Technologies to Bond With

One of the biggest things I took from this reading was the difference between transparent and opaque technologies. Opaque technology requires attention and skills because it is not natural to the biological organism. By contrast, transparent technology is almost invisible and requires no attention because it is so well-fitted to our lives. I hope we discuss this topic further because it is very interesting.

Clark also discussed the potential changes in the future that could be made possible through transparent technologies. His ideas about a "Smart World" immediately made me think of the movie Minority Report with Tom Cruise. In the movie he walks into a clothing store and these hologram advertisements can personally cater to his preferences by scanning his retina and they suggest clothing articles to him. The holograms can advertise to multiple persons at a time, too. Are you kidding me? This kind of technology is amazing!

I also found the idea of Augmented Reality very intriguing. To me though it seems almost impossible to be able to add information to the world around us. That is just incredible. Still, the example of being able to see directions to a library through eyeglasses would be a great tool. It's like a personal, visual MapQuest... crazy stuff right there.

All in all a good article.

Infoport

The Library of Babel

The Library of Babel is a short story that gives Jorge Luis Borge's thoughts on the universe. The Library is a large one, made up of hexagonal sections, each containing shelves filled with books containing every book possible. The library contains any and all information one could think of, including all possible variances for a given book. However, it is too much information, so much that those trying to read and understand them are driven to suicide. The Library was a good metaphor for the universe, but Borge could've developed some of his points better. It would've made understanding his logic easier. Still, an interesting short story that makes you wonder...

The Library of Babel: http://infoport.blogspot.com/2007/01/library-of-babel.html

Test post

testing... testing... 1,2,3. This is my blog for I101.