There really isn't much to write about for this week's reading assignment.
I became familiar with local area networks many years ago, for its great use in gaming. In high school, some of my friends and I had "LAN parties" almost every weekend. We would all get together and log in to the common network and played computer games. Nerdy, I know, but it introduced me to a lot of networking skills. I've since lost a lot of those skills because everything is so automated today. Just plug your ethernet cord into the cable modem, and you're good to go. I've helped some friends set up their wireless networks, but even these are super automated and simple now.
The various computer networks described in the second wikipedia article and the youtube video were very interesting. I didn't really know the history of networks and networking, so it was a good introduction to that. The "hardware components" section of the second wikipedia article was the most unfamiliar thing for me in this week's readings. I have heard of many of these things, but never really knew what each one did.
It is interesting to think about how far networking has come in just the last few years. It is now possible for a person to stream content from their computer to a TV that is equipped with internet access. I have my computer streaming music, movies, and pictures to my TV through my Playstation3. All of this can be done with a simple wireless router.
It seems like a universal piece of content in the articles we read is the fact that technologies progress rapidly. I pretty much expect to see it (if not in those exact words, then through illustration) in every article. That said, I almost feel as though reading articles like those on Wikipedia is a bit like shoveling snow with a pitchfork-- reading articles about the topical history of technologies without any realistic possibility of getting truly up to date. In any case, it is pretty amazing that so much can be done with just a wireless router!
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