Blown to bits response questions for chapter 1

Blown to Bits Response Questions:

• Identify why people continue to improve the ways that technology and information are spread throughout the world. even though we are able to sustain ourselves as we are now?

People continue to improve our methods of spreading technology and information across the globe because we can. Not only can we, but to be able to do it faster, more efficiently, and generally better would be beneficial to everyone because it would make spreading the information easier. People like things when they are easy usually.

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• Determine the differences between information that is taken and reproduced by hand as opposed to information that is digitally reproduced and transferred to others.

Information reproduced by hand contains flaws because "To err is human" (6) and if humans are copying things, generally there will be an error somewhere. Digitally reproduced things, however are no where near as likely to contain errors. Bits are not flawed, and even if a bit or two gets corrupted, networks check to see if any bits were corrupted in transition and if they were the network will automatically repair them.

• Debate why the spread of information was a positive impact for people or a negative impact.

In reality, it was, and is both. It was a positive in the fact that if a scientist in America makes an important discovery, it can be implemented in research in Europe as soon as the American scientist uploads his findings to the internet. The European scientists do not have to wait for written documents or the scientist himself to arrive in Europe. It is bad because data that could be protected by copyright could easily be plagiarized or pirated becuase every bit that made up the original song is the exact same as the bits that make up the copy.

• Draw a graph of the way that the size of memory has changed over time.

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3.) I agree with the statement "computing will transform society". It has limited peoples personal privacy and will continue to do so in the future. "the data will be kept forever, unless there are policies to get rid of it. For the time being at least, the data sticks around" (11). This could be beneficial for documenting important discoveries in the future, but it has the potential to limit, if not end personal privacy. Everything someone does on the internet is monitored are stored away, along with any personal information that goes up there. If embarrassing or illegal photos are posted, this could ruin a persons chance of getting into certain colleges, and earning certain jobs. the more advanced computing technology becomes, the easier it will become for personal information and activity to wind up stored on the internet.