Grad Seminar Video Response

To me, the most interesting thing that Jesse Schell says in this presentation has to do with technology bringing us back toward "reality". Much of the world's population finds the concept of a digital world extremely intriguing, including myself. Much of the work I do, my daily activities, and communication is done through some sort of digital platform or in digital world. If I imagine what would happen if one day the internet, computers, electronics, etc... just stopped working or no longer did anything. Almost like they never really existed in the first place. All my work, my studies, my digital life/world... gone. I would be completely lost. But, the idea of technology that brings us closer to some form of "reality" can be comforting.

Although he's very right about some technologies bringing us back to reality, I really hope he's wrong about the future of point systems. I would hate living in a society where everything was based on gaining more points. Although if you think about it, we already do if points=money.

I also found it interesting about the professor who grades by giving out experience points instead of normal grades. This different way of grading somehow gets students to show up to class more, turn in more assignments, and pay closer attention. Although it appears different on the outside, in the end it's still calculated the same way and divided up into different percentages just like any other class grade. But, somehow just changing the outside appearance makes the whole concept more fun.

I also think he's right about our lives being tracked and recorded by various types of systems so that our legacy lives on. That our children and grandchildren will know what books we've read, what movies we've watched, what places we've visited, etc. In a way, this is already started happening with things like facebook, twitter, blogs, online photo albums, etc.

Overall, a very interesting presentation that makes me both excited and afraid of what the future of technology will bring.




To be completely honest, most of this went straight over my head. My understanding of algorithms and how they're used and affecting life today is so minimal that writing something and pretending to know what I'm talking about would be more embarrassing that just staying "I don't get it."