Marketing Flash Drives

Local Newspaper:
Electronics Company USA's newest product is the Cruzer Mini 1GB Flash Drive. Measuring only 2 inches in length, the Cruzer Mini is the latest in convenient portability. It works with most operating systems making the top choice in saving and transferring all your important files and family photos from computer to computer. It can be found at any of your local electronics stores.

Incoming students:
Looking for somewhere convenient to store all your term papers? Then look no further than the Cruzer Mini 1GB Flash Drive! With a retractable connector and measuring only about the size of a pack of gum, it is the ultimate in portability. It works with most operating systems and allows your files to be easily transferred from one computer to the next. You can find at any electronics store or at the computer store on campus.

Programming students:
Need something to save all the programs that you have taken weeks to create? Try the Cruzer Mini 1GB Flash Drive. It measures only about 2 inches but has a transfer of 450 mbps delivering both speed and portability when you need it most. Its driver connectivity is 2.0 but is able to be backward capable allowing you to use it on almost any computer and operating system (Windows 2000/XP/Vista and Mac OS X v10.12 and above needed). You can find it at your local electronics store or the computer store on campus.

A Misleading Graphic or No Big Deal?

A picture entitled “Epidemic Scorecard” was published in the New York Times in April 2003 and was meant to show all the epidemics of the world and how many people they kill a year. The main focus of the picture was SARS (a serious disease at the time). However, the picture was arranged so that SARS was a tiny bow of information down at the bottom with tuberculosis and malaria being the “main players”, i.e. the disease attracting the most attention. This graphic was criticized for being very misleading by misrepresenting the degree of severity of SARS and the other diseases on the picture.
In my opinion, this graphic was extremely misleading because it would lead the general public to believe that they should really be on the lookout for diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria but not pay too much attention to something like cardiovascular disease or tobacco use. Also, the text on the left side of the picture reiterates this point be saying that “SARS just isn’t as formidable a threat as we’ve made it out to be” (New York Times, 1). This is such a horrible statement to say because it could cause people to become careless and decrease their perceived risk of being infected with SARS or some of the other diseases that we see in the US. Because this information is being read in the New York Times, it is more likely to be taken seriously and could lead to disastrous results.
Being a health major, this statement really disturbs me because SARS is a serious threat and should not be taken lightly. In the Western world (mainly the United States), we have had many advances in medicine that has almost eradicated infectious diseases like TB or malaria but still have to worry about things like SARS or influenza, which is something that most of the readers of this article will most likely be exposed at some point in their lives. The biggest epidemic of TB was in the early 20th century but the SARS epidemic was only in 2003 so it is still a very real threat that could be ignited at any moment. This graphic would not have been so bad if it had been made known in clear text that these values were for the world’s population and that the numbers for the US would be in a much different order.

Since the song is about scientists trying to create something, I thought that this pic portrays that accurately.

Which Ethic Is Best?

Based on the definitions of the 4 different kinds of ethics, the best form to use would be a blend of Aristotelian and Kantian ethics. According to Kant, ethics are based on a sense of duty and material gain, self-interest, and the greatest good for the greatest number are all inconsequential. Aristotle's definition is similar to Kant's but is not based on a sense of duty. Aristotle says that concern for material gain and reciprocation is not what is important but the principle of justice and upholding the greater good is the reason to use ethics. He also says that the abandonment of material gain or self-interest is the basis of morality and ethics. Given these definitions, I would say that my next course of action would be to follow Aristotle's words of combining moral wisdom with practical wisdom to receive an ethical outcome and not worry about the backlash that I may encounter. My assignment as the technical communicator is to take the information and disseminate it to the public in an honest, concise, but explanatory way so that they are very well-informed. I cannot concern myself with being afraid of being labeled a "whistle-blower"; I have an obligation to the public to get the information to them. Also, I must write the information in such a way that it encompasses all people and not just a select few that look good on paper. People will be much more receptive to information if they believe that it concerns/applies to them. If you are a Black single mother of three, you are not going to read health-related materials about a White, middle-class, suburban family so it is important to keep the entire audience in mind while I am writing these pamphlets.