labs

Lab 1
 * What digital innovation do you feel best deserves the title of being revolutionary?**

The iPad was discussed in the tutorial as to whether or not it was revolutionary. I believe; however, that the iPad's precursor, the iPhone, is a revolutionary device. Few people know that Apple started developing what is now known as the iPad first. Apple stopped the iPad development to use all the knowledge/technology/research they have acquired throughout the development to create the iPhone. Apple later continued the iPad development using what they learned from the iPhone and it's operating system. This development process led to the iPhone being much different than other smart phones out on the market since it utilized a user friendly touch screen and an intuitive user interface/operating system that was inspired by their tablet design.

This design led the iPhone to revolutionize three things. The first thing is that it contributed to a new way of thinking of what smart phones should be capable of. the iPhone was capable of doing most things that computers could do; such as music, videos, internet, social networking, games, banking, etc. This helped changed to mind set of smart phones to be handheld computers. The second thing the iPhone revolutionized was touch screen technology, particularly on cell phones. It wasn't the first, but the success of the iPhone motivated other manufacturers to use touch screens in their cell phones as well since it became so popular. The third thing the iPhone revolutionized is mobile application distribution. The app store that was created for the iPhone allowed users to easily access and download apps from one marketplace. The app store grew to the point where there were apps for almost anything, hence the slogan, "There's an app for that." The success of the app store led other companies to create applications for their devices (or popularize application stores that already existed). Now most major operating systems have application stores similar to the Apple app store, such as Droid and BlackBerry.

Lab 3
 * Choose one of the elements (design/story/meaning/play/empathy/symphony) from Dan Pink's book and discuss a real world example.**

A good example of the element of story can be found in one of Subaru's advertisements titled "Baby Driver". The ad shows the father giving his baby daughter a safety talk and after he hands her the keys we see the baby daughter is actually his teenage daughter, but the father still sees her as his baby. The father then watches as the daughter drives off for her first time. The story is promoting the safety of Subaru's and is primarily targeted towards parents who can easily empathize with the story because it plays on the emotions parents have when "daddy's little girl" drives off for the first time. This is a big moment for parents because it is the point in time that they come to the realization that their daughter (or son) is growing up and they can't protect them anymore, unless they get a Subaru for them to drive.

The promotion of safety is due to Subaru's design of its' cars. All subaru's are equipped with All Wheel Drive which has better traction in bad conditions (except for braking). Subaru's are also designed with flat engines, also known as boxer engines or horizontally opposed engines. These engines have the pistons moving horizontally which means the engine can be placed lower to the ground, creating a lower center of gravity which translates to better handling. The drivetrain in the Subaru is also lower than on most cars. These designs promote the handling of the cars which correlates to safety; for example, a person driving a car with good handling is less likely to lose control in a situation where the driver has to swerve to protect themselves.

Lab 5 Privacy does matter because people would not use websites or services if they offered no privacy. One privacy option facebook implements is privacy viewing other profiles. The profiles a user views are not recorded and likewise, a user cannot see who views their profile. This is a privacy feature for 'lurkers' that they can browse profiles anonymously but offers no privacy for their own profile. If the profiles users' view are tracked, then people would spend less time on facebook because their lurking would be exposed. Competing social network sites have a similar policy, such as myspace which only shows the amount a page is viewed.
 * Does privacy really matter? why/why not?**

There are two reasons why people want privacy, one is to protect their identity/information such as name and address. The other is to conceal their actions and habits online.