Ferro/Sweden Computers p.85-149

The second half of the book Computers: The Life Story of a Technology by Sweden and Ferro is very similar to the first half in the fact that it tries to list as many technological advancements in close to chronological order as possible up to present day.  The difference is the time that is covered in the second half involves once many people have obtained personal computers and the internet was invented.  Therefore culture was more heavily effected and computer advancement was happening even more rapidly.

The main idea expressed in the second half of the book, through the numerous advancements in the short period of time, is that the more common computers became and the more connected these computers became to each other the faster the rate of advancement increased.  These two things developed through affordable personal computers and the use of the internet.  One point that comes up in the book on page 132 is that when a certain part of the world does not have computers and is not connected to the rest of the world through the internet chances of technological advancements goes down tremendously and even the rate of advancement is less making it almost impossible to catch back up.  The book describes this as the "digital divide."  The TED talk we watched in class discusses this exact issue, but not only about technology, it also talked about how people's hobbies could advance faster such as dancing.

These advances in technology not only increase the rate at which technology advances but also increases the rate at which culture changes.  New technology changes culture by just being part of the stuff people use, and possibly makes life easier (even though sometimes it seems to make things harder)  allowing the individual to partake in other activities.  The thing about the internet is that it brings tons of ideas together which makes it very easy to view other cultures and may cause the individual to act differently when off the internet.  Either by learning a new way to cook food, hum a song, or a new dance move off the internet culture is changing no matter how small a change it may seem.