How often do you relate ethics to a design to a house? I did not realize how prevalent it was until designing a house for a class project. One of the requirements of the client was handicap accessible for certain areas on the first floor. This was pretty simple, make the bathroom and bedroom spacious and have 36 inch wide doors. But what other doors need to be 36 inches? Obviously the door to go down the steps to the basement has no use for a person in a wheel chair. The question arose when designing a laundry room that connected the kitchen to the garage. The wheel chair bound person does not "need" to access the laundry room, but that would eliminate said person to access the garage from inside the house. If there door size is chosen to be smaller than 36 inches then I was making a conscious decision that a handicap person had no purpose to go from the kitchen to the garage, or at least it wouldn't be possible if the reason was there. This concept can be applied for other things as well. Fire safety is an ethical idea as well. Placing a fire alarm in every room gives warning to any person in that room, if a room is not equipped with an alarm it could potentially cause death. The value of human life is a huge part of why houses are designed with better and stronger materials. A house constructed in
As I sit waiting for class I can easily hear the audio of two ipods. These headphones are buried in the persons ears and both people are across the room listening to completely different styles of music. This does not offend me in any way, but makes me wonder how loud the little devices can be. What need is there for having something so loud for mobile music? Are they having a party in their brain? This has to cause a faster drain of the batter, thus wearing it out a little faster. This could also lead to hearing damage for the future. Apple should recognize this and not produce something so harmful knowing that many people will listen to music that loud if they can. I know from experience that the pounding bass line is why the volume is elevated. Instead of investing time and money into developing a device that can play music louder they should developed headphones that can cancel out other noise (for a cheaper price) and increase the bass without needing that large amplitude.
What happened to the old overhead projectors? The were a good technology and the biggest problem was replacing a light bulb and making sure you used the right marker. Class room technology has become so advanced that even paper handouts are becoming inferior. the old "my printer was out of ink" story can't work if assignments must be electronically submitted. But excesses can still arise like "my internet went out last night". How is making everything electronic making life easier? If a video projector breaks it take a technician to check it out because nobody wants to risk breaking it from trying to replace the light bulb. The old projectors were simple: a bulb, fan, switch, and lenses. Type written papers could still be emailed if ink is unavailable, and if the power goes out. . . hand write it. What is wrong with hand written papers? One generation ago even a typewriter was not in every home. This is an example of how adding more and more technology can create more problems.
GPS can be an amazing tool, the military uses it to pinpoint enemies and explorers use it to find where they are and now people are using it to drive. The advantage is the constant updates; any traffic condition will be reported to the GPS device in the car and recalculate the shortest path to the destination. Another convenience is the ability to find nearby restaurants or stores. Personally I do not like the idea of a animated voice telling me when and where to turn. After making a three and a half hour drive to my destination I thought it would be interesting to use this sophisticated technology to guide my way home. After having multiple problems with following its directions and it leading me onto a closed road, I finally got home after a four hour and fifteen minute drive (and additional 45 minutes). The idea is good, but a old fashioned road map and possibly a call to the local department of transportation can achieve the same, if not better, results as some GPS road maps. The display with all of its motion and changing colors can become distracting for a weary driver. Also if it tells you for instance "turn right here" and there is an off ramp, it makes sense to take the off ramp. It would not be uncommon for a driver to cut in front of another vehicle to take this off ramp only to find that the instruction was given because there was a turn in the road. Now, considering there was no accident, the driver is no long on its curse and must back track or go even further out of the way. The fact that the machine is touch screen makes it easy to operate, but it can cause problems if a driver is trying to reprogram, or look up a nearby gas station while driving. There are road signs on the main highways that tell exactly where a rest stop or gas station is miles in advance. Is that really worth the danger or an accident? It is the same idea as cell phones, they are very useful when in an emergency but should they be used when they could possibly create an emergency? People today are becoming crippled and using the new technology as a crutch, but if the technology fails then that person will fail too. I think that Miss Teen South Carolina explains this well (youtube.com)
