Introduction to Computers

Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change

First Idea All technological change is a trade-off; a Faustian Bargain. The greater wonders in technology, the greater will be its negative consequences. (e.g. Automobiles (and their obvious advantages) have major disadvantages (pollution, etc.) New technology will always come with a high cost. Culture always pays a price for technology.

Second Idea Advantages and disadvantages are never distributed evenly among the population. (Benefits some, harms others) There are always winners and losers. Winners (e.g. Computer companies and multinational corporations who are enthusiastic about computer technology and benefit from it.) Losers (e.g. Common workers with computer access means that: They are more easily tracked and controlled, etc.) Winners speak constantly of the “Age of Information” (The more info we have, the better we will be solving significant problems) but has it helped? We know how to produce food to feed every child on the planet, but how is it that many of them starve?

Third Idea Embedded in to technology there is a powerful idea, sometimes two or three. Computer person values information, not knowledge. Every technology has a philosophy which is given expression in how the technology makes people use their minds. So the third idea is the sum and substance of what Marshall McLuhan meant when he coined the famous sentence, “The medium is the message.”

Fourth Idea Technological change is not additive; it is ecological The consequences of technological change are always vast, often unpredictable and largely irreversible.

Fifth Idea Media tend to become mythic. Therefore it is always dangerous because it is accepted “as-is” and not easily susceptible to modification or control. Best way to view technology is as a strange intruder.

Whom to Protect and How? The Public, The Government, and the Internet Revolution

A Beneficent Revolution People believe strongly in the benefits of technology. Large majorities believe that science and technology make lives healthier, easier, and more comfortable. Computer’s impact on society = positive. However computers have not improved life. (75%)

What Role for Government A majority of Americans believe the government… should help low-income people get access to computers. Others say the government should help low-income children. Most agree that the government… Needs to regulate specific contents (e.g. pornography and bomb-making information) Should “do something” about strangers making contact with children.

On the Nature of Computing Computing is its own virtual world, bound only by its practitioners’ imaginations and creativity.

Virtualization Virtualization represents a first-class tool. Example Virtual memory systems to replace a piece of hardware with another. Providing single API to all I/O devices. Replace a network with a private network, allowing users to behave as if they were in an Internet of their own.

Virtual Communities We create virtual communities of scientists with virtual laboratories and computing resources dedicated to supporting “in silico” experiments. (replacing in-vitro experiments.) Essentially having virtualized natural systems.

Entertainment The convergence of computer games and the movie industry signifies that computing is a wholly new discipline. The world of entertainment imposes no natural or artificial constraints on what a system may do.