Additional Reflections for RCS497 Edgewood

I came across an article today from BBC News Technology.

                  Third of adults 'use smartphone' says Ofcom report (1)

This ties in well with the reflection questions and the readings Kathleen has assigned. We have seen so many technological booms in our lifetime, and have become even more aware since becoming IT professionals. It fascinates me how differently technology is used and viewed by varying age groups.

In looking at the 3rd of the adult UK population using smartphones, it broke down the percent of usages between adults and teen agers. Not surprisingly, adults tended to use their smartphones for more practical uses – Primarily for email, web access and Social networking. Then in smaller quantities - GPS, News and sports. Teens on the other hand, massively out weighed the adult use. Their big three were Social Networking, music, and games. Followed by email, taking photos/video, internet, instant messaging.

This general overview gives us a good glimpse into how each new “technological generation” embraces technology differently. Expectations and needs are quite different. Granted, adults will always tend to be more pragmatic than teenagers when using these devices. It the “Tool vs. Toy” mentality (which I struggle with ALL the time – having an internal age MUCH younger than my physical one). But even considering that factor, younger users are savvy, and quick to pick up on many of the new applications available.

The article also looked at “regular’ internet use –and how it’s use is changing. As more and more of the population becomes “I grew up with that technology”, more demand for smaller, faster, less complicated interfaces will be expected. The mouse was a wonderful invention, it allowed for a much better computing experience. Now, however, touch screens on portable devices is the trend. I see in the future devices that will follow finger/hand movement with no physical contact with the device. Already we have cameras that follow where your eye is looking in the viewfinder. This same technology could be added to smart devices, even “SmartGlass” perhaps.

In any event, mass amounts of viable applications, and ease of use will drive the market and the technology we will shortly see coming our way. As the Baby Boomers move out of the main focus for product sales, it will be interesting to see what the new trends will bring – marketing to a whole generation who have always had video games, computers, and for most of their lives – the internet. The 2020 Super Bowel commercials will certainly be interesting to say the least.

(1) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14397101

Classes at Edgewood are almost complete

In the summer of 2006 I started a new journey for me.  College.  Edgewood College -  Madison WI to be exact.  I was in the RAAD program – Returning Adults.  It’s been quite the ride.  I did take off for about a year when my wife became very ill, so it’s taken a little longer to get my Bachelors.

For anyone considering going back to school, or just want to attend a great local college, look at Edgewood.  The faculty is outstanding.  I have had Professors and instructors that were wonderful.  New doors have been opened to me.  I have met great people who have tolerated my oddities, and have been a pleasure to work with on group projects.  This has been a long run, I am looking forward to the finish line, and many things yet to come. 

Edgewood RCS497 Reflective Question - 6

In what ways has approaches to learning to use technology changed in the past 5 years?  What are the ways it remains the same?

Looking at the product changes that have occurred in the last 5 years have affected what we perceive as the norm in expectations of said products.  I think that this has had a great influence on how the general public has learned to use new technology.

For example,  large change that has taken place recently was with the introduction of the iPhone. The iPhone took the smart phone / digital phone to a whole new level.  Not only did it perfect the touch pad, add new features unavailable on other phones,  but it also encouraged others to create new apps.  In fact it was the introduction of these new apps made it so powerful and a marketing dynamo.  The public now had a small portable technology that was far more than just a cell phone.  New applications could be down loaded quickly and start functioning within minutes.  Learning to use the iphone was very simple, as it followed simple touch logic.  Apple has taken technology and tried to make the interface simple and intuitive.  The iphone came out in 2007, just look at the advances in the smart / digital phones who have emulated Apple.

Blogging has certainly taken off in  trying to help others understand technologies.  Again it is often product or type driven ( ipod, iPad, Droid, Windows 7, and GPS systems for example).  Social networking sites, Twitter, forums – these have all blossomed with advice on what to do, how to upgrade, how to hack or root your systems.  I have a feeling that more and more people are just Googling to find answers on how to.

YouTube has also exploded in great video that visually step you through the process.  Online information and help has, I feel, become the norm for most people.  It has a flood of advice (both good and bad) that can be extremely useful. 

Still, there is always the: hey I’ll buy it, or install it, and just play with it till I figure it out.  There is still the guy on late night TV that is offering courses on CD that walk a person though how to use Office, or Ebay, or Google.  Everything comes with instruction manuals and 800 numbers to contact about their product.  FAQ’s, Manufactures web sites, friends, family, and co-workers still stand the test of time for asking about new technology. 

Edgewood RCS497 Reflective Question - 5

What are our responsibilities as merchants of change?

In the IT industry, we are in a constant flux of change.  New technologies, programs, operating systems, hardware – you name it.  Often it’s hard for professionals to maintain a hold on all of the changes, and to be knowledgeable enough to navigate thought the pros and cons.  Imagine the confusion and dismay to those who have no clue as to even the most basic concepts of our changing technological environment.  They are subject to depend on we as professionals to decide the benefits and need of changes to their working environment.  Even savvy users often are force to take on the changes of upgrades or complete different systems.   

As IT professionals, we often make decisions based on available resources (money), security needs, ease of use, ease of upgrade, and of course – personal preference.   Non of which may have the interest of the end user truly in mind.   All too often I have seen changes made because a manager or IT administrator was in love with the NEW and SHINNY – or wanted to be close to the bleeding edge in their company.  This can be costly, both in financially, but also in work related frustration, leading to lower productivity and disgruntled employees.  ( See companies who upgraded to Microsoft Millennia Edition or Vista for example.)

We must be agents working not only for improvement of company needs (perceived or real), but also with those that will be working with the technology day in and day out.  To find that balance is actually more work up front.  It involves not only knowing the available technology, but also those who will be working with it, and what their REAL needs are.  This means interview not only department managers, but all key personnel who will be involved.  Digging deep to understand both the needs and what the impact of changing the existing system will mean.  We also need to be willing to see when the existing system is good enough for now.

One of the frustrating situations that we often run into is the case of old technology just not being supported, either by the manufacturer, or by operating systems.  In these cases there is not a choice of keeping the old system.  Again – we need to be ambassadors, not solders of change.  Yes, people my be forced to accept the change, but we can make it easier.  Creating a good change strategy that involved the least impact on the regular schedule.  Good training, and effective follow up will lessen the blow and ease the transition.  We also have to be good sales men, getting the end user to realize the benefits, and then keeping the promises of those benefits.

Change is a way of life with technology.  But there are affective ways to aid those who have little or no choice in the changes around them.  It takes time, effort, empathy, and a bit of humility to be a good merchant of change.  It is our responsibility to look for the safest, most cost effective technological changes for our companies.  But it is also our responsibility to work with those affected by such change to be as trained and effective by such change.  

Edgewood RCS497 Reflective Question - 3

How did your specific experiences inform you in your practice of securely using technology for communication?

Having been in the IT industry since the introduction of Windows 95 (yes I was one of those guys who answered the phones for Microsoft) I have had the advantage of knowing many of the pitfalls with using communication over the internet.  It was all pretty new to me before that.

My first computer was an OS/2 IBM 386 with a whopping 2 megs of memory, and an 80 meg hard drive.  And it had a modem!  How cool was that to go on a bulletin board and leave or pick up a message from a friend.  AND – you could download things, assuming you have several hours to tie up your phone line for a very poor graphic.  I was introduced to this by a friend of mine who worked with me.  I had no idea of issues with viruses or people trying to scam you.  I spent little time on bulletin boards, other than posing fun messages. 

Getting on board with a one month intense training course before manning the phones, security and viruses were definitely stressed.  It became even greater over the year I spent on phones.  As Windows 95 and Internet explorer allowed for ease of access to the internet, more and more people began to run into issues with viruses.  Being careful of where one browsed, and what a person chose to download now became very important.  Also scam emails and issues with Trojans became security problems.  I quickly became an expert on what to watch out for, and how to fix issues created by the lack of security and proper protection.

As I upgraded my computer, I also made sure to protect myself from viruses by having a good Anti-Virus program.  But as virus were constantly being written, one was not always safe from new attacks.  As Malware raised its ugly head, there were new concerns about security and protection.  Several times I personally had to research techniques to remove ugly viruses or malware.  Those were some long nights.  But the longest night I spent was during the LOVE BUG virus attack while I was working for the Wisconsin Legislature.  I reverse engineered the  VBscript as a quick fix till MacAfee could come out with a DAT file upgrade.  We changed our security settings for our Exchange mail server to not allow any kind of scripting to be passed along. 

Firewalls were not a big issue with dial up because of the speed and limited time that I was connected to the internet.  However as the Operating Systems continued to upgrade, and high speed internet became affordable, having a good firewall became very necessary.  On all of the networks that I had been involved with.  But the level of lock down quickly became that of lock everything down, and only open what you absolutely had to.  Practices of accepting emails, and downloads were addressed by sending out regular safety reminders to all employees, Senate and legislature members. 

Security is constantly being challenged.  Large organizations and businesses are big targets that hackers love to try and access.  But now that high speed access 24/7 is readily available for home users, they too are under attack for identity theft.  I have changed my firewall settings on my cable router and on all of our local computers in our home.  Wireless settings also have been locked down, setting the router to only accept certain MAC addresses.  Hackers and creators of Virus\Malware are constantly changing and advancing their attracts.  Just looking at the issues SONY has had because of P.O.ing off the PS3 community shows how determined these guys are.  Vigilance and awareness are the only tools for real protection.  Information from work, tech magazines, and online security briefs are the tools I use to keep informed and up to date.   

Edgewood RCS497 Reflective Question - 2

What are some of the generational influences and implications for embracing technology that is used for communication?

There is a great story told on NPR during a broadcast about changing technologies in our lives.   The reporter gave a personal example of the generation difference in view points on technology.  He took his grandson into his study and showed him his precision turntable.  He showed him how to carefully put the record on, how to use a Disc Washer to clean the surface, and how the counter weight balanced the magnetic cartridge and stylus on the recorded surface.  All of these designed to pick up the analog recording without wearing the surface.  With his old but high quality stereo, the room filled with strong clear music.  His grandson was patiently following all of the workings closely.  After the demonstration was over, the grandfather asked the grandson what he thought about it.  His grandson replied that he thought it was an amazing piece of equipment, but he had one question; how would you take it with you walking? 

This illustrates the difference in viewpoint of the current young generation toward technology.  They have grown up with CD and MP3 players, very portable.  Their concept of what’s important, what’s expected, and what can be improved on is far different from those of us who were born in the 60’s and 70’s.  This translates to how younger people have embraced many of the innovations that allow for portability, and ease of use.  Most young people have never had to use a dial phone, or have been tethered by a phone cord.  Most have wireless phones at home that store phone numbers.  Cell phones have taken in into another level of freedom.  Testing is often the preferred method of communicating quickly to friends.  

Ironically, we do not yet see the video phone that was touted in movies like 2001 a Space Odyssey flourishing in the market.  Many of the innovations that Science Fiction writes pointed to have not yet come to fruition ( i.e. Flying Cars, Video Phones, a Moon base, ect).  Yet many technological advance were made that just were not clearly foreseen.  Two major ones in communication have been the Cell Phones ( including Data ) and the internet. 

Cell phones change both the market and the culture of communication.  At first just a toy for the rich or for the traveling contactor, cell phones gradually came down in price.  As they did, more and more of the general public had access to affordable cell phone use.  I know that for myself, I had one for our family that we used whenever someone drove the car – set up for just emergencies.  Within a few years, We had a two phone plan with more minutes.  Eventually every member of the household had a phone, with texting capabilities.   

Here is where my children embrace texting, where I thought to use it.  They found it a quicker means of communicating, especially when truncating words.  This is a practice I cannot get used to – nor do I desire to embrace it.  Though I have now come to understand the benefits of texting – I choose to fully verbalize in words my texts.  This clearly makes me look like an old fart to many of my children’s friends.  I accept that, just as they have accepted truncated words and acronyms as a perfectly acceptable way of communicating. 

Text has however brought on a dark side to it.  As with any type of new technology, someone finds a way to abuse it, or misuse it.  Texting while driving has become a major problem.  Legislature in most states have banned or brought heavy consequences to those who practice this bad habit.  It appears that this is predominate among the younger generation.  The cell phone has become an appendage for many young people, so much so that without really thinking about it, they text while in a moving vehicle.  Though some older adults are distracted by this, it appears to be a greater issue with younger users.  The other negative aspect of texting is that of “Sexting”.  Digital photos and sexual text exchanged via data phones.  As with any technology, there are those who will misuse it.

The move to Digital phones have again been embraced by the younger generation who feel lost if they are not connecting via Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites.  The feeling that one has to be connected 24/7 is definitely something that the latest generation has become used to.  Again I site the example of my children (and other young family members) who often post mundane information on a regular basis.   Again, because this has become second nature to post anything and everything, sometimes good judgment is set to the wayside.   What many younger users of social networks fail to take into consideration is that colleges and explorers do look at their social network profiles. 

When looking at the statistics in age, Social networking sites are used more frequently by younger users.  This reflects both a greater comfort level with this type of communication, but also the feeling that it part of their everyday life.  My generation ( the VERY tail end of the Baby Boomers) have embraced many changes in technology.  However, the newest generation have only known the latest technologies.  Instant messaging, ease of use, and constant connection is not just a desire – but an expectation.  Now with SKYPE and other developing technologies, we may well soon have the next generation used to instant visual communication, both on their computers, tablets, and Digital phones. 

Because of this constant connection, (and with GPS- constantly knowing exactly where everyone is) there has been a drop in privacy.  Though younger people take this in stride and the norm, older generations see potential problems.  Privacy is a very important element in our lives.  In general, older – more experienced users of these technologies tend to be careful about the information that is shared.  Younger people tend not to think about those issues as much, especially because of that element of instant and constant connections.   Time will tell if everyone will simply accept the trade off in loss of privacy for the convenience of these technologies.