or Another Step in Technology’s Bid to Take Over the World
If you've been checking the newspapers recently, you may have noticed the growing number of tech-related articles.
As our team has been doing research, we have realized how much technology has taken over our lives. An important part of the lives of many Americans is the news. The news supplies us with almost everything we need or want to know, on topics ranging from disasters to sports to politics and fashion–and the Internet helps deliver it. However, we must remember that the very first source of news we had, before the tablet or the smartphone or even the television, was the newspaper.
The newspaper was the easiest way for generations of people to get the news, and even with current readership declining, newspapers are still a favorite information source for millions around the world. That said, the Internet is swallowing up this print source, and more and more people are switching to Internet-delivered news for its utility and convenience. Just google a topic, and the information is delivered to your laptop. This all adds up to an ultimate irony: Not only is news being exported to the virtual world, the virtual world is literally sweeping through the newspaper. The number of technology-related articles in newspapers today is astounding. As I read through national newspapers (e.g., the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal), I see daily multiple articles about the business of the Internet, the rise of social media, the latest and greatest smartphones and tablets. In the Wall Street Journal Marketplace section, there is even a technology page, with, of course, an iPhone ad on the back page.
Technology In The News On June 25, 2011
We chose the New York Times Business Day section on June 25, 2011, to give an example of how technology has penetrated our daily news. Here is a summary of some articles in that section. Together they reveal the multifaceted nature of our digital world, from the good to the bad to everything in between.
- “A Stronger Net Security System is Deployed” (pg. B1): A group of online security experts worked on a new security system that will make email and e-commerce more secure, making it harder for hackers, scam artists, and spies to infiltrate the Internet. The team worked on a technology known as DNSSEC, or Secure Domain Name System, a directory that connects names to IP addresses. The system will have data centers in Singapore, Zurich, and San Jose, and each center will feature four layers of electronic defenses and one layer of physical defenses. Specialists are optimistic about the new system after multiple hackers and malware disrupted major companies, security firms, and even government officials. The new system makes it easier to verify that you are communicating via Internet with trusted sources.
“Charity Goes Mobile to Appeal to Young” (pg.B1): The charity Do Something, a non-profit group working to involve teenagers in charity events, has set a goal to use mobile technology to recruit and contact members, and to reach 3.8 million members by 2014. After recent success using mobile technology by simply texting members to run charity events, the leader of the group, Nancy Lubin, realized that mobile technology would work better than other communication methods to reach teenagers because it makes teenagers feel more at ease, and provides a quicker, easier way to communicate with them. To support its budget, Do Something does not ask for donations from its members, but instead relies on grants from supporting companies. So far, it seems the plan is working well, and Do Something is expecting many more teen members to participate in charity events in upcoming years.
- “Go Daddy Is Said to Be Near a Deal for a Buyout” (pg. B3): Go Daddy, one of the most popular Internet domain registration websites known for its somewhat controversial ads, is expected to be bought by Silver Lake Partners, KKR, and Technology Crossover Ventures, three investment companies. The company is expected to be sold for a price of around $2 to $2.5 billion dollars.
- “Google to End Health Records Service after It Fails to Attract Users” (pg. B4): Google Health, a program designed to help people keep track of their health online and live better lives, is going to be retired. Google expected its health service to help improve the health of millions of users when forming it in 2008, but the service never really caught on with consumers. The company attributes the shutdown to a lack of users. The service will be officially discontinued January 1, 2012.
- “U.S. Inquiry Into Google Has Search As Its Focus” (pg. B4): The Federal Trade Commission opened an antitrust investigation into Google’s search and advertising businesses. The government is inquiring whether Google changed its search results to favor its own services. This appears to be the biggest antitrust investigation filed against a company since Microsoft was investigated in the 1990s.
WE BRING YOU THE NEWS: INTERVIEW WITH LORENA MORA-MOWRY
Listen to Ivana’s interview with Ms. Mora-Mowry to gain perspective on Hispanic/Latino news today, to learn about founding a website to connect a community with articles, videos, and interviews, and to hear a message for all teen tech users.
Source:New York Times Business Day Section, June 25, 2011
From Laptops to LOLcats 
Thanks for the post, Nathan. I, too, am amazed at how tech news increasingly has become front-page news.
I really love reading newspapers, and its sad to say that they are literally being eaten up by technology. Newspaper circulation is at a steady decline, and it seems like the only way to get news soon will be on the internet.
This article is very well-written, and the way it talks about how newspapers are slowly fading from social media is bittersweet. For one thing, the newspaper feel and traditional newspapers will be gone soon enough, with many disappearing quickly day by day. Many traditional jobs that go along with this paper version of the newspaper are becoming obsolete, and many people just can’t take the online versions. However, the online versions are more accessible and provide some jobs for online and graphics experts. Even then, I will still miss the days when you could sit back and open a newspaper.
In response to the Discussion Question, I have recently found news about a trains at Heathrow Airport that are not on tracks, but are controlled by lasers and computers and are moved by magnetism. These are spreading and soon they’ll be heading to China’s airports.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9617577.stm
What’s “trending” on the Internet often does not qualify as news, in my view. Rather, it’s infotainment–and we as a society need better. It’s often said these days that “information wants to be free.” The reality is that a “free press” costs money to maintain. Internet sites that simply compile and report news from other sources may, in the long run, do us all a disservice. If they continue to woo paying subscribers away from the newspapers that they–the sites–take from, then those newspapers may fold. And that would be a lose-lose situation for us all.