Hello everyone, 

The object I chose to represent in the twenty-first century is the Amazon Kindle. In 500 years, through much improvement and innovation of the product, I am sure this product will still be widely used. Amazon still plans on improving the product by making it as light as paper. They have shown interest in also finding a way to make the Kindle flexible in the future. They have plans to make the product literally “paper-like” allowing it to be rolled and folded like paper. I don’t see this product necessarily becoming obsolete because many people still enjoy reading. With that said, however, the product might change slightly to fit modern times. With digital reading readily available, this has caused physical books to become more obsolete. The Kindle provides book lovers with an easy at-home alternative to finding books. It is as simple as pulling it out, finding a book you want to read, and purchasing it while enjoying the comfort of your home. In today’s culture, the value of the product has allowed many to be able to access an e-reader that is affordable to the everyday household. It has even modernized to allow users to share books within their libraries. It is criticized that the Kindle is taking complete dominance over the e-reader market, making broadened access to its stores and books not necessarily a service to the reading public, but to its shareholders. Some believe that books of knowledge and culture should be freely available, leaving some to find more open alternatives to the Kindle/e-reader. 

post 2. Joshua H

The cultural work I’ve decided to talk about today is the iPhone that was invented by Steve Jobs in 2007. It was a touchscreen phone that combined the iPod and a phone. Unlike earlier smartphones, it included a bevy of new features, including a multitouch interface, a soft keyboard, and visual voicemail.  This soft keyboard is what made the phone stand out amongst others since it didn’t have a physical keyboard that took up half the phone screen. It have a camera that enables users to Facetime anyone that also has an iPhone.  It also uses a different search engine (safari) which makes it different from other cell phones. 

Technological innovation has become a vital part of our daily lives whether it is at home or at work. In 500 years, we can look back and see how far the cell phone industry has evolved to make our lives easier (and difficult haha). With the invention of a smart touch the screen phone, we are able to do so much from wherever we are. You don’t have to physically go in for a medical appointment, you can now telehealth due to this invention and how it has evolved throughout the years. All you need is a phone with a camera that has the ability to video call. There is so much you can do on an iPhone that makes our everyday life smoother and less chaotic such as an audiobook (instead of carrying a physical book), and the ability to store files on your phone for future use. 

Over the years, Apple has modified the iPhone to meet customers’ demands (more storage space, better quality pictures, an app store, etc), this has significantly impacted our society in a sense that everything you ‘need’ is right at your fingertip. You can connect with family and friends that are miles away via Facetime, being so small and lightweight, you can use it in place of a bulky camera, it is used at most stores to checkout or scans an item; it has literally become a part of almost every person’s life.