From what I understand after reading both articles is that this technological artifact is something that is used in society but is unable to be used by everyone.  These artifacts have power over us in that they are technological advancements in society that were made to simplify our life but in some way aren’t equally usuable by everyone in society.  As stated in the article, this can be through qualities such as gender, race, geographical location, or even class.  The artifact that I chose to analyze is related to that of geographical location.  The artifact is a television.  Millions of people around the world have a television right in their homes where they can watch entertainment television, catch up on the latest sporting event and most importantly see what is happening around them through the news.  The news is very important to people so they can learn about their environment and know what is happening in the world around them.  This is also the place they can learn about harmful weather that may be in their forecast.  Unfortunatly, not everyone has access to a television.  People who live in third world countries or are can’t afford a television don’t have access to this technology.  Though some people may be able to travel to a location where a TV is present, not everyone has that ability.  People in underdeveloped countries are unable to take advantage of this helpful technological artifact due to their geographical location.

September 10, 2008

After listening to the discussion we had in class on Monday, I learned that perhaps saying that other countries do not have televisions may not be correct.  However, I am sure their are places on this world where televisions are non existent, it may not be the best artifact to analyze.  So in that case, I wanted to look at a different object that I could relate more closely to Bowling Green.  I chose to look at laptop computers.  Not everyone in Bowling Green owns a laptop because perhaps they don’t see them as a necessity, or they can’t afford one.  Labtops are very convienent because you can carry them with you wherever you want, and most places around campus have wireless connection so you are always able to go online.  This can be helpful in class because you can type out your notes or look up what the teacher is talking about right in class.  However, for the people that don’t own laptops, they may have to wait until they get home to view topics online or type things out.  Or they may have to wait in line at the closest computer lab on campus.  Labtops are also convienent because they are very small and portable and wont take up a lot of room where you live.