Unit 1 Portfolio

Overarching Question for Topic 1: How does technology impact my daily life in the industries I learn about and take part in?

Source 1

In From Pencils to Pixels by Dennis Baron, the author addresses the shift in writing technology from as early as written speech to today and the future with the computer. Additionally, the author speaks

about the backlash that occurs from people once a new form of technology is accepted. This was done to show that people aren’t only against the shift to a more digital form of writing as people were not content with the invention of the telephone. When describing this Baron states, “Morse refused Bell’s offer to sell him the rights to the telephone patent. He was convinced that no one would want the telephone because it was unable to provide any permanent record of a conversation,” (Baron). 

Furthermore, Baron spoke of “stages” of how literacy technologies go to the public. It starts with only being available to a small number of people in order to “try out” the technology before it slowly enters the market place. This is done in order to ensure that the technology will do well in the market place since the costs are initially so high. 

Baron’s project is to emphasize how literacy technologies are changing very frequently, yet we will typically still use what has been done in the past in addition to what is new. For example, even though the computer has made writing more digital, we still go back to using a pencil and ink for more formal documents such as signatures.  

This source is a scholarly journal, which increases its credibility. This is known because Baron is a professional in the field, and his research can connect to what he wrote about. His project influenced the genre because it is easier to trust someone that is an expert in the field of his or her writing. 

I believe that Baron’s project succeeded because he effectively spoke about the claims he wanted to make. He wanted to show how technology that emerges typically comes with backlash, but then is followed by most people becoming accustomed to it. I also believe that Baron succeeded because he was able to answer the bigger question I am researching this unit. Although Baron's article did not clearly describe finance, advertising or education, he still spoke about how technology has changed the lives of all people in all different ways. 

Source 2

In the article, Technology has Changed Advertising Forever, by Carlos Gutierrez Jr., it was argued that innovations in technology have changed the way we used to know advertising. Having advertising as one of my majors, it is very interesting to know these changes, as the work environment I may be in one day will be as a result of the changes made. The author’s project was to show that there have been drastic changes in the industry and wrote this to inform readers through a discussion and an interview with Mitchell Reichgut from Adtech about these changes. The genre of this source is an interview, and his project might have influenced the genre because it would only make sense to hear about these innovative changes from someone who sees it first-hand. It would be hard to write an article depicting the changes in advertising due to technology without hearing from an expert. 

I feel like this article succeeded because I have been introduced to these changes previously from my classes, and it hit all of the points I have already learned. Additionally, I liked how the author gave statistics in costs and revenue from different technologies because it makes it more real in that you can see where these changes specifically came from. For example, when describing the money put into online advertising compared to television ads, the author stated, “In recognizing the importance of the online world to reaching consumers in the United States, companies spent $15 billion more on online ads versus television ads in 2016.” This is important because it shows the huge difference between spending for both platforms. If this article was written 10 years ago, I’m sure the statistics would have been switched. 

This article fits into the larger conversation about the topic because this connects to my daily life since I am an advertising major. Seeing how technology has impacted the writing and literature in technology, it made me realize the world I am going into. 

Source 3

Being a dual major, I also decided to analyze a source describing the changes technology made in the financial services industry. The article, “How Fintech is Changing Business (and Bank Accounts),” by Ryne Landers, introduced how technology has impacted the financial industry. By combining two words, Fintech was created. This article described the many ways that technology has changed the industry and was very informative about these changes. I find it very interesting to analyze the changes in industries that I will one day work in because I will become accustomed to these new practices, or even future changes that will occur before I’m a part of the work force. The author wrote this in order to inform readers about what technology has done thus far with the intentions of technology making more changes. The genre of this article was journalistic writing, as it was written as a news article. The goal of the author might have influenced the genre because in order to be informative, the author would have to write this in the form of a news story, rather than a fictional story. Additionally, the genre may have influenced the project because journalistic writing is trusted more than a blog post by readers, so it gives the article credibility.

I personally believe that the author’s project succeeded in this article because it was very informative and taught me a lot about applications created that I wasn’t aware of. Before reading the article, I was convinced that it would speak about how using Excel has made life easier for budgeting, rather the article gave many examples of technology in the financial industry and Excel wasn’t even one of them. For example, one of the examples the author gave was Upstart. When describing Upstart, the author stated, “A unique personal loan service founded by ex-Googlers which takes into account your education and occupational history in addition to your credit scores to provide a more accurate lending rate and extend opportunities to more people than traditional lending services.” 

Besides only talking about innovative applications, the author also described how FinTech was changing business and the future of FinTech. By giving a lot of information in one article that was easy to understand, the author definitely succeeded.

Source 4

In the article, “How Technology Has Changed Education," the author speaks about the positive impacts that have come along with the rise of technology. The author wrote this to combat the articles that have been written to discuss the negative impacts, as well as to inform readers about how technology has positively impacted the learning environment for both students and teachers. This article is an opinionated article, meaning that not everyone will agree with what the author has to say. I believe that the project influenced the genre because many people have differing beliefs about the impacts of technology, so writing a nonfiction source regarding this wouldn’t really be possible. 

I believe that the author succeeded with the project because there were descriptions under each of the ways that technology has changed education that gave the reader reasoning to believe what she had to say. This source fits in with the larger conversation about my topic because I am currently researching how the rise in technology has impacted day to day life in areas that would typically have a lot of writing. Prior to the major rise in technology, going to school and taking notes would solely be on pen and paper, a computer wasn’t even a thought. I agree with the author’s take on this issue because I feel that I have been more attentive and successful in school since I can use my computer. 

For example, I took a research class in high school and was required to write a 20-page research paper with an abundant number of sources. Instead of having to spend weeks in a library going from journal to journal, I was able to research databases online to find this information. This relates to the “New Content” aspect of the article where the author stated, “Technology has made it possible for learners to access new content easily. For example, it is now possible for learners to access e-books from anywhere and at any time.” This is essential to the larger conversation regarding technology impacting day to day life because none of this would be possible without technology.