Luddite or Techie?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg_eEnm_QsU

This is a clip for the up and coming movie, Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon. For those of you who have never seen the series, they are about a group of robots, The Autobots, whose main goal is to protect and maintain human civilization on Earth, while attempting to evade the evil Decepticons (another group of robots).

Even though the technological advancement in these movies is far beyond our reach (at least anytime soon), what do you think the clip implies about technical advancement today? Do you even think that there is a possibility for humans to create this technology and what do you think the potential consequences are, if any, from having the ability to create technology such as this?

Read two (2) Commonplace Essays from the website (http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/commonplace) and then write a comment in response to this post with a reaction to each essay. Your reaction can be an agreement, a counter-argument, a critique, whatever, but make sure you read 2 essays and react to both of them in your comment. Looking forward to all your reading responses!

Derek

http://techland.time.com/2011/04/29/lunar-tourism-possible-within-5-years-if-you-can-afford-it-spoiler-you-cant/

A company which is Virginia-based named Space Adventures will be offering the ability for consumers to take a once in a lifetime trip to outerspace. The catch: The trip will cost in the range of $150 million dollars.

Space technology is just one form of technology that seems to be adopting their technology for recreational purposes. These recreational purposes are in some ways replacing the use of technology for scientific research and discovery. Do you think that this shift seen within the past few decades will benefit scientific research or is it solely for amusement purposes? Should this form of technology be available to those who are not specialized in that field simply because they have access to money? Where do you think the line should e drawn in inventing technology for reasons other than scientific inquiry?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHwIFGi3WPU

Above is a clip from the movie WALL-E, which is an animated movie based in the future. In the film robots are given human like characteristics, such as emotions and voices. Additionally, the humans in the film no longer walk or dress themselves, robots perform these tasks for them.

Do you feel that in our human race’s future these technological advances are possible? Would these advances be safe for humans? Finally, do you believe there will be a day when technology will reach a limit and will not be able to develop any further?

URL: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/kinect

Summary: The Kinect for the Xbox 360 console is an addition to the system which allows you to play video games without the use of a hand-held controller. Instead, the device responds to how your body moves. According to the advertiser, the Kinect goes beyond technology and into the realm of magic. The advertiser states that this device is "instantly fun" and that is has the ability to get "everyone" involved in that fun. In the pictures displayed, people are both active and smiling.

Questions:
1. What type of individuals are they trying to attract with this advertisement and how are they displaying that in the video?
2. How do emotions of the individuals and the bright colors on the page help add to the "fun aspect" of this advertisement? What about it makes a consumer more intrigued to purchase it?

"Review: iPad 2" http://terrywhite.com/techblog/archives/7256 This blog gives an overview, description and pictures of everything that the iPad 2 is capable of doing. Question: Does this blog make you, the consumer, want to buy an iPad 2?

Where do we encounter new technology and its rhetoric? Or how are we introduced to new technology?