Article 3; When Phones are Just Too Smart

This article, written by Katie Hafner on January 29th, 2010, touches on the mobile phone applications craze so prominent today. The author addresses a young woman’s experience with her own iPhone. Caroline Cua, the woman the author speaks of, has owned an iPhone for approximately one year. Despite the abundance of available applications for her phone, Caroline “has downloaded precisely five programs”.
The author brings to light the fact that there is a multitude of available apps; somewhere in the range of “140,000 and counting”. The fact that there are so many applications available to iPhone users but only 5 have found a place on her phone makes her feel self conscious around friends. “I said to him, ‘O.K., now I’m officially feeling like a loser,’” She recalled saying this to a friend after being asked to see which applications she had.
“According to Flurry, the average Apple iPod Touch user regularly uses 5 –10 apps”. With this fact, it makes Caroline’s self consciousness seem superfluous. Instead of being an exception, “she is the rule”. The author arrives at a conclusion about why so few apps are used regularly by the average person: “The next generation of gadget users might prove different, but for now it is clear that people prefer fewer choices, and that they gravitate consistently toward the same small number of things that they like”. Despite so many choices that could potentially make life more convenient, the author suggests that we really only desire a very small percentage of the available technology (apps) today.
Another article written by Stuart Dredge suggests that the average user has downloaded approximately 65 apps to their mobile device. “A survey of 1,200 iPhone owners commissioned by US firm AppsFire claims that the average owner has downloaded 65 apps for their device, spending around $80 in total”. Although this figure seems to greatly contradict the former Flurry figure, it does not. Just because a user has downloaded an app, they don’t necessarily keep it or use it regularly.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/34261/The-average-iPhone-user-has-spent-80-on-apps

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/fashion/31apps.html?ref=technology

Article 2; Simulators Prepare Soldiers For Explosions of War

The article I have chosen to write about this week is called “Simulators Prepare Soldiers for Explosions of War”. The article starts by addressing a device used for war simulation in Virginia. The device, a Humvee attached to programmed actuators, acts as the basis for the simulation apparatus. The purpose of the device is to give real soldiers an advantage in the battlefield. The device can simulate an I.E.D (improvised explosive device) using its complex hydraulic actuator system. Visual effects are made with state of the art “high-definition video sharp enough to discern rocks on the roadside and leaves on the scrubby bushes”. The goal of the entire system is to improve the most valuable resource the military has. “We’re not going to armor ourselves out of this problem. But if we can, we take the most valuable, flexible resource we have, the human being, and maximize it, that will make a significant difference.”
CBS8 news from San Diego, California, posted an article on a similar subject. The writer mentioned how footage was taken from a set in Hollywood to be used with the simulator program. “At first glance it looks like authentic war footage shot in the snowy mountains of Afghanistan, but the village is a Hollywood movie set. What appears to be Afghani citizens are paid actors filming scenes that are being used in what may be the most realistic simulator ever made”. The producer for the filming also commented: "Thanks to a touch of Hollywood, before young recruits head off to war and make mistakes, this training helps them learn to scan with their eyes and communicate with their peers". He was referring to a war training system that uses actual video footage rather than graphics along with an interactive video game to sharpen soldiers' awareness in the field.

Main article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/us/23simulator.html?ref=technology

Second article:
http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11779587

Other:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_simulator

Article 1 ; Electromagnetic Manufacturing

This article pertains to a new manufacturing process discovered by a group of Engineers from "Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology in Chemnitz, Germany". The new process for manufacturing that is discussed involves a modification to an existing technology. EMP technology has been used mainly for purposes of mass destruction in warfare. "The idea is to use a blast of energy to fry the enemy’s computers and telecommunications gear."

The blast of energy found to be so useful in destruction now shows great potential for altering many manufacturing processes. a process already used in manufacturing for forming soft metals was modifeied by the group. "Verena Kräusel and her colleagues performed their trick by beefing up an existing electromagnetic-forming machine." The goal was to produce a machine with enough distortion power to punch a hole through solid steel. They accomplished that goal and were able to put a 30 mm hole in 1mm thick steel.

The process could be compared to a punch currently used in industry today. Although punching out holes in metal is very fast, "the tearing action at the edges of the holes leaves ragged, sharp tailings, known as burrs. This means that parts stamped out this way have to be cleaned up, usually by hand, which increases production costs."

The impact that an improvement like this could have on our society would come mainly in the form of speeding up and eventually lessening the cost of metal forming production. Less man hours would be needed to de-burr metal pieces and that entire step whether by machine or by hand could be eliminated from many processes in manufacturing.

Just like any improvement or advancement in industry, it has the potential to eliminate the need for some jobs. Some jobs would likely be created in other areas, likely on the development side of things for the new process and the evolution of the machines themselves.

Main Article:

http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15268879

EMP info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse