Open Discussion: The Impressive Internet

[JustineEvansUM]

The Impressive Internet

This discussion is open to all.

Please respond to this open issue and discuss your experiences this week with the materials. What interests you about the Internet web design, and/or web development? Was any of that information new to you?

For me, it's amazing how physical the system is. With the rise of Cloud data it all seems to intangible, but accessing all this unlimited information is still a very fragile, tactile thing. And that's incredible. I'm interested to see how discussions on Net Neutrality, the redefining of geo-political borders, and the future use of feasible fiber internet will affect our "always on" culture that seems so unaware of the systems it uses.

Please feel free to build your comments off of each other. You can specifically respond to other people using the "@" following by their GitHub username.

[BenWeyer]

@JustineEvansUM I too was amazed about the physical infrastructure that has been built over the last several decades which has connected innumerable devices and individuals! I think you also bring up a good point in that with the end of net neutrality, it seems likely internet users will become more aware of the system we so frequently use, but at what cost? What may be some possible consequences of the current administration's decision to repeal rules that provided the freedom to surf the web without the interference of internet providers?

[mafordah]

It's interesting to think, with how open our internet is, that so much of the world has restricted to no internet access. Other political systems, like China, only offer closed access to the internet and often monitor usage. People can be arrested for what they have to say on the internet or even just to other people. It really helps you appreciate the ability we have to create open web pages and express what we have to say. Though I am also curious how Net Neutrality will affect how internet providers interfere.

[katholmgren]

I'm interested in web design/development because of the balance between art and functionality. From what I've seen, it lets you exercise creativity and problem-solving at the same time, keeping both sides of the brain at work. It also provides a very useful service to people who don't know how to make their own website. I also think it's interesting how easily the Internet has blended into our culture. It's only been around for 30 years and yet it's everywhere. It's exciting to think about the future of the Internet. When you think about it, we are in the early days of the World Wide Web. It's exciting that we get to witness and expand it!

[sr121228]

I'm very interested in web design because it is something that is so complicated, yet people tend to make it simple and easy to do. The internet is a crazy place and something that affects people on a daily basis. Learning how to be a part of that system and continue to learn will be great! Overall, the internet is only going to continue to grow bigger and bigger every day, with this, we need to keep up to pace and I cannot wait to learn about how to do that!

[jattleberger]

I am amazed by how far technology has advanced in the last decade. The video explaining github was great. I learned in another class I took about how China is struggling when it comes to farming these days and wonder why there wasn't more information to help them. The idea of farmers and agriculturalists having the ability to share information like that is wonderful. I am truly excited to learn how to build a website!

[tclark1178]

It's interesting how fragile the system is. Internet cables have to run on the ocean floor just to connect continents together via the internet. Whereas a lot of people think of the internet as something buzzing about in the sky or "cloud" they don't understand the work that has to be done to have everybody connected.

[ElijahDGarcia]

I have some experience with HTML and CSS and I think it's extremely interesting. There's so much that goes into the web pages we use every day, and most people have no idea what's going on in the background. So many moving parts, I fear there may be some point in the future where we simply don't know how the aging infrastructure works.

[Bigskyy]

I am thrilled at the opportunity to learn how to build a website. The Tech world has come a very long way, even in the last five years. Previously, I used to compare changes in the Technology to the last decade. However, (I am showing my age, as I am an older student) my comparison's in Tech are associated with the last five years, due to the rapid-fire changes within the industry. Now is a perfect time to be taking a Web-Design course. The course work is still a challenge, but not hopelessly difficult. I am quite excited to be here learning with all of you.

[treshasanders]

As a computer science major, I'm very interested in learning web development from more of a design perspective. I've been managing websites for years, and building websites as part of my job for the past year, so this will be a refresher for me (though I'm sure there will be plenty opportunity to learn more!). My fascination has always been data. I like to consider myself a bit of an SEO expert, so I'm curious if that comes up at all in this course.

[aprilmh]

I am excited to learn about coding and web design. By being a Journalism Major being capable of building a website could come in handy if my future career requires me to know how. I have pretty much zero previous experience in coding and I want to at least be able to do the basics.

[aleksandrawas]

I chose to take this course to build a new skill. Studying marketing and international business I believe that the new skill of wed design and coding will be very beneficial to me. I would love to build my own website in the future and understand the development process a lot more. Currently, I own my own website to display my photography, but there is a lot more I would like to do to improve the traffic and understand the data behind it all. When I was in middle school I took a computer class and we touched on html and css, but since then I have not touched it. I look forward to all the material!

[aspendee]

I am interested in knowing how this whole system works. I use the internet everyday and I feel as if I have taken it for granted. I just learned last year that there are cables in the ocean in order to connect us to servers. There is a lot of work going into something that we can scroll through within a matter of minutes! I am an artist and I rely on wix to host my website. I really want to be able to design and create my own website from scratch. I think I can get really creative with it and that just makes sense to me as an artist. @katholmgren I agree with your statement about art and functionality. Isn't that exciting! I also think it is very interesting that web designing will work both halves of our brains. Very interesting observation. Thank you. I am looking forward to this semester.

[alexramz02]

I chose to take this class to learn about how to build a website. I have my own photography and videography side gig and I would like to learn how to create a website for all of that. I think that building it from scratch, while more difficult, will yield results that I like better than if I were using a website to build mine. I am excited to learn about how it all works. Theres so much going on just to keep it all going.

[LC-Hansen]

It has been very interesting to learn all of the new information. The moment in the TED talk where he shows you the building in NYC where the Atlantic servers are located was very profound. The idea that this building your looking at is a part of vital global infrastructure was kind of jarring. I also liked hearing about the expansion into Africa, because I enjoy learning about culture usage of the internet. Excited to learn something new. It is my final semester and I didn't intend to be here, but after building an entirely new class schedule in order to graduate I am actually very pleased with how it all turned out. I am interested to see what new skills I will have to offer the world in a few months time.

[quinncorcoran]

I'm here in Missoula at the University's Journalism School. I took this class because as I'm sure here everybody knows, web design is a powerful skill in this internet filled world.

Everything we have done so far in class is so new to me. It excites me to jump into a new challenge.

I think we're all going to have such a super year.

[LDeer03]

Honestly, I am terrified of coding. I am a very detailed person that sometimes transposes numbers, so the idea of an entire language being based off of 0 and 1 is terrifying. However, I took an interactive game course last year that I ended up thoroughly enjoying. Therefore, I am optimistic, but still hesitant. Although I have no desire to ever do anything with coding, I think it will be very beneficial to at least understand the process. It is all new and I felt like a true beginner this week exploring this assignment.

[NicolasReam]

Hello! My name is Nicolas Ream. I am interested in how to use Internet web design and web development in luxury marketing and the construction industry. I am interested in how SEO can be impacted by web design. Much of the information has been fairly new to me. While I know much about the marketing "side" of web design, I do not know much about programming/coding. @LDeer03, I agree with you that it will be a "unique" experience learning a new language.

[Traci-Harper]

I like the creative possibilities with web design and development. Plus everything is headed in the tech direction so learning more about it is awesome! Yes, some of the information was new to me.

[k8huot14]

There are a lot of really interesting and fascinating facts about the creation and structure of the internet and the world wide web. I think a large majority of people today would not be able to simply answer what the difference between the two are. The internet connects people while the world wide web connects information. I love how simple that explanation is. Once you get an understanding of what the internet and web are and just how they are connected, then you can start to look at the building blocks and tools used to create a simple web page and continue to build from there.

It is strange to think about how fragile digital information actually is. Everything the internet was built from requires physical components to run, access and store this digital information. I am thankful for clouds for this reason, but it is still not a fool-proof way to safely store information. My Samsung Galaxy S8+ that was only a couple years old, randomly died one night just a couple weeks after my father passed away back in April. I was so devastated to lose all of the photos on that phone that I had not backed up to the cloud. Hard lessons to learn. Back up your important stuff!!!!

[morganschulte]

What interests me about web development was the initial purpose. Having research papers and scientific information is great, but that is not at all what the majority of people use the web for today. It would be interesting to go back in time and tell Tim Berners-Lee that I am getting an undergraduate degree online. I am excited to learn more. I think knowledge of the dark/deep web and cybersecurity will be increasingly important. I am onboard with @LDeer03 about being terrified of this course, especially having joined it late. I'm hoping my confidence will build and I will be able to enjoy coding as a tool to create.

[Mase3206]

I'm excited to do deep dives into web development. I know some HTML and a pinch of CSS, but most of my web design has been in Weebly and Wordpress. I'm looking forward to abandoning those platforms to do my own thing.