Transcript Computer Networks as Community Networks:

Critiques of Computing
and Cyberspace
1. The Digital Divide: (see p.372 / 386)
Information Haves and Have-Nots
United:
- Declining costs for hardware, software, and connectivity
contribute to greater access.
- Gender gap has vanished.
- Age gap is narrowing.
Divided:
- Non-white households trail in access.
- Rural, isolated, or remote regions often have limited access.
Critiques of Computing
and Cyberspace
2. The Neo-Luddite View (see p. 379)
Criticisms of Computer Technology:
- Deskilling of jobs.
- Causes social inequality.
- Separates humans from nature and destroys the environment.
- Benefits big business and big government.
- Thwarts development of social skills in children.
- We use them because they are there.
Critiques of Computing
and Cyberspace
3. The Problem with Prediction
(see p. 389, also Chp 4, Risks)
Guessing at the Consequences of Technology:
- 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?
Critiques of Computing
and Cyberspace
3. Slouka – War of the Worlds
The Road to Unreality:
- Do people live in “unreal” worlds?
- How do new technologies alter our perception of reality?
- How is the world “re-presented” to us through media?
- Will we opt for the digitized world over the real one?
- Will we become one hive mind ever accessible through the ‘Net?