Technopoly: Tools-> Technocracy->Technopoly

In Neil Postpam's Technopoly, the author boldly attempts to demonize technology and portray it as the ruiner of art and culture, and high moral ground. He discusses a shift in technology, and the ever growing degree of control it has over our lives. In the beginning, technology simply existed as tools in our hands, helping us carve our sculptures, cook a dinner, or hunt for the deer that will be cooked. In this era, technology was bound by religion or theocracy. "... We may say further that all tool-using cultures from the technologically most primitive to the most sophisticated are theocratic or, if not that, unified by some metaphysical theory. Such a theology or metaphysics provides order and meaning to existence, making it almost impossible for the technics to subordinate people to its own needs." Technology essentially helped man come closer to God.
As time went on, technology didn't stay so culture-friendly, and attempted to actually become culture, creating paradigm shifts among people in areas such as politics and religion. For instance, the telescope destoryed the idea that the Earth is the center of the universe, taking down the moral fiber of people with it. This, Postman coined as Technocracy, an idea that propels itself by allowing man to acquire knowledge of the nature world and consequently opening the stage for constant invention and reinvention for the sake of invention. More than being a simple hunter and gather culture, technocracy starting putting doubts into man's mind; now, not everything that surrounds him is real and the truth. Despite these uncertainties though, society is still somewhat connected to its upbringing of religious goodness and loyalty to its major beliefs.
Lastly, the world has entered a state of technopoly which basically puts "all forms of cultural life to the sovereignty of technique and technology." Whereas human thinking allows for drifting and a general approach to problem solving, technology is now vauled much more, yet its driving forces work for efficiency, precision, and objectivity. Technopoly is kind of like a dictatorship, but even more dangerous because people can sense the evil totalitarianism of politics, but technology is like a good old friend. The computer represents everything that is wrong with technology, because it is simply assumed that computers are smarter than we are.

Swedin & Ferro's "Computers" Part 2

      In the second half of the book, computers are taking the world by storm. From the 1970's on, advancements pushed computer technology to places previously thought impossible. It began to become a machine that no longer had to be operated by academics and electrical engineers. As a quote on pg 107 explains this,"Television, as a mass medium, had not been used up to then [1984] because the market for personal computers has not been a mass consumer product. Now it was." Computers no longer were created by a single scientist in the basement of university building. Different companies specialized in various components that contributed to the making of one machine; intel excelled in making microprocessors. On its own, the market of computers evolved like the concept of an assembly line, where efficiency and quality ruled. Interestingly, the market of computers migrated, or rather expanded, from research use/ military defense to businesses to the individual consumer.
      And, computers no longer served as just a practical tool to to create ledgers and solve complex algebra problems. They were beginning to infiltrate the everyday life, as games such as Pong by Atari were being played in arcades across the country. It was like a new breed of species had joined the American human population (since the book mostly focuses on computers in America). It even created its own language(s), so it really did become a whole other realm in technology: "Computers and electronics have become pervasive in everyday life. What was once high technology is now mundane."
     The evolution of technology works in such a way that it builds upon what has been previously in place. Transportation for instance, didn't jump from a bicycle to an army jet. There is a clear and concise trend of discoveries, that leads one to the other. Which is why I should not have been surprised that the internet did not come from nothing, as I had previously thought. Email and web browsing did not come instantly. In fact, "The first message transmitted between UCLA and SRI  [on the ARPAnet] was "L-O-G"...then the system crashed" which obviously was a far cry from the internet as we know it today. But while advancement occurred sequentially, it did progress quickly, any by 1977 and experiment with a TCP system that successfully transmitted information from San Francisco to London and back. The kind of impact that computers and the internet have and continue to have is tremendous, constantly making our lives more efficient, and even adding a layer of enjoyment to it.

Swedin/Ferro’s Computers pgs 1-83

        It strikes me as rather odd that the calculator application on the PC I'm using right now is considered an "Accessory." In the early days of computers, the main goal seemed to be to perform simple arithmetic calculations, as can be seen with Hollerith's system used for the US Census. The purposes for what a computer was to be used for stayed somewhat consistent through time up until mid the 20th century, when computers became more sophisticated and allowed for rather complex calculations. What I find interesting about the history of computers is that the countries' governments kind of vaulted the development and advancement of the technology, whether it was with a need for a statistical analysis of the country's population or to decode German messages on the radio. It was constantly investing money into the field, even when private sectors were hesitant to do so: "The commercial electronics industry did not initially appreciate the value of integrated circuits, believing them too unreliable and too difficult to manufacture. However both NASA and the American Defense realized the value of the microchips..." (pg. 67) Obviously the military and the electronics industry had different needs, yet the military's needs are the ones that lead to breakthroughs that are most relevant to today's technology ie. integrated circuits are still the core of computer hardware. Of course it wasn't all fun and games where the government just threw money to whoever claimed they could make a better, faster computer. For example, when Charles Babbage redesigned the Difference Engine and applied for additional funding to create it, the British government did not see it as an improvement to the prior version and canceled any future funding in 1842. (pg.16)
         As far as culture being affected by computers, this has not really occured yet in pages 1-83 of "Computers." These machines were mostly being used for clerical work such as banking and clearing checks, insurance companies, governments and other organizations who processed large amounts of data and relied on mechanical calculators, punched cards, and tabulators.The computer has not yet reached the individual consumer, which probably will change the landscape of what computers were being built for. I suspect that the reason for this is Business to Business services and products do not really effect the overall image of the product to the greater population. Slowly but surely this was changing though as computers were started to be used for non commercial matters, such as politics, like the UNIVAC correctly predicting that Eisenhower would win the 1952 election by a landslide.

Tech log and Reaction to technology

I have never blogged before. I guess I just never had much to say to people I dont know. I think it's scary to think that after i post this, it will be somehow accessible to anybody with an internet connection. Luckily though, others are spewing just as much information on the web as I am, and this massive, abundant amount of data prevents you from being especially noticed, unless you are something spectacular. but most of it goes unnoticed. It's like walking through times square during the day. you're there, you're being seen, but the memory of you is being held by others for no longer than 3 seconds. but once again, if you're especially attractive or hideous or eccentric in some way you will stand out for a little longer, until the next beautiful, ugly, weird, cool thing comes along.
So, it turns out I use technology more for satisfying my own curiousity than for academic purposes. Obviously, like everyone else, I use Technology for seeing what everyone is up to, and what people's plans are for the upcoming weekend, and checking out all their facebook pictures. Another thing I noticed about my technology log is the amount of time i spend on youtube looking up various types of music. Music in general, i spend hours a day researching and listening to music, and without technology my range of reach would be so much smaller. Other than the copious number of hours i spend on the interwebs, I also abuse other types of technology like my cellphone for texting (more than calling), my microwave for heating up my ramen noodles, my alarm clock to get me out of bed in the AM, and my speakers to blast dubstep music for everyone on the block to hear. Technology is all around us, and it includes more than just electric appliances. However the biggest technological time eater I use is the #1 social networking site: Facebook. But I know people who use this tool to no end, signing on the moment they wake up and not signing off until the wee hours of the night. Crazy.