PLN 17

On Karl Fisch's bolg "The Fischbowl," there is a video by the name of "The Bionic Eye." This video matters because it shows the kind of environment Americans now live in. The Bionic Eye is a new app. for the iPhone or iTouch, and when held up to it’s surroundings the application displays the nearest places of interest; as in, restaurants, subway stations and other things. This is really cool because now we can find things quicker, but this technology points out a problem with American society. In the video when the man held up the device to demonstrate, the application found two McDonalds, three Starbucks, a Burger King, and a Wendy’s. Now most people would think that this is a great thing, but I took a step back and thought about the meaning. America is such a fat and lazy country these days that the people need a device to find the McDonalds, Starbucks, and Wendy’s, that are all so close together that 8 of them can be found on the screen of and iPod. This goes to show that America not only needs 4 McDonalds and 3 Starbucks all on the same block, but that we are so lazy that we need a device to find the one that is closest. In the video the man also said that the application is available to Russia, Britain, China, and Japan. I don't believe that theses countries will use this application as much, or at least not in the same way, as the U.S. These countries most likely don't need this application unless they are visiting a new place, and even when they do use it, there probably will only be one Starbucks, and McDonalds on the screen. Personally I think this technology is really cool, but eventually it will just end up contributing to the nation’s obesity problem. When that happens, we won't be able to fit into the tiny little, eco friendly cars, which are now being made. If all of this is added together, it really isn't iPod's fault. America needs to take steps to reduce its obesity and make it so that this application doesn’t find 4 of every fast food places all in the space of one screen.