The Internet of Things You Don’t Really Need – Ian Bogost

In his article “The Internet of Things You Don’t Really Need” Ian Bogost discusses the growing trends of crowdfunding and IoT. He introduces the IoT through the wonderfully superfluous Bluetooth enabled gas tank scale, GasWatch, just one of the many products which take an already perfected product, sticks a networking chip into it, and raises the price for the “convenience”. This wondrous product is not simply offered, no, first it went through the crowdfunding platform IndieGoGo, where 361 people decided this was a valuable enough product to fund with no guarantee of actually receiving the product.

Bogost proceeds to lambast various other IoT devices from a “smart” thermostat to a bike lock unlocked by your phone. He criticizes these devices for giving the illusion of efficiency while not actually providing it. While his points are very valid, he misses one of the largest problems caused by smart devices, security. These devices are often slapped together products with no thought given to the potential security risks. As such many of them have large security flaws allowing attackers to gain control for a variety of purposes, including overloading your insulin pump, hijacking control of your car while you’re driving, and causing massive disruptions to the internet. This has become a large enough problem to gain the attention of the US government, which is notoriously slow in relation to technology. And unfortunately, this continues and will continue to be a problem as more companies jump onto the IoT bandwagon with little or no thought to protection.

It should, however, be noted that there can be benefits to IoT devices, Nest, for example, may not quickly repay its cost, it does help the environment through reduced heating, or Dot a braille smartwatch for those with visual impairments, providing an easier and more affordable braille reader. These devices should not be dismissed out of hand simply for being atypical smart devices.

 

(This Twitter account posts many terrible IoT devices, otherwise known as Internet of Shit)

Cyberspace independence – John Perry Barlow

In this passionate, champagne-fuelled declaration of the independence of the burgeoning new world of “cyberspace”, Barlow declares what we now call the internet to be free of the tampering from governments and corporations alike, stating that one may express their beliefs “without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity”. This rousing speech proclaims that governments are fearful of the change and suggests that they are simply an archaic concept not needed in this brave new world.

Twenty years later Barlow is neck deep in the internet, working on the board of the Electronic Frontier Foundations (EFF), a non-profit dedicated to keeping the internet a free, and even playing field safe from the tampering of the powers that be. He still believes that this message is true, despite citizens, governments, and corporations around the world showing that his words are patently false. The internet as it exists today is very much controlled by the government with dissidents being either prevented access or tracked down and thrown in jail. Multibillion-dollar corporations, like Facebook, have become to many people the extent of their interaction with the internet, with some not even understanding that there is so much more to it (see this article on how some people say they use Facebook, but not the internet). These companies provide our access to the web through their search results and headlines. And the very users Barlow is attempting to defend are willingly discarding his hopes for an equal playing field, with no grounding in your physical self, by tying their virtual personas to their physical.

Yet, while the majority may be living in this version of cyberspace, there are still spaces, likely more than twenty years ago, in which Barlow’s ideals are realized. Through the use of the Tor Network one can become functionally anonymous, through easily available resources one can learn anything they desire, and through public message boards one can voice their opinions to anyone who might care to listen. And despite the best efforts of governmental agencies, these communities thrive.

Blog Post #1: The World is a Global Village

In this video Marshal McLuhan asserts that with the advent of the electronic era the world has become smaller and that we are slowly reverting back to a “tribal state” where no one is an individual and everyone is with it. I believe that with the internet and social media, this is true though perhaps not in the way he had envisioned.

 

His statement that the world is a smaller place is very appropriate given that we now have the ability to immerse ourselves almost entirely in virtually any location on earth or otherwise. We now can, in essentially real time, be communicating with someone on the opposite side of the world. Everyone is theoretically reachable all the time, no matter where you are in relation to them. You’d be hard pressed to find a village as small.

 

As a result of this near instantaneous communication, for one to be “with it”, one must be constantly involved lest they be left in the dust. While there is more of a social ramification of not being with it in high school, it is hard to assert that you can disconnect at any time because you might miss an important email or lose out on a stock option. As such everyone is forced to be tuned into the tribal drum for fear they miss the next big thing.

 

However, I find that the most “tribal” communities are those found on social networks, blogs, and message boards. Finally, there is a place for everyone to belong. Unfortunately, this belonging can lead to loss of personal identity and thinking with the so-called “hive mind” of your community resulting in extreme behaviour that likely would not have arisen if not for the positive feedback loop caused by these communities. As such McLuhan’s tribal villages have come into being, but based on ideology than locality like their original versions.

These villages cause both positive results such sense of belonging and acceptance but also negative actions such as witch hunts and bullying on far larger and more intense scales than were previously feasible.

The current state of things is an odd fusion of the “literary man” discussed in the video and the tribal man where you can be as independent of people close to you as if you were reading a book while also tuning into your personal tribal drum.