Some of these slides are derived from Sherry Clark, A Gift of Fire; Prof. John Nestor, Lafayette College; Russell Gayle,
UNC; H. Scott Matthews, Carnegie Mellon University
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Computer Science does not exist in a vacuum
Technological change affects society
◦ How people think
◦ What our morality, ethics or religion thinks
◦ What laws our governments make
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“The cycle of change” (Oz, “Ethics in the
Information Age”, 1994)
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History
◦ Text-based “Adventure”
◦ ASCII-graphics “smart terminal” - Rogue, Hack,
Nethack
◦ Habitat: an Early Online RPG
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Current Examples
◦ EverQuest
◦ World of Warcraft
◦ …
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Text-oriented I/O
Image Source: http://www.grospixels.com/site/adventure.html
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Developed for CRT terminals with “cursor
control”
Image Source: http://www.nethack.org
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Multiplayer Online Game
Primitive (Commodore 64) Graphics
Developed by Lucasfilm as a commercial
venture
Self-governed
Image Source: http://www.scara.com/~ole/literatur/LessonsOfHabitat.html © 1986 LucasArtsEntertainment Company
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Should weapons be allowed?
◦ Goal: allow Avatars to interact in “ways that
required real moral choices to be made by the
participants”
◦ Avatars could be robbed/killed by other avatars
 Affect of death: return “home” with no possessions or
tokens
◦ Later compromise: violence prohibited in “towns”
Q: What are concerns about violence in current games?
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Addiction
◦ Test users charged $0.08/min
◦ Early user quit after a monthly bill of $270 (57hrs)
◦ Another user spent $1,000 in one month
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A religion was founded
Three weddings (avatar-avatar)
“Diseases”
Q: What happens when the virtual world becomes
more attractive than the physical world?
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Basic Issue:
◦ Should internet content be equally available to all users?
 What does “equally” mean?
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Key Questions:
◦ Should ISPs be allowed to charge content providers for
delivering different grades of service?
◦ Should ISPs be allowed to set up exclusive contracts with
content providers for some grades of service?
◦ Should ISPs or others be able to “censor” content?
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Who’s for Net Neutrality?
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Content providers (e.g. Google)
Software companies (e.g. Microsoft)
IP phone companies (e.g. Vonage)
Political groups (left and right)
Who’s against Net Neutrality?
◦ Internet Service Providers
◦ Cable Companies
◦ Phone Companies
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Questions for Discussion
◦ Should net neutrality be mandated by law?
◦ What are the alternatives?
◦ What about arguments that “this isn’t a problem
yet”?
◦ What about the “don’t over-regulate” argument?
◦ Are the fears of discriminatory abuses “overblown”?
◦ Are there examples where discriminatory access
“didn’t work”?
◦ Is there net neutrality on campus? (That is, is all
network traffic considered equal?)
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Some Observations on Internet Use:
◦ May create isolation from family, in-person
friends, and neighbors.
◦ Creates long-distance associations focused on
special interests.
◦ Reduces or eliminates direct contact with
customers and clients.
◦ Contributes to the formation of electronic
relationships.
◦ Allows for tele-working from almost any location.
◦ May lead to Internet “addiction.”
Q: Does Internet usage have a negative impact on community?
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The Digital Divide
◦ Factors contributing to access (or lack thereof) to
computers and information systems:
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Developed country
Individual wealth
Age
Gender
Ethnic background
Politics
Q: Where in Eau Claire can someone who doesn’t own a
computer access the Internet?
Q: Does this access “level the playing field?”
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Writing, Thinking, and Memory
◦ Computers Affect the Way We:
 Write in the form of spell- and grammar-checkers and
desktop publishing.
 Research due to online archives, periodicals, and
search tools.
 Think because a vast amount of data is available,
quickly, from all parts of the globe.
 Communicate using text, graphics, audio, and video.
Q: For each item, identify what skills are being lost.
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Abdicating Responsibility
◦ People may rely too much on computers for
decisions about:
 Approval of loans or insurance coverage.
 Assessment of student, teacher, and school
administrator progress.
 The arrest of certain individuals.
 How to make a particular business decision.
 The treatment of a disease with a particular medicine.
Q: Recall a time when you did what the computer said, rather
than exercise your judgment.
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The Neo-Luddite View
◦ Criticisms of Computer Technology:
Causes massive unemployment and deskilling of jobs.
We use them because they are there.
Causes social inequality.
Source of social disintegration; they are dehumanizing.
Separates humans from nature and destroys the
environment.
 Benefits big business and big government.
 Thwarts development of social skills in children.
 Solves no real human problems.
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Q: How would technology enthusiasts counter each criticism?
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Information and communications
technology (ICT) products and the systems
that use them are a “double-edged sword”
in terms of the environment
On one hand, they lead to environmental
problems and concerns
However using them can allow us to
significantly improve our use of resources,
energy, etc.
Finding the balance requires a detailed,
collaborative and interdisciplinary approach
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Toxic substances such as lead could leach
into soil and contaminate groundwater.
Technological advances could accelerate the
turnover of TVs and computers.
Rapid advances could lead to storage,
donation, repair, or disposal of working and
non-working equipment.
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Electronics (used to) share critical
components
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Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
CRT screen contains lead
Protects the user from radiation
Lead weighs from four to eight pounds
Newer LCD screens have less problems but have
other concerns (e.g. mercury in bulbs)
Next series of slides gives specific data
collected from one large state (Florida)
about the magnitude of the problem
Also inspires the need for a solution
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Residents don’t consider the CRT issue
urgent and 70% don’t want additional
information.
Younger residents (18-34) were the most
interested in recycling information.
Residents rated county/city recycling
programs as preferred education method
for recycling info.
TV and Radio were stated as the best media
for receiving information.
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Pro -
◦ reduce private and commercial travel - avoid
shopping/business trips
◦ reduce logistic and manufacturing inefficiencies
◦ reduce waste of inventory and remainders
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Con -
◦ overhead of Internet infrastructure - electricity
use increase, computers, switches, etc.
◦ reduce scale economies - smaller shipment sizes
◦ encourages population dispersion