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    A Gift of Fire - CH #1

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    carysma25
    The document provides an overview of the rapid development of technology from the 1940s to the 2000s, focusing on computers, data storage, and integrated electronics in vehicles and portable devices. It also discusses new developments like blogs, video sharing on YouTube, the rise of social media, e-commerce, and assistive technologies. Issues that arise from these changes like unemployment, privacy concerns, and how to apply ethical frameworks to new technologies are explored. The document aims to prompt discussion on both the benefits of technological progress and challenges regarding its social impacts.

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    A Gift of Fire - CH #1

    Uploaded by

    carysma25
    131 views19 pages
    The document provides an overview of the rapid development of technology from the 1940s to the 2000s, focusing on computers, data storage, and integrated electronics in vehicles and portable devices. It also discusses new developments like blogs, video sharing on YouTube, the rise of social media, e-commerce, and assistive technologies. Issues that arise from these changes like unemployment, privacy concerns, and how to apply ethical frameworks to new technologies are explored. The document aims to prompt discussion on both the benefits of technological progress and challenges regarding its social impacts.

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    Chapter 1

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    The document provides an overview of the rapid development of technology from the 1940s to the 2000s, focusing on computers, data storage, and integrated electronics in vehicles and portable devices. It also discusses new developments like blogs, video sharing on YouTube, the rise of social media, e-commerce, and assistive technologies. Issues that arise from these changes like unemployment, privacy concerns, and how to apply ethical frameworks to new technologies are explored. The document aims to prompt discussion on both the benefits of technological progress and challenges regarding its social impacts.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    131 views19 pages

    A Gift of Fire - CH #1

    Uploaded by

    carysma25
    The document provides an overview of the rapid development of technology from the 1940s to the 2000s, focusing on computers, data storage, and integrated electronics in vehicles and portable devices. It also discusses new developments like blogs, video sharing on YouTube, the rise of social media, e-commerce, and assistive technologies. Issues that arise from these changes like unemployment, privacy concerns, and how to apply ethical frameworks to new technologies are explored. The document aims to prompt discussion on both the benefits of technological progress and challenges regarding its social impacts.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 19

    A Gift of Fire

    Chapter 1: Unwrapping the


    Gift
    Created by Derek Schmitt & Kyle Franklin

    Unwrapping the Gift


    Rapid Pace of Change
    New Developments and Dramatic Impacts
    Issues and Themes
    Ethics

    Rapid Pace of Change


    1940s: First computer is built. Size of a room.
    1956: IBM creates first hard disc drive. Weight 1

    ton, size 5MB (approx. one 5 min song)


    1991: Space shuttle has 1 megahertz computer
    onboard
    2000s: Ipods and other portable devices can hold
    multiple KB of data
    2006: Luxury automobiles have 100 megahertz
    computer
    2006: Georgia Tech and IBM create 500 megahertz
    chip

    Rapid Pace of Change


    (cont.)
    Discussion Questions
    What devices do you use on a daily basis that
    are computerized?

    New Developments
    Blogs
    Made up word combining web and log
    Began shortly before 2000 as outlets for amateurs

    looking to express ideas


    Present personal views, funny and creative, present
    non-mainstream perspectives on current events
    Now alternatives to mainstream media Ex: Perez
    Hilton
    Most popular blogs have between 100 and 500
    thousand hits daily

    New Developments
    (cont.)
    Video Sharing
    YouTube founded in 2005. Led to a rise in

    amateur video posting


    Most viewed video on YouTube, over
    443,000,000 hits
    Cell phone and handheld video cameras make
    uploading easier
    May lead to copyright infringement owned by
    entertainment companies

    New Developments
    (cont.)
    Cell Phones
    Beginning of the 21st century few people

    had cell phones


    Now over 5 billion cell phone subscriptions
    globally
    Integrated with GPS, camera, internet,
    applications
    Increased problems with cell phone use
    while driving
    Cameras in phone lead to privacy issues

    New Developments
    (cont.)
    Social Networking
    How many people have Facebook?
    First online social networking site was
    classmates.com in 1995
    Myspace founded in 2003, had 100 million
    profiles by 2006
    250 million people using Facebook, and more
    than 900 million object pages (groups, pages,
    people)
    How do social networking sites affect people
    and relationships?

    New Developments
    (cont.)
    Online Collaboration
    Wikipedia: online collaborative encyclopedia

    Within 5 years had over million entries in English (more than


    Encyclopedia Britanica)
    Articles may have false information or be poorly written

    Open Directory Project (ODP)


    Directory of the Web organized by topic areas, created
    by volunteers
    Watch Dog sites on web

    Bring up privacy issues

    New Developments
    (cont.)
    E-commerce/Free Stuf
    Cyber Monday mega sales for online shoppers
    Free websites, games, books, newspapers
    Amazon.com started in 1994. 10 years later
    annual sales topped $8.5 billion.
    TV shows available on web via Hulu.com and
    station websites
    May lead to identity theft, security issues

    New Developments
    (cont.)
    AI, Robotics, and Motion
    AI- artificial intelligence
    Branch of computer science that develops theories
    and techniques for making computers perform tasks
    we normally think of as requiring human
    intelligence. Ex: playing chess, language translation,
    diagnosing diseases, undersanding speech
    Sync system in Ford cars, uses voice commands

    Robotics- mechanical devices to do human

    tasks
    Motion sensing devices used in airbags,
    laptops, Ipod, video games, etc.

    New Developments
    (cont.)
    Tools for people with disabilities
    Computer based devices help restore abilities,
    productivity, and independence for people with
    disabilities
    Speech synthesizers on computers for the blind
    Text-messaging devices popular with the deaf
    Prosthetic devices improve from dumb heavy
    devices, to lightweight materials with analog
    motors, to now highly sensitive and flexible
    digitally controlled devices that allow users to
    play sports and fly airplanes

    New Developments
    (cont.)
    Discussion Question
    What do you think is next for technology,
    specifially in the area of video sharing, cell
    phones, AI, robotics, and motion sensing?
    How will these changes improve quality of life?

    Issues and Themes


    Issues
    Unemployement? ATMs, robotic plants, etc.
    taking people out of work?
    Alienation and customer service? Lack of face
    to face time?
    Loss of privacy? More records and opportunity
    for theft
    Errors? More errors?

    Issues and Themes


    (cont.)
    Old problems in a new context: crime,

    pornography, violent fiction


    Adapting to new technology, thinking in a new
    way
    Varied sources of solutions to problems is
    natural part of change in life
    Global reach of the Web, increases
    communication
    Tradoffs: increased security means reducing
    convience

    Ethics
    Study of what it means to do the right thing
    Assumes people are rational and make free

    choices
    Rules to follow in our interactions and our

    actions that affect others

    Ethics (cont.)
    Ethical views
    Deontological- emphasize duty and absolute
    rules Ex: Do not lie
    Utilitarianism- people try to increase utility to
    satisfy the persons needs and values
    Natural Rights- Everyone has right to life,
    liberty, property
    Ethics has no simple answers to any situation

    Ethics (cont.)
    Distinction between right, wrong, and okay
    Ethical decisions: ethically obligatory, ethically
    prohibited, or ethically acceptable
    Negative rights (liberties)
    Right to act without interference
    Example: right to be free from assault, right to

    life

    Positive rights (claim rights)


    An obligation of some people to provide certain
    things for others

    Ethics (cont.)
    Discussion Questions
    Can you think of examples of negative rights
    and positive rights that are in opposition to
    each other?
    What is a situation where ethics and the law
    might conflict?

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