Computers in Society 02/03

1. From Movable Type to Data Deluge, John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, The World & I , January 1999. The authors discuss the societal transformation that began with the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century and speculate on some potential consequences of the "digital revolution". 2. The Internet and Sexual Personae, and The Internet Produces a Global of Village Idiots, Camille Paglia and Richard John Neuhaus, Forbes ASAP , December 2, 1996. In this pair of articles, an ultralibertarian and a Roman Catholic priest offer very different analyses on the implications of the computer revolution. UNIT 1. The Economy 3. The Productivity Paradox, Jenny C. McCune, Management Review , March 1998. Does increased technology boost corporate productivity ? Earlier studies failed to find a link between computer investment and corporate performance. Recent research raises questions about such findings. Jenny McCune explains why different studies lead to different results and concludes that "technology is a mixed blessing for businesses". 4. Making the Chips That Run the World, Jake Page, Smithsonian , January 2000. It's "a piece of cake: Put 9 1/2 million transistors in a space the size of your thumbnail and allow zero contamination". Jake Page explains how such high-tech manufacturing is carried out at Intel's fabrication plant in New Mexico. 5. Beyond the Bar Code, Charlie Schmidt, Technology Review , March 2001. Charlie Schmidt explains how radio frequency identification tags may someday be able to track the location of "every single manufactured item" in real-time. This will allow manufacturers to stay in sync with consumer demand, collect a wealth of data about individual consumer habits, and pose new challenges to privacy. 6. To the Rescue!, Daniel Eisenberg, Time , April 18, 2001. "No other major business relies so heavily--and so inefficiently--on old-fashioned pen and paper", Daniel Eisenberg says, referring to the health care industry. He explains that the growing use of electronic prescription writing, comprehensive digital records, and other innovations are changing the practice and management of health care and raising new privacy concerns. 7. The Myth of "Internet Time", Andrew Odlyzko, Technology Review , April 2001. Product development cycles are shrinking, but consumers are not embracing novel technologies more rapidly than in the past. Failure to realize this fact has led to serious outcomes for many firms and investors. Andrew Odlyzko argues that dot-coms are transforming the economy but the process will not unfold in Internet time. 8. E-Commerce and the Information Market, Varun Grover and James T. C. Teng, Communications of the ACM , April 2001. The need to match buyers and sellers in the "virtual marketplace" has given rise to infomediaries --a new form of e-commerce company. The authors describe the various types of infomediaries and their growing role in orchestrating online transactions. 9. i2i Trust in E-Commerce, Judith S. Olson and Gary M. Olson, Communications of the ACM , December 2000. Many e-commerce activities depend on perceptions of trust and trustworthiness between individuals engaged in online interaction. In this article, Judith and Gary Olson discuss forms of online i2i relations and social, technological, and personal factors that build or inhibit trust. UNIT 2. WoSchellenberg, Kathryn is the author of 'Computers in Society 02/03', published 2001 under ISBN 9780072479874 and ISBN 0072479876.