Some ideas for Assignment 1

  Assignment 1 on Technology and Values asks you to find an article or story where existing or proposed computer-based technology has significant implications for one of the five values associated with the Envisioning Cards.   I find them all the time.  So in the interest of helping you out, here are topics you can find in most major tech journals and news outlets.  Remember to look at my "Blog List" available on this blog.  I thought about giving you an example, but we ran through a few in class.  Here are some topics to consider:

• Copyright protection (music is the one you think of first, mostly because Napster hit the headlines) but from an economic standpoint motion pictures, software, video games, and publishing, to name a few, are bigger piece of the economic pie.  
• copyrights depends crucially on technology
• lots of stakeholders, lots of value conflicts
• it's not just about stealing being bad; it's much more complex than that. 
• Privacy trade-offs
• vs. security
• non-transparency
• monitoring
• Latest electronics, games, etc.
• Crowdsourcing innovations
• Disrupted technologies
• Clean technologies
• Online versions of college courses. Is it a fad or is higher education about to get the overhaul it needs?
• Heard a Science Friday today (11/11) about cancer research and genetic testing to find genetic mutations as a way to treat cancer in new ways.  Sounds pretty clear cut, but no technology is a win-win remember, so consider the values, stakeholders, non-intended uses.
• Read recently in the NY Times (11/7/13) that Disney Parks are going digital.  Visitors would wear rubber bracelets encoded with credit card information, "snapping up corn dogs and Mickey Mouse ears with a tap of the wrist. Smart phones alerts would signal when it is time to ride Space Mountain without standing in line."  It's supposed to happen this spring.  The idea: "If we can enhance the experience, more people will spend more of their leisure time with us."
• On the same page in the NYTimes (11/7/13), major media cable companies threaten to drop underperforming channels that are mostly on their own (e.g., Al Gore's Current TV was dropped by Time Warner and then recently sold to Al Jazeera).  But even though large distributors have talked about belt-tightening, two things are different now: potential Web competitors are creeping up (e.g., Crackle.com and the like), and creeping costs, particularly for sports casters and broadcasters.  The article goes on to talk about many other channels getting the ax and protests against it.

Hope this helps and doesn't overwhelm.