Analysis

April 30, 2020

IEPA 060 Reading Writing 6

Rhetorical Analysis Essay #1

In his article, “Apple and Google Have a Trustworthy Pandemic Solution,” Alex Webb (2020) argues that health services should use the contact-tracing technology offered by Apple and Google because it protects the data of clients better. For a long period, people have been told not to trust these big tech companies with their data, but this tool can handle the Covid-19 pandemic by people using their smartphones (Webb, 2020). The writer tells us why the tool is important to against this pandemic. In his article, Webb used example to show how the analog system was slow, evidence of what makes Google and Apple better placed to produce the toolkit, evidence on how the tool works, and an example of technological approach that Singapore is using to convince readers that the proposed toolkit will help tackle the pandemic.

Webb has used ethos in this article. His choice of words in the article shows his expertise as a writer. He starts the article in a way that shows he relates to the concerns of user. This I seen in the first sentence, “it’s confusing, I get it.” This is a strategy to gain the readers trust. The writer goes ahead to conclude his article by showing readers that he is not providing a biased opinion. He states that this is not a perfect solution because a user might receive an exposure notification but he or she was not exposed. At the end of the article, Webb provides additional information about his expertise as an opinion columnist in the field of technology.

The writer has used pathos in his article. Webb states that “if we hope to end the lockdowns before a vaccine is made available, then contact tracing will be essential” (Webb, 2020). Webb goes on to tells of countries with large number of infected people and a slow analog contact-tracing approach to make the readers feel worried about the current contact tracing method. In one example, Webb says that it will be a lot of work to use the current contact-tracing process in the U. K with 100,000 confirmed cases. He also says that the United States needs at least 100,000 contact tracers but has only 2,200 now (Webb, 2020). Also, the writer uses this example to make the reader feel concerned and afraid about the possibility of a lock down for a year. Additionally, Webb says the current ways of contact-tracing are analog, takes 14 days and covers a small people which is a problem. He sums up the article by saying, “If we’re going to avoid being locked down for the next year, the benefits may outweigh the risks” (Webb, 2020). By making the reader feel worried and concerned about the current analog contact-tracing method, the author persuades readers that the faster methods like the one proposed by Google and Apple.

In addition, the author uses logos in the article to reason with readers on why the two companies are better placed. Webb provides evidence on why Google and Apple are better placed to provide the toolkit. He achieves this by providing an example on how Google built a $135 billion advertising business that depend on automated tracking and millions of ads (Webb, 2020). Additionally, Webb goes ahead to explain how the toolkit will work as way of persuading and convincing the readers to adopt the proposed system. He also explains to the readers how the toolkit protects their privacy by providing facts about how it works.

Finally, Webb also provides an example of the technological approach in Singapore to show his readers that such technological approach has been in use and they have helped in some countries. In this example, Webb says that the approach sends all contact-tracing information collected from the user’s phone to a central server. He says that the government, through their health services, manages these central databases (Webb, 2020). Another example is the European Union who have endorsed both centralized approach by governments and the decentralized approach by the tech giants. Webb uses these two examples as a way to persuade the readers to support the proposed technology.

Alex Webb is obviously trying to persuade and convince the readers on why the proposed toolkit will help speed up contact-tracing. The examples of countries with high number of infected persons but slow approach makes the reader feel worried and concerned about the current system. The writer also points imply that the proposed toolkit by Google and Apple is the smart solution that the world needs to overcome long lockdown period and tackle the pandemic faster. Hopefully, the app will help provide a solution to tackle this pandemic and life can go back to normal.

Reference:

Webb, A. (2020, Apr 19). “Apple and Google Have a Trustworthy Pandemic Solution.” Bloomberg Opinion. Retrieved from: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-20/you-can-trust-apple-and-google-with-covid-19-contact-tracing-data