Future research into the intellectual structure of computer work might help encourage these developments in a more conscious and systematic way, with the ultimate goal of formulating a democratic practice of technology – not just democratic practice of “choices” about technologies, but a democratic practice of the devices themselves and of the human activities in which they are embedded.
Predictor: Agre, Phil
Prediction, in context:In his July 1994 isse of The Network Observer online newsletter, editor Phil Agre writes about online ethics: ”A wide variety of emerging technologies allows human activities to be instrumented in new ways, not necessarily tethered to a keyboard and video display. Wireless data communication systems, for example, allow trucking companies to capture the workings of their trucks while they are out on the road. Elaborate bar-code schemes allow warehouse computers to automatically keep track of materials … These new schemes can be used for both good and ill. Privacy advocates are understandably concerned about the vast amounts of data that such systems can collect. Understanding the intellectual structure of these innovations permits us to understand the issues somewhat more deeply … Research into the intellectual structure of computer work also makes plain how difficult it will be to escape the trade-offs between computer support for activities and threats to privacy. How else might computers work? Alternative models are available in the participatory design movement in Scandinavia, and in the Internet. In each case, the strong evolutionary trend has been away from supporting a community’s activity by providing a medium for communication, community memory, and the active, flexible interpretation of the formal structures that a computer uses. These developments have been driven by intuition and by computer users who happen to have the power to reject systems they find too constraining. Future research into the intellectual structure of computer work might help encourage these developments in a more conscious and systematic way, with the ultimate goal of formulating a democratic practice of technology – not just democratic practice of ‘choices’ about technologies, but a democratic practice of the devices themselves and of the human activities in which they are embedded.”
Biography:Phillip E. Agre was an associate professor of information studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has been the author of research studies on the Internet. He edited The Network Observer, an online newsletter on Internet issues. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: July 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Ethics/Values
Name of publication: The Network Observer
Title, headline, chapter name: Privacy and Computer-Mediated Activity
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/tno/july-1994.html#augmented
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Kafoure, David