Platforms are many things?
Platforms have more than just one definition. In this section of the article, “The Politics of Platforms”, there are four semantic categories that are explored regarding ‘Platforms’. While I did not understand everything in the article, I think I got a good grasp of the four categories mentioned.
The first that came up, is Computational. From my understanding, computational means in a technical context that the ‘platform’ is doing what it is designed to do. Next is Architectural, having a “rich range of uses an connotations”. Though, with the architectural is better understood using physical ones that someone could stand on.
Next listed is Figurative. For this one, I had a little difficulty understanding. What did help, was the example provided. It helped me understand that figurative is the foundation or bottom based for what gets built off that. Connecting it to the example provided, starting off with an entry-level job and climbing up from that position. The last of the four is Political. With political, it was originally the literal spot a political candidate or party would use to stand at and speak to the audience. After some time, that changed to the beliefs being shared and built, what the person specifically “stands” for.
Are We Getting Dumb?
The start of the new section in Applen’s article brings up Marshall McLuhan and his quote of “the medium is the message”. This quote can is more easy to understand as “to really understand the medium-the technology that we create- we need to understand its larger effects on our culture or society”. This saying is further broken down by talking about what the focus of new technologies are. Which, I completely agree with. Basically, a lot of people focus on the ‘cool’ aspect of new technologies and the speed of it. People do love fast information, I am no exception. But, as talked about in the article, people sometimes forget or don’t focus on how the new technology would impact culture and they way people function.
Sometimes, the impact is deeper than society would have expected. A prime example in the article are cell phones. Of course, I wasn’t born yet when cell phones were first coming out. But from what I know, and heard, it was a huge impact. The ability to connect with others via call or text was evolving. Which, also comes with its downfalls. One downfall, that I am also a victim of, is having a slight addiction to cell phones. Because cell phones in today’s world doesn’t limit to only calling and texting, it is easy to get sucked in by the device and ignore the world around.
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