The Week in Tech: Coronavirus Disrupts the Industry

With the global concern and spread of the Coronavirus, the tech industry has noticed disruptions already. Many of the tech companies have ties to China. For instance, Apple uses and relies heavily on factories in Shenzen, China for the production of Apple's biggest seller, the iPhone. Not only does Apple rely on China for production, but they are also one of the largest consumers of iPhones. Apple is not alone in this struggle. Many other companies like Microsoft, rely on Chinese customers to download Windows software onto their laptops and tablets. Microsoft has had a decline in revenue resulting from the spread of the virus throughout China. 

Coronavirus does not discriminate, it has hit all the tech industries across the board. Companies like IBM, At&T, and Verizon have pulled out of a large industry trade show in Spain. Facebook even cancelled its annual conference where they showcase the latest products and plans to software developers. Even companies like Amazon are asking its employees not to travel domestically or internationally in hopes of keeping the virus at bay. Will all these precautions be enough? Or will the potentially deadly virus still creep its way into tech-reliant industries?

Interestingly enough, the article points out that some tech companies may actually see an increase in business as people potentially can be confined to their homes. Services like Netflix may see a large influx of people streaming television while delivery services like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Amazon delivery might see an increase as well.

It is hard to predict how this will all play out, but experts all agree the potential is there to have devasting effects on not just the tech industry, but the global economy as a whole. 
We are all bracing ourselves and hoping the Coronavirus goes away as quickly as it has come. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/technology/coronavirus-disrupts-industry.html

What is the Supreme Court and What Does it Do?

After watching a video for class on the United States Supreme Court, here is what I learned...


The Supreme Court is the highest judicial court in the country. There are nine Justices that make up the supreme court. Every day these justices work hard to review cases on their own and refer back to the Constitution to provide a final outcome. The Supreme Court refers to the Constitution to resolve national problems. Throughout history, there have been over 100 Supreme Court justices and the majority of them serve an average of 16 years.
The Supreme Court has a unique and important role within the United States system of government. The Constitution gives it the power to check, if necessary, the actions of the President and Congress.
Some historical points addressed in the video...
After the Civil War, the constitution was amended to abolish slavery, grant voting rights and to define citizenship. After the Constitution, the bill of rights was added, which included the amendments to the Constitution. In the past, women were unable to vote, slavery was a major issue and many were treated unfairly.
The 14th amendment told the states they can not deny due process of law or equal protection of the law to any citizen. The 19th amendment allowed women the right to vote.
In closing, when the Supreme Court speaks, people obey. 
"If the Court ever stopped defending the Constitution or the people ever stopped listening, then one of the treasures that keep this the freest nation in the world ceases to exist." 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRoXYRsaeo&feature=youtu.be

Our Surveillance Society

From social media sites to surveillance cameras to smartphones, each and every one of us leaves a digital trail that is being closely monitored with or without our knowledge. From the moment we wake up to the alarm on our smartphone, we begin engaging in the digital world. Before even getting out of bed, most of us check our emails, read news headlines and browse through our social media accounts. Every time we engage in this behavior “big data” is being stored which is accessible. As we exit the house and begin on our journey, our smartphones already know where we are going and tell us how long it will take to get there. Amazing! Right? We do not even have to put in where we are going, our phones know based on our typical travel where we are headed. Pretty cool? Or pretty scary?

I recently was reading an article from the New York Times entitled, The Apps on My Phone Are Stalking Me, by Farhad Manjoo that really got me thinking how ignorant I am to what information is being stored about me as I go about my day utilizing all the modern conveniences available. This got me thinking about a movie I saw many years ago called The Truman Show. In the movie, surveillance is everywhere. In fact, the main character’s whole life is a reality show unbeknownst to him. He has no privacy whatsoever as the whole world watches his every move. Seems a bit far fetched? Or is it more relatable in contemporary America than we would like to admit? 
Due to advances in technology, we have access to everything right at our fingertips. From computers, phones, i-Pads, cameras and even watches, we can get and send information immediately. However, all this information is under surveillance and tracked. What exactly is surveillance? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, surveillance means: close watch kept over someone or something. Personal data is stored and can be assessed by companies. This “big data” is shared and used to predict our habits and patterns in our daily life. Is this an invasion of our privacy? Does it impinge on our basic rights? It is a big price to pay for the convenience of technology. As a society how do we handle this new age of surveillance and “big data”? How can we not be so heavily influenced by it? There are no easy answers. I can’t help but wonder where we will go from here.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/opinion/phone-data-privacy.html