Review Worksheet
I feel mostly good about this week's review worksheet. I think my circuit drawings are correct, and I know my code is right because I checked it with the arduino. I'd definitely like to go over the difference between digital and analog sensors in class. I understand some of the differences in characteristics, like how analog sensors are continuous. But I don't really understand why digital sensors aren't continuous, and I'd like more clarification on use cases.
Labs
These labs were super fun to execute because they provided some inspiration for future projects. I don't necessarily have any questions about them right now.
Lab: Tone Output
Lab: Servo Motor Control
Readings
The Design of Implicit Systems; Ju & Leifer
On the Navy Replacing Touchscreens; Andrew Litpak
There Is No "Technology Industry"; Anil Dash
I had three coherent thoughts after reading these articles. First, I don't question the obnoxious technology in my life enough. Second, just something new, cool, and sleek is invented, it doesn't mean that it is inherently better or more efficient than the previous iteration. Lastly, it actually isn't useful to talk about the 'tech industry' and the times that I do use that general term is when I specifically don't understand / cannot explain the work I do / want to do. This is probably a character flaw that I should fix, but I think it's interesting that I use it to be vague on purpose. Across the board, these readings make me want to pay more attention to user interfaces in my day to life. I'm curious about the difference between using something that is actually efficient and easy to understand, and being conditioned from a young age on how to use something like an iphone. Of course I find an iphone easy to use, I've had one since I was 10 years old. I always thought that it was funny that my parents struggle with it more, but now I realize that it isn't right. In that vein, it's really interesting how popular / emerging technology has the power to completely change the way a generation might behave in society or approach problem solving.