2040 What is Our Future?

At 7:10 on Monday morning, my alarm clock sounds coming from the walls of my apartment. I get out of bed having to turn off the alarm because the longer you wait to get up, the louder the alarm gets. Since the alarm is built into the walls, similar to a security system, you have a built in touch screen devise to turn off the alarm. Just before I make breakfast, I need to take a shower. The showers in 2040 are automatic and you press a button if you want a cold or warm shower. Once I’m finished getting dressed, I go to the refrigerator to get some milk to make cereal. However the refrigerator has a built in devise that lets you know what you need from the store that would need to be refrigerated, such as milk, eggs, meat, and salad. Before I get the milk, the touch screen device has milk on the “Groceries Needed” list. So I choose, instead, to make toast.
As I’m heading out the door I realize that I am running late to school. Instead of taking my regular car, I decide to take my flying car. Flying cars were a recent invention and you are able to go twice the speed of what a car normally drives in a 45 mph zone. In the air, you would be able to drive 90 mph. Even though a flying car helps you get to your destination faster, there are still cops and traffic lights in the air to avoid accidents. As I land into the school parking lot, I am worried I am going to miss my class. Luckily, once you enter the building of your class, the building automatically sends a message to the teacher as a partial attendance. You receive a full attendance grade once you enter the classroom. This new technological device has helped students to not feel worried about getting points off for being tardy. The college classes, in general, have not changed too much. More teachers are using clickers for quizzes and participation grades to make sure students are paying attention. Also, all classes are allowed to have computers, unless the teacher feels it is a distraction. One thing that has changed is that colleges worldwide are making more mandatory classes that the students need to take, such as environmental classes and economic classes. The schools felt it is important for kids to know how to save money, learn how to live more economically friendly, and to be informed of what activities harm the environment.
For the past fifty years, technology has dramatically changed and has helped make our lives easier. Without technology, we would not be able to get up in the morning on time, make emergency phone calls, keep in touch with our family members across the country, and to check how much money you have in your savings account. These are just a few examples on how technology has helped make our life easier. Forty years from now, our life is going to surround and rely on technology even more.

The Internet: A Clear and Present Danger?

The list Catherine Cleaver’s displayed in the beginning of her article, I believe, violates our civil liberties. We all have the right to browse the internet, have conversations through the internet, and buy items off of shops on the internet. Although we have these rights, there are some things that should be illegal in computer transmissions. Cleaver discusses how a man named Bob Guccione displays nude pictures of young teens on the internet. What people view on the internet is their own business, however, these pictures are inappropriate. The nude pictures of young adults are also considered child pornography, which should be illegal on the internet.
While this particular internet problem should be illegal, there are some circumstances where we violate our own rights that can get us into trouble. An example that Cleaver mentions on her list is about a young man who develops a relationship with a 12 year old girl named Jenny, who is actually a pedophile. The young boy wanted to meet this girl in person and they both had a day set. Luckily, the young boy’s mother went to the place before the boy went to find out that Jenny was actually a forty year old man. It would be difficult to make internet chats illegal because it is hard to catch someone who is actually a pedophile pretending to be a young girl, or boy. For this particular incident, parents should discuss with their children to never meet someone on the internet and then agree to meet them in person because it may not be the person they thought they were and, most importantly, it is not safe.
All in all, this list is a good, effective way to start the article because it gives a brief preview on what she is going to discuss. Cleaver mentions good and bad points on internet scams that happen daily that should be illegal. While most of Cleaver’s point were valid and had good reason on why something should be illegal on the internet, such as child pornography, there were other points that are not as simple to just make the problem illegal, such as tracking down pedophiles. In order for police to track down pedophiles through the internet, they would have to pretend they were a child, which is just as wrong to pretend they’re somebody they’re actually not. Overall though, I think the list was a good introduction to Cleaver’s article.