PowerPoint® Slides to Accompany
A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and
Ethical Issues for Computers and the
Internet
(2nd Edition)
by
Sara Baase
San Diego State University
PowerPoint slides created by Sherry Clark
Copyright 2003 Prentice Hall
A Gift of Fire, 2ed
Chapter 9: Broader Issues on the Impact and Control of Computers
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A Gift of Fire
Broader Issues on the Impact
and Control of Computers
Computers and Community
Information Haves and Have-Nots: The Access Issue
Loss of Skills and Judgment
Evaluations of the Impact of Computer Technology
Prohibiting Bad Technologies
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Computers and Community
Some Observations
Internet Use:
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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 teleworking from almost any location.
May lead to Internet “addiction.”
Q: In your opinion, does Internet usage have
A Gift of Fire, 2ed
a negative impact on community?
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Computers and Community
E-commerce vs. Downtown and Community
Market Dynamics Issues:
• What do consumers want?
• How much are consumers willing to pay?
• What is the competition?
E-commerce:
• What draws consumers to purchase products and services online?
Local Business:
• What draws customers to purchase products and services at traditional
stores and businesses?
Q: Have you observed changes in your downtown and community
brought on by e-commerce?
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Information Haves and Have-Nots
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 your community can someone who doesn’t own a computer
access the Internet?
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Information Haves and Have-Nots
Universal Service Guarantee
Universal Access to the Telephone
• The Communications Act of 1934 requires telephone companies to
provide telephone service to the poor.
• In the 1930s, access to the telephone was deemed necessary in order
to function in society.
Universal Access to the Net
• Advocates stress that access to the Net is necessary in order to
function in today’s society.
• Critics argue that the cost to supply universal access to the Net for the
poor is an unfair and unnecessary burden.
Q: Should universal access to the Net be a liberty or claim-right?
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Information Haves and Have-Nots
Trends In Computer Access
• Declining costs for hardware, software, and connectivity contribute to
greater access.
• Easier to use and understand.
• Gender gap has vanished.
• Age gap is narrowing.
• Families perceive Web access to be important.
• Non-white households trail in access.
• Rural, isolated, or remote regions often have limited access.
• Some businesses offer home access as a benefit.
• Public-access becoming more common.
Q: Identify a trend in computer access that is true for your community.
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Loss of Skills and Judgment
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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Loss of Skills and Judgment
Abdicating Responsibility
People may rely too much on computers for decisions about:
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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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Evaluations of the Impact of
Computer Technology
The Neo-Luddite View
Criticisms of Computer Technology:
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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.
Q: How would technology enthusiasts counter each criticism?
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Evaluations of the Impact of
Computer Technology
Accomplishments of Technology
Some Benefits:
• Food prices have dropped worldwide.
• Raw materials are more abundant and prices of natural resources have
declined.
• Wages and salaries have risen in both rich and poor countries.
• New substitutes for natural resources have been created.
• New forms of crop management.
• Improved transportation of food from field to table.
• More diseases now treatable or eradicated.
• Improved, safety-minded products for home, school, and work.
Q: Who benefits most from these technological accomplishments?
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Prohibiting Bad Technologies
Choice of Values
Technology Advocates
• People can choose to use a technology for good or ill.
• Influenced by society, technology does more than it was designed to
do.
• People adopt technologies that give us more choices for action and
relationships.
Technology Critics
• Technology is not “neutral.”
• Big business and governments make decisions about technology.
• Once created, technology drives its self.
Q: Is it possible for society to prohibit certain technologies?
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Prohibiting Bad Technologies
The Difficulty of Prediction
Guessing the Consequences of Technology
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How will people use the new technology?
How will people benefit from the new technology?
Will people like the new technology?
How much will people pay for the new technology?
What problems will the technology cause?
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Prohibiting Bad Technologies
The Difficulty of Prediction (cont’d)
Example Objections to Speech-Recognition Systems
• “The problem is so enormous that only the largest computers will ever
be able to manage it.”
• “…a speech-recognition machine is bound to be enormously
expensive,…”
• “What can it possibly be used for?”
• “…a long step toward a fully automated battlefield.”
• Governments can use speech recognition to increase wiretap efficiency
and effectiveness.
Q: What are the counter-arguments for these early predictions?
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Prohibiting Bad Technologies
The Difficulty of Prediction (cont’d)
The Decision-Making Process About Introducing New
Technologies Should:
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Be decentralized and noncoercive.
Produce what people want.
Work well.
Respect the diversity of personal opinions.
Be relatively free of political manipulation.
Q: How would different decision-making processes have affected the
introduction of peer-to-peer file-sharing technology?
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