January 24th Reading Response

In "Visual and Verbal Modes," it mentions the informality that has become a social norm when it comes to communicating through technology and I think this is very true. There has never been an email formality presented when emails suddenly appeared. And since technology is constantly changing, email is on its way out and facebooking, instant messaging, and texting are in. There are no formalities with them either. When working in a world that is growing increasing diverse and spreading to all parts of the world (like globalization), it is essential to know professionalism and formality that is respected in a business world. This generation hasn't practiced these formalities and it may hurt them in the long run (from a business standpoint). This article also talks about the visual aspect of the media -- how newspapers publish more photos and news shows have pictures dominate the screen. I instantly thought of all the tabloid magazines that are loaded with pictures with few scraps of writing here and there. One reason for this may be the "seeing is believing" mentality and since we now have the technology available to take and generate pictures so easy, it has become a visual standard for society to have visual proof of what is written. This has extended into the educational system as well with the wide-spread use of Power Point as a visual aid for speeches instead of handouts with lots of writing on them. The use of visuals from the technology resources available have brought society into a whole new era of learning and communicating.

In the "Myth of Real Time," I was confused as to what he means by "real time." He said we wait in line at the supermarket or bank, but we also wait as users online when there is heavy traffic on a site or if a site if verifying information after you purchase. Sometimes you get instant results, but other times you wait just like in real life. Speed is necessary when dealing with a computer because most of our lives are intertwined with computers -- from ordering pizza, to banking and shopping online, to communicating online. With this evolution of, we expect to be able to do it fast and efficiently. That is the point of having those things - in order to speed up the process and save time. But I don't think there ever will be a time when everything comes up instantly with technology. There's always a bug, always a catch that might delay a download or keep people waiting. So cyberspace is like its only little community -- everyone experiences the occasional setback.