Keene on Tech

Privacy. We all want this at some point in both our physical and virtual lives. But increasingly, as the virtual world entices us to share every bit about ourselves with the world for better or worse we have to give the issue of privacy a harder look. While this post is not about the privacy matter directly, it is about an emerging trend that has a lot to do with privacy and personal information.

Photo by Travis Gray – http://flic.kr/p/9TMxP

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In the past week or two there have been some interesting thoughts posted about whether we are entering into a new era of computing where the experience is largely curated. Of course the 800 pound gorilla in this area is Apple with its iPhone/iPod Touch and now the iPad. All these devices run apps through Apple’s curated App Store which has generated lots of debate about whether this is a good thing or not. The entire computing process is mostly closed and carefully maintained by Apple. Yet, their devices and software are very popular and the company has grown enormously over the past few years because of this. And perhaps more importantly, they are really innovating in the mobile space and leading the way although Google’s Android is hot on it heals. So what is the big deal about curated computing and why should educators care?

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