Ronald+Ramos

Hi my name is Ronald Ramos, I'm in the CCIT Major and this is my page!

**Lab 1**
Question: Compare and contrast a Sony Walkman with an Apple iPod, and describe the differences in their physical construction, interface design, technology and delivery of sound. Quick sketches are helpful for this analytical process.

I remember my first form of mobile music, it was a big, heavy plastic yellow Sony Walkman with gray rubber parts around it for a better grip. I would bring it to school with me and listen to it during breaks, the only problem was that the only cassette I had at the time was the Rocky soundtrack, but nevertheless it was entertaining. There was no such thing as a complicated interface, it was all big, thick buttons on the side and the sound was as good as the ones airplane headphones could give you. In other words headphone technology wasn't as advanced either so you couldn't ask for much out of the Walkman.

On the other hand I also remember when I got my first iPod. It was my birthday and my brother was returning from his first year of university and he brought me a big black box. Just looking over the details of the package made me feel impressed. It was sleek, white and shiny but I was most impressed with how small it was. In my head I couldn't figure out how such a small device could do so much. And the touch wheel was fun to use as an interface. This was technology moving forward alright. The sound was also really good but also headphone technology had gone forward as well, nowadays you can find really high quality headphones for affordable prices so the sound quality of any music device goes up.

Lab 2
Shelter - Mad Housers Hut This project is intended to provide immediate relief for homeless people in an area where they are already camping in. It is done with permission of the land owners and they can be built in half a day. What i like about these shelters is that they come with a lock, a heating mechanism and allows the user to sleep comfortably. The idea for this shelter is to be a stepping stone to a better way of life for the user.

Health - PermaNet What I like about this product is that not only is it more effective at protecting the user for up to 4 years, they also wash easily without losing its effectiveness. It also tackles one of the world's most underrated problems; Malaria. It kills more than Swine Flu ever did and yet the attention given to it is nothing compared to the media scandal the flu brought.

Water - Lifestraw Out of all the products this one is my favorite, just the simplicity of it is astonishing and its effectiveness is impressive for something so simple. This mobile water purification tool is something I would personally use and I would go around trying it out in different ponds and rivers. It is very important to combat all the waterborne diseases and this is a great tool for it

Education - One Laptop Per Child The XO project was something I was very well aware of, since it reached my home country Peru. I have always believed that education is a necessity and this project prioritizes its distribution amongst third world countries. This is a very important project that is targeting the root of poverty. What I also find interesting is the fact that if you buy a computer you can manage to get one sent free to a child as well.

Energy - StarSight This project seems to me like the most futuristic one, or better yet the one that seems the slickest. Having lights be fed by solar energy and then monitored by a wireless mechanism is brilliant. By not having power grids go through them they wont cease to function in case of a natural disaster and that is also a plus for this project.

Transport - Pot in Pot Cooler This product is so simple and it does not require anything that is not readily available in developing countries already. It is pretty much a mobile refrigeration system and that is very helpful to prevent essential products from going bad specially when this cannot be afforded.

Stakeholder analysis is the most important step in designing a project such as this, since it is for them that you are designing it for. You have to consider their living conditions and the limitations and problems that come with it. Only from this can you really start to tackle an important issue, without accomplishing this step you will not be able to efficiently come up with an effective solution, specially if its for a stakeholder group that you are not accustomed with.

The 5 characteristics of a socially responsible project are 1. Cost effective 2. It heavily involves the community and the target user 3. No other life will be harmed by the use of this product 4. Makes good use of accessible materials 5. Has a set purpose with a time limit

** Lab 3 **
Jan Chipchase is a researcher for Nokia that goes down to different parts of the world where cellphone use is beginning to grow. His role is to analyze their lifestyles and figure out where it is in their lives that cellphones could help them with. He engages in personal conversations and does not act as a marketer but rather as a scientist. He builds up a huge amount of data on the characteristics of the different societies he visits and this is sent to be analyzed by the designers at Nokia.

The reason they hire a man like Jan Chipchase is because a third of the world still does not have access to cellphones yet and it is a virtually untapped market. Nokia has also realized that the market is growing exponentially at a faster rate every year. They also found out through research that as income grows in poor families so does the spending on telecommunication products, even more than spending on health or food. This is because communication is no longer being seen as a commodity but rather as a necessity that helps their job or lifestyle in substantial ways.

It is most important for Nokia to study these users, because as individual societies they are all different in how they adapt to the use of cellphones, some have innovative ways to distribute this technology. If Nokia can begin to understand these unique characteristics they can shape up their product to match the customer in a more effective way.

Achieving a Sustainable Economy Micro-financing does indeed provide prosperity and opportunity for all since it is the least fortunate that are being targeted with aid. However, it also does leave responsibility amongst the users' hands which is how they would want it anyways. They are in charge of their own economic destinies and that sometimes an opportunity is all they really need to succeed.

Ensuring a Strong, Healthy and Just Society Similar to the previous point, Micro-financing does provide an equal opportunity for all by giving those who are less privileged the same opportunity to succeed in their society as others. It is a healthy exercise as well since it promotes responsibility and a sense of success amongst the poorest people. This form of success is a benefit to their personal well being.

** Lab 4 **
The materials economy according to Annie Leonard was an interesting eye-opener for me. I always wondered about the cheap prices of certain products and was interested in cost externalization as Annie explained it. It is a process where the consumption of products is what society is mainly focused on, and even though it is supposed to be a cycle, in reality its a dangerous linear process that creates a lot of waste and causes damage to the environment and society over several stages.

These five stages are Extraction, Production, Distribution, Consumption, and Disposal. Nevertheless the process is even more complex then that. She explains that because we live from finite resources an infinite destructive linear process is not the best match. Throughout these stages we understand that we are abusing the planet and making other people pay for the low prices of the products and consumers support this process by consuming.

Ultimately she compares the mania for consumption in the U.S. to other countries. The U.S. only owns around 5% of the world's resources yet they consume around 30% of it and at the same time create around 30% of the world's waste. How is this fair? The most interesting fact is that if every planet were to consume like the U.S. we would need around 5 of them to be able to use enough resources.

Extraction: This is the process of removing all of the resources around us in order to be later converted into products and consumer goods. It can be from cutting down trees in the Amazon for lumber to mining our mountains dry for minerals. Annie points out that 1/3 of our resources have already been cleared out and that we are definitely extracting way too much and at a rate that diminishes growth and sustainability.

Production: These resources are then mixed with toxic chemicals to make products. This in turn makes the products themselves highly toxic, yet we still consume them. Not only are we harming ourselves but the environment as well as these products are then turned into toxic waste.

Distribution: This is where the externalization of costs happens. The products are distributed to shops to be sold and in order for this process to stay smooth these products need to be sold as soon as possible. This means that shops sell them at very cheap prices that don't reflect the costs of production.

Consumption: This is where we come in to do our part in the harmful process. As consumers we are the source of power to this cycle meaning we have the choice to consume. Technically we are not being forced to consume yet we are certainly socialized to see consumption as a manner of progress, obtaining happiness and approval and as a way of contributing for the betterment of society. All this is monitored by corporations and governments as a plan to make sure we keep consuming.

Disposal: As the final stage it is where all the harm to the rest of the world is done. Not only are our rates of disposal increasing over the years, we are now disposing too much in a manner that is way too harmful. So no matter how we look at it we have too much trash accumulating too quickly and it is being taken care of in the most harmful ways to the environment.

The Flash animation was really slick. Its black and white theme proved simple yet very informative along with the whole presentation. The animations behind Annie really helped her a lot in providing information but also in making this education more interactive and fresh. It is also really well organized and overall executed properly. The whole explanation of the process through 5 stages was very dynamic and rich of data even though at a first glance it is quite simplistic, however there is a lot of detail and you can tell a lot of work was put into it.

Lab 5
Ergonomics is defined as "the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance" by the The International Ergonomics Association. This basically means that Ergonomics is the study of design to fit the end user whether it be equipment or a program. In the video we are shown 2 workers in similar jobs going through different situations due to their equipment. One of them is equipped with the right chair, the right lighting, the right monitor, keyboard and table and this allows him to work comfortably and with success. On the other hand, the other worker has an uncomfortable chair that he cannot get to maneuver properly along with his keyboard, and other objects at the table. Pretty much because of his poor equipment and how it ergonomically doesn't suit him he is unable to due his job properly. The notion of Ergonomics ultimately is that when the product fits the user it has several positive effects, such as increasing job performance, providing a healthy environment and motivation to succeed.

Frank Gilbreth applied Ergonomics to bricklaying and studied the process carefully before he concluded that there was a lot of unnecessary movement involved in laying bricks. By tweaking the usual way bricklaying was performed he was able to increase productivity by 200%. This is just an example of how efficient Ergonomics can be in pushing productivity forward.

A Therblig is