Digital Culture - Assignment Example

Client’s Digital Concepts: Answers to Questions DEPENDENCE, INDEPENDENCE, INTERDEPENDENCE What is Turkle trying to say? Turkle has stated that the culture is shifting and changing, expectations and norms are rapidly shifting. What used to be a clear expectation on what it meant to be an adult is now a confluence of concepts, some of which stay in conflict. There is this sweet spot of an age range that people in adolescents cannot wait to get to and people above that age range wish they could go back to in order to have the benefits of coming into majority while still having a general lack of responsibility with all potentials still relevant. The age range that is considered ideal could be expressed as between 21 and 28. What happens during this age range is that connections are based on ideals rather than on obligations, family defined through friendships that are more often choice. As an example, children, parents, the continuation of spousal connectivity, and work relationships become more obligatory than choice as one becomes older. What exists is a new paradigm in which choice of relationships comes back through the collaborative efforts that are the social network. Social spheres have become widened and the ability to connect has changed dramatically. People choose collectivity over isolation and the type of socializing that was relevant in one’s twenties is now available throughout life as the barrier that occurs between the user and the content provides for both anonymity to a degree and the ability to control the online identity through controlling the information that is revealed. The need for being a part of the collective has shifted the concept of independence as an ideal to the reality of the collective as essential to the identity. Why do Americans mistrust the American government? The short answer is that they are disappointed. In relationship to the concept of collaboration, the people have the sense that they are isolated from the government and no longer being served. The collectivism that has become available through the social network has developed a situation in which the power to gather has once again been proven valuable, but the purpose for gathering is not often enough focused on meaningful change. This shows that collectivism is still possible, but the isolationist barrier between the largeness of government against the collective has a strength that seems to diminish social movement. Whereas in the 1960s the government seemed accessible, current social attitudes show that even though communication and information is much more accessible, connecting in any meaningful way to the government is considered almost impossible. The barriers that define social connectivity in the virtual world seem to have translated into a belief in barriers between the people and her governing body. In some ways though, of course, that barrier is breached as groups come together to form coalitions of belief systems through which change can be made. Kirkpatrick shows this when he discusses the demonstrations against Columbian guerillas under the name FARC through which negotiations and the release of hostages was achieved from a group centered on outrage against FARC that was created on Facebook (Kirkpatrick). The social media create both a conduit to connect and a set of barriers through which often times some things seem unreachable. As identity is so often offset from physicality, life becomes remote even as it becomes accessible through the collective mind. Comparison The belief in a separation between the intellect and the function of the body is exampled in the work by Turkle, just as much as it is the belief system that rules the engagement within the social networking environments. As in the example of Second Life, the social possibilities of the avatar are outside of any reflection of the individual in control of the avatar, or the ‘mun’ (mundane or the person who controls the avatar). The avatar can be beautiful, rich, and confident without the social barriers that exist within the real world (Turkle 1). Through this avatar, the individual becomes consumed within an embodiment of perfection that releases all social barriers from the real world so that a sense of the true self can emerge. What has happened is that a remoteness has emerged through which the mind and the body has become separated, similarly to how robotic artificial intelligence is related in most literature on the topic. Just as the example provided by Levy in “Love and Sex with Robots” (Levy), an individual forms a relationship with his or her computer, something that Levy quotes from Turkle. That relationship is extended then into a social environment in which gratification on all levels supports the collective need that modern society seems to have contradicted. 2. WHAT DOES EXCELLENT EXPERIENCE DESIGN LOOK LIKE Explain Steve Job’s approach to comprehensive design The iPod is a sleek, ultra-modern design through which a new age of innovation has been inspired. Isaacson describes it as “poetry connected to engineering, arts and creativity intersecting with technology, design thats bold and simple” (Isaacson). The intentions that Steve Jobs had were clear and simple: to increase sales of his Mac products through designing a product that embodied pop culture and was attractive to a younger demographic. He saw the future in his products and knew that the future was written through the interests of the young. The iPod was high design, but was also smart marketing which applied meaning to his brand and supported an elitism that allowed Apple to charge higher prices, promote higher concepts, and innovate to the future without the constraint of cost. The cost/benefit analysis of Apple products places the benefit of the Apple brand over the higher costs and motivating the consumer through concepts that outweighed the cost factor. Understanding that his approach was not altruistic is essential in understanding how design became integral to the creation of the product. If it were just about the product, the attention to sleek and modern design would not have been so clearly established. The iMac was designed for visual beauty as much as it was designed for functionality. Where the pebble surface plastic containers of the PC were the norm, suddenly clear colored acrylic was showing up on the casings of iMacs where the units were both the monitor and the computer, all in one. Sleek design concepts were combined with high concept innovations that were sometimes almost flawless, even though the iPhone has some poor reviews out there. Still, Smartphones were patterned after the iPhone concept, leaving the original in a cult status. Cashman discusses the way in which Isaacson relates the nature of Steve Job to that of Albert Einstein. He writes that “Jobs and Einstein shared some common characteristics. They were both intense creative thinkers, nonconformists, who refused to be “confined” (Cashman 108). In addition, Cashman explores the pause principle in that in order to create a new norm, there is a pause after which a surge of re-evaluation and innovation creates a new culture. In looking at the innovations that were created by Jobs and in seeing how he calculated their use in creating better sales for the other Apple products, it is clear that he innovated in a pause in which the future stood still for a moment waiting for what was next, and in that space, Jobs created the iPod which promoted sales of all Apple products and created a cult in which the Apple brand ruled as god. Excellent experience design looks like something that has weight, high quality, and modernization at the foundation. It is well thought out, from its internal structures to its exterior and beyond into the theory behind its presence within the consumer sphere. Steve Jobs thought outside of the box, making simple solutions that were user friendly all the while considering their importance for both the company and the greater culture. Design is about more than just how something looks, but it is about what meaning it will give within the culture and how that will translate into the future. 3. WOULD YOU RATHER BE AT HARVARD? The Facebook Story Kirkpatrick quotes Mark Zuckerberg for saying “I never wanted to run a company…To me a business is a good vehicle for getting stuff done” (10). Kirkpatrick does something very different than the film did in presenting Zuckerberg. Kirkpatrick gives him respect based on his accomplishments in the beginning of the book, presenting him as a business man with a focus on a goal – which is to get stuff done. As simplistic as that may sound, it is not that different from that of Steve Jobs who is also often portrayed as a bit of a dilatants, the same way that the film presents Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg in this portrayal is presented for the brilliance with which he moved in getting his company up and running. In understanding Facebook, the course on which it has run seems very different to that on which it was intended. The intention was to enhance relationships in the real world, and the belief about the system is that in order to use it effectively, real world relationships are the core of the interaction as it reflects the sense of self. One’s identity is validated by the friends that one has (Kirkpatrick 13). This view of Facebook seems a bit off, however, as friendships for some of the most isolated people number in the thousands and it is those who have no knowledge or ideas about those they have in their friends’ lists. I identified a bit with Mark Zuckerberg as he set his sights on the long view rather than shortening the life span of his product through under thinking it. His perspective was not to create an empire, but to serve a purpose through creating what was best and what was most functional. It was easy to identify with those around them too, looking on as something genius was being created and feeling the energy of that creative push. Although it is always both more and less fun to be the center of creation, it is also an energizing and revitalizing, as well as exhausting experience to be on the outside helping to push a project along. It is kind of like a race car that requires people on other side pushing it along to get it to start. The guy in the driver’s seat is responsible for the race, but if it was not for those pushing it until it started the car could never even get on the track. That burst of energy from a number of different places around the car comes from the contributions of those who give it its initial push. Sean Parker, who took a larger role in the movie than he did in real life, is quoted by Kirkpatrick as saying “It was pretty obvious to us that we were taking over the world” which as arrogant as that sounds was fairly accurate. As shown by the events in Columbia, the world changed because of Facebook. Parker had to sit back and watch while theories on social interaction that were created by his concept of Napster were laterally adapted and pushed until the participation of the whole world supported social change and revolution. Parker taught the world to share, where Zuckerberg defined how sharing could have greater meaning. The responsibility of world change must hang heavy on Zuckerberg’s shoulders and as much as being the source of great change is valuable, the weight of it must also be very heavy. Works Cited Cashman, Kevin. The pause principle: Step back to lead forward. San Francisco: Berrett- Koehler Publishers, 2012. Print. Isaacson, Walter. Great Innovators. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011. Print. Kirkpatrick, David. The Facebook effect. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011. Print. Levy, David N. L. Love + sex with robots: The evolution of human-robot relations. New York: HarperCollins, 2007. Print. Turkle, Sherry. Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York: Basic Books, 2011. Print. Read More