Societal Issues
Week 3
Advantages of Computer
Technology
 Reaches of technology allow more
people/businesses to move to
small cities and still profit
 Net can “conquer distance” education, entertainment,
information
 People anywhere can communicate
 Communication can be anonymous
to avoid embarrassment
Negative Effects
 On-line shopping - Hurts local
community vibrancy
 Isolation- Reduce face to face
gathering
 Downplays importance of
community
 Addiction to cyberspace
Other causes of declining
social relationships
 Modern transportation and
communications
 encourage increased mobility
 Changes in family patterns
 later marriage, more divorce,
working mothers
 Television
 Less free time to spend with family
Workplace Vs. Time
How has the workspace
changed over time?
What has changed and
why?
Changes in the Workplace
Location Over Time
Farming
Industry
What about the Nature of
work?
Why do we work?
Survival
Needs
Career
Social development
Sense of accomplishment
Information have and
have nots: the Access
Issue
 Access to information may give
some people a large advantage
over those without access
 Social and economic division leads to violence and political
disruption
 Human costs - joblessness, wasted
potential, and poverty
Principals of Universal
Access
 Everyone must have a place to go
to gain access
 Hardware and software easy to use
 fits the needs of all users disabled
 Simple training in effective use of
tools
 Pricing must be affordable for
everyone
 Access to full range of features
Solutions
 Reduction of prices will lead to
spread of technology to all social
classes
 Spread of “rental” facilities
 like washing machines and copy
machines
 Training needs decrease due to
common user interfaces, GUI
 Donations/recycle
Methods to obtain
universal access
 Force reduced rates for poor
 Government subsidies, paid by
taxes
 Tax information providers
 Tax e-mail and communication
providers
 Government programs to pay for
computers in public areas
Criticisms
 Other technologies have not
caused big problems between
classes
 education crucial for success of
individual
 Mandatory taxes - inequitable,
inefficient, and unnecessary
 Low access rates can be budgeted
if a valued priority in life - like TV,
driving
Loss of Skills and
Judgement
 Computer technology
encourages certain uses
because it makes things easier
 IE: Spell checker
 Concentration on features
instead of underlying
knowledge
 Encourages mental laziness
Writing, Thinking, and
Memory
I have a spelling checker.
It came with my PC.
It plainly marks four my revue,
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.
Eye ran this poem threw it,
I’m sure your pleased too no.
It’s letter perfect in it’s weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.
Loss of Job Skills
 Dependence upon computer
technology to perform work
functions
 Drawing or drafting
 Dictation
 Machinist
 Deskilling of Labor?
 Loss of Jobs?
Political Freedom
 Government Control
 Increases government's ability to
amass information - monitor
movements
 Restricts uses that contribute to
freedom
 Aids desirable law enforcement
 Enforce oppressive or stupid laws
 Carry out illegal activities against
people
Political Freedom
Continued...
 Government Control
 Protect and increase their
own power
 Ban uses of technology such
as encryption
 Some countries use
censorship and ban
transmission
Neo-Luddites
 People who oppose all
technological progress
 Views are tied to a particular
way of life for people
 Burned factories in response
to industrial revolution
Specific Criticisms Computers...
 Cause massive unemployment and
deskilling of jobs
 Manufacture needs
 Cause social inequity and
disintegration
 Separate humans from nature
 Destroy the environment
 Are dehumanizing - lead to
isolation
Specific Criticisms Computers...
 Benefit big business
 Benefit government
 Used in schools will thwart
development of social skills,
human values, intellectual
skills
 Do little to solve real human
problems
Intelligent Machines
The “Forbin” Project
Terminator example
Battlestar “G”
Social Computing
Facebook
Twitter
Texting
 SMS
 Legal issues