M&Ms: Freshman Experience
(600.105)
General Breakdown
In this course, we will look at three different types of computing toys:
- Cameras
- Processors
- Monitors
For each of these, we will consider two key questions: First, how does the toy work? And
second, how can we compare the different models of a class of toys to each other? The goal will
be to provide the students with a low-level understanding of the functionality of the different
toys and to expose some of the myths that are exploited by the industry to market lower quality
models as higher end.
Student Responsibilities
For each class of toys, students will be assigned a recent online article describing a new toy
model. As part of preparing the assigned reading, students will be expected to answer the following
two questions in writing:
- What are some of the standard methods for effectively evaluating the performance of the toy?
- What are some of the standard methods used by the marketing to hype up the appeal of a toy,
(that do not accurately reflect the toy's quality)?