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Technology and the Future entered
the Internet Age with the establishment of a web
site for the seventh edition. The site, which went live in July
1996, was one of the earliest for a book of this type. The content
and organization of the book followed that of the sixth edition fairly
closely. Articles by Alvin Toffler, Neil Postman, Thomas P. Hughes,
Judy Wajcman, and Tom Forester and Perry Morrison were among the additions.
A short piece by novelist Douglas Coupland, both funny and provocative,
was also added. The article, speculating on what time traveler
from today's world might pack for a trip 200 years in the future, was originally
published in Wired.
The development of this book, begun on a shoestring in the early 1970s, through nearly 30 years, is a reflection of the growing importance of technology in human affairs and the growing interest in the study of how technology and society are shaping each other and our future. |
Preface
Part I. Thinking about Technology1. Does Improved Technology Mean Progress?
Leo Marx2. The Powershift Era
Alvin Toffler3. Technopoly: The Broken Defenses
Neil Postman4. The Technological Torrent
Thomas P. Hughes5. Can Technology Replace Social Engineering?
Alvin M. Weinberg6. The Role of Technology in Society
Emmanuel G. Mesthene7. Technology: The Opiate of the Intellectuals
John McDermott8. Technology and the Tragic View
Samuel C. FlormanPart II. Forecasting, Assessing and Controlling the Impacts of Technology
9. Great Expectations: Why Technology Predictions Go Awry
Herb Brody10. An Unforeseen Revolution: Computers and Expectations, 1935-1985
Paul Ceruzzi11. Strategies for Regulating Risky Technologies
Joseph G. Morone and Edward J. Woodhouse12. Women and the Assessment of Technology
Corlann Gee Bush13. Controlling Technology
Allan C. MazurPart III. Reshaping Technology
14. Buddhist Economics
E. F. Schumacher15. Can Technology Be Humane?
Paul Goodman16. Technological Politics As If Democracy Really Mattered
Richard Sclove17. Toward Human-Centered Design
Donald A. Norman18. Feminist Perspectives on Technology
Judy Wajcman19. Science, Technology, and Black Community Development
Robert C. Johnson20. Artifact/Ideas and Political Culture
Langdon WinnerPart IV. Using Technologies and Confronting Their Dilemmas
21. The Dark Side of the Genome
Robert A. Weinberg22. Computer Ethics
Tom Forester and Perry Morrison23. Identity in the Age of the Internet
Sherry Turkle24. Less Work for Mother?
Ruth Schwartz Cowan25. In the Age of the Smart Machine
Shoshana Zuboff26. Packing Tips for Your Trip (to the Year 2195)
Douglas CouplandAbout the Author