1. COMP 2903 A2 – Moore’s Law and Technical Determinism Danny Silver JSOCS, Acadia University

2. Paul E. Ceruzzi Technology and Culture, July, 2005 Curator of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Wash., DC. BA, Yale University in 1970 in American studies PhD, University of Kansas in 1981. Author and co-author of several books on the history of computing and aerospace technology. – Author of A History of Modern Computing (second edition, MIT Press, 2003) – Coeditor of The Internet and American Business (MIT Press, 2008).

3. Moore’s Law – Gordon E. Moore, 1965, Director of of R&D of Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corp – In a publication predicted that number of transistors in ICs would continue to double every year – Sometimes closer to 18 months – Has held true for 45 years – Demise has been predicted several times – typically 10 years in advance

4. Technological Determinism Believed to have been coined by Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929), an American sociologist Presumes that technology drives development of social structure and cultural values Follows a predictable, traceable path largely beyond cultural or political influence Technology in turn has "effects" on societies that are inherent, rather than socially conditioned Sees technology as the basis for all human activity.

5. SHOT hits the Fan Society for History of Technology – 1957 Promote a softer “social construction” of technology Considering technology as part of a larger spectrum of human activity Believe the influence of technology differs based on how much a technology is used by society

6. Examples of Tech. Determinism

7. PowerPoint: Curse or Wonder Vint Cerf: “Power corrupts; PowerPoint corrupts absolutely Edward Tufte: PP “elevates format over content, betraying an attitude of commercialism that turns everything into a sales pitch” But many would argue that Tufte and Cerf have failed to persuade us

8. The classroom: Six years from now What will it look like? Do we have a choice?

9. Bill Gates / Steve Jobs The makers of TD ???

10. Open Source: Savior from TD? Will it come to dominate over MS and Adobe proprietary products and formats?