Topic 1- Week 2

a) With Windows Vista replacing XP and Office 2007 replacing Office 2003, (and so on), what is ‘upgrade culture’ all about? Is some new media change just consumerism thought up by big business?

I think that in todays world we live in a consumer society, we all believe that we need the latest, up to date software. I think that while some of the new features on vista as oppose to XP and on office 2007 compared to office 2003 are useful, it really is just the same. To be honest I'm not really that in the know how about computers I have Windows Vista and I like it more than XP but I think that is just because its a more attractive layout and has new features. I think that business's feel the need to constantly re-invent their software in a bid to make more money but also because society also demands the newest of the new and is constantly evolving with technology. As I say, think that it comes back to the consumerism society that we live in, we constantly recycle the old, people don't expect things to last anymore and are having to replace something thats only a few months old with something new.

e) Digitality and code. Imagine you couldn’t compose your assignments on computer. How would a hand-written editing and composition process be different?

I think that I take for granted being able to compose my assignments on the computer. For one handwritten essays are time consuming, they are easier to lose, I can't press a button to check my spelling, the use of being able to insert header and footer, paragrahing and double spacing. You aren't able to save what progress you have made and go back to it. Using a computer to compose essays helps in ways that you never think about. Typing is a much quicker form of writing text.

Will post other answers to this weeks topic later.