uncomfortability buying online

I would say most products are easily verified to be what you are trying to get especially when the seller is a company based manufacturer. I would not be comfortable however with buying most electronics online. The first rule when buying expensive machinery that has to work to be functional is to test it out. I can not feel comfortable until I test it, unfortunately that cannot be done online. Even then certain sites can be trusted with electronics. For instance anything being sold essentially from a store but instead being shipped to your house would have to be as safe as going to pick up the box yourself. Some electronics are packaged so they can not be tested so as long as the store or site has a return policy it is fine by me.