IST SS1100, The Wired Society, was by far my favorite class of the
semester. Although the book by Thomas L. Friedman was a good book, I really
enjoyed the in class lectures that I attended. I love learning about new technologies
and how they were made or came into existence. For a student studying for a
computer science degree, a history class devoted solely to technology
advancements is definitely the way to go. I generally dislike history classes,
but I found this class rather enjoyable and it gave me a new understanding of
how the world functions and grows through the use of technology.
One of the most enjoyable class lectures that we had was about 3d printing.
Before IST I had heard about 3d printing, but had never delved into it. All the
tasks these new printers could do were completely mind-blowing. I didn’t
realize how far along we actually were in this area of technology. But along
with discussing all the amazing functions of this printer, we discussed the
legal and ethical side of this machine. This lecture made me realize that a lot
of thought needs to go behind the newest and latest gadgets. It also made me
grateful that we live in a country where the laws can be adapted to handle all
the issues that arise from new technology.
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman was a book filled with facts and
knowledge while at the same time being an easy read. This book gave me an
understanding of how much the use of the internet and the new ideas of global
collaboration have changed our world and the businesses within it. This book
explains all of the real world applications to our new flat world with its
level playing field. It also explained how businesses use a global network to
become successful in their marketing, supply chaining, and internal
communication.
Friedman also explains that although
our flat world allows good businesses to run at a level they have never ran
before, it also allows malicious organizations to carry out even bigger and
more devastating attacks of terror on the world. The example he uses in this
book is al-Qaida and its ability to successfully plan an attack against the
United States through global networking.
I also enjoyed the structure of the class with our ability to have our
own blogs and post our essays for public view and discussion. Reading others
blogs made me think of points on the topics I had never thought of and was
practically another source of easy reading course material. I would recommend
this class to anyone who has a desire and a love for technology.
