User:ParkerL7/assignment 11

Introduction (Lead section for this weeks assignment): Before the introduction of smartphones things were a lot simpler such as turning on the television or meet up in person to socialize. Fortunately smartphones drastically changed how people live with quality of life changes. For example 2 decades ago if someone needed direction to visit a new place, you needed a map to travel to you're destination. Today all smartphones offer a GPS that can read directions out loud and offer reroutes unlike traditional maps. Furthermore smart phones have enabled people to keep in better touch with people from straightforward phone calls to keep in touch over social media without the need to talk. Smart phones have been a fantastic benefit to society when assisting us in our daily lives. From tasks such as being a predominant learning tool in education to finding new forms of entertainment smart phones have certainly made an impact on society.

Educational Impact (add on to section of the article): Although smartphones today give students the ability to communicate with others and listen to music while they work, they can be a tremendously huge distraction or a crutch to students. “With smartphones starting to be readily available to more and more people, there’s a big chance that students can go on social networks, play mobile games, chat, shop, browse websites, listen to music and watch videos all while they’re in school” (Dems). Furthermore, a study from analytics firm Flurry stated that the average person spends 5 hours a day and as usage data goes up, the socialization people once had will only deteriorate in the long run and leave kids socially awkward. Another issue that that harms a student’s education is their notifications because of social media apps and news updates. A student can be very productive but can get easily distracted and at high risk for losing any focus they once had. The biggest 2 issues that go hand in hand is that students cheat by looking up answers on their phone or reliant on their smart phones to search for answers instead of critical thinking. Even though smart phones enable people with truly remarkable capabilities, they are a double edge sword.

Privacy (New section of article): Aside from mobile phone companies tracking smart phone users, smart phone users are vulnerable to hackers. The best way to combat hackers is getting a VPN to shield yourself from others looking for your location. The two most common forms of smart phone tracking is the GPS that tracks your exact location and cell towers that break down one's location. Aside from potential hackers, phone companies and app suppliers are notorious for tracking because they sell information to other companies or marketing. At times companies will partner up with law enforcement to help track down or gather evidence against a suspect.

Ethical Questions (New section of article): As smart phone tracking has a dramatic increase over the last decade, so has public distrust and brings up the conversation of is mass surveillance ethical. Another ethical concern is the Data privacy collection and Data privacy sharing. People's Data are being sold to countless other companies or shared without consent and if someone's personal privacy is compromised then the victim is left to deal with the trouble while other companies aren't held accountable. Fortunately the issue of privacy isn't hopeless and laws such as the International Data Privacy Principles (IDPPs) have been passed to help conserve privacy guidelines. With the continual conversations of ethical tracking and data sharing, lawmakers are making it more apparent to hold companies and other organizations liable and to fight for protecting data.

Entertainment tv and streaming services (New section of article): Prior to smartphones let alone cyberspace people could only watch video content through televisions and DVDs. Today there are hundreds of streaming services that are primarily geared to smart phone users to watch video entertainment wherever on the fly. The first of whom Netflix took the leap to innovate how people can enjoy entertainment on the go and other business companies who traditionally do not invest with streaming services such as Amazon to invest in the streaming world. There are apps in the entertainment whos sole purpose is to create or share tv shows, music, sports/esports news, etc. The gaming industry is starting to slowly invest more in the mobile entertainment industry. Gamers are able to play their favorite video games with friends from anywhere in the world on the go without issues. Games such as Fortnite has started to implement cross platform for they can play from other gaming consoles if a gamer so chooses. Today, “Approximately 44% of consumers are currently subscribing to an average of 3-5 paid streaming services, whereas only 7% are subscribing to as many as 7-10” (TransUnion). Researchers are now expecting a migration of streaming services on smart phones to be the primary source of entertainment. As a result of the entertainment revolution because of the smart phone industry pirated content have lost significant revenue. Streaming entertainment apps provide the same content while giving consumers the option to download entertainment for unlimited use at cheap costs. Furthermore they improve quality and smart phones make them more attainable.

Easy access to information (New Section of article): Smart phones have revolutionized how people receive their information and consume so this leaves press associations to innovate because everyone does not consume television the same way people used to. Since 2013, 89% of all smart phone owners have access to thousands of news sources in the palm of their hands. News stations are developing apps and expanding onto social media platforms to share major current events. According to a custom Neilsen research study it proves that people are using news sites and new apps to gather information significantly more then television. With the cultural shift to smart phone news apps and access, news stations are constantly modifying how to make information easier to access and appealing more to younger generations.