The Social Impact of Computers

The Social Impact of Computers PDF Author: Richard S. Rosenberg
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 1483267156
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
The Social Impact of Computers should be read as a guide to the social implications of current and future applications of computers. Among the basic themes presented are the following: the changing nature of work in response to technological innovation as well as the threat to jobs; personal freedom in the machine age as manifested by challenges to privacy, dignity, and work; the relationship between advances in computer and communications technology and the possibility of increased centralization of authority; and the emergence and influence of artificial intelligence and its role in decision-making, especially in military applications. The book begins with background and historical information on computers and technology. Separate chapters then cover major applications: business, medicine, education, government; major social issues, including crime, privacy, work; and new technologies and problems: industry regulation, electronic funds transfer systems, international competition, national industrial policies, robotics and industrial automation, productivity, the information society, videotex. The final chapter discusses issues associated with ethics and professionalism. The material presented should be accessible to most university students who have had an introductory course in computer science. Self taught or sufficiently motivated individuals who have gained an understanding of how computers operate should also profit from this book. Especially useful are backgrounds in sociology, economics, history, political science, or philosophy.

The Social Impact of Computers

The Social Impact of Computers PDF Author: Richard S. Rosenberg
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 1483267156
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 398

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Social Impact of Computers should be read as a guide to the social implications of current and future applications of computers. Among the basic themes presented are the following: the changing nature of work in response to technological innovation as well as the threat to jobs; personal freedom in the machine age as manifested by challenges to privacy, dignity, and work; the relationship between advances in computer and communications technology and the possibility of increased centralization of authority; and the emergence and influence of artificial intelligence and its role in decision-making, especially in military applications. The book begins with background and historical information on computers and technology. Separate chapters then cover major applications: business, medicine, education, government; major social issues, including crime, privacy, work; and new technologies and problems: industry regulation, electronic funds transfer systems, international competition, national industrial policies, robotics and industrial automation, productivity, the information society, videotex. The final chapter discusses issues associated with ethics and professionalism. The material presented should be accessible to most university students who have had an introductory course in computer science. Self taught or sufficiently motivated individuals who have gained an understanding of how computers operate should also profit from this book. Especially useful are backgrounds in sociology, economics, history, political science, or philosophy.

The Social Impact of Computers

The Social Impact of Computers PDF Author: Richard S. Rosenberg
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 9780125971218
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 764

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Book Description
The book concludes with an overview of issues related to ethics and professionalism for computer scientists."--BOOK JACKET.

The Positive and Negative Impacts of Computers in Society

The Positive and Negative Impacts of Computers in Society PDF Author: Daniel R. Faust
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 1538331705
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
Computers and other types of technology have changed our lives in ways never imagined. Today, we constantly have a wealth of information at our fingertips. Computers help us work better and faster. Readers will learn about the many positive impacts of computers in society. They'll also read about the many negative impacts, such as threats to our privacy and security and a potential decrease in physical activity. Students will be encouraged to think about the role technology plays in their everyday lives.

Fostering Research on the Economic and Social Impacts of Information Technology

Fostering Research on the Economic and Social Impacts of Information Technology PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309173736
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
The tremendous growth in use of information technology (IT) has led to an increased interest in understanding its social and economic impacts. This book presents examples of crosscutting research that has been conducted to understand the impact of information technology on personal, community, and business activities. It explores ways in which the use of methodology from economics and social sciences contributes to important advances in understanding these impacts. The book discusses significant research issues and concerns and suggests approaches for fostering increased interdisciplinary research on the impacts of information technology and making the results of this research more accessible to the public and policymakers. This volume is expected to influence funding priorities and levels of support for interdisciplinary research of this kind.

Computers and Society

Computers and Society PDF Author: Ronald M. Baecker
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198827083
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 549

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Book Description
Computers and Society explores the history and impact of modern technology on everyday human life, considering its benefits, drawbacks, and repercussions. Particular attention is paid to new developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, and the issues that have arisen from our complex relationship with AI.

The Trouble with Computers

The Trouble with Computers PDF Author: Thomas K. Landauer
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262621083
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Book Description
Beginning with an explanation of why considerable outlays for computing since 1973 have not resulted in comparable payoffs, the author proposes that emerging techniques for user-centred development can turn the situation around - through task analysis, ite

Learning to Change the World

Learning to Change the World PDF Author: Charles Kane
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1137000481
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
UNESCO estimates that eleven percent of primary school–age children—seventy-two million worldwide—are not enrolled in or attending school. Children who do attend may find themselves in schools that lack adequate space, facilities, or resources—impossible situations for learning. It is against this backdrop of profound need that One Laptop per Child (OLPC) emerged in 2005. The mission of the organization is to "empower the children of developing countries to learn." They created the first affordable netbook specifically built to withstand harsh climates and the handling of young children—the bright green and white XO. At the 2005 World Economic Forum, Nicholas Negroponte, the MIT researcher who co-founded the Media Lab and OLPC, introduced the XO laptop to the world and described a new approach to changing education in developing countries. First, children must have access to information (through low-cost data communications) and the tools to educate themselves (affordable computers and learning software). Secondly, the fundamental approach to education must shift from passive knowledge acquisition to active construction of knowledge (learning how to learn). Thirdly, OLPC planned to build an organization with the capability to deliver these computers and support these shifts globally. It was an audacious vision of how to bring about a massive educational change. Learning to Change the World is the story of One Laptop per Child—a story that will resonate with entrepreneurs and social innovators in any field. OLPC is an example of a non-profit organization with aspirations for systemic change on a global scale, yet wrestling with tough questions that will be familiar to any social entrepreneur: how to ensure market forces support the scale up of a social program; how to balance the need to repeat past successes but still leave room for innovation; how to leverage a network to expand impact beyond your original capabilities; and how to help people without creating dependence. The authors set out to tell the real story of their journey—both successes and failures. For both ardent supporters and critics alike, this book presents both an invitation and a challenge: to set aside preconceived notions about OLPC and read the inside story of the origins and evolution of the organization.

Failure to Connect

Failure to Connect PDF Author: Jane M. Healy
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0684865203
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
In this comprehensive, practical, and unsettling look at computers in children's lives, Jane M. Healy, Ph.D., questions whether computers are really helping or harming children's development. Once a bedazzled enthusiast of educational computing but now a troubled skeptic, Dr. Healy examines the advantages and drawbacks of computer use for kids at home and school, exploring its effects on children's health, creativity, brain development, and social and emotional growth. Today, the Federal Government allocates scarce educational funding to wire every classroom to the Internet, software companies churn out "educational" computer programs even for preschoolers, and school administrators cut funding and space for books, the arts, and physical education to make room for new computer hardware. It is past the time to address these issues. Many parents and even some educators have been sold on the idea that computer literacy is as important as reading and math. Those who haven't hopped on the techno bandwagon are left wondering whether they are shortchanging their children's education or their students' futures. Few people stop to consider that computers, used incorrectly, may do far more harm than good. New technologies can be valuable educational tools when used in age-appropriate ways by properly trained teachers. But too often schools budget insufficiently for teacher training and technical support. Likewise, studies suggest that few parents know how to properly assist children's computer learning; much computer time at home may be wasted time, drawing children away from other developmentally important activities such as reading, hobbies, or creative play. Moreover, Dr. Healy finds that much so-called learning software is more "edutainment" than educational, teaching students more about impulsively pointing and clicking for some trivial goal than about how to think, to communicate, to imagine, or to solve problems. Some software, used without careful supervision, may also have the potential to interrupt a child's internal motivation to learn. Failure to Connect is the first book to link children's technology use to important new findings about stages of child development and brain maturation, which are clearly explained throughout. It illustrates, through dozens of concrete examples and guidelines, how computers can be used successfully with children of different age groups as supplements to classroom curricula, as research tools, or in family projects. Dr. Healy issues strong warnings, however, against too early computer use, recommending little or no exposure before age seven, when the brain is primed to take on more abstract challenges. She also lists resources for reliable reviews of child-oriented software, suggests questions parents should ask when their children are using computers in school, and discusses when and how to manage computer use at home. Finally, she offers a thoughtful look at the question of which skills today's children will really need for success in a technological future -- and how they may best acquire them. Based on years of research into learning and hundreds of hours of interviews and observations with school administrators, teachers, parents, and students, Failure to Connect is a timely and eye-opening examination of the central questions we must confront as technology increasingly influences the way we educate our children.

Managerial Challenges and Social Impacts of Virtual and Augmented Reality

Managerial Challenges and Social Impacts of Virtual and Augmented Reality PDF Author: Loureiro, Sandra Maria Correia
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 179982876X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
The increase in smartphone usage and new technologies embedded in smart devices have led to innovative developments and applications throughout a variety of industries. However, new techniques such as spatial augmented reality are becoming more affordable for business, allowing consumers to experience and interact with the world as they never have before. AR and VR have vast implications for management and can allow companies to increase their sustainability and reduce their CO2 footprint. Managerial Challenges and Social Impacts of Virtual and Augmented Reality is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the applications of VR, AR, and related technologies from the perspectives of managers and marketers in the industry and discusses the social impact of these technologies. While highlighting topics such as consumer analysis, privacy ethics, and relationship marketing, this book is ideally designed for managers, marketers, technology developers, managing directors, business professionals, academicians, students, and researchers seeking current studies on the evolution of interactive technology.

Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing their Impacts

Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing their Impacts PDF Author: R. Kuehr
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401000336
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Personal computers have made life convenient in many ways, but what about their impacts on the environment due to production, use and disposal? Manufacturing computers requires prodigious quantities of fossil fuels, toxic chemicals and water. Rapid improvements in performance mean we often buy a new machine every 1-3 years, which adds up to mountains of waste computers. How should societies respond to manage these environmental impacts? This volume addresses the environmental impacts and management of computers through a set of analyses on issues ranging from environmental assessment, technologies for recycling, consumer behaviour, strategies of computer manufacturing firms, and government policies. One conclusion is that extending the lifespan of computers (e.g. through reselling) is an environmentally and economically effective strategy that deserves more attention from governments, firms and the general public.