Technology in Our Society

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Technology in Our Society

• Andy Lee, Jenny Tieri, Alyson Birkholz Jay
  Tollefson

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Table of Contents
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Human Innovation

• Gave us the power to
• Transform our environment
• Extend our lifespan
• Combine our brainpower
• Create vast, interconnected and interdependent
  societies
• Even explore the stars

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Technologies

• The technologies that have made this possible
  from the simplest wooden plow to the most
  advanced personal computer are at the core of
  our history

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Innovations

• 1950s - first large-scale computers
• 1980s - introduction of the personal computer
• 1990s - ascendance of the Internet as a
  mainstream technology
• It is hard to say where we will be in ten years,
  since the reate of change continues to accelerate

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Revolutionary Technology

• Is loosely defined as something that amplifies or
  extends our senses and capabilities in a
  paradigm-shifting way
• A telephone allows our voices to be heard around
  the world rather than across a room
• Three broad categories communication,
  transportation, and utility technologies

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Communication

• Written language and Gutenbergs printing press
• Telegraph and telephone
• Global Internet
• Each consecutive communication technology allows
  us to communicate with larger numbers of people
  with greater precision than ever before

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Transportation

• Extends our legs and feet
• Wheel
• Steamship
• Automobile
• Jet aircraft
• Allow us to travel farther and faster
• Transport goods and services around the world

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Utility

• Innovations such as electrical power and the
  steam engine extended our hands minds, giving us
  the ability to work with materials faster and
  more efficiently, and with greater precision
• With each new technology also comes logistic
  innovations that enable us to make better use of
  technologies we already have

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Information Technology

• Makes the world smaller and simpler

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Smaller

• The ability to communicate and exchange
  information instantaneously and across vast
  distances has enabled more individuals and
  businesses to communicate and trade, regardless
  of their location
• Large companies can connect with employees,
  suppliers, and partners around the globe

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Simpler

• Information technology makes the world simpler
• For businesses it breaks down logistical
  barriers, offering greater flexibility and power
  in the way they do business
• These technologies shrink time and distance,
  simplify complex business processes, and enable
  more effective global communication and
  collaboration

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Prediction

• When we look at what information technology has
  to offer and see the impact its already made
  in just 50 short years its not surprising that
  some predict its impact to be greater than the
  automobile, the telephone and electricity
  combined!

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Survey ResultsSex
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Survey ResultsAge
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Survey ResultsYear in college
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Survey ResultsHave a Cell Phone
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Survey ResultsHave a Palm Pilot
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Survey ResultsHave a Pager
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Survey ResultsOwn a Computer or Laptop
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Survey ResultsCamera or Digital Camera
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Technology the Changing Status of Women

• In the earliest societies, women produced more
  food than men, providing 75-80 of the food
• The men hunted and the women gathered vegetation,
  which at this time was a more dependable source
  of food
• About 5,000 yrs. Ago humans learned how to mold
  metal and the metal plow was created

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Status of women continued

• The metal plow marked the beginning of
  agriculture, and for the first time, men took
  over the dominant role in food production
  (Macionis 93).

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• This discovery left women with only second hand
  tasks such as weeding and carrying water to the
  fields
• From this point on, men believed that a womens
  place was in the home and that she was meant to
  be a wife and mother
• Women were given domestic chores, such as cooking
  and cleaning, because the men believed that other
  tasks were too heavy of labor for women

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Women in the workforce

• With time, some women were allowed into the
  workforce but they were restricted to certain
  professions that fit their stereotype such as
  nursing, teaching, and social work

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Women cont.

• For many women a career became acceptable and in
  many cases an alternative to a married life
• The invention of the typewriter in 1873 opened up
  new types of employment for women

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Cont.

• Prior to this time men were only allowed in the
  office but men were not interested in the
  typewriter. They considered it a repetitive and
  monotonous job with no chance of advancement.
  Therefore women were recruited to fill the
  positions

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Discrimination

• Many employers were bias against women,
  functioning solely to promote male dominance in
  the workplace
• The main reason that women were even hired was
  that they demanded less then the average male
  employee and were willing to work for less pay

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The facts

• In 1963, the Equal Pay Act was passed but pay
  remained unequal
• In 1970 women were still being paid about 45
  less than men for the same jobs and in 1988 about
  32 less
• Today, the gap of inequality between men and
  women has lessened but it will still take some
  time to get it back to the way it was in the
  earliest societies

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Role in Society

• Technology makes life easier in many ways
• Major businesses make decisions over cell phones
  and fax machines every day
• Third world countries do not have such things and
  cannot afford to live the way we do with
  technology

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Cont.

• Most people today have computers in their homes,
  at work and now even in their cars
• I am definitely thankful for gaming systems like
  Playstation, Nintendo 64 X Box

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Cont.

• Technology helps scientists to find cures for
  diseases and medicines to suppress illness and
  pain
• All discoveries are due to technological advances

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Cont.

• Technology is something that is going to control
  the world in the future and if you dont know
  anything about it you will be left behind in the
  workforce and life in general

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Internet

• The internet is an endless information highway
  for useful information
• On the other hand the internet is easy access to
  spreading hate and anger

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Cont.

• Hate groups such as white supremacists and
  terrorists use the internet to spread fear and
  mind poisoning information throughout the world
• Weapons of mass destruction can be bought on the
  internet
• A 10 year old can be taught to make a pipe bomb
  or chemical explosion on the net

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The Whole World

• Technology is widely used today and will continue
  to make the world a better place to live and more
  convenient as well
• The influence on society is a major one, life
  changes constantly with a new invention day after
  day

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Conclusion

• In the wrong hands technology could mean disaster
  but in the long run I believe that technology has
  a mostly positive effect on society and will
  continue to have a major effect on life for the
  rest of our lives.

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QUIZ

• 1. What is Revolutionary Technology?
• 2. In the survey, what piece of technology did
  most of the students own?
• 3. Name 2 careers that fit the stereotype of
  women.
• 4. What is Jay thankful for?