Negotiating Networks and Dealing with Data: Composing our Digital Selves in an Online World
ENG 1101 (English Composition I), Professor Belli, Spring 2014
OpenLab Composing
Blogging Grading Rubric
Essay Formatting, Guidelines, and Submission
Final Course Reflection
City Tech Resources
Realities of Imaginary Concept in our World Today
Posted on March 24, 2014 by Mohamed_Barrie
Part 4 (slumberland )of the Feed text, Titus meets Violet's father at the hospital and he is shown a place to monitor Violet feed efficiency with range of percentile indicators like 98% for a normal person and below 98% for abnormality . As a result of the malfunction of Violet's feed, she loses a year of her memories prior to it installation. This gives her the urge to write down most of the things she remembers and sends it to Titus to avoid another memory erase. Violet encounters uncountable health problems that a lead to most of her body parts comes to a halt. Consequently, Violet and her father petition FeedTech for free repairs. In response to the petition, FeedTech refuses to give any assistance to Violet citing her strange customer profile brought about by resisting the feed. The health of Violet keeps deteriorating and the book ends with commercial blue jean warehouse sales that end with "Everything must go."
The futuristic concept presented by M.T Anderson might sound unattainable but judging by history, one could say anything is possible especially the trend at which technology advances. It is factual that the circumstances surrounding the world of commerce we live in today is complicated; corporations are on the rise with a primary objective of making profit at the expense of consumer safety and protection. Online shopping has become the preferred method for many because it allows comparing and contrasting various products from different corporations, lookup reviews from previous consumers before making a decision to buy or not. The advent of the internet and cell phones reduces the barriers between consumers and corporation, most corporations as a result of competition and lack of monopoly regards their consumers as kings or queens, unlike the FeedTech Nina who said "I'm here to inform you that FeedTech Corp has decided to turn down your petition for complimentary feed repair and/or replacement" at a time Violet health deteriorates, such corporations should only exist in utopia.
Inventions and innovations by corporations are presented everyday in strive to be at the edge of the competitive market. Like Anderson abstract Upcar vehicle in the Feed text, Amazon has revealed the Amazon Prime Air vehicle. It structural makeup seems like the Upcar technology but unmanned. According to Amazon, the goal is to get packages into customers' hands within 3o minutes. The commercialization of the Prime Air vehicle awaits Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to complete the necessary safety rules and regulation which might take some years to complete. In essence, we won't be flying like Titus and Violet, going to the moon or mall but the Prime Air Vehicles will be seen as normal as seeing mail trucks today, delivering our packages within the shortest possible time.
In relation to safety and standards as said by Violet's father "We Americans, he said, are interested only in the consupmption of our products, We have no interest in how they were produced, or what happens to them" corporations have a lot of unanswered questions regarding consumer safety and product standards despite the immense advancement of technology in global market. Like Violet, there are a lot of people suffering health conditions as a result of poor product standards and consumer safety. Recently, some part of my country, Sierra Leone suffers erosion, loss of biodiversity and soil contamination as a result of kimberlite mining by corporations. The local of those areas suffers tremendous health problems and famine. Another visible area of lack of consumer safety and standardize product quality can be seen on today's polluted market. Toyota Motor Corporation a Japanese auto maker recalls about 1.9 million cars sold between 2010 and 2014 to fix a software glitch that could cause the car to stall. Unlike FeedTech that produces chips for consumers without any plans to safety and standards, Toyota strives to ensure safety and high quality product for their consumers.
The imaginary world of M.T Anderson might appear far from fetch; however, since 2001 when the text was written a lot has happened and a lot continue to happen in technology, government and social conditions. With proposed projects by various Tech firms including the Amazon Prime Air vehicle, we won't fly city to city but our packages are expected to reach us in the quickest and safest way on unmanned drones. Also it might sound weird to have chips installed on us but the possibilities for assigning IP address to every product manufactured is fast coming into play. This helps to locate the devices where ever they might be. I perceives technology taking over the world like the world of Feed in the moon where everything happens like a dream.
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