Dear Media Students,

Thank you for attending my class today. Please prepare the following two assignments for 14 December 2017. You will be asked to actively participate.

ASSIGNMENT 1

Read James Somers's `The Coming Software Apocalypse,' which appeared in The Atlantic on 26 September 2017.

• Be prepared to discuss this essay in front of the classroom (without slides).
• Surprise all of us with your thoughts & insights on software!

• Some questions to think about:
  • What makes software so special in the history of technology? In media history?
  • Why would you promote self-driving cars and pacemakers? Why would you avoid using them? (Note that pacemakers today are network connected.)
  • Give reasons to use or eschew an Internet of Moving Things. Compare with an Internet of Static Things (e.g., fridges, ovens, televisions).

ASSIGNMENT 2

Read the following two papers and be prepared to discuss them (without using slides).

• T. Haigh. Actually, Turing did not invent the computer. CACM, Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 36-41, 2014.
• E.G. Daylight. A Turing Tale. CACM, Vol. 57, No. 10, pp. 36-38, 2014.

Both papers are available here. Here are some questions to think about:

• Why does the Western World need a hero, such as Alan Turing?
• Give reasons why Turing did or did not invent the computer.
• Give reasons why, in hindsight, Turing was special in his life.
• Is a computer a Turing machine? Is your cell phone a Turing machine?
• Is it dangerous to view everything as a computer? As a Turing machine? As an algorithm? As software? Why should we care anyway?
• What is software according to you? Is it like maths? Like music? Something else?
• What is a software error according to you?