There are few ways in which computers and technology dont impact our lives on a daily basis. As result, it is increasingly important that students are not only fluent in the many ways that technology can benefit them, but are also aware of the effects it has on society. Computers and Technology in a Changing Society, Second Edition is a unique text that provides a concise introduction to the computer concepts that students need to know, as well as the risks and issues that accompany their use…. More >>

Computers and Technology in a Changing Society

We have long recognized technology as a driving force behind much historical and cultural change. Now, in Beyond Engineering, science writer Robert Pool turns the question around to examine how society shapes technology. Drawing on such disparate fields as history, economics, risk analysis, management science, sociology, and psychology, Pool illuminates the complex, often fascinating interplay between machines and society, in a book that will revolutionize how we think about technology. We tend to think that reason guides technological development, that engineering expertise alone determines the final form an invention takes. But if you look closely enough at the history of any invention, says Pool, you will find that factors unrelated to engineering seem to have an almost equal impact. In his wide-ranging volume, he traces developments in nuclear energy, automobiles, light bulbs, commercial electricity, and personal computers, to reveal that the ultimate shape of a technology often… More >>

Beyond Engineering: How Society Shapes Technology

A complete and readable introduction to the nature and impact of new information and communication technologies on business and society. This book assumes no prior study of either business or information technology. It provides ideal introductory reading on the nature and uses of business information systems for business undergraduates. Computing students will also find it an invaluable guide to the business and social implications of their subject. Although written from a British perspective, it emphasizes the global impact of new technology and draws upon examples from the USA, Europe, Japan and the Newly Industrialized Countries of the Pacific rim. Computing technology develops and is applied as a result of conscious choices both in society as a whole, and within the organizations that use it. It is also constrained by the wider society within which such organizations operate, and influenced by a variety of interactions between people, data, hardware and software, organizations an… More >>

Business, Information Technology and Society

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The idea of the “digital divide,” the great social division between information haves and have-nots, has dominated policy debates and scholarly analysis since the 1990s. In Working-Class Network Society, Jack Linchuan Qiu describes a more complex social and technological reality in a newly mobile, urbanizing China. Qiu argues that as inexpensive Internet and mobile phone services become available and are closely integrated with the everyday work and life of low-income communities, they provide a critical seedbed for the emergence of a new working class of “network labor” crucial to China’s economic boom. Between the haves and have-nots, writes Qiu, are the information “have-less”: migrants, laid-off workers, micro-entrepreneurs, retirees, youth, and others, increasingly connected by cybercafés, prepaid service, and used mobile phones. A process of class formation has begun that has important implications for working-class network society in China and beyond.

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Working-Class Network Society: Communication Technology and the Information Have-Less in Urban China

This book covers a gap in EU policy literature by addressing the intersection between research policy and industrial policy. It analyzes how the EU supports the competitiveness of domestic companies and the common objective of sustained (and sustainable) economic growth. An exhaustive introduction to the founding principles, institutions, and activities of the EU and an overview of the 15 new and candidate member states are also provided. This new edition is thoroughly revised and extended to incorporate updated and new material and data on the new R&D Framework Program, the Lisbon Agenda, the EU Reform Treaty, and the EU enlargement. The appendix and accompanying website contain ancillary distance-learning material, extended readings, country-specific data, and other materials for producing course notes and visuals. The book will be useful for lecturers, students, politicians and civil servants who are interested in EU technology policy as well as for professionals who are involved in… More >>

Research, Quality, Competitiveness: European Union Technology Policy for the Knowledge-based Society

Science, Technology, and Society: A Sociological Approach is a comprehensive guide to the emergent field of science, technology, and society studies and its implications for today’s culture and society. Written in an accessible style, and designed especially for students, the book emphasizes the sociological sciences as the foundation for STS studies. It opens with a discussion of current STS topics, research tools, and theories, and tackles some of the most urgent issues on the STS agenda: power and culture, race, gender, colonialism, the internet, cyborgs and robots, and biotechnology. Case studies highlight particular ideas and their practical application. A glossary and further reading suggestions complete Science, Technology, and Society, making it an indispensable introduction to a controversial area of inquiry…. More >>

Science, Technology, and Society: A Sociological Approach

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A respected futurist advances an argument sure to cause debate-in a wired world, the best way to preserve our freedom will be to give up our privacy In The Transparent Society, award-winning author David Brin details the startling argument that privacy, far from being a right, hampers the real foundation of a civil society: accountability. Using examples as disparate as security cameras in Scotland and Gay Pride events in Tucson, Brin shows that openness is far more liberating than secrecy and advocates for a society in which everyone (not just the government and not just the rich) could look over everyone else’s shoulders. The biggest threat to our society, he warns, is that surveillance technology will be used by too few people not by too many.David Brin takes some of our worst notions about threats to privacy and sets them on their ears. According to Brin, there is no turning back the growth of public observation and inevitable loss of privacy–at least outside of our own home… More >>

The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom?

Communication in History’s outstanding selection of readings from classic and contemporary sources gives an extensive overview of the most important ideas in the field. Encompassing topics as wide-ranging as the role of printing in the rise of the modern state and the role of the Internet in the Information Age, this anthology reveals how media have been influential both in maintaining social order and as powerful agents of change. Revised with new readings for the Fifth Edition, Communication in History continues to be, as one reviewer wrote, “the only text in the sea of History of Mass Communication texts that introduces students to a more expansive, intellectually enlivening study of the relationship between human history and communication history.”… More >>

Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society

Taking Sides volumes present current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Each issue is thoughtfully framed with an issue summary, an issue introduction, and a postscript or challenge questions. Taking Sides readers feature an annotated listing of selected World Wide Web sites. An online Instructor’s Resource Guide with testing material is available for each volume. Using Taking Sides in the Classroom is also an excellent instructor resource. Visit www.mhcls.com for more information…. More >>

Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Science, Technology, and Society

This EXPANDED Eighth Edition of TAKING SIDES: CLASHING VIEWS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY presents TWO ADDITIONAL current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Each issue is thoughtfully framed with an issue summary, an issue introduction, and a postscript. An instructor’s manual with testing material is available online for each TAKING SIDES volume. USING TAKING SIDES IN THE CLASSROOM is also an excellent instructor resource with practical suggestions on incorporating this effective approach in the classroom. Each TAKING SIDES reader features an annotated listing of selected World Wide Web sites and is supported by our student website, www.mhcls.com/online…. More >>

Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Science, Technology, and Society, 8/e Expanded