The Future, in 4 short films #edcmooc

I watched 4 short films, which portray future technology from different perspectives. I will try to make sense of all these through the tutors questions and my own impressions.The films were:

Film 1: A day made of glass 2
Film 2: Bridging our future
Film 3: A digital tomorrow
Film 4: Sight

Film 1 and 2 were adverts by Corning and Intel respectively, showing how there products would seamlessly fit into our future lives, particularly into education.  The thing that struck me most about the videos, was that despite all the fantastic technology, the kids were still being taught in a very traditional way. Mostly in a classroom, while the students soaked up knowledge from the teacher/expert via the technology or the technology itself. This contrasts nicely with Stewarts article on MOOCs and the New Literacies of Participation (more on that later). Both videos are trying to portray a Utopian view of the future, as they would being adverts. However, for an old cynic like me, who has read/watched to much Scifi, I found them rather depressing, I imagine a massive underclass, who live separately, with no means to access this bright new world. 

Film 3 on the other hand I found far more representative of how I see the future. I think the overall message in "A Digital Tomorrow" is the future is never as bright as you think it is going to be. We are living the past future, now (if that makes sense), I think we all get excited about future technological developments, but once they arrive they just slot in, they become the norm and life goes on.  This is also highlighted in the video with the mix of the old and new technologies, the hand recognition to open the car door, but then she leans in and opens the boot with a latch (I thought that was really funny).  But that is how it is, in the two adverts for Cornings and Intel, the technology is all encompassing, it all matches, it's all linked, but you can guarantee that in reality, if when start using this kind of technology in education, there will still be a kid sat there with a pencil and note pad, because he forgot his "Glass", or he dropped it, or he forgot to charge it, or his parents can't afford it, or he just prefers to write things in a note book, because it helps him remember.

In film 4 we see a character who uses technology to his own advantage. The sky diving sequence is a metaphor for how he lives his life as a game. Through "badging" (a new term to me) he gains data that gives him the advantage when trying to seduce the girl. The ending is simply "restart", like in a game if you fail, you start again. This is a very dystopian view of the future when compared to the Corning and Intel adverts.