Future=Accepting the present

      "What does the future hold for us technologically? Will we be surfing the web in our sleep? Will computers grow to dominate us and use our precious bodies as batteries?" (Gay).

      Perhaps, perhaps we will become robots ourselves. People already have prosthetic limbs, metal spins, and surgically implanted boxes that inject chemicals to manipulate brain waves, and reduce pain. We use radiation to kill cancer, and X-rays to see bones.
 
      It is hard to predict the future of technology because it is constantly changing. I think that many of the technological advances that we can actually fathom have already been created. I think that  companies use psycho-economics to retail their products at very precise times in order to gain the greatest profits.

   It is strange to predict that "computers [might] grow to dominate us and use our precious bodies as batteries" because that is what manpower is. A man rowing a boat infuses his physical force (energy) on the boat to make it move through water. Although a battery has not been made, the transfer of energy from a human to an object is as old as dirt. The only difference between a man in a boat, and a battery is the containment of that transferred energy. As absurd as it might sound it would not surprise me if this has already been done. However, the demand for battery human has yet to exist. As technology continues to replace humans, for example cashiers in grocery stores, perhaps it will be in that moment, battery human becomes a necessity.

   I think a lot of technologies future has already been created, it is just a matter of time before it is released. When the Internet was first created, I am sure people were afraid of its capabilities and refused it as much as possible, but it gradually became another norm. In the same way as the internet once scared us, technology today has the same effect. We have phones, and computers that learn our interests, and make recommendations for us; we are skeptical, and slow to accept it.

 'Future' technology will not be marketed until we can accept the present, and become willing to pay.

 

   

Reading Rainbow

       LeVar is hoping to make ''Reading Rainbow'' episodes available online. Although "Burton says a shift in education philosophy during the Bush administration is to blame for the show’s ultimate demise," children would still be able to watch the show (Grabert).
   
     Shows are already available online for various television programs. It seems almost like common sense to revert to the Internet in cases such as LeVar's.
   
     The Internet has become an incredible instrument in education. Not only does the Internet host a plethora of scholarly resources, encyclopedias, and 'how to' videos, it is slowly becoming the new classroom.  Not only are college courses available online, but middle, and high school courses are also being offered.

     If LeVar's intention is to educate the Internet is certainly the way to go.  When people have a question, their first instinct is to "'Google' it". The advantages are endless. If episodes are available online not only will "Reading Rainbow" be watched, but the books it references will be available to viewers right then, and there. LeVar can get immediate viewer response; in turn, he will be able to cater his work to the specific needs of his viewers, ultimately, becoming a more effective educator. Additionally, children would be able to view what episodes they wanted when they wanted, and parents would be able to dictate the episodes their children view in accordance to what their children would be learning in school.  

     Fun, educational programs such as "Reading Rainbow" are beautiful resources. They need to be available to children, and if television will not approve them, the Internet will.

http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Reading-Rainbow-Heads-Online-With-LeVar-Burton-Website-Kids-39406.html