Monday, April 17, 2017

Blog 16: Beginning of the End


Our next and effectively last text to read for this semester is Gina Neff’s and Dawn Nafus’ Self-Tracking, a piece that, from the first two chapters at least, seems to focus on the growing amount of tracking that exists in society today and what kinds of effects these tools have on us. At the moment, the chapters chose to focus on introducing us to the different kinds of tracking and its possible downsides.


I can definitely attest to these tracking devices having an effect on how you act from day to day. I remember when I first got my Apple Watch I thought it was neat that it could track how active you were and approximate how many calories you burn everyday. At most I considered it a cute little bonus that came with the device, but some time later I started actually looking into services like that often! I ended up worrying about whether I was getting the “normal” amount of physical activity and proper diet properly, even though I knew full well that I was just as healthy as anyone else. Even now when I have a better grasp that everyone’s different and has different needs that may not be properly measured by health devices, I still like to have these kinds of trackers available so that I can check that kind of info at a moments notice rather than looking for a professional. Assuming others have gone through a similar deal, hopefully people in general will be able to get over such worries or those who make such devices can find a way to appease to such fears as technology advances.

Side note: I just noticed on page 53, paragraph 2, theres a small typo. It states, "We wrestle with this question in chapter 5, but the short answer is that it the jury is out, and it depends on whom you ask." I think they were trying to say "...the short answer is that the jury is out..." unless there's something I'm missing. 


Questions:

  • Have you ever used some sort of tracking device, and if so had such a worry to go through?
  • Do you agree with the book that such devices bring about privacy issues, or are these worries misguided?

Image from: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2017/02/24/family-christian-closing-all-240-stores-including.html

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