Difference between revisions of "325--2011--Week 1 Questions/Comments"
From McClurken Wiki
| Line 21: | Line 21: | ||
After reading the introduction of Pursell’s book a few things really stuck out to me and made me wonder. I had a hard time fully comprehending the concept of “technological determinism,” the assumption that technology determines what happens in society. In respect to the false assumptions that Joseph Corn points out I agree with Meagan that new technology does eventually replaces its elder. I believe another example of that would be the introduction of DVD, which has almost completely done away with the VHS, and now the Blu-Ray (both DVD and DVD player) is slowly phasing out regular DVD players. Another part of the introduction that stuck out to me was the small paragraph about “smart” cars and both the good and bad of introducing new technology. How if we introduced “smart” cars then auto repair shops, insurance companies, and others who benefit from car repairs, are suffer from this new technology. This concept brought to mind the concept of hybrid cars. If we introduced all hybrid cars pollution and greenhouse gas emissions would decrease, but the oil and gas companies would suffer because of it. With this in mind, I wonder how many other new technologies have been created or thought of, and haven’t been produced because of the pros and cons this new technology brings with it? | After reading the introduction of Pursell’s book a few things really stuck out to me and made me wonder. I had a hard time fully comprehending the concept of “technological determinism,” the assumption that technology determines what happens in society. In respect to the false assumptions that Joseph Corn points out I agree with Meagan that new technology does eventually replaces its elder. I believe another example of that would be the introduction of DVD, which has almost completely done away with the VHS, and now the Blu-Ray (both DVD and DVD player) is slowly phasing out regular DVD players. Another part of the introduction that stuck out to me was the small paragraph about “smart” cars and both the good and bad of introducing new technology. How if we introduced “smart” cars then auto repair shops, insurance companies, and others who benefit from car repairs, are suffer from this new technology. This concept brought to mind the concept of hybrid cars. If we introduced all hybrid cars pollution and greenhouse gas emissions would decrease, but the oil and gas companies would suffer because of it. With this in mind, I wonder how many other new technologies have been created or thought of, and haven’t been produced because of the pros and cons this new technology brings with it? | ||
~Mike Roche | ~Mike Roche | ||
| + | |||
| + | I also found it interesting about how one development hurts other industries, as with the example of “smart” cars taking away from repair shops, insurance companies, etc. However, I think we also need to recognize that this isn’t necessarily always a bad thing. In Mike Roche’s example of hybrid cars, if we compare the health and survival of the environment to the oil and gas companies, does it really need to be a negative thing that those companies die out or at least decrease in power? In the end, doesn’t the health of our world outweigh those corporations? It doesn’t seem that this can be the only example where one development has a largely more positive than negative impact. This is something that Pursell touches on a few times, where can we draw the line in technology’s positive and negative impact on social history? | ||
| + | |||
| + | I thought the concept of the history of technology was well portrayed in “The Evolution of the Classroom.” Classroom technology has truly evolved over the centuries, and it ties well with what Pursell talked about with technology joining, not merely replacing, previous technology. We still have classrooms that use pointers, slide projectors, blackboards, etc; while that technology has evolved, the previous technology has not necessarily become obsolete. | ||
| + | --Sara Krechel | ||
