Second Life

How is Second Life a disruptive technology? As stated by Dr. Thornburg (2009) “Disruptive technologies are new technologies with the same functionality of an existing technology, but it functions more efficiently, and then obsoletes that technology. Second life is a disruptive technology because it changed the nature in how we communicated socially, professionally, and educationally.

What technology or innovation did it displace? Chat rooms (AOL) and the need for face to face gatherings

How many years do you think Second Life has left before another emerging technology or disruptive technology replaces it? I think Second Life will be around for a while because there are endless possibilities in this virtual world. The impossible becomes possible (Laurette,2009).  Philip Rosedal (2008) stated he felt “It will be bigger and better than the total usage of the web itself.”

What are the social benefits of Second Life, and what might be the social implications of virtual worlds in your industry?

Philip Rosedal used the example of going into space and leaving society as you know it behind.  He said during the journey you have the opportunity to become someone else.  Second life mirrors this concept, which makes this a huge befit.  People have the opportunity to become someone else (Rosedal, 2008).  Second Life allows people to reinvent themselves.  In addition, educators are using it more to transform their classrooms.  Second Life enhances the learning experiences and meets the needs of different learning styles

References

Picture retrieved from: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://factoidz.com/images/post/r-2854-5321.jpg&imgrefurl=http://online-games.factoidz.com/secondlife-review-and-promo-coupon-code/&h=341&w=320&sz=12&tbnid=Wy4KELhMXZO14M:&tbnh=93&tbnw=87&zoom=1&docid=HYUN1DxUPR4QGM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ChoiT6yBMMnAtgf21OWiCw&sqi=2&ved=0CEsQ9QEwCg&dur=31

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009).Disruptive Technologies. Baltimore, MD: Author

Rosedale, P. (2008). Second Life [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html

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Rhymes of History



As stated by Dr. Thornburg (2009) “Rhyme of History is another force that has an impact on the emergence of technology”.  One technology that represents a rhyme of history is the opaque projector.  The opaque projector is the technology that is retrieved from the past.  The opaque projector was used as a means for projecting words and text from paper sources such as books and drawings.  This piece of technology was able to achieve projection of text through its light and the mirrors and lenses. The light would reflect light off the image and travel into the lens.  Next, the document was focused through mirrors and projected through another lens which then projected the image to the designated area.  One drawback to the opaque projector was its limited capacity to only project in gray scale and the potential fire hazard if documents were kept on the stage too long.

As technology continues to evolve, Opaque projectors are not widely used due the invention of overhead projectors.  The overhead projector, invented by Roger Appledorn, was one of the most used technology tools during the 80’s and 90’s . 

David S.(n.d.).  How does an opaque projector work? Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5007648_opaque-projector-work.html

Overhead Projector. (n.d.). xtimeline (2008-2009). Retrieved from http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=334773

Opaque Projector