|
Items in cart [4] |
Questions? Call 888-624-8373 |
| ||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2009. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement |
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page R1
Series on Technology
and Social Priorities
NATIONAL ACADEMY
OF ENGINEERING
Information
Technologies
anc! Social
Transformation
Bruce R. Guile
Editor
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1985
OCR for page R2
National Academy Press · 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW · Washington, DC 20418
The National Academy of Engineering is a private organization established
in 1964. It shares in the responsibility given the National Academy of Sciences
under a congressional charter granted in 1863 to advise the federal government
on questions of science and technology. This collaboration is implemented
through the National Research Council. The National Academy of Engineenng
recognizes distinguished engineers, sponsors engineering programs aimed at
meeting national needs, and encourages education and research.
Funds for the National Academy of Engineenng~s Symposium Senes on
Technology and Social Priorities were provided by the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Academy Industry
Program. The views expressed in this volume are those of the authors and are
not presented as the views of the Mellon Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation,
the Academy Industry Program, or the National Academy of Engineering.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Information technologies and social transformation.
(Series on technology and social priorities)
Papers presented at a symposium held in conjunction
with the 1984 annual meeting of the National Academy of
~ . .
ungmeenng.
1. Electronic data processing~ocial aspects
Congresses. I. National Academy of Engineering.
IT. Series.
QA76.9.C66I52 1985 303.4'834 85~830
Copyright ~ 1985 by the National Academy of Sciences
No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or
electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording, nor may it be
stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or
private use, without written permission from the publisher, except for the
purposes of official use by the U.S. government.
ISBN 0-309-03529-5
Printed in the United States of America
OCR for page R3
SYMPOSIUM ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Chairman
JOSEPH V. CHARYK, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Communications Satellite Corporation
Members
SOLOMON J. BUCHSBAUM, Executive Vice-President, Customer
Systems, AT&T Bell Laboratones
HARLAN CLEVELAND, Dean, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public
Affairs, University of Minnesota
N. BRUCE HANNAY, Vice-President, Research and Patents, Bell
Laboratories (retired)
JAMES BRIAN QUINN, William and Josephine Buchanan Professor of
Management, Amos Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College
Staff
BRUCE R. GUILE, National Academy of Engineering Fellow
PENELOPE GIBBS, Symposium Series Secretary
fizz
OCR for page R4
OCR for page R5
Preface
Infollllation technologies are perhaps the most aggressive technol-
ogies of the current age, generating progress, change, and turbulence
in many branches of industry and in the lives of organizations and
individuals. Microelectronic systems are shrinking in size and cost,
growing in performance, expanding their range to the world level, and
crossing cultural boundaries. As societies attain higher orders of
information handling, existing social institutions are faced with the
dual challenge of directing and accommodating social change driven
by technology. With this in mind the National Academy of Engineering
(NAE) held the second of its Symposia on Technology and Social
Prionties, in conjunction with its 1984 Annual Meeting, titled Infor-
mation Technologies and Social Transformation.
The symposium, held on October 4, 1984, brought scholars of
technology and society together with technologists, social scientists,
and representatives from the industrial, legal, and public sectors to
discuss the interaction of information technology with social institu-
tions. The topics addressed included a review of recent developments
and likely futures in information technology, a comparison of infor-
mation technology to historical developments in other technologies,
and discussion of the interaction of information technology with
businesses, homes, property rights in information, and various hier-
archies of social organization. The six papers presented at the sym-
posium, with comments by discussants asked to prepare remarks on
the papers, make up this volume. It is, I think, an exceptionally
v
OCR for page R6
v!
PREFACE
interesting collection of insights about the role of technology in society
in general and the likely impacts of infonnation technology in particular.
The Council of the National Academy of Engineering voted to
dedicate the symposium to the memory of George M. Low, who died
on July 17, 1984. In his 27 years with the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA), Mr. Low made major contributions to
the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs as an engineer and an
administrator. He became deputy administrator of NASA in 1969 and
served in that position until he became president of Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in 1976. Mr. Low was elected to the National
Academy of Engineering in 1970 and was the recipient of the Academy's
Founders Award in 1978. At his death Mr. Low was a member of the
Council of the NAE and chairman of the joint National Academy of
Eng~neering-National Academy of Sciences-Institute of Medicine
Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy.
Bruce Guile, a fellow at the National Academy of Engineering, was,
in large part, responsible for the symposium. Working with the advisory
committee, he helped formulate the content of the symposium, worked
with the speakers to ensure cohesion of the presentations, and served
as an editor to produce this volume.
The editor acknowledges with gratitude the counsel and help of
several Academy staff members. Jesse Ausubel, special assistant to
the president of the National Academy of Engineering, offered helpful
advice and answered questions throughout the process of holding the
symposium and editing the papers. Penelope Gibbs, in addition to
typing correspondence and the manuscript, handled the lists and labels
that make a symposium happen. Dorothy Sawicki of the National
Academy Press offered sound editorial advice and prepared the
manuscript for publication.
ROBERT M. WHITE
President
National Academy of Engineenng
OCR for page R7
Contents
Introduction
Joseph V. Charyk
The Evolution of Information Technologies
John S. Mayo
Comments by Ernest S. Kuh, 33
The Information Age: Evolution or Revolution?
Melvin Rranzberg
Comments by Gunnar Hambraeus, 53
The Twilight of Hierarchy: Speculations on the
Global Infonnation Society.
Harlan Cleveland
Comments by Alexander H. nax, 79
Property Rights in Information.
Anne Wells Branscomb
Comments by Jordan J. Baruch, 121
Information Technologies in the Home
Walter S. Baer
Comments by Roland W. Schmitt, 151
. .
vet
7
35
· · .
55
.. 81
123
OCR for page R8
vIll
Computers and Business ...
Theodore ]. Gordon
Comments by Ruth M. Davis, 168
About the Authors
CONTENTS
154
...... 171
OCR for page R9
Information
Technologies
and Social
Transformation
OCR for page R10
