Transcript Document

A Gift of Fire
Third edition
Sara Baase
Chapter 1: Unwrapping the Gift
Slides prepared by Cyndi Chie and Sarah Frye
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What We Will Cover
• Rapid Pace of Change
• New Developments and Dramatic
Impacts
• Issues and Themes
• Ethics
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Rapid Pace of Change
• 1940s: The first computer is built
• 1956: First hard-disk drive weighed a ton and
stored five megabytes
• 1991: Space shuttle had a one-megahertz
computer
• 2006: Pocket devices hold a terabyte (one
trillion bytes) of data
• 2006: Automobiles can have 100-megahertz
computers
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Rapid Pace of Change:
Discussion Question
• What devices are now computerized
that were not originally? Think back 10,
20, 50 years ago.
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New Developments
Blogs is a type of website or part of a website. :
• Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to
leave comments and even message each other
via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity
that distinguishes them from other static websites
• Began as outlets (‫ )متنفس‬for amateurs who want to
express ideas or creativity
• Appealing (‫ )جذاب‬because present personal views,
are funny and creative, and present a quirky
perspective on current events
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New Developments (cont.)
Blogs (cont.):
• A typical blog combines text, images, and links to
other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to
its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in
an interactive format is an important part of many
blogs.
• Now used as alternatives to mainstream news and
for business public relations
• Popular blogs have 100,000 to 500,000 readers per
day and can peak at several million views per day
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New Developments (cont.)
Video Sharing:
• Rise of amateur videos on the web
• Boom (‫ )ازدهار‬of websites like Youtube and
Myspace
• Many videos on the web can infringe (‫)ينتهك‬
copyrights owned by entertainment
companies
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New Developments (cont.)
Cell Phones:
• Can now be used for travel, tasks scheduling,
taking pictures and downloading music
• Talking on cell phones while driving is a
problem
• Cell phones can interfere with solitude ( ‫)عزلة‬,
quiet and concentration
• Cameras in cell phones and privacy issues
– Cameras in cell phones threaten privacy
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New Developments (cont.)
Social Networking:
• First online social networking site was
www.classmates.com in 1995
• Myspace, founded in 2003 had roughly
100 million member profiles by 2006
• Facebook was started at Harvard as an
online version of student directories
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New Developments (cont.)
Social Networking:
• Sites like Second Life (www.secondlife.com) combine
many of the features of social networking sites with
the 3-D aspects of video games.
• What new problems/benefits arise when a person can
take on a physical persona (an avatar) that may be
completely different from who they are in real life?
• Some people with physical disabilities can interact
with others without revealing their handicap.
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New Developments (cont.)
Collaborative (‫ )تعاوني‬efforts among strangers:
• Wikipedia: the online, collaborative encyclopedia,
thousands of volunteers write the continually edit and
update wikipedia
• Open Directory Project (ODP): the directory of the
web organized by topic areas
– (ex. Google and Netscape search use the ODP )
• Collaboration between scientists in different states or
countries
• Watch-dogs on the Web: A web site where a woman
can publish the names and pictures of men who
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other women should watch out for
New Developments (cont.)
E-commerce:
• www.Amazon.com started in 1994 and 10
years later annual sales reached $8.5 billion
• TV show episodes are available to view on
the Web
Free Stuff:
• Free stuff on the web: email, books,
newspapers, games, etc.
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New Developments (cont.)
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, and Motion:
• AI is a branch of computer science that develops
theory and techniques that normally require
human intelligence to be done (ex. Complex
strategy games, diagnosing disease)
• Robotic: mechanical devices that performs tasks
traditionally done by human, often specialpurpose devices, and may require AI to function
(ex. Cow Milking machine, Robotic arms)
• Motion sensing devices are used to give robots
the ability to walk, trigger airbags in a crash and
cushion (‫ )تخفيف الصدمة‬laptops when dropped
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New Developments (cont.)
Tools for Disabled People:
• One of the most heartwarming applications of computer
technology is Restoration (‫)استعادة‬of abilities(‫)القدرات‬,
productivity and independence to people with physical
disabilities.
• For blind people computers equipped with speech
synthesizers read aloud what a sighted (‫ )مبصر‬person sees
on the screen.
• Speech recognition .
• Prosthetic( ‫ )االصطناعية‬devices such as artificial arms
and legs are improver from heavy dumb wood to highly
sensitive digitally controlled devices.
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New Developments (cont.)
What’s Next?
• Medical records on chips attached to
medical bracelets
• Biological and computer sciences will
combine new ways to insert microprocessors or controlled devices on
human bodies
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New Developments (cont.)
Discussion Question
• What changes and new developments
do you expect in the next 50 years?
• How will life be different than it is today?
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Issues(‫)قضايا‬and
Themes(‫)موضوعات‬
Issues:
• Unemployment (ex. Automation of the most
teller functions led to a decline in employment
for bank tellers, bank tellers dropped from
480,000 to 301,000 in period from 1983-1993
because of ATMs.)
• Alienation(‫ )عزلة‬and customer service
(interaction with machine instead of interact
with human) ex. Automation of teller functions
removes the human contact between a
customer and alive teller.
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Issues(‫)قضايا‬and
Themes(‫)موضوعات‬
Issues: (cont.)
• Crime (ex. People are robbed after
withdrawing cash at ATMs using stolen and
counterfeit (‫ )مزيف‬ATM cards.
• Loss of privacy
• Errors
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Issues and Themes (cont.)
Themes:
• Old problems in a new context: crime,
copyright infringement (‫)انتهاك‬, gambling.
• Adapting to new technology: usually require
adaptive changes in laws, social institutions
(‫ ) االجتماعية المؤسسات‬and personal skills.
• Varied (‫ ) متنوع‬sources of solutions to
problems: new technology is a source for
both problems and solutions.
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Issues and Themes (cont.)
Themes (cont.):
• Global reach of net: ease of communication
with distant countries has many good and
bad effects (ex. The net makes information
and opportunities more easily available to
people isolated by geography or by political
system. It also makes crime fighting and low
enforcement more difficult )
• Trade-offs and controversy: increasing
security means reducing convenience.
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Ethics
What is Ethics:
• Ethics is a Study of what it means to “do the
right thing”
• Ethical theory Assumes that people are
rational and make free choices. Neither of
these conditions is always true.
• Ethical rules are Rules to follow in our
interactions with other people and our actions
that affect others
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Ethics (cont.)
Ethical Views: there are many different
theories for about how to establish a firm
justification for ethical rules and how to
decide what is ethical in specific case.
• Deontological(‫ ) آداب المهنة‬theories: tend to
emphasize duty and absolute rules, to be
followed whether they lead to good or ill
consequences. (ex. “Do not lie.”)
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Ethics (cont.)
Ethical Views: (cont.)
• Utilitarianism(‫) مذهب المنفعة‬: is to increase
person utility, an action might increase utility
for some people and increase it for others,
benefits and damages for people are
calculated and an act is right if it tend to
increase aggregate utility and it is wrong if it
tend to decease aggregate utility.
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Ethics (cont.)
Ethical Views: (cont.)
• Natural rights(‫) الطبيعية الحقوق‬: let people to
make there own decisions according to there
judgment, without any interference by others.
• No simple answers: we can’t solve ethical
problems by applying an algorithm, real
human situations are complex.
– Do organizations (businesses) have
ethics?
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Ethics (cont.)
Important Distinctions: a number distinctions
affect our judgment but not clearly understood
like:
• Right, wrong and okay
• Negative rights (liberties)
– The right to act without interference
• Positive rights (claim-rights)
– An obligation of some people to provide
certain things for others
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Ethics (cont.)
Important Distinctions (cont.):
• Difference between wrong and harm
• Personal preference and ethics
• Law and Ethics
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Ethics
Discussion Question
• Can you think of examples of liberties
(negative rights) and claim-rights
(positive rights) that are at opposition to
each other?
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