http://blogs.asee.org/engineeringand/question-5/ Engineering snacks to whet your appetite Tue, 2 Dec 2008 03:15:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 http://blogs.asee.org/engineeringand/question-5/#comment-27 Pete Frisbie Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:47:02 +0000 http://engineeringand.com/?p=15#comment-27 The world has not always been flat. I believe it became flat the day that the internet became popular with the public. I don’t know when I realized it was flat but I have numerous experiences with this over these past few years. For example who would have thought that you would be instant messaging friends in Iraq while you are at home in the United States. The world has not always been flat. I believe it became flat the day that the internet became popular with the public. I don’t know when I realized it was flat but I have numerous experiences with this over these past few years. For example who would have thought that you would be instant messaging friends in Iraq while you are at home in the United States.

]]> http://blogs.asee.org/engineeringand/question-5/#comment-26 Sydney de Lapeyrouse Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:45:11 +0000 http://engineeringand.com/?p=15#comment-26 I suppose I qualify as one of the “younger folks.” I did grow up with the internet, but I remember life before it as well. I also recall when browsing a webpage would take minutes instead of seconds. How far we’ve come! In 1992, I was one of the first people at my school to have an e-mail address. I remember chatting on IM with the 2 other people at my school to have AOL. Two years later, they installed broadband at my school. I remember staring at the main switchboard for all the Ethernet cables in our new computer lab and just being baffled, thinking “these cables connect me to that computer over there, over there, and to the rest of the world.” That was the moment when I knew the world was “flat.” I suppose I qualify as one of the “younger folks.” I did grow up with the internet, but I remember life before it as well. I also recall when browsing a webpage would take minutes instead of seconds. How far we’ve come! In 1992, I was one of the first people at my school to have an e-mail address. I remember chatting on IM with the 2 other people at my school to have AOL. Two years later, they installed broadband at my school. I remember staring at the main switchboard for all the Ethernet cables in our new computer lab and just being baffled, thinking “these cables connect me to that computer over there, over there, and to the rest of the world.” That was the moment when I knew the world was “flat.”

]]> http://blogs.asee.org/engineeringand/question-5/#comment-25 Mike Gibbons Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:41:14 +0000 http://engineeringand.com/?p=15#comment-25 I started to do some online gaming in 1999. The game I played required me to learn simple HTML. By just learning a little, I was able to interact with people in many countries. I played against people in the Philippines, France and DC, among others. Contact with them was equally easy. That was invigorating. I started to do some online gaming in 1999. The game I played required me to learn simple HTML. By just learning a little, I was able to interact with people in many countries. I played against people in the Philippines, France and DC, among others. Contact with them was equally easy. That was invigorating.

]]> http://blogs.asee.org/engineeringand/question-5/#comment-24 Eric Iversen Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:40:22 +0000 http://engineeringand.com/?p=15#comment-24 I felt like a loser every time he went into these vignettes. I never had any epiphany about this, and I’m not sure I quite believed the stories people related about how and when they saw the “flatness” light. The effect of all these conversion narratives is to make the reader feel left out if he or she doesn’t adopt the same world-view as Friedman. It’s a powerful literary device, but it doesn’t necessarily say anything about how the world actually is. I agree with him on a lot of counts, and disagree with him on a few, but in general, I don’t like the simplistic metaphor of flatness. And to his credit, he doesn’t oversell it; his discussions are more nuanced. But I don’t think I want to be in the choir of Friedman acolytes in the literal-minded church of flatness. I felt like a loser every time he went into these vignettes. I never had any epiphany about this, and I’m not sure I quite believed the stories people related about how and when they saw the “flatness” light. The effect of all these conversion narratives is to make the reader feel left out if he or she doesn’t adopt the same world-view as Friedman. It’s a powerful literary device, but it doesn’t necessarily say anything about how the world actually is. I agree with him on a lot of counts, and disagree with him on a few, but in general, I don’t like the simplistic metaphor of flatness. And to his credit, he doesn’t oversell it; his discussions are more nuanced. But I don’t think I want to be in the choir of Friedman acolytes in the literal-minded church of flatness.

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