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CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY. CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY. Modifies, controls the environment House: heated, a.c. Automobile, plane Pervasive Communication system Irreversible Telephone, auto. CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY. Cumulative The computer
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CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY Brauchle
CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY • Modifies, controls the environment • House: heated, a.c. • Automobile, plane • Pervasive • Communication system • Irreversible • Telephone, auto Brauchle
CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY • Cumulative • The computer • Magnetic Resonance Imaging • Obsolescence • Drafting Tools • Eight track tape • Centralization • Utility companies Brauchle
CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY • Dependency/ Independency • Produce supply • Utilities • Powerful • Hydrogen bomb, dams • Systems model • Transportation • Communication Brauchle
SYSTEMS MODEL • A group of devices or artificial objects or an organization forming a network, especially for distributing something or serving a common purpose. (Open or closed system) Input Throughput (process) Output Feedback Loop Brauchle
CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY • Apraxia (mature technologies become inflexible) • Roadway system • Alternate fuel cars • Alters our Perception of time and space: increases artificiality • Air flight Brauchle
REAL OR FAKE: YOUR CHOICE • Paul Ray: three distinctive subcultures: Utne Reader, July/August, 1997 • Heartlanders: about 33% of population; worldview that prevailed 1850-1920, nostalgic, return to the good ol days. • Modernists: about 47%; dominant culture that permeated business, government, schools; materialistic, status conscious, secular or conventionally religious, not bothered by the fake, focus on right NOW. • Cultural Creatives: new since mid-century; 23% of population; want the real thing, middle income, ecological sustainability, voluntary simplicity, feminist values, spiritual self-discovery, public service. Brauchle
CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY • Specialized knowledge, specialized language • Auto mechanic • Medical doctor • Affects the environment: protects and destroys • Acid rain • DDT, PCBs, lead in gas and paint • How does it protect? Brauchle
CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY • Not neutral • Printing press • Television • Increasingly incomprehensible • Computer technology • Space flight • Accelerated Acceptance Brauchle
U.S. Household Ownership of Appliances “How Much Is Enough,” p. 32 Brauchle
More Appliances: 1989-1996 Brauchle
MODERN TECHNOLOGY Necessity is the mother of invention. Kranzberg’s laws: • Invention is the mother of necessity • Technology is neither good nor bad; neither is it neutral • We have great difficulty predicting social and moral impacts but very important! Brauchle
Langdon Winner on Technological Decisions • Decisions about technology are rooted in economics, with little regard to social impact • “Substantial technical innovations involve a reweaving of the fabric of society - a reshaping of some of the roles, rules, relationships, and institutions . . . .” • Consider: telephone, automobile, internet Brauchle