startup.com Review

First and foremost let me start by saying watching the startup.com documentary was extremely boring at the beginning. By the end the middle of the movie I was completely drawn into it. As a social science major who's normally interested in documentaries about systematic oppression, I was completely fascinated by the founders of GovWork and their ability to raise so much money to start on a business that so many people were not familiar with at the moment. In 1999-2000 when the dot com boom was just booming, the documentary shows how difficult it was for  founders Tuzman and Herman to convince investors to put money in a business that was operated on the internet which at the time not too many people used like we use it now. One aspect of Tuzman and Herman's work ethic that I liked was their determination and the amount of work and effort they put into the company. No matter what, they never gave up kept going until the company went up and running. On the other hand, I did not like the fact that they were best friends who went into business together because not only did it ruin their friendship, but it is difficult to focus on business when people are friends. A lot of times during the documentary I noticed Tuzman and Herman being unprofessional especially at the part where they had the meeting with one of the investors where Tuzman and Herman kept disagreeing with each other. Overall although the business did not last, the documentary is a great blueprint how startup businesses start as well as how much the internet has evolved.  In my opinion had they pitch this business when eCommerce was booming, the business would have prevailed and been a great success.

The Machine is (US)ing US

Watching the video on Tuesday about how the computer has evolved and affected society really made me rethink my original mindset on it . Before I used to think as humans who have created the computer that we were using technology to create all of these fantastic innovations. Now I have a new perspective on the machine called the computer. One of the fascinating part about the video is how fast the computer has evolved over the years. I am definitely glad I'm living in this day and age where computers have audio, graphics and video. The fact that computers had to be programed by the owner of the computer sounds exhausting to me  I am just glad I don't have to do that because I do not have the attention span nor the patience for that. The tittle The Machine is (
US)ing US to me means that although the computer is made by US and we think we have it all figured out, it has come to a point where it is using it us. When I think about how many jobs have been lost due to the emergence of new technology, how humans are more consumes by their phones as well as how much the computer knows about us is definitely worrisome and just proves how much we are using the computer but at the same time is using us.The way technology is growing I am afraid it can only get worst. I am not quite sure whether we are using the machine more than it is using us or the other way around but I am looking forward to learn more so I can make up a decision.

What do I want out of this class?

As a social scientist, I question everything about society and how society is systematically shaped. The virtual world plays a significant role in society and is continuously affecting the world in a positive and negative way. I have always been thankful for the internet simply because it connects me with my family overseas as well as makes life much easier for me. Even though the internet has been a blessing for me and the world there are many negative things about it and many things that worry me such as privacy, the inability for humans to have a personal connection as well as many other things. While I'm in this class I want to learn more about the evolution of the virtual world. Besides just knowing the basics of the virtual world I truly want to learn more about it on a deeper level. I want to know the people who have played important impacts, the negatives, the positives but most importantly how the virtual world has impacted society from the past and how it will continue to impact society in the future.  From looking at the syllabus it makes me extremely excited because I see many topics that I'm interested in such as the purchasing and evolution of e-tailing privacy because I shop online quite a bit. The other topic I'm interested in is the cyber crime topic simply because  I know that the internet has had a huge impact on crime lately and I just want to learn more about it . Over all I'm excited to learn more about the virtual world as I'm sure it'll expand my knowledge more.