ENGR 101/HUM 200 Technology and Society September 29, 2005

Announcements The Diamond Age: any edition is fine Additional office hours tomorrow: Prof. Kolko from 3:00-4:30 in EGA 213 for any questions about the paper Note-takers needed: contact Disability Resources for Students: Schmitz Hall, 448; ;

Reflection Paper Due Monday October 3 Length: one page (single-spaced) Due at the beginning of class

Technology Ranking Results

What do engineers do? Deal with tangible objects –Wheels, bricks, strings Deal with elements of air, fire, water, earth –Energy, motion, heating Baking is engineering?! –Mechanical mixing, controlled heating, human judgment: synthesizing (More next Tuesday)

Social Shaping of Technology Definitions Examples

Technological Determinism Technologies change because of advances in science or because of an internal logic, and then… they affect society In other words, the relationship of influence flows one way: from technology to social relations

Inspirational Notion of Invention Technological innovation is inevitable Springs wholly formed from flashes of inspiration –Ignores incremental growth –Tech innovation is creative, imaginative, and also dependent on seeing ways that existing devices can be improved (“Make it Better”), and extending scope of successful techniques

Interpretive Flexibility Different social groups involved with a technology can have very different understandings of its technical characteristics and abilities/purposes Hmmm…when do we know a machine is working? (the way it ought to?) –How is your windows operating system doing?

Technological System Technologies are not isolated, separate devices An individual technology becomes workable only when it is one part of a larger system (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts) –Examples: washing machine, missile

Example of Technological Determinism Stirrups and feudal society –Once you can fight well from a horse, then you need a way to support this expensive way of waging battle (so, must realign society to support elite mounted warriors) Hard v. soft determinism Changing technology is one of many factors that affects society: political, economic, and cultural forces also exert influence

What’s So Bad About TD? It makes for some entertaining stories It does focus our attention on an important and influential dynamic But… It encourages passivity in the path of technological change. –Makes us focus on how to adapt to tech, not how to change it –Generally assumes that tech change is independent from other social factors

Economics and Technology Neoclassical approach (profit above all) –Are all economic-related motivations the same? –Soviet factory model of production and reward structure

Social Shaping of Technology is Not Simple Multiple influences –Social (PC cultures) radical counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s male hobbyist culture educational uses of the technology –Professional (Bridge builders) Finlay sought easy-to-use patentable method Navier wanted to show mathematical competence and sophistication

Doesn’t the Best Technology Win? Definition: Path-dependence –Histories of adoption rather than intrinsic wonderfulness influence the success of a technology –Some debate over this Qwerty keyboard Apple OS v. DOS/Windows

Next Class Meeting (Monday) Use Friday to work on paper. Meet with TA or Prof on Friday. Keep in mind no on weekends. Read The Diamond Age (pp. 1-40). Paper due at the beginning of class on Monday.