Unit 3 Reflection

Unit 3 Reflection

My Unit 3 Assignment was my favorite assignment I have done in WRT 205. I enjoyed this assignment because I was able to interact with my friends and ask them their opinion on iPhone updates, and use technology to present my findings. Throughout the semester in WRT 205 I have been researching apple’s motivate to update the iPhone frequently, and people’s reactions to it. As a college student I am surrounded by technology and always am hearing my classmates opinions when a new update comes out, so when choosing my topic to research for assignment 3, I knew this would be an interesting topic.

While younger generations seem to adapt to technological change better than older, I found that an overwhelming of those asked, did not approve of the updates for three main reasons.  The first reason many did not like the new update was simply that they found it confusing. Tasks that were once quick and simple, now seemed to be a challenge. The second reason it was disliked was they viewed the prior methods as “better”.  These individuals had the general feeling that if something is not broken, why fix it? The third category for those who disapproved were the individuals that admitted to not liking change of any kind. Once they are comfortable, the idea of change is unsettling.

Recently the iPhone X came out and iPhone users jumped at the opportunity to get the newer, “faster”, and “improved” iPhone, only to find it is definitely not faster or improved. There have been a ton of complications on the iPhone X. Most people complained about the no home button, face recognition is not always accurate, and random freezing. Face recognition is a big problem with the iPhone X because if it does not recognize your face you are unable to use your phone. One of my friends used the example how she was once driving and wanted the passenger in the car to text her parents for her, but they couldn't because the iPhone did not recognize her face. A bunch of people also do not like the new headphone jack. It lead people to buy new headphones when the ones they had were perfectly fine. Steve Wozniak, apple co-founder, predicted this to happen. Before the change was made, he said, “If it’s missing the 3.5 millimeter earphone jack, that’s going to tick off a lot of people (cultofmac.com).”

I remember about a month ago the app “snapchat” updated on everyone’s phone and changed its whole set up. Snapchat users were furious, I did not hear one positive thing about this update. People’s anger showed how much technology affects our lives. When people had to learn how to use the new snapchat, it caused frustration because technology is supposed to be one of the easier things in life.

The iPhone does have a setting to turn off automatic updates. Of the students who participated in the survey, 100% of the individuals were aware of this feature, and used this feature. Unfortunately, after a few weeks of not installing a new update on your own, the iPhone will complete the update automatically. Apple does not allow its users to stay technologically “stuck”. If they believe that a new update is necessary, than the choice is out of the users hands.

I chose to present my findings in an iMovie presentation. College students like myself, often would prefer watching a video about a topic then reading information on it. I am sure my audience will find my video very relatable, and share similar opinions with those of who is featured in my video. Like I expected, when I showed my classmates the rough draft of my video and they told me it was very relatable. They each shared a similar opinion to at least one of the people featured in my video. One of my classmates Kelly Squier said, “I really enjoyed hearing what the people in your video had to say about the update, I found myself agreeing with a majority of their opinions. I thought I was alone.”

Researching about technology has opened my eyes to not only the positives of technology, but the negatives as well. Today’s society is hooked on technology, and when technology changes, our whole lives change with it. Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, so when it changes and it causes us to readjust it often leads to frustration. My findings have proven my original thought correct.