S-38. New Technology, New Information

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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Adam Navis.

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And I'm Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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An Exercise Medicine Centre in London wanted to test how many steps children take each day. They gave pedometers to young children. A pedometer is a small device that attaches to clothes. It measures the number of steps a person takes.

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However, some of the results were strange. Many children were getting a lot of exercise. But they were not losing weight. It was discovered that the children had found a way to avoid exercise. They attached their pedometer to their dogs!

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Today's Spotlight is on how new technology is telling us new things about ourselves. We will look at how two new technologies are giving us a new kind of information about the way we live our lives: Nike Plus and GeoTagging.

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For people who study human behavior, there are many ways to gather information. One of the most popular is a survey. Researchers question many specially selected people. They ask a set of questions to learn about behavior, choices, or identity.

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Good surveys gather responses from a wide variety of people. In this way, it can represent a whole community. However, this method has some problems. It costs a lot of time, money, and energy. People can lie or make mistakes when answering questions. More importantly, some behavior is difficult to measure just by asking questions.

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The invention of the Internet was the first step in finding a new method of measuring human behavior. The Internet connects millions of people from all over the world. And it creates a place where people can be honest about themselves. But the Internet alone was not enough to make a change.

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People needed to find a way to use the structure of the Internet to collect information from people. At first, websites permitted people to enter their own information. Sparkpeople.com is a website like this. It is a free service. People can enter information about how much food they eat, water they drink, or weight they lose. It lets people record exercise information. This is a way to measure progress. It helps people meet their goal of living a better life. And by looking at the group information, researchers can see behavior patterns. However, it still takes time and effort. It only works when people remember to use it. One step past this was an invention called Nike+.

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Since 1972, the Nike company has made running shoes, exercise clothes, and sport watches. They even created a shoe with a computer in it. This computer can record speed and distance. But for years there was no good way to collect and use this information. In 2004 Nike engineers saw that many people were running with digital music players. These engineers worked with Apple Computers to design something that combined the computer in the Nike shoe, with a digital music player. The result was the Nike+.

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Nike+ works this way. A woman goes for a run. The computer in her shoe sends information to her music player. She listens to music, but she also hears how far she has gone, how fast she is going, and how much energy she has used. If she is feeling tired she can play a chosen song to give herself a lift. This is called her "power song."

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When she returns home, she connects her digital music player to her computer. Her computer sends all the information to the Nike+ website. It records each run. She can see how fast she ran or how far she went. She can see when she played her "power song." She can compare each month's running. She can even create a goal for herself.

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Millions of people use Nike+. All this information in one place has provided some interesting results. Writer Mark McClusky wrote about this for WIRED magazine:

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"Nike is learning things we have never known before. In the winter, people in the United States run more often than people in Europe and Africa. But for shorter distances. The average time of a run worldwide is thirty-five minutes. The most popular Nike+ Power Song is "Pump It" by the Black Eyed Peas. Nike has done more than create a successful product. It has changed the way more than a million people think about exercise."

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Another way that people are gathering information is by using a GPS. GPS is a global positioning system. A small device connects to satellites. These satellites find the position of the GPS device anywhere in the world. The device then shows that information.

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GPS devices are very helpful. GPS can direct you where you want to go. It can help find someone if they are lost. Many people now carry a GPS device to stay safe.

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But another use of GPS is call GeoTagging. Several websites will connect your digital camera and your GPS information. It will create a map of the path you travelled. It will find where you took each picture and connect the two. These websites will even collect all the pictures from the same place taken by different people. In this way, people are creating a new way to see pictures from places all around the world. People can see where other people travel. They can learn how people travel and spend their time.

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These new technologies have limits. Some of these devices cost a lot of money. Most devices require some education about how to use. And any device is only as good as the person using it. When the children put the pedometers on their dogs, they showed how this new kind of information can misrepresent real human behavior.

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Further, these ways of gathering information only reflect the people who use them. We need to recognize the limits of this new kind of information. So for now, traditional research methods still offer better and important information about human behavior.

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Also, no technology can tell us who we are. Technology does not tell us why we do things. However new technology does offer a fun and exciting way to understand our lives. Perhaps most importantly, it makes us wonder what else the future may bring?

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The writer and producer of this program was Adam Navis. The voices you heard were from the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program. Computer users can hear our programs, read our scripts, and see our word list on our website at www.radio.english.net. This program is called "New Technology, New Information." We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye!