FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TECNOLOGICAL CHANGE CS 306 Aug. 25th – 28th FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TECNOLOGICAL CHANGE

… all technological change is a trade-off… CS 306 The human dilemma is as it has always been, and it is a delusion to believe that the technological changes of our era have rendered irrelevant the wisdom of the ages and the sages. … all technological change is a trade-off… A Faustain bargain

First Idea – Faustain bargain CS 306 First Idea – Faustain bargain Giveth and taketh away Advantages and disadvantages Examples: Automobile Air Craft/plane Medical Technology Banks Cell phone Idea number one, then is that culture always pays a price for technology.

Second Idea – Winners/losers in technological changes CS 306 Second Idea – Winners/losers in technological changes Second Idea is about the distribution: Advantages and disadvantages of new technologies are never distributed evenly among population. There are always winners and losers in technological change. Favors some people and harms others

CS 306 Second Idea – Winners/losers in technological changes Who specifically benefits from the development of a new technology? Which group, what type of person, what kind of industry will be favored?

CS 306 And, of course, which groups of people will thereby be harmed? Second Idea – Winners/losers in technological changes And, of course, which groups of people will thereby be harmed? Winners: Big businesses and Big Company: Multi-national corporations… Name it… large-scale organizations like: military, Govt (tax collection), bank, Medical science (researchers) etc.

CS 306 And… Steel workers, Vegetable store owner, Automobile mechanic Second Idea – Winners/losers in technological changes And… Steel workers, Vegetable store owner, Automobile mechanic Bakers, bricklayers, dentists?? … lives the computer now instrudes?

CS 306 Intrusion: Junk mail from advertising company Name it… Second Idea – Winners/losers in technological changes Intrusion: Junk mail from advertising company Name it… MS always encourages (losers p.4) to “be enthusiastic” and use or upgrade their new products… What interests you represent? To whom are you hoping to give power? From whom will you be witholding power?

Third Idea – “The medium is the message.” CS 306 Third Idea – “The medium is the message.” Embedded in every technology there is a powerful idea, sometimes two or three powerful ideas. Hidden Abstract nature “The medium is the message.”

CS 306 Third Idea – “The medium is the message.” The consequences of technological change are always vast, often unpredictable and largely irreversible.

Fourth Idea: Technological change is not additive; it is ecological. CS 306 Fourth Idea: Technological change is not additive; it is ecological. Capitalism Risk takers Invention Innovation Now, is it up Bill Gate? Capitalists are, in a word, radicals.

CS 306 The best way to view technology is as a strange intruder. Fifth Idea: “myth” Refers to a common tendency to think of our technology creations as if they were God-given, as if they were a part of natural order of things – Roland Barthes The best way to view technology is as a strange intruder. “Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.” – Pope John Paul II Capitalism Risk takers Invention Innovation Now, is it up Bill Gate? Capitalists are, in a word, radicals.