McLuhan’s
Tetrad of the Cloud
The cloud application is an emerging
technology that has provided a mobile platform to allow users to expand their
work beyond an office or school as well as providing access to personal content
from many devices. It has reshaped the structure of productivity in a way that
has impacted many lives on different levels.
In this blog, I will use the McLuhan’s
tetradic approach in accessing the cloud application. McLuhan’s tetrad is a
remarkable tool to assist one in developing a futuristic view that can
anticipate emerging and future technologies. The nature of the tetrad is based
on four quadrants that are not sequential but rather occurs simultaneously
(Thornburg, 2013e). Aspects of the McLuhan tetrad are as follows:
•
What does the technology do
that is new or enhance?
•
What will the technology make
obsolete?
•
What does the technology
retrieve or rekindle from the past?
•
What will reverse from
technology or flip into?
David Thornburg
eloquently states that McLuhan’s tetrad “forces you to think about artifacts in
a new way, making you more aware of new technologies as they emerge” (Laureate,
2014f). This tetrad allows one to make informative decisions about technology.
Using the tetrad is helpful in determining if a technology will help students
learn more effectively as well budget wisely as you begin anticipating what
technology could possibly replace it. In addition, it allows us to be more
creative in the process of how to utilize technologies that will truly assist
in facilitating learning.
Enhances:
The cloud application enhances the
ability to access content at anytime from anywhere. Storing information in the
cloud give you virtually an unlimited storage capacity where third party
service provides backup and recovery solutions. Users are able to easily
switch devices and easily access content without having to save it on a
singular device in order to transfer information. In addition it promotes
social collaboration among others through sharing features in real time. This
is ideal for use in education...
Obsolescence:
With cloud access readily available,
the flash and hard drive becomes obsolete due to the lack of need for external
storage. Cloud applications, such as Google Drive, allow you to store
information online through a third party source that provides various platforms
and features and, in most cases, are free. Also, it obsoletes expensive
productivity software, such as Microsoft Office, because similar productivity applications
are available in the cloud where users can create various documents,
spreadsheets, presentations, and forms.
Retrieval:
The cloud application retrieves a
library organizational system for data and content online as well human social
interactions. Since the cloud allows for multiple users, it also brings back
group and collaborative effort from a distance.
Reversal:
The cloud application provides many
advantages and problem-solving solutions for companies and educational demands.
However, there are concerns in regards to the lack of privacy and
security. Many cloud applications are run by a third-party provider so it
increases privacy concerns.
References:
Dimensional Studios. (Producer). (2014).
Gorillaz & Madonna: Grammy awards [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.eyeliner3d.com/gorillaz_madonna_grammy_awards.html
Laureate Education (Producer). (2014f). David
Thornburg: McLuhan’s Tetrad [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Thornburg, D. (2013e). Emerging
technologies and McLuhan's laws of media. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg
Center for Space Exploration.
Jocelyn,
ReplyDeleteI agree that security and privacy are two major issues that could lead to a negative reversal of cloud computing. However, I do think that there is the possibility to have something, possibly implants that communicate information from brain to brain (or artificial brain to real brain) as a possible reversal. I like that you made the connection of a library as what cloud computing recalls from the past, I did too. However, your reference seems to be more about organizational system, which is a great point. At some point the cloud will have to be organized in such a way that the massive amounts of data can be accessed for use. My reference to the library was tied more to the Library of Alexandria where scholars would go and conserve ideas, but also discuss and transform that knowledge into new knowledge. The thinkers of that age also generated new ideas that added to the knowledge base for humanity leading to a golden age. This idea of conserving, transforming and generating knowledge are the backbone of what Golde (2006) referred to as being a steward of the discipline. I feel that the cloud could be the library in creating a place for stewards of different disciplines to advance society.
Charles
Reference:
Golde, C. (2006). Preparing stewards of the discipline. In C. M. Golde & G. E. Walker (Eds.), Envisioning the future of doctoral education: Preparing stewards of the discipline (pp. 3-20). Stanford, CA: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Your thoughts on retrieval resonate with me also. Bringing multiple users together to retrieve information reminds me of students going to the college library to study. Multiple users and groups in one place access multiple sources of information of just reviewing information previously retrieved. As far as software goes, I agree that access to cloud based software is a valuable advantage, but I am wondering how before just having access will be enough? At what point does our need to use the technology cause us to become dissatisfied with the lack of robust features in cloud software? Can the technology develop faster than our need to use more advanced features? We seem to be distracted by the fact of having access that we do not miss all of our features from device based software, but according to Dilger (2014), most people are not properly using Microsoft applications anyway.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Dilger, D. E. (2014). Most office workers aren’t actually using Microsoft Office. Retrieved from http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/05/03/most-office-workers-arent-actually-using-microsoft-office
I agree. There are many features of the Microsoft suite that I believe are not used or taken advantage of. However, I believe that we will start seeing these applications embedded by cloud providers and has already began with Microsoft online accessibility.
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