Diffusion Theory

    According to the Wikipedia article we were given to read through, "diffusion of innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and what rate new ideas and technology spread." Everett Rogers popularized this theory and proposed there are five main elements to influence the spread of a new idea. The five main elements include the innovation itself, adopters, communication channels, time, and a social system. The product must be widely adaptable in order to sustain itself. 

    The iPhone was invented and released in the United States in late June 2007 by Steve Jobs. In the first two days, around 270,000 iPhones sold and by early September, sales topped one million. Steve Jobs had already made Apple a well known company with its iPod and Mac, which is why many people had trust and interest in this new invention. The Blackberry was one of the most popular phones before the iPhone. It consisted of a keyboard, some sliding, and a large screen. Before the iPhone there had been no device like it. 

    

    The early adopters were ready to try something new and were probably already Apple users. This group would be part of the early 270,000 iPhone customers. Word of mouth is a huge way of sharing information or news especially in the early 2000's. Social media didn't really become popular until 2010 and then it took time for people to grow trust in the media. The early and late majority are the most popular groups in the diffusion theory. This group of people would be considered the later one million customers. 

    The laggards were really missing out on a great piece of technology, and they probably learned the heard way. This would assume to be people afraid of change or comfortable with the technology they already had. The younger population is usually more susceptible to change and experience new technologies. As far as the older population, they would stick with what they're comfortable with. 

     This theory helps marketers understand how trends occur and helps companies assess the likelihood of failure or success in their products. The diffusion theory will remain in use for as long as companies and products are being produced. 

Radio

 The radio is a way of sound communication by radio waves, which can usually be transmitted through news, music, and broadcast stations for individual listeners who have radio receivers. 

    The first practical wireless radio was invented in Italy by an Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi in 1895. From 1920 through 1945, the radio took the world by storm. This new hobby grew tremendously before World War I. People could listen in with their earphones and get immediate news and updates which left listeners in awe. The PCGG was the name of one of the world's first radio broadcast services which began in the Netherlands in 1919. 

    The radio gained such a widespread of use that people pulled back from the use of the phonograph, which was also known as a "record player." Cassette tapes and compact discs were introduced. People could finally listen and enjoy music or news from their home or even walking on the streets. They no longer needed to pay to watch a live show or go see shows in the theatre to listen to music. Not just music alone, but comedy programs, broadway singers, and religious programs. This service constituted in the competitive threat between the radio and the television. 

    The radio was a huge historic mark and continues to be used today nearly 100 years later. 

Antiwar

    I've never had a reason to think about antiwar or even develop an opinion about it. Now, it's ironic how the country of freedom and free speech is hushed when we start speaking up about the government or more specifically how we disagree with the government. I'm trying to remember the last time I've heard anything on social media or the news about antiwar movements and nothing comes to mind. 

    I had no idea antiwar websites even existed, so after reading through The American Conservative website I was appalled at all of the information I found. There were so many articles to read through that weren't outdated. All of them were up to date speaking about recent news going on in America right now. I was able to get a different look at the idea and compare it to what I see on the news or social media. An article that stood out to me was titled, "The States Choose Death."This is a very loud title that could trigger a lot of controversy which is why I chose to read it. I knew about all of the drama surrounding abortion laws, but I was not up to date with the recent election results. I truly enjoyed reading from a different angle about the situation. 

    Another website is ANTIWAR.COM which is flooded with information regarding current events not just from the U.S. but all over the world. When first opening the website I was extremely overwhelmed with the amount of news and links surrounding the page. The ability to have one website full of information from all over the world with a much broader perspective is more of what needs to be shown on more popular news sources. Within each topic is a page full of information diving deeper into just the basic title. 

    After reading through these websites and getting a better understanding of each situation, I honestly much prefer this type of news outlet. You get another side of the story that isn't silenced by our main media outlet. I look forward to discovering what else the media isn't purposefully talking about with these current issues. 

History of the iPhone

    Apple was founded in 1976 by two college dropouts, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Together, they created a vision to change the way people thought of technology creating computers small enough for people to have in their home or workplaces. Little did they know their small idea would create a $13 trillion company. 

    The Apple Computer 1 was their first release in 1976 but it was just the beginning. After releasing more and more products, in 2001 the iPod came around. The sleek and elegant design of the iPod inspired the Jobs to create the most luxurious phone to be invented. It took over two and a half years to develop this idea. Bouncing off the iPod, the first prototype created was the "iPod phone," which was a total bust. Dialing a phone number was like using a rotary phone, it sucked. the touchscreen idea came and went as Jobs couldn't come to a decision or a suitable creation. He stuck with his idea to "just create a really cool phone," and finally in January of 2007, Steve Jobs took the world by storm and released the iPhone at Macworld in California. 

    "Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along, that changes everything. Well, today, we're introducing three revolutionary products of this class. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough internet communications device. An iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator... are you getting it? These are not three separate devices, this is one device, and we are calling it iPhone." -Steve Jobs 

    On June 29, 2007, the iPhone finally went on sale, selling for $599. By November of the same year, over 1.4 million iPhones were sold. In July of 2008, just a few months after, the App Store opened which released over 500 downloadable apps for the iPhone instead of just the 13 apps that came with the phone. 

    The iPhone was revolutionary and changed the world forever. There was no other phone that was remotely close to something as amazing as this product. It was so easy to use, the battery life was excellent, and the beautiful design made it mesmerizing and impossible to ignore. This was the start of "apps" and without this, who knows if some of the biggest social media apps like Instagram and Twitter would've been created. Digital media was accessible at the touch of a screen in the palm of your hand. Available wherever and whenever you wanted. Although back then, you couldn't text pictures or take videos on the phone, that only left room for the iPhone to grow and become what it is today. As of 2022, there are over 1.2 billion iPhone users in the world.

    The iPhone isn't only just an iPod, internet communicator, and a phone anymore, it's the entire world in our pocket. It's a video camera, GPS device, music player, communicator, and payment tool. It's only growing more and more, year by year. Whatever the next best thing is, Apple is ahead of the game and ready to take that advantage. Apple is simply able to build more and better things than anyone else, and they don't plan to stop. 

The Supreme Court

The term “Supreme Court,” has always sounded intimidating to me. It’s common knowledge that the supreme court hold a high power within the United States Government. However, I learned so much while watching the video, and I think that a lot of this is unknown to most of the public. The video highlighted the importance of justices and how they determine what is and is not constitutional. The supreme court consists of 9 justices and one chief justice. Their duty is to manage judicial orders, for example, impeachment trials for the president. 

I had no idea that the supreme court can receive up to 7,000 cases a year! It’s interesting how they determine which cases are important enough to follow through. I didn’t know that whenever a new justice joins, a new picture is taken. I like how they keep everything updated and we can put names to faces when talking about the justices. I learned that since the start of the supreme court, there have been more than 100 justices each serving an average of 16 years. I found it interesting how the justices don’t really work together most of the time. They all individually do their own work and then come together, shake each persons’ hand, and discuss.  

 

The 8 Values of Free Expression

The world is continuing to grow creating a more diverse and creative society due to the expression of freedom of speech. We all know that working together is better than working apart from one another. At times, it can feel like the world is working against each other which will eventually get us nowhere.

Promote innovation, founded by Jack Balkin and his book Living Originalism, and a merit of the 8 key values for free expression, invokes a community where free speech is valued and protected. This to me feels very prevalent with our society today. What comes to mind is the LGBTQ+ community. Due to their ability to speak and act freely, they're creating a more diverse society, along with spreading knowledge to others who may be too scared to speak up or come out. With this idea, our society will find themselves more energized and creative fulfilling their place and creating a diverse world. Our country allows us to have our own ideas and opinions about everything, in which most other countries don't allow. Each and every one of us is so unique and is able to spread new ideas freely due to our first amendment rights. We have the opportunity to come together and create new conversations or stand individually and share ideas openly. 

Protect Dissent is another value that supports my idea. This idea agrees that our first amendment protects all views, no matter how unpopular. We have the right to agree or even argue against the government as well as other people. It states that as U.S. citizens, it’s our duty to criticize the government making it stronger and better in the long run. As a citizen who is on neither side of the political party, I find this idea to be extremely important and sometimes overlooked. Personally, I think it’s easy to feel pressured to pick a side and stick with it, but with this merit, it allows us to have our own ideas, argue with the government, and create a better world with equal opportunities for us all. The government will never grow without some criticism. 

Lastly, Stable Change is another value I feel agrees to my main idea. Stable Change suggests that a society that is able to speak their mind completely or “vent,” will be more stable and could resort in less violence. This is easy to relate back to in our normal lives. If we hold in our thoughts and feelings for too long, it is inevitable that we will reach a breaking point. I feel this is why debates are so popular, because it’s constant disagreement back and forth but civilly, allowing entertainment yet getting important ideas across. It takes a single person, a single idea to light a fire and get a conversation started. Most of the time all we need is a conversation to put an end to something or start a new idea. We must remember that this is our one and only life and we have resources to use to help make the world a better place. Violence isn’t necessary, coming together as a society is what matters.