|
|
|
 
Silicon Snake Oil Second Thoughts on the Information Highway
By Clifford Stoll
The book Silicon Snake Oil : Second Thoughts On The Information
Highway affected me by making me look at the internet and the information
explosion of the 1990's from a different perspective. The author states his
ideas on the subject and uses personal experiences to state and supports
his ideas. He also gives examples of ironic situations where computers are
supposed to be quicker and easier to perform a specific task and in reality
they are not. The author supported his point of view that the internet and
the information highway were not necessarily good by using some true and
hypothetical situations that illustrate his views. An example of this was
of e-mail* and is it really better than regular mail. His argument was that
although e-mail can be faster and cheaper it is also impersonal, difficult
to access, boring, and can be unreliable due to computer failure. Although
regular US mail is often times slower and more expensive it is very
reliable and more personal than e-mail. Another good argument the author
makes is about the claims that computers make your life simpler and easier.
He says that a computer can make certain tasks simpler and easier to do if
you know how to use a computer and use the specific program needed to
complete the specific task. If you do not know how to use a computer or are
just learning how to use one, performing new tasks can be very difficult
and frustrating. This is because computers are difficult to learn about and
understand because they are different from most other equipment. Even
someone who knows how to use a computer proficiently can still have a hard
time using new software because every program is different and requires the
user to learn the commands for it. This book presented a perspective on the
internet and the information highway that differed from most people's ideas.
I enjoyed reading this book because it provided e with a point of view that
I had never really thought of before. I do not agree with many of his ideas
but I think some of his points are valid. * E-mail stands for electronic
mail. It is a typed message sent from one computer to another. To use e-
mail you need to subscribe to an on-line service and have a modem that
enables one computer to communicate to another computer through telephone
wires.
ADDITIONAL FEATURED ESSAYS
Generation-x
.the ‘post-baby-boomer’ generation. is the word that stands for the children of the baby boomer generation
My Job At E-Dak
Coming to E-Dak, for me, meant leaving a comfortable "big-six" accounting position to work for a 30-person start-up. It
The Adventures Of Huckleberry
In the novel Finn by Mark Twain, there is a lot of superstition. Some examples of superstition in the novel are Huck kil
Huckleberry Finn
Superstitions in In the novel The Adventures of by Mark Twain, there is a lot of superstition. Some examples of supers
Solar Cells
today are mostly made of silicon, one of the most common elements on Earth. The crystalline silicon solar cell was one o
|
|
|
|
