Ch 5 & 6 Post

Ch 5 - The laws of the jungle

The main point of chapter 5 was that there is such a large variety of data that exists in the world today, and it is most efficient to let the computers do the work of sorting it all out. There is essentially a jungle of information and meta data that exists on computers and in digital format, and they need to be organized properly because it is so vital to this world today.

"The new rules of the information jungle are in effect, transforming the landscape in which we work, buy, learn, vote, and play." pg. 106

"Put a leaf on as many branches as possible" pg. 103

My real world connection to this chapter was emptying the dishwasher, like the author had stated in the beginning of the chapter. I understood how he felt when he stated that all of the plates are similar and belong in a category, and how all of the utensils and silverware are miscellaneous.

Ch 6 - Smart Leaves

Chapter 6 was about identification, and how technology has created significant advancements in the identification of data, products, and the vast field of information that exists today. The chapter discussed the invention of UPCs, then the advancement to RFID micro chips, and then how personal devices can also be used as ways of identification.

"People keep pretending they can make things deeply hierarchical, categorizable, and sequential when they can't. Everything is deeply intertwingled." pg. 125

"Businesses suffer from the effects of essentialism, as well, when they assume they know what their products are for-are you sure your company's "energy bar" is being eaten to help with a workout and not as candy?" pg. 118

My personal experience that relates to this chapter was when I saw a show on RFID tags, and how they are used in airports. This show depicted how these RFID tags are used to track luggage much more quickly and efficiently, without as many of the usual mistakes.

Blog Post 1

Prologue:

a) the prologue was roughly a comparison of the physical store to an online or virtual store. The differences in the shopping environments, and attributes that go into each atmosphere. Electronic data can have its benefits, as it is not constrained by the same boundaries that the physical store typically has.

b) “We learn by watching our customers’ eyeballs,”

“With twenty-twenty vision, you have to be able to read it one and a half feet away,”

c) my real world connection is the comparison to shopping on amazon.com compared to shopping at a store like staples or best buy. I feel it is easier to just go online to one site and order them instead of going through all of the hassle and trouble to visit each store in person. It it is much more time efficient to do it all at your fingertips.

Ch 1:

a) The first chapter discussed largely the placement of products in stores, and how the advertising appeals to each other as an individual. For example, a certain product might be placed next to another product that it goes with, like blue tooth headsets and accessories next to cell phones. This can also very with height, as products intended to sell to taller people can be placed higher up, and products that are aimed at shorter children are placed lower and closer to the ground.

b) We invest so much time in making sure our world isn’t miscellaneous in part because disorder is inefficient—“Anybody see the gas bill?”

NASA says it maintains information about the environment that would “fill the Library of Congress 300 times”

c) my connection to the real world is the advertisements and impulse buys that they have at grocery stores and other physical stores. I noticed that there are so many magazines and quick items that are available to purchase at the last second just so the store can make a little more money.

Ch 2:

a) The 2nd chapter involved languages, and how alphabetizing is basically the most essential component of communication on the internet. The chapter goes on to state how a universal language would be very beneficial and helpful to the world.

b)"Species matters... the difference among species affect how well they survive."

“...alphabetical order remains the very model of an arbitrary order. It tells us exactly nothing about the real relationships about things.”

c) These new mega databases contain so much information, it would have taken so much time back before technology to research and find what you are looking for. Searching for something on google takes fractions of seconds where it used to take much longer to attain.