Author: jc8017

           The article Long Live The Web touches many of the potential problems that web users face today. While it was written in 2010, the concerns the article stated have already become apparent problems in 2019.

            Net neutrality is a principle such that all content on the internet will be treated equally and will not be discriminated against. Internet Service Providers have no right to alter internet services based on its content. In the article, every government should implement net neutrality policies as basic regulations to preserve the freedoms of the internet. This ensures all content on the internet are accessed fairly and without discrimination. At the time, the article touched on how companies have tried to circumvent net neutrality. This serves as a warning on how the fundamental principles of the internet can be threatened by corporations of power or even intuitions. About a year ago, the Federal Communications Commission, a United States government agency that regulates communications throughout the United States, have made the decision to repeal net neutrality. The news of such decision has sparked controversy on how the fundamental principles of the internet will be threatened. This article, while it was written almost ten years ago, serves as a reminder that the internet cannot function without the policy of net neutrality.

            Data collection with regards to violation of privacy is another issue that the article touched upon. In the scope of the article, the author warns of how information given on the web can be used for targeting ads. While at that time, targeted ads may seem docile at first, the idea that a corporation collecting user information is dangerous. A couple years ago, Facebook allegedly sold data to third party companies in which used that data to target message to sway the 2016 U.S presidential election. While the company was put at fault for this, the concern is that profiles of users are never private. Once a user goes on the web and enters personal information, it will no longer be private. Thus, users must be wary of the openness of the internet and how information can be used by unknown parties.

The Machine Stops by E.M Forester is a dystopian short story that centers around the human reliance of what our protagonist and others in that universe calls, the machine. In this fictional piece, human civilization has reached a sense of utopia. Every aspect of human life from entertainment to basic necessity has been managed by the machine. While the machine may be beneficial to these humans, the short story also goes into depth of the shortcomings regarding human society in general. One of those shortcomings centered around the lack of human touch and physical contact. The society in The Machine Stops has progressed to the point where holographic communications between two people are possible. While holographic projections of humans may seem to be the pinnacle of communication, not all seem to enjoy this medium to communicate. The protagonist’s son states “I hear something like you through this telephone, but I do not hear you.” In this brief exchange between the protagonist and her son, we can see how her son is dissatisfied by this medium. He wants to see her mother in person in order to have that personal interaction. The fact that while this was written in 1906, E.M Forester was able predict problems that modern day society face today. Currently, the digital age has progressed our ways of communication but at the same time has left people more lonely than over. A research has been done to show how the youth of today have far less social skills compared to older generations. The problem is attributed to consumption of a media such as phones or computers. Another interesting part of that dystopian society is the social norm to not come in physical contact with one another.  For example, the flight attendant was ridiculed when she made physical contact with our protagonist in order to help her when she tripped. While the scenario of a stigma of physical touch is an extreme case, this shows how far human interaction can be removed as a society such as the one in The Machine Stops as communication becomes more revolved around technology and between two humans face to face.