Texting- the good, the bad and the ugly!

For this weeks post I wanted to go along with my article about Texting. Texting can be a very good thing and a not so good thing. There are alot of reasons we all like texting. Its easier then calling, you can have longer conversations through out the day, it takes away from those awkward silences and its more convenient like say if your at work or in class you can just text someone if you need them.

But with texting there can be some disadvantages, such as the common misunderstanding text. If you mean something to sound one way, the other person receiving the text might not take it the way you meant it to be causing conflict. I think is this the major problem with texting. It also very distracting, you know when your talking to someone in person and they start to text someone, its annoying. And i'm sure its annoying for teachers when students are texting doing class.

I also think texting and facebook or twitter is becoming the only way people can communicate. I feel like so many people would rather text then call someone to talk. I think texting has also made emailing more popular because now no one wants to sit on the phone and talk when they could email or text.

I think its very interesting how before the telephone, people have to communicate by telegrams or writing letters, well isn't it kind of going back to that way. The telephone was invented so people could communicate easier, well now texting or emailing is kind of like writing a letter, but only faster.

I think texting has changed the way we communicate. Texting invented other apps like black berry messenger. Now you can text, email, bbm, facebook chat and tweet! I think its funny how many ways you can talk to people instead of being face to face or on the phone.

Troubleshooting those ill-advised texts

This weeks article i picked is about texting. I thought this would be appropriate to write about since texting over the last years has become the thing to do.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/11/17/texting.troubleshooting.netiquette/

Online Shopping

The Neiman Marcus link that I posted introduces a new concept in the world of apps. You can download their Christmas catalog for your iPad and look at the killer gifts that you can’t afford! Haha. The reason for them making this available is the same reason any other company releases a seasonal catalog, to make money.

The reason why I posted the link is because it fascinates me how many people actually make online purchases. Personally, I have only purchased a couple of things off of the internet because it was my last option, but the article talks about how much revenue they make off of their online store. They stated that 85% of Neiman Marcus’ direct sales are from their online store.

My cousin from Columbus who came in town the other day to celebrate thanksgiving works for The Limited, which is a retail chain that owns The Limited, Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works. She controls the online store and updates everything constantly. She had to be online at 4am on Black Friday so that she could update the website when their sales started. She told me that their online store decides if they are successful for the year, meaning that the majority of their sales are from the website. She also said that an app for easier browsing is in the works.

I guess I just didn’t realize how popular online stores have become because I enjoy going out and actually have the chance to touch and see in person my purchases, plus I enjoy people watching. In the near future we’re probably going to have many retailers putting out apps for our smart phones so we can shop anywhere at any time of the day. I’m kind of frightened.

Neiman Marcus

Neiman Marcus App

This high end retailer is keeping up with their customers.

Convergence Culture hitting Japan

I know that the weekly writing should possibly stray away from the article, but I feel that this piece is rather important. Cultural convergence seems to peek out at me while reading it. The definition of a convergence culture is one culture in a form of contact or other interaction with another country. The two cultures at play here are the North American makers of the iPhone (Apple) and the entire Japanese consumer market. Apple is introducing a new product in the cell phone industry of Japan that is taking the market by storm, the iPhone. Like stated in the article, foreign developers passed up Japan for its "insularity". For those of you who don't know what insularity means, like myself, insularity means the state of being isolated or detached. With Apple introducing it's best selling cell phone product now in Japan, this cultural convergence is impacting the sales of application immensely.

For years the Japanese cell phone market has been ruled by high established cell phone companies that would easily dominate any newcomers. With the iPhone being established into the culture now, there is a sway in power.

Since the introduction of the iPhone into the Japanese cell phone market, application sales are sky rocketing. Games such as the best selling game app, 'Angry Birds', which cost consumers only $0.99 to purchase has had 27 million downloads. With the numbers of sales that apps are producing through smart phones, the advancement of new applications are soon to come. An analogy that seems to suit America would be that the U.S. is striking gold in this market looking for something new. Even Japanese developers are getting in on this new market. If you didn't read the article already, Japanese developers topped 3 billion application downloads globally in less than 18 months. Who would have thought that apps could have this big of a role in other cultures. It's definitely a topic that should be watched in the near future.

THEE article of the week

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/27/japan-iphone-craze-global-app-developers_n_788808.html

Apps are now hitting Japan. Apps are starting to look like an even playing ground for companies. This could be real interesting in the near future!

Impulse Shopper? Make sure you download this app!!

Article: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=7811379



The first step to recovery is no longer admitting you have a problem...but downloading an app to help you with your problem even more!



One day after Black Friday, a new app has surfaced to help you impulse shop "responsibly". The leading application is called PriceCheck by Amazon. The app allows for the smart phone to take a picture of the bar code and scan it. Upon scanning the bar code, all matching codes will pop up showing which store sells that product for the cheapest amount. This app will put more pressure on stores to sell a product at its true value so they don't lose customers.



In my last blog, I talked cultural perspective and how it affects the community in ways of interaction and values. I don't think that this app is too harmful. I know that it could be very beneficial to shoppers like my Dad, the kind to go to seven stores pricing things out just to go and buy the product from the first store they went to. It also helps the bargain shopper know where to frequent. I am interested to see if Wal-Mart really sells their products at the lowest possible cost.



The negative affect of this blog is relying on your phone for even more. That is what all apps do, make you rely on your phone even more than before. Instead of having the day to yourself to shop, your phone will have to be with you and on, which takes away the whole "day to yourself" aspect.



With all apps, this one can service the community for the better, if used with responsibility. Through writing my blogs and reading those from other people, I do feel that some applications are beneficial to today's society. It is a matter of how people use them. Technology is ever evolving. No one will stop it. Dealing in the cultural perspective, technology has effected the community mainly for the better. Relationships can be built based off apps. You and your circle of friends are more than likely going to have the same apps. The same applies in the work environment, depending on your job you and your co workers will use the same apps. It is very mainstream and has even crossed into the church. A lot of my friends with Blackberry's all have the Bible application. It works as a bonding method.



Overall, I say apps are a wonderful thing. But with all good things you have to know when enough is enough.

Good or Bad?

Sadly this is going to be my last blog post so I wanted to take the time to do a bit of a recap and kind of wrap everything up. I have gone back and forth when talking about apps and sometimes the articles I write portray apps in positive light but a lot of time the articles are being critical of apps and how they are changing society. If you read my blog you would likely think that I had a very negative view of apps and just sprinkled in something positive to maintain people reading who are interested in the positive side of apps. However, if you thought this you would be wrong.
Yes many of the things I foresee coming from the app revolution are very negative. For instance I don't see it good in anyway that people are relying less on their minds and more on a phone equipped with apps to tell them well just about everything they need to know. Thinking like anything else takes practice and if you stop practicing you will lose some of your abilities over time. With this being said it makes sense that relying on a set of apps for all of your answers instead of thinking and memorizing things yourself can't be good. But despite this I still feel that apps are a good thing.
Yes apps that are possibly having many negative affects on society a good thing. The apps are good just like nuclear energy and many other technologies that can have negative effects on culture and the world. The problem is not the technology itself but rather how people who have the technology at disposal use it. There are many things that can be helped by apps for instance if you are lost and need directions using a map app would be very wise but it gets out of hand when people rely on the apps just because they are lazy and not because they actually need them. When it becomes more of a hassle to use the app and you are doing it anyway just so you don't have to think that is where the problem arises. So apps are great and there are many great apps it is just how you use them don't be the guy who uses the app just because he has it rather use your apps wisely and make the most of them when you need them and when you don't well leave the phone in your pocket you are giving a great technology a bad name if you don't.

Holiday shopping there's an app for that (article of the week)

http://www.thirdage.com/news/smartphone-apps-change-holiday-shopping_11-23-2010 its that time of the year holiday shopping interested about changing your experience check out this article!

Our apps taking over how kids learn?

Going a long with what my article of the week, I feel that this topic fits right into what we are studying. The idea that apps are taking over how kids are learning these days. What I mean by this is that instead of actual books to read, kids are now being introduced to iPads that have books through apps. Such apps were explained in the article in which they help your child learn other languages at the age of four! Media ecology plays an important part in this since it deals with technology playing a leading role in our human affairs. A prime example of technology playing a leading role in our human affairs would be teaching children at young ages how to use an iPad. Instead of picking up a book to read to learn from, children today are now being able to learn through talking books via apps on the iPad. By teaching children at young ages to use these devices, it changes the views of people's cultural perspective. Now the norm in pre-schools is implementing iPads and apps for children to learn through school books and different learning activities. This change in the cultural perspective I feel is rather negative. Not only will children start to rely on such devices but they will also be so attached that it would cut back down on face to face time. A bad thing too would be that if the device was ever broken and don't have the money to get a new one, there goes all those "virtual books" leaving you with no tangible books to read. Those being just a few of the negatives, these book apps do have a rather positive upside. Instead of having to cut trees down, apps are created that bring you books that have animated scenes to certain pages to keep things interesting as well. The childrens books try to incorporate other languages which is also beneficial. If it came down to it though, I would so much rather have a real book than a virtual copy.

Article of the Week

http://http://appadvice.com/appnn/2010/11/ridili-releases-childrens-talking-book-apps/
I find this article to be interesting. Kids are learning from Ipads at such an early age through apps. This may be the future to kids learning.

Thanksgiving with Mom and Grandma?? Not anymore!

Article: http://brooklyn.ny1.com/content/ny1_living/the_app_wrap/129314/app-wrap--cooking--meal-planning-apps


The apps that I have seen lately have not affected the family aspect of society. That is, until now. This is the season of family. A time where families get together fellowship and usually make yummy food together. In my family this is a time for my mom to make her delicious ham and my dad to make his famous and should be award winning banana pudding. Even more important it is a time for us to hang out and for me to learn how to make a new dish. Many families also share these traditions.

A new app has been created to ease the stress of making Thanksgiving dinner and all other meals. This app tells the user how make all sorts of recipes. Within the app there is a timer, shopping list, step by step cookiing guide, and the app even includes a "use whats in your refrigerator" process. Any chef is available, Martha Stewart, Emerelle, Rachel Ray, or Gordon Ramsey to name a few. All of these wonderful recipes are at the palm of your hands.

Cultural perspective asks the question of how we use media and how does it change our community and relationships with one another. This application has the potential to change the way families interact over the holidays, which tend to be when most families all get together. It affects our community because the sense of a friendly neighbor can disappear. There will be no need to borrow salt or sugar from your neighbor if your handy application gives you a substitute. Here is an example of how it would affect me personally. Every year my father makes banana pudding and with each year I get closer and closer to knowing how to make it myself and we bond each year that I try to get more ingredients out of him. However, with the new app, I can simply get the ingredients from a famous cook, which chances are would not be close to what I have become accustom to. As a result the relationship with my father over the holidays will not be as enriched as they usually are. Although this app does enhance the cultural perspective because knowledge of cooking is being spread throughout the community but the community could also be negatively impacted.

The relationship that can be built with your neighbor over sharing recipes or exchanging eggs for butter will no longer exist, which would lead to each family/person living in solitude even more. Too many things are being made so that 1 person can do it all. The dynamic of working with someone is dying off, which also hurts the community relationship.

I am not saying that this app is the worst thing invented. I think that it is a great app for a newlywed couple or a college student in their first apartment, but even then the relationships that could have been built with a grandma, mother, or father will not be as strong because the app has taken their place.

If I had an iPhone, I would not use this app, simply because I like calling my grandma and mother and finding out how to make various things that I have grown up eating.

Google Apps

Google recently made available all their apps to businesses to use in their work environment.

Interesting article and video.

Google Apps

The less than extensive side of apps

Media Ecology looks at new technology and media in terms of the way that it extends ourselves. For instance the telephone extends our ears and mouth and allows us to then communicate with people who are all they way across the world with little more effort than dialing their number. This worked out really well for the telephone because it was much more convenient than sending people messages by horse back and you could better communicate than you could with the telegraph. Apps you would at first glance think are helpful in the same way. They can extend us in so many different ways you can get on facebook to communicate with people far away, skype with your friends, and get scores all without leaving the bus you are on or your bed where ever it is that you happen to be. All of this is possible as long as you have your phone with you and of course the app for that.
This at first all sounds great but are we coming to live in an interfaceless society where communication will all be done through our phones. I know I have many times sat in the same room as another person and for one reason or another texted them instead of talking to them and they were right there. Apps may be further killing our face to face interaction and instead of extending us as the conventional though of media ecology would say they could actually be shortening our reach in many other ways. Now I am not arguing that they give you less ability I am saying they give you less will to use certain abilities. I know I have talked to many people and become friends with them simply because I had to ask them a question that I felt they would be knowledgeable about. Doesn't matter if it was who won the game last night or how to do an assignment apps may be killing that connection. Who wants to go up to a complete stranger and ask them a question risking looking like a moron when they can just take out there phone and use one of the many apps they have to check the scores or their emails. All your problems can be solved by just clicking a few buttons and again there is no face to face interaction needed. I wouldn't be surprised if soon there wasn't an app for breaking bad news such as firing an employee or breaking up with your significant other. I am not trying to say that apps are all bad but sometimes I think we let them take over too much of our lives. We don't need an app for every single aspect of life if you want to know a good place to eat why not stop and ask a local maybe you will make a new friend and its likely the suggestion will be better than something a computer program can come up with.

Article of the week

This article points out that apps may be comprimising your privacy so before you go down loading every free app on the market you might want to do a bit of research.
http://mashable.com/2010/06/23/android-apps-privacy-threat/

Time Travel?

I recently came across an article talking about Google Sky-Map for Android. This isn’t just some regular sky-map, it has time travel! You can look back on certain days to see what the sky looked like or how the sky is going to look in a couple of weeks. It’s extremely fascinating and interesting to experience.

I have seen other apps which allow you to look up into the sky and see constellations and such, but this app also allows you to see these constellations and when a specific planet has possibly lined up.

The reason why I chose to introduce this app is because I not only find it to be interesting, but it makes me wonder how much further we can progress with this app. In a couple of years or even sooner they may be able to not only show us the stars and planets, but satellites and galaxies that are right outside of ours. Then, you add the time travel aspect and we will be able to see what it looked like before those satellites. Is it crazy to think we will be able to see new things using the future aspect of the app? (YES), but I can wish. I just find this app to be pretty neat because I have always been interested in astronomy and it gives me the chance to gaze upon different constellations and planets with a mobile phone that I keep in my back pocket. Who knows what else programmers and technology will allow us to do with our phones, but I know I’m excited.

Are apps controlling us?

Going along with the article I posted about the ipad becoming your TV remote, how much are applications really controlling. People live for their TV, so why not make it connect with your cell phone. There's an application through cable, which allows you’re to record a show from your cell phone. Say you forgot to hit record on DVR for a show you want to watch, don't worry now you can do it from your phone! It amazes me how much one phone can really do. There’s even a program for your cell phones that allows you to turn off and on your alarm on your house. To think 10years ago a cell phone was just used to call people from, and now its used for controlling your TV or your house alarm.

I just read another article about a program you can get on your phone call "cell control". its a Spy Software that allows you to find out who your family members, friends, partners or employees are in touch with.

• Listen to Live Calls

• Read Text messages

• SMS Logging (Incoming / Outgoing)

• GPS Tracking

• Email Logging (Incoming / Outgoing)

• Call History (Incoming / Outgoing)

• Call Duration (Incoming / Outgoing)

• Environment Listening ( Bugging Device)

• Contact Name in Address Book Linked to each call/sms

These are the things that this program can detect. Talk about invasion of privacy. Im not sure how well this really works but could you imagine someone always checking up on you. Its like the panopticism for jails. They can see everything your doing but you have no idea what they are doing or looking at. I feel like this program should be illegal. It takes away from the privacy you deserve. I think is an example of how smart mobs can be dangerous and not a good thing.

Comcast Turns Your iPad Into a Remote Control and TV Guide

The article i found is about a new application for ipads that allows your ipad to turn into your remote control for your TV.

http://mashable.com/2010/11/15/xfinity-tv-ipad/

RockMelt

http://www.rockmelt.com/

Rockmelt is a new social media web browser that allows you to always stay connected with your friends. Its pretty interesting. You have to sign up for an invitation and then they will send you a link to download it. I just downloaded it and still trying to figure things out. But i thought it was interesting. Check it out theres a video you can watch for more information.

Marketing there's an app for that

This post is not actually about an app that helps you market in anyway. To be perfectly honest this post has nothing to do with one individual app at all. This post is more about the cultural phenomonon that is the growth of apps. These things that had hardly even been heard of 3 years ago are now a major player in every aspect of our social lives. Apps are having an affect on our tv time, or social networking time, and of course our mobile lives. When you want to buy an app though how do you ago about hearing about it. Do you just brows the thousands of apps that have been created to find soemthing that interests you or do you usually know what you want when you start to try and find that special app you want to download.
The article I posted this week says that the app you will download is going to be decided by what is featured in the app stores. More importantly what is featured in the apple app store. When you think about it this makes sense. Yes I know that people talk about apps through word of mouth but how does the first person who hears of an app find it. It is highly unlikely that people just sift through the thousands and thousands of apps before finding one and then telling everyone they know. People likely first hear about the apps that get popular because they are featured. So again apps are giving power back to the people who are in control. New new media is supposed to be about taking the control away from the big companies and giving everyone a say but in reality it just makes it more powerful at the top and they are just using other peoples ideas to control culture. Yes dont get me wrong some people probably do sift through all the clutter but the average person likely just downloads what is said by apple to be a great app and then if they like it they will tell their friends about it as well.

Downloads

http://touchreviews.net/impact-apps-featured-app-stores/
How are you choosing what apps you download click the link above for some insight on the subject

Happiness

I found the article about "Tracking you happiness" pretty interesting. If iphone apps can tell how a person is feeling, whether its daydearming or being unhappy is pretty cool. But how far will applications go. I feel like a privacy boundry at some point will be broke.

There are some apps out there where they can show people exactly where you are. That’s kind of creepy. Like the "Friends" app on iphones- its designed to keep track of all your social networking and keep it together. This allows you have contacts of all your friends on facebook. You will be able to see their photos, video and post through your contacts on your phone.

I feel like phone apps are taking away from actually getting to know someone by face to face interaction instead of just by your facebook page. Where's communication going? I think over the past couple years relationships have changed. Before you had to ask out a guy/girl in person and now more people are relaying on text or facebook messaging instead of talking in person. I sometimes wonder if younger generations will be able to hold a conversation in person or even on the phone. Phone applications have changed the way we look at relationships. I know for me, sometimes i will be fighting with my boyfriend over text. Which can be good because its less stress because you can take your time to actually think about what you want to say instead of just saying things you might regret but its also bad because things can get misunderstood very easy.

I mean my boss even texts me sometimes. Its really weird to see people my parents age texting and even on facebook.

I wonder how communication and relationships will be 10 years from now.

Track Your Happiness

This week the article I found is about a new iphone app that can track a person's mood. Rseachers from Harvard used a phone app to conduct a study on peoples happiness and daydreaming.

http://mashable.com/2010/11/12/iphone-app-measures-happiness/

Interesting Website!

http://mashable.com/

I found this website today, i'm not sure if any of you guys have heard about it or have been to the site. Its called mashable. Its a website designed to have the most popular stories about new media, technology trends! Its pretty interesting! thought it could be useful! check it out if you haven't heard about it!

Really? I happened to come across this tonight.

Life-Altering Tombstone of the Day: The E-Tomb is an interactive tombstone that allows the friends and family of the deceased to keep in touch with their departed loved ones by downloading photos and videos uploaded by relatives to specific “web spaces.”

Up Next: “You just ousted Mom as the Mayor of Dad’s grave site.”

The Daily What

How Much?

There are now apps for just about everything you can imagine. These apps can range from a variety of genres. A lot of them are great and extremely useful when you’re in a crunch, but lately I realized how much money is being spent on all of this. First you need to purchase a new phone or computer or even that nifty iPad. All of these great buys can range from $100 to $850! Now, if you have one of these bad babies’ you’re on your way to the world of apps! Most of the apps that are downloaded are just new ways of using things that we already own or are a lot cheaper to purchase than an app. Why spend all of this money you may ask, to look COOL, of course. In an article I read, this man purchased iScore Baseball Scorekeeper that costs $19.99, the author went on to say that that is a lot of money to spend to replace a pen and paper. Yes, there is this whole convenience factor added in when all you have to do is pull out your phone instead of searching for a pen (that actually works) and a pad of paper (that doesn’t already have a bunch of stuff written on it). It is useful and a great way of keeping score, if you are willing to drop 20 bucks for something that you can do on your own.

I’m not really trying to put down anything because I have fallen victim as well, but why are we so willing to fork over all this money? I don’t really know why I chose to do it and I don’t regret it because I like my phone and the things it can do, but I could of bought a cheaper phone that did what a phone is normally supposed to do and saved that extra money for something more important. I think it’s time for me to realize what’s truly important and having the latest app or the coolest phone is something I can live with out.

StubHub

About every day of the week I hear a radio advertisement about StubHub. This advertisement is always done by the wonderful, Ryan Seacrest (HA!). Anyway, the reason why I wish to talk about this is because this is the only app that I ever hear about being advertised. I never seem to see app advertisements on the TV or on the radio and I wonder why. We are constantly surrounded by apps on our phones and our friends showing off the latest apps but why don’t we see more advertisements? I realize there are so many apps available and basically a new one everyday that has some similar functions as others, and we would be completely overwhelmed if every app had an advertisement, but some of the well-made apps could advertise and get their product out in the public. Some people will disagree with me, but I believe that there our some apps available to the public that do some good. Not every app is about gaming, concert tickets and something ridiculously goofy. I believe as time goes on and we become even more entranced in this world of apps, there will be more valuable applications and advertisements.

StubHub

I hear about this app ALL THE TIME!

http://www.macworld.com/article/151749/2010/06/stubhub.html

Post for the Week

This week's post will be focused toward the in-class discussion and also the reading on video games for girls. There were a lot of good comments from people in class, both from the sides of girls and also the side of the boys. What struck me the most though was how girls perceived game and what caused them to stray away from them. From the violence to the non-female leading role, girls apparently get turned off about them. With this in mind, I wanted to check my Iphone to see if there were any apps that were on my Iphone that were linked to these ideas.

Looking through the vast amount of apps of games that I have, a strong outcome came back. Of all the games that I had (30+) only around 2-3 of them had a female role lead. The funny thing about this was that they were both in cooking roles!! One in particular was called Cooking-Mama (no judging it really teaches you how to cook) which helped you learn to cook by no other than a woman. So stereotypes don't dissappoint here with the interrelated areas of women and cooking. Is there a theme going on here? There was one application that's called 'Live Poker'. The picture of the application is of a girl holding up a poker hand. I could look at this photo and could see if two different ways. That its meant for guys and since guys like attractive girls, they would play this poker game. Or maybe it could draw in more females that like poker to download this since it's promoting that girls play poker too and it's not only a male dominated game. What also caught my eye on an application was a game called 'I Mobsters'. When I think of a gangster game, I think of Al Capone or male gangsters in that matter. The funny thing was that a female was on the application holding out up a gun. Like the 'Live Poker' app, this is going against the stereotype that girls should be in the kitchen and play Barbies. This is a way for girls to finally break this stereotype and put a dent into the male dominant game world.

Its funny to see how stereotypes create games such as Cooking-Mama stating that girls like too cook. But wouldn't it look weird if a guy was put on Cooking-Mama or a girl put on the cover of a war app. Stereotypes will always be there, but the way its looking these days, more and more girls are joining this video game world. Before we know it this stereotype that we have of women hating video games will be lost.

Article of the Week

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-25/tech/developing.apps_1_mobile-apps-smartphone-android?_s=PM:TECH

iPhone Application: The next big thing or a justification of the paranoid?

iPhone Taps into the BedBug Market

Website Article: http://www.ajc.com/news/track-bed-bugs-with-725919.html

A new iPhone app tracks where bedbugs are around the country. This should be of high importance to Cincinnati locals, since Cincinnati is a top 10 hotpot for these critters. I have been ignorant to this fact until a friend of mine happily pointed out that the area I live in is nototrious for bedbugs. not to worry, my house is not infested!

When I was younger, my parents would never dream of this type of technology, being able to track if a business has been deemes dirty or not. Traveling 10 years ago did not entail jumping through so many hoops. Then, all you had to was book your hotel, flight, and where you got your rental car. There was a sense of trust that establishments would not allow their custoemrs to stay in an infested hotel, that trust no longer exists. Now in order to travel you have to go to Travelocity.com, use Google map to see if the area is clean, and now log onto the new app to see if it has a history of bedbugs. It has sparked paranoia in some people. The creator of this app, Adam Kotkin, won't even go to the movie theatre because of the fear of bed bugs crawling on him and infesting his house. My friend works at a bank, she waited on someone who had bedbugs crawling on her, she stopped waiting on the person and had them escorted out of building because she was putting everyone in the building at risk of being infested with bedbugs. Even I think twice before sitting in a public establishments.

This new app tracks where bedbugs have been reported. Some businesses were reported to have thousands of these critters without the knowledge of the management. The sad part of the article is that some Departments of Community Health ignore the steadily rising infestation because there is simply too many to keep track of.

Once on the list however, your business will remain on the list. It will show how long your establishment has been on the list though. Kotkin has a staff of people who work seven days a week t ensure that the app remains accurate.

I think that this app will be helpful to the average person. However, I can see it sparking a new paranoia that will enable people to no longer want to travel or even leave the comfort of their own homes. It also has the potential to ruin a business's name, even after the bedbugs have been killed off.

Phone applications: are they affecting our culture?

Phone Applications have become so advance that they are even used in the medical field. I think phone applications are changing our culture because there are applications to do almost anything. Not only can you use applications to listen to music or get of facebook, but also now you can use it to find out diagnosis and treatments! This new app will allow the nurses and physicians to assist patients from their home and allow them to treat themselves. I would think this would be kind of dangerous to trust an application for treatment. Are phone companies even worried about personal interaction or just making money?

I feel like in the last couple of years applications have grown into this huge thing and I think so everything will be able to be done of your iphone or smartphone. I mean more and more companies are using iphones or smartohones to do business from. I just got my cable and internet installed and now the technicians are using iphones to make their orders and have you sign the receipt electrically right on the iphone.

I think apps are also changing the way people interact with other people, you no longer have to be face to face with people to communicate, you can do so by text, bbm, facebook, twitter and now the iphone is coming out so you can video chat with someone from your phone. I mean everything thought it was amazing when you could do that from your computer but now you can from your phone. Soon will you even need a computer?

As far as in education, I think people are losing their sense to remember things because they can just google it on their phone. I’m guilty to that. If I need to find something that I don’t know or cant remember I’ll google it on my phone because it so convenient. Also, going along with an article that was previously posted about how you can learn Spanish from a phone application. Phone applications have become so advance you can download an app to help you learn a language. It’s a great theory but it takes away that personal level from teachers and students. Why take pay a lot of money to take a foreign language class when you can just get it on your phone.

AT&T Create New App

This weeks article focuses on how AT&T are creating a new application for iphones and other smartphones that allow you to diagnosis and treat your self.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/atts-bet-on-health-technology/#more-53135

Simple Things For Simple People

Yes I know my last few posts have been well rather cheery and put apps into a positive light but I have decided that this week I am over that and want to say how I really feel. Plus making things up and faking a side gets rather difficult so why not just type about what I am actually feeling. Last week one of my fellow blog authors wrote about his niece coming into town and being able to easily navigate his phone and use all the app with relative ease. Now at first thought this may sound like a really good thing. I am not going to try to pretend things being easy is bad. I like to have a level of simplicity and user friendliness that makes it possible for me to pick something up and with little training be able to just have things work but I feel apps are too simple and I really think their popularity says something about us as a culture and a whole that they are so popular despite being mind numbingly simple.
I know what most of you are thinking and yes I did just say that I liked a certain level of simplicity in my technology but think about all the things you are missing out on by relying so much on your apps and not taking the extra minute or two to actually browse the Internet for what you need. With a lot of things when it comes to apps you are taking it down to one things opinion and making that final. Urban Spoon for instance you shake it up and it gives you a place to eat and you just go along with it. But there is something to be said about getting into your Internet browser and searching for certain types of restaurants in the area and being able to read reviews about them and pick one for yourself. Also I don't know how many times I have opened my browser and found a fascinating story on my homepage when I was going to get the sports scores that I would have missed out on had I just relied on apps to give my the sports scores and nothing else. Yes I am sure there is an app that will send me fascinating stories every day and I can quickly browse through them and see if anything catches my interest but that isn't the point. The point is many times its the journey and not the destination that makes many things so great and if you rely on apps for everything you are skipping that journey letting someone else take it for you so to speak and just taking their word for how the destination was.

article of the week (week 5)

This weeks article focuses on getting more culture in your life and the method of doing so is apps of course. Yes highlighted in this take on culture and apps is the 30 best apps for adding culture to your life hope you enjoy. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/jan/03/iphone-apps-for-culture