The Progressive Era

From the videos we just watched, it is clear that the government does not like to be criticized. I believe that this is the reason why we don't see these types of obscure websites. 

According to this video, in 1918, the Sedition Act made it illegal for anyone to speak badly about or

criticize the government. However, soon after, the government got rid of the sedition act. They did this because according to the first amendment, United States citizens have the right to freedom of speech and this act got rid of that.

Though technically it is no longer illegal to criticize the government, the government still doesn't like it. We talked about many examples of this in class. One being how the Biden administration censored a scientist for talking about scientific facts when it came to Covid. Another example is when we were discussing a man who was making memes of Hilary Clinton. A final example was from this video, and it talked about a person who made a book about President Trump that criticized him. 

Now, why don't we ever see any of the websites I mentioned early in the news, social media, or online? I believe that in addition to the government not wanting to be criticized, this has something to do with our social world. For most wars that the United States fights, its citizens agree. But what about the minority? Shouldn't their voices be heard too? The answer is yes, however, that's not how our social world works. Because the majority agrees, the minority will be ridiculed if they speak up. 

As I mentioned, the majority of United States citizens agrees with most wars the US fights, but not all. We should get to speak up about that as well, but as I said, the government doesn't like to be ridiculed.

Finally, I would like to mention that the only way for the government to meet the needs of the people is to be criticized. Back in high school, we all had to write papers. Our teachers would give us feedback, we'd rewrite the paper, and then get a great grade. This should be no different for our government. In order for the government to be successful, it needs input from the people it serves.

Technology Presentations

During class today, we had our EOTO presentations. I learned about the history of a multitude of different technologies including the pencil, the printing press, the carrier pigeon, and many more interesting technologies. The technology I will be discussing in this blog post will be streaming services.

Background

This is the photo that showed
up when I searched
"Blockbuster."

Where exactly did people go before streaming services were invented? Well, if you wanted to rent a video, movie, CD, etc., you would either need to go to stores like Blockbuster and Family Video, go to the library, a Redbox machine, or simply wait for the movie to come out on television. 

The first ever place you could rent a movie was Video Station. It was created in Los Angeles in 1977. Blockbuster was the largest rental store created in 1988 by David Cook. Unfortunately, Blockbuster went out of business in 2014.

What are Streaming Services

Nowadays, streaming services are used constantly. Whether you're binging a show on Netflix, watching a movie that recently came out, or watching live TV through a streaming service, nearly everyone uses streaming services.

Timeline

1997: Netflix DVD rental service

2005: YouTube

2007: Netflix moved online

2010: Hulu

2015: Amazon Video

2019: Disney +

2020: HBO Max

Creation of Netflix

In 1997, Reed Hastings rented a movie and returned it late. He was then forced to pay a lot of money in late fees. Because of this unfortunate event, Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph decided to create a company where you could rent DVDs online without late feeds. This concept is what created Netflix. As stated in the timeline above, Netflix became an exclusive online company a few years later in 2007.

Impact of Streaming Services

In 2013 and 2015, Stanford conducted an experiment whose results concluded that streaming services

can cause health problems. Other studies have concluded that the use of streaming services can lead to a decreased ability to form relationships.

Further research has shown that 99% of homes own streaming services, while only 10% of users have reported that they cause health issues.