In the third section of the book, chapters 21-32, we have noticed that Cayce Pollard is making progress with what she has learned about the footage, Dorotea, and the events that have happened so far. She has been able to make new developments using her iBook and cell phone. These pieces of technology have made her life easier by allowing her to communicate with the people she needs to, who are in different countries. Her iBook and cell phone allow her to get the newest information from Parkaboy, Boone Chu, her mother, and others regarding events that are affecting her at that very moment. Pattern Recognition written in 2003, do you think Cayce Pollard would be any different in the year 2007? Since 2003, there have been new products as well as updated products. Do you think Cayce Pollard would have come to a conclusion earlier if she had an iPhone instead of a cell phone and an iBook? “click hereto see the iPhone commercial.” The iPhone is her iBook and cell phone combined. Cayce does not have to waste time powering up her computer and connecting it to her cell phone. If she had an iPhone she could check her e-mail whenever it was convenient to her. If Cayce was able to check her e-mail at anytime she would be in more control of what happening in her life. She would have more time to come up with solutions to her problems. “Sending the jpeg to Boone requires getting out the iBook and cabling it to the phone. She does this on automatic pilot, apparently remembering how to do it correctly, because her message to chu.b sends immediately” (Gibson, 191). Even though Cayce has become accustomed to connecting her cell phone to her iBook, do you think she would be able to accomplish more if she did not have to? Do you think she would accomplish more if she had the convenience of an iPhone or some other smartphone? List some other ways newer technology might help Cayce.
-Michael A. Brooks
December 4, 2007 at 2:46 pm |
I do agree that Cayce is able to get quicker and easier access to others and the web if she had an iPhone. This is just one example of endless because it really goes for anybody in today’s society. As the years go by, technology advances and allows the public to be granted faster access in a smaller package. In 2003 it is not like the turning on a waiting for the iBook to be ready really took much time out of her schedule, using an iPhone which can be pulled right out of your pocket, allowing one to be surfing the web within seconds of an idea’s conception. It is similar to the productions of the iPod. When somebody wants to switch between cd’s and artists, they must first shffule through a collection, find the given cd, and put it into the cd player to listen. However, with the conception of the iPod, switching between artists is as simple as click scroll click. The utilization of such technology makes one think that within the next few years a new form of technology with emerge which make the access of other forms of media much easier, perhaps an iPod videogame personal computer phone.
-Derek Lavigne
December 6, 2007 at 5:22 pm |
I remember taking an introductory Information, Technology, and Informatics course at Rutgers. One of the main concepts we focused on was the trend of technological convergence. This term, as it is mostly self explanitory, is one of which combines the utilities of an array of technologies into one. Obviously the basic cell phone now a days (without even mentioning the iPhone) is a product of such an industry trend. I’d at least imagine that most phones have some sort of camera attached to it. At this point, you have a camera and a portable phone. You can go even more basic and say that a cellular is also a calculator merged with an alarm clock. The possibilities continue on to other gadgets as well. I think, however, that there is at some point in which we will max out of ideas in which to converge. By the same token, I also think that technology will be capped in the near future in terms of gadget size. You can only have a certain gadget small to an extent.
-Jonathan Yu
December 6, 2007 at 10:47 pm |
I agree that having an iPhone would definatly help Cayce. However there are always going to be advances in technology that we will have wished were available previously. Having an iPhone would make things go much smoother for Cayce since she is constantly talking through email and in need of the internet. Though the typical cell phone and and computer is fine for the average person, since she is a cool hunter looking for new trends, the iPhone would be ideal, ecspecially since the iPhone is one of the biggest new trends. The iPhone offers the same things as the computer and cell phone combined with half the space. With all of the traveling that Cayce does, space is a big issue. When it comes down to it, Cayce has as much technologically advanced items that she possibly can, but having an iPhone would speed up a lot of her bussiness interactions and would greatly help her with her cool hunting job.
Jessica Van Gilst
December 7, 2007 at 2:16 am |
While I do think the convenience of an iphone would allow Cayce to connect more quickly, I don’t believe it would have been more conveniently. Gibson really takes time to tell us which device Cayce is using and how long it takes her or what’s involved. If she had an iphone, this wouldn’t be needed, but also – with all the espionage in the novel, there would be only ONE device to be traced. It would really put a damper on the question of whether she was being traced, how, and on what device. We find out in the next section that when Boone had originally checked Cayce’s laptop for bugs he was actually bugging it for Bigend. An iphone wouldn’t even be useful for the plotline – the flow of the novel, the espionage, and so on all require the use of several devices. So yes i think just the inclusion of the iphone would have completely changed Cayce and the novel as a whole.