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COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY

WITH DR. STARR ROXANNE


.
HILTZ
Distinguished Professor of Computer
and Information Science
New Jersey Institute of Technology

LECTURE 1: HISTORY AND


THEORETICAL
PERSPECTIVES
Copyright SR Hiltz, 2000

History of Computing
The synthesis of ideas underlying the
general-purpose digital computer was
achieved by Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
A working model of a DIFFERENCE
ENGINE was produced in 1822. It was
steam powered, and calculated
mathematical tables.

Charles Babbage
Babbage then conceived an "analytical
engine" with a storage, an arithmetic unit to
perform calculations, and a punched-card
input and output.
He spent most of the rest of his life
(unsuccessfully) trying to build and perfect
the machine, which was called by many of
his contemporaries, "Babbage's folly.

Alan Turing (1912- 1954)


British Mathematician who did fundamental
work on the theory of modern computer
science.
Defined a simple but elegant mathematical
model of a general purpose computer, now
called the Turing Machine, and used it to
prove what was possible or impossible for
computers to do. Couldnt get the money to
build one.
Today, the ACMs Turing Award is
considered to be like the Nobel Prize of
computing.

COMPUTER GENERATIONS
THE FIRST COMPUTERS WERE
RESULTS OF WORLD WAR 2
DEVELOPMENTS, AIMED AT MILITARY
USES
1944 AIKEN AT HARVARD
MARK 1: FIRST ELECTROMECHANICAL
DIGITAL COMPUTER
(ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAYS -MAGNETS OPEN AND CLOSES METAL
SWITCHES).

THE FIRST GENERATION:


VACUMN TUBES
1946: ENIAC (Electronic Numerical
Integrator and Computer)
FIRST ELECTRONIC DIGITAL
COMPUTER, CONSTRUCTED WITH
17,000 VACUUM TUBES. EIGHT FEET
TALL AND 80 FEET LONG.
EXTERNAL (WIRED) PROGRAM.
ENIAC could do 333 multiplications per
second and cost the equivalent of $5- $10
million

SECOND GENERATION
USED SEMICONDUCTOR TRANSISTOR
CHIPS DEVELOPED AT BELL LABS
1955 : IBM COMPUTER WITH 2000
TRANSISTORS. BY 1959, DELIVERIES
MADE THE VACUMN TUBE
COMPUTERS OUTMODED. INCLUDED
VERY LARGE MAINFRAMES, SUCH AS
THE IBM 7090, AND SMALLER
MACHINES, SUCH AS THE IBM 1401.

THIRD GENERATION
THE DISTINCTION AMONG
SUBSEQUENT GENERATIONS IS NOT
AS CLEAR AS THAT BETWEEN THE
FIRST AND SECOND GENERATION
COMPUTERS.
THIRD GENERATION IS
CHARACTERIZED BY THE ABILITY TO
SUPPORT MULTI-PROGRAMMING.
COMPUTERS THAT USE INTEGRATED
CIRCUIT TECHNOLOGIES ARE PART OF
THE THIRD GENERATION (LSI, OR
LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION).

THIRD GENERATION
AS PART OF THE THIRD GENERATION,
WE ALSO SAW THE EMERGENCE OF
MINI-COMPUTERS1968 DEC-- FIRST MINI
1972 IBM 370 SEMI-CONDUCTOR
MEMORY CHIPS
60S AND 70S PUNCH CARD & BATCH
PROCESSING STILL DOMINANT.

Applications and Impacts


Through the first three generations of
computers (40s 50s and 60s) they were
used almost entirely for business (payroll and
inventory), government, and scientific
computing.
Punch cards and batch processing.
In the 1970s, integrated circuits began to to
make computers smaller and cheaper.
1974- first personal computers sold as kits
1977 Wozniak and Jobs released the Apple
II (first mass marketed PC)

FOURTH GENERATION
NO GENERALLY ACCEPTED
DEFINITION OF FOURTH GENERATION.
SOME SAY IT IS THE VLSI (VERY
LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION) SUPERCOMPUTERS.
SOME SAY IT IS THE EMERGENCE OF
THE MICROCOMPUTER IN THE FORM
OF PERSONAL COMPUTERS AND WORK
STATIONS.

1983 JAPANESE ANNOUNCE


5TH GENERATION PROJECT
COMPUTERS THAT WILL TAKE
SPEECH INPUT AND OUTPUT, IN
NATURAL LANGUAGE
Easy to use computers require tremendous
speed. By the end of the 20th century, speeds
are measured in MIPS- millions of
instructions per second. Many computers now
do 1000 MIPS ( a billion instructions/sec)

SOME HISTORICAL EVENTS


OF NOTE

1971 : INTELS microprocessor chip (COST


$210 EACH IN 1977; 1984 $50 EACH)
1975- Bill Gates & Paul Allen found
Microsoft
1977 PET- first fully assembled PC
1982 IBM PC
Communicating with a computer has evolved
from writing assembly code or typing arcane
commands, to pointing and clicking with a
mouse.

A Short History...
1974 PRIVACY ACT OF 1974
1978 Mark Rifkin- $1.2 robbery by hacking
Fedwire
1984 Whiz Kid TV show (teen hacker)

Pervasive Computing
1990s: Spread of the Internet and adoption
of the World Wide Web conventions turn
computing into a mass medium
Smaller, cheaper, faster, easier to use, and
interconnected through networks- By the end of the 20th century, computers
have become pervasive- they are
integrated into all aspects of post industrial
or information based societies

Pervasive Computing
Exercise: What are some ways that you
have directly (hands on) or indirectly
(somebody else used them for you) used
computers in the last few days??
Benefits vs. negative impacts: the example
of ATMs (source: Sara Baase, A Gift of Fire, 1997)

Unemployment
Depersonalization
Crime
Loss of Privacy
Errors

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES:
DETERMINE WHAT QUESTIONS ARE
ASKED AND WHAT POSSIBLE
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS WILL BE
CONSIDERED
LIKE BINOCULARS: BOTH
MAGNIFIERS AND BLINDERS
Often tend to emphasize either the positive or
the negative impacts- and there are both

Points of View: Computerphobes


and Computerphiles

Examples:
John Kemeny, Man and the Computer,
1959. Kemeny invented the BASIC
language.
Joseph Weizenbaum, "Human Choices in
the Interstices of the Megamachine", in
Human Choice and Computers. MIT
computer scientist who was active in
artificial intelligence work early on, then
became an outspoken critic of the effects of
computers.

John KEMENY
SOME PEOPLE SAY THAT HUMAN
EVOLUTION HAS GONE EXTERNAL --THAT IS GENETIC, PHYSICAL CHANGES
HAVE BEEN MUCH TOO SLOW AND
PROBLEMATIC. OUR EVOLUTION NOW
OCCURS BY OUR CREATION OF AND KIND
OF SYMBIOSIS WITH EXTERNAL
TECHNOLOGY.
FOR EXAMPLE -- ENABLE US TO SURVIVE
UNDER THE SEA OR IN OUTER SPACE --- OR
TO AUGMENT OUR INTELLIGENCE.

KEMENY, 2
KEMENY WROTE THAT BY SYMBIOSIS
OF MAN WITH THE COMPUTER, WE
HAVE A KIND OF NEW SPECIES -COMPUTER AS THE PERFECT
SERVANT, AN EXTENSION AND
ENHANCEMENT OF HUMAN
INTELLECT.

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KEMENY, 3
WHATS A SYMBIOTE?TWO ORGANISMS OF
DIFFERENT KINDS LIVING IN AN
INTIMATE UNION AND TO THE
BENEFIT OF BOTH.
Kemeny envisioned computers and
humans in this kind of symbiotic
arrangement. Star Wars could
be considered a fictional version
of this vision of human-computer
interaction as symbiotic.

WIETZENBAUM, 1
The root of the feeling of powerlessness so
ubiquitous among individuals in our society,
and of the widespread alienation of people
from one another and from their work, is the
perception of ordinary people that they are
living in the interstices of a gigantic system,
what Louis Mumford called a megamachine
...now embodied by the massive deployment
of computers in increasingly many sectors of
society.

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WIETZENBAUM, 2
WHAT I HAVE TRIED T0 ARGUE IS THAT
THE INFILTRATION OF TECHNOLOGY, MOST
PARTICULARLY OF THE COMPUTER, INTO
HUMAN DECISION MAKING TENDS TO
PERVERT THE PROCESS OF HUMAN CHOICE,
TO LEAD IN THE NOT SO VERY LONG RUN
TO SURRENDER OF ONES LIFE.

Fictional example: HAL in 2001


Real life example: Y2K fears that the
machines would stop and we would have
global disaster

WIETZENBAUM, 3
THE RESTORATION OF TRULY
HUMAN LIFE AND WITH IT OF
AUTHENTIC HUMAN CHOICE
CANNOT COME, IF AT ALL, UNTIL
THE WORLD CAN RENOUNCE ITS
FAUSTIAN BARGAIN WITH ITS
TECHNOLOGY.

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TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
SOME IMPORTANT THEMES ARE THE
SOCIAL CONTEXT THAT MEDIATES
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS, AND
THE HIGHER ORDERS OR INDIRECT
EFFECTS OF A NEW TECHNOLOGY AS
ITS USE SPREADS IN A SOCIETY.

TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT ISSAC ASIMOV ONCE WROTE THAT


THE IMPORTANT THING TO PREDICT IS
NOT THE AUTOMOBILE, BUT THE
PARKING PROBLEM; NOT RADIO BUT
SOAP OPERAS; NOT THE INCOME TAX,
BUT EXPENSE ACCOUNTS ...

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TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSORS CLASSIFY
IMPACTS OF A TECHNOLOGICAL
INNOVATION AS PRIMARY (OR FIRST
ORDER), SECONDARY (OR SECOND
ORDER), AND TERTIARY (THIRD AND
HIGHER ORDERS).

TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
PRIMARY EFFECTS ARE INTENDED
OUTCOMES OF A NEW TECHNOLOGY
( E.G., AUTOMOBILES ARE A FASTER
MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION THAN
HORSES).
COMPUTERS IN OFFICES ARE A
FASTER AND BETTER WAY OF DOING
CLERICAL WORK (OFFICE
AUTOMATION)

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TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT SECONDARY EFFECTS ARE LARGELY


UNEXPECTED AND/OR UNINTENDED
BY-PRODUCTS OF ROUTINE
TECHNOLOGICAL USAGE
(E.G., POLLUTION FROM GASOLINE
REPLACES FECAL POLLUTION FROM
HORSES).
COMPUTERS IN OFFICES: CAUSE
UNEMPLOYMENT, NEW KINDS OF
PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL
STRAINS

TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT,
3rd or HIGHER ORDER
TERTIARY AND HIGHER-ORDER EFFECTS
SPRING FROM THESE UNINTENDED
IMPACTS
(E.G.,LEAD-FREE GASOLINE REQUIRES MORE
ENERGY TO PRODUCE, THUS CONTRIBUTING TO
SHORTAGES).
MASSIVE JOB DISPLACEMENTS LEAD TO
RECESSION AND POLITICAL AND SOCIAL
CHANGE

Multi-nationals and mega-mergers: impossible to


run without information systems

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Examples of Computer
Applications and Impacts
Some applications simply improve the
efficiency of previous (non-computer)
methods (e.g., construction applicationsrobots to snake through pipes)
Others qualitatively change the nature of
what is done - e.g., the electronic jailer

Unintended consequencessometimes second order, often


tertiary
E.g. easier to make mistakes when processes
are virtualized; Pilots wrong keystroke leads
to crash, American Airlines says (NY Times,
1996) (second order)
Stock market crash of 1986- Volatility tied to
wide use of computers to set trading patterns
(NY Times)- (3rd order) (now fixed with
stop on trading by automated systems when
drops of certain amounts occur)

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ROB KLING: SOCIAL ANALYSES


OF COMPUTING: THEORETICAL
PERSPECTIVES
Communications of the ACM, March 1980.
A classification or set of categories
A classicarticle- frequently cited, still useful
classification
You can try to classify or place the (often
implied) theoretical perspective of an analysis of
the impacts of a computer system, using Klings
categories. They can sensitize you to biases and
different theoretical points of view.

TWO MAJOR TYPES OF


APPROACHES
(SYSTEMS RATIONALISTS AND
"SEGMENTED INSTITUTIONALISTS,")
EACH WITH THREE SUB-CATEGORIES.

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1. SYSTEMS RATIONALISTS
TYPICALLY EMPHASIZE THE POSITIVE
ROLES OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY...
ASSUME THAT THERE IS A CONSENSUS ON
MAJOR SOCIAL GOALS RELEVANT TO
COMPUTING USE..
PLACE EFFICIENCY, WHETHER ECONOMIC
OR ORGANIZATIONAL, AS THE
PREDOMINANT VALUE.
TYPICALLY FOCUS ON A NARROWLY
BOUNDED WORLD OF COMPUTER USE IN
WHICH THE COMPUTER USER IS A CENTRAL
ACTOR.

2. SEGMENTED
INSTITUTIONALISTS
LOOK FOR MIXED AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS
OF COMPUTERS
ASSUME THAT INTER GROUP CONFLICT IS
AS LIKELY AS CONSENSUS ON IMPORTANT
GOALS AND VALUES.
IDENTIFY AS DOMINANT VALUES THE
SOVEREIGNTY OF INDIVIDUALS AND
GROUPS OVER CRITICAL ASPECTS OF THEIR
LIVES, THE INTEGRITY OF INDIVIDUALS,
AND SOCIAL EQUITY.

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SEGMENTED
INSTITUTIONALISTS, 2
TYPICALLY IDENTIFY SETTINGS OF
COMPUTER USE AS BROAD IN SCOPE,
AND THEY ARE LIKELY TO
EMPHASIZE PARTIES OTHER THAN
THE COMPUTER USER (E.G., CLIENTS,
REGULATORS, SUPPLIERS,
COMPETITORS, OR CONTROLLERS OF
CRITICAL RESOURCES.)" (KLING, P. 65)

SEGMENTED
INSTITUTIONALISTS, 3
According to this perspective, Many
participants may accurately perceive conflicting
interests, act in accord with them, and prefer
substantially different and thoroughly
incompatible computing arrangements, or even
none at all.
THEY EMPHASIZE THE SOCIAL
PROBLEMS THAT CAN RESULT FROM
HAPHAZARD, WIDESPREAD
AUTOMATION.

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SUBCATEGORIES OF "SYSTEMS
RATIONALISTS 1 (PURE) RATIONAL

(MANAGEMENT SCIENTISTS)
OFTEN IDENTIFY THE INTERESTS OF
MANAGERS AS MORE LEGITIMATE
THAN THOSE OF THEIR
SUBORDINATES.

(PURE) RATIONAL (MANAGEMENT


SCIENTISTS)
A SET OF APPROACHES DESIGNED TO
ORGANIZE AND MANAGE
EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY
ACCORDING TO THE PREFERENCES OF
HIGHER LEVEL MANAGERS AND THE
"BOTTOM" LINE OF PROFITS.
COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS LOOKING
ONLY AT ECONOMIC COSTS AND
BENEFITS IS THE FAVORED METHOD.

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SUBCATEGORIES OF
"SYSTEMS RATIONALISTS" 1.A.
(PURE) RATIONALISTS
IT IS ASSUMED THAT THE EFFECTS
OF COMPUTERS WILL BE AS
INTENDED, TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY
AND PRODUCTIVITY- PROFITS. A
"GOOD" COMPUTER SYSTEM IS ONE
THAT IS ACCURATE AND EFFICIENT.
RELATED TO "SCIENTIFIC
MANAGEMENT" OR "TAYLORISM" IN
MANAGEMENT THEORY.

B. A "STRUCTURAL" VARIANT
OF SYSTEMS RATIONALISM
INTRODUCES ASPECTS OF THE
"INFORMAL" ORGANIZATION AND
BARGAINING AMONG THE FORMAL
UNITS OF AN ORGANIZATION.
A "GOOD" COMPUTER SYSTEM IS
ONE THAT HELPS ORGANIZATIONS
ADAPT TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT AND
GET A BETTER HANDLE ON THE
UNCERTAINTIES.

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C. THE "HUMAN RELATIONS"


VARIANT
EMPHASIZES SMALL GROUPS AND
INDIVIDUALS WITHIN THE
ORGANIZATION, AND THEIR JOB
SATISFACTION AND LEVEL OF
MOTIVATION.
A "GOOD" COMPUTER SYSTEM MUST
HAVE WORKER PARTICIPATION IN ITS
DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION,
BECAUSE IT HAS TO BE ACCEPTED BY
THE WORKERS IF IT IS TO BE USED AS
INTENDED.

THE HUMAN RELATIONS


VARIANT, CONT.
A "GOOD" COMPUTER SYSTEM
INCREASES JOB SATISFACTION BY
MAKING JOBS MORE INTERESTING
AND/OR EASIER, AND "ENLARGING"
THE JOBS OF THE WORKERS.
ASSUMED THAT THE WAY YOU GET
GREATER PRODUCTIVITY IS TO
STRENGTHEN THE SMALL GROUPS
WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION AND THE
SATISFACTION OF EMPLOYEES.

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SEGMENTED INSTITUTIONALISTS-

2A INTERACTIONISTS
COMPUTER SYSTEMS AS A
"PACKAGE" THAT INCLUDES NOT
ONLY THE HARDWARE AND
SOFTWARE, BUT ALSO THE SKILLS OF
THE USERS, RELATIONSHIPS AMONG
THE ORGANIZATIONAL UNITS WHICH
SUPPLY AND MAINTAIN COMPUTERBASED SERVICES AND DATA, SETS OF
BELIEFS ABOUT COMPUTERS.
The social context determines the adaptation
and impacts of a computing system

2. B. THE ORGANIZATIONAL
POLITICS APPROACH
EMPHASIZES "THE POTENT ROLE OF AN
ORGANIZATION'S POLITICAL ORDER IN
INFLUENCING WHETHER COMPUTING IS
ADOPTED, WHICH TECHNOLOGIES WILL
BE SELECTED, HOW THEY WILL BE
DEVELOPED, AND WHOM THEY SHALL
SERVE... MANAGERS WANT COMPUTING
SYSTEMS THAT WILL INCREASE THEIR
POWER AND PRESTIGE, NOT
NECESSARILY SYSTEMS THAT WILL BE
"GOOD FOR THE ORGANIZATION AS A
WHOLE."

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2. C. THE "CLASS POLITICS"


ORIENTATION
VIEWS AUTOMATION AS A
MANAGERIAL STRATEGY TO ROUTINIZE
WHITE COLLAR WORK AND WEAKEN
THE POWER OF LOWER LEVEL
PARTICIPANTS IN AN ORGANIZATIONCONTROL THE WORKERS- BY
REPLACING UNRELIABLE WORKERS
WITH MACHINES UNDER THEIR
CONTROL. (SEES EFFECTS OF
COMPUTERS AS MOSTLY NEGATIVE AND
DEHUMANIZING)

Main Objectives of this course


To enable you to understand and analyze
the current and potential impacts of
computers, negative as well as positive
To know and consider the ethical, legal,
and social issues that are involved in
computing, rather than seeing it as a purely
technical undertaking; in other words, to
become a responsible computer professional
as well as a technically competent one.

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