Chapter1:

CatalystsforChange
Ethics for the Information Age
Forth Edition
by
Michael J. Quinn

Copyright Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

Organization of Chapter

1-1 Introduction
1-2 Milestones in computing
1-3 Milestones in networking
1-4 Information technology issues

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1.1 Introduction
Information Age
Characterized by unprecedented access to
information
Catalysts
Low-cost computers
High-speed communication networks

Examples of advances in past two decades

Cell phones
Email
World Wide Web
MP3 players

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1.1 Introduction (cont.)

Technology and Values
Dynamic between people, technology
People adopt technology
Technology changes society
Different ways people are affected by technology
Physical changes (e.g., pains accompany the use of
laptops)
Psychological changes (e.g., cell phones make you feel
safer)
Technologies can solve problems, create new problems
Automobile
Refrigerator and the Ozone Layer
Low-cost international communication
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Nuclear weapons and radiation the Ozone Layer
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1.1 Introduction (cont.)

Control over New Technologies
People can control whether to adopt new
technology
Nuclear power moratorium in United States
Nuclear power advances in rest of world

People can influence rate at which technologies

are developed
Intellectual property laws (make money from creativity)
Tax structure (accumulate great wealth)
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1.2 Milestones in Computing

Aids to manual calculating

Mechanical calculators
Cash register
Punched card tabulation
Precursors of commercial computers
First commercial computers
Programming languages and time-sharing
Transistor and integrated circuit
IBM System/360
Microprocessor
Personal computer
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Aids to Manual Calculating

The three important aids to manual calculating are:
tablet,
the abacus,
and mathematical tables
Tables of logarithms (17th century)
Income tax tables (today).
However, even with them manual calculating is
slow, tedious, and error-prone.
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Early Mechanical Calculators

Calculators (from 17th 19th century)
Social Change Market for Calculators
Gilded Age (late 19th century America)
Rapid industrialization
Economic expansion
Concentration of corporate power
New, larger corporations
Multiple layers of management
Multiple locations
Needed up-to-date, comprehensive, reliable,
and affordable information
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Early Mechanical Calculators

Calculator Adoptions Social Change
Fierce competition in calculator market
Continuous improvements in size, speed, ease of use
Sales increased rapidly
Deskilling and feminization of bookkeeping
People of average ability quite productive
Calculators 6 faster than adding by hand
Wages dropped
Women replaced men
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Cash Register
Store owners of late 1800s faced problems
Keeping accurate sales records for
department stores
Preventing embezzlement from clerks
Response to problems: cash register
Created printed, itemized receipts
Maintained printed log of transactions
Rang bell every time drawer was opened
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Tabulators Data-processing Systems

Punched cards (late 19th century)
One record per card
Cards could be sorted into groups, allowing
computation of subtotals by categories
Early adopters

U.S. Bureau of the Census

Railroads
Retail organizations
Heavy industries

Data-processing system
Receives input data
Performs one or more calculations
Produces output data
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First Commercial Computers

Precursors of Commercial Computers
Small-Scale Experimental Machine: CRT memory. A
fully electronic computer system that had both program
and data stored in its memory. It successfully
executed its first program in 1948.
Remington-Rand
Completed UNIVAC in 1951
Delivered to U.S. Bureau of the Census
Predicted winner of 1952 Pres. Election
IBM (entered the commercial market in 1953)
Larger base of customers
Far superior sales and marketing organization
Greater investment in research and development
Dominated mainframe market by mid-1960s
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Programming Languages
Assembly language
Symbolic representations of machine instructions
Programs just as long as machine language programs

FORTRAN (1957)
First higher-level language (shorter programs)
Designed for scientific applications

COBOL (1959)
U.S. Department of Defense standard
Designed for business applications
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Time-Sharing Systems and BASIC

Time-Sharing Systems (In the early 1960s)

Divide computer time among multiple users

Users connect to computer via terminals
Cost of ownership spread among more people
Gave many more people access to computers

BASIC (In the early 1960s)

Developed at Dartmouth College
Simple, easy-to-learn programming language
Popular language for teaching programming
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Other Advances
Transistor
Replacement for vacuum tube
Invented at Bell Labs (1948)
Semiconductor
Faster
Cheaper
More reliable
More energy-efficient
Integrated Circuit : Semiconductor containing transistors,
capacitors, and resistors
Advantages over parts they replaced
Smaller
Faster
More reliable
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Less expensive
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IBM System/360
Before System/360
IBM dominated mainframe market in 1960s
IBM computers were incompatible
Switch computers rewrite programs
System/360 (1964)
Series of 19 computers with varying levels of
power
All computers could run same programs Compatible
Upgrade without rewriting programs
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Microprocessor and Personal Computer

Microprocessor: Computer inside a single
semiconductor chip
Invented in 1970 at Intel
Made personal computers practical

Example of first PCs

Altair 8800 (1975)
Personal computers become popular
Apple Computer: Apple II

Developments draw businesses to personal

computers
IBM launches IBM PC
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1-3 Milestones in Networking

Discoveries in electromagnetism (early 1800s)
Telegraph (1844)
A telegraph is a machine used to transmit messages
in the form of electrical impulses that can be converted
into data

Telephone (1876)
Typewriter and teletype (1873, 1908)
In 1908 a typewriter was modified to print a message transmitted over a
telegraph line; the inventors called the invention, a teletype

Radio (1895)
Television (1927)
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Other Milestones in Networking

Remote computing (1940)

ARPANET - Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (1969)
Email (1972)
Internet (1983)
network of networks communicating using TCP/IP

Broadband (2000)
Broadband

High-speed Internet connection

At least 10x faster than dial-up connection
Enhanced by fiber optic networks
South Korea is the world leader in broadband
networking.3/4 of homes have broadband connections1-19

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Other Milestones in Networking

Newspapers
Graphical User Interface
World Wide Web (1990)
Protocols based on TCP/IP general
Later browsers

Mosaic
Netscape Navigator
Netscape Mozilla
Microsoft Internet Explorer (most popular)

Search Engines - Google, AltaVista, MSN

Information Technology
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Information Technology
Definition: Devices used in creation,
storage, manipulation, dissemination of
data, sound, and/or images
Examples: Computers, telephones, video
cameras, MP3 players
People making greater use of IT
Costs keep falling
Capabilities keep rising
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1-4 IT Issues
Email
Easy way to keep in touch
Spam has become a real problem
Web
Free access to huge amounts of information
Harmful consequences of some sites
CDs, MP3s, MP4s
Free or cheap copies readily available
May be unfair to musicians
Credit cards
Convenience over cash and checks
Increases possibility of identity theft
Who owns information about transactions?
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1-4 IT Issues (cont.)

Telecommuting
Saves time, allows more flexible work hours
Can lead to longer work hours
May result in fewer chances for promotion
Improved global communication network
Allow companies to sell to entire world
Allow companies to move jobs out of their
home countries.
World Wide Web
A conduit for democratic ideas?
Another tool for totalitarian governments?
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Conclusions

Revolutionary discoveries are rare

Information technology has long history
Rate of technological change accelerating
Wrong question: What will the computer
do to us?
Right question: What will we make of the
computer?
(quoting Seymour Papert)
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