technology

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• 9/11/2022
  

  Pessimistic Economic Forecasts Ignore a History of Dynamism

  by John Landry and Howard Wolk

  Many economic histories portray the American prosperity of the century between the Civil War and the 1970s as the picking of low-hanging fruit. But the story of entrepreneurial innovation during that time is more complicated, and more relevant to the present, than we think. 

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• 9/4/2022
  

  Considering the Automobile's Influence on Society—Before the Next Influence Takes Over?

  by Bryan Appleyard

  The story of the car—a story of genius and folly in equal measure—is the story of the making of the modern world. A new book weaves the threads of the automobile's influence through landscape, war and peace, mass production and individualism, and the environment. 

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• SOURCE: Contingent
  8/12/2022
  

  The Missouri Social Worker Who Founded the Global Internet Name Registry

  by Ayden Férdeline

  Marilyn Cade played a major role in establishing the global governance structure of the internet. 

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• SOURCE: Boston Review
  8/3/2022
  

  The Internet is Lousy Because of Capitalism, Not Bad Apple CEOs

  by Matthew Crain

  "Surveillance advertising was created by marketers, technology start-ups, investors, and politicians, a coalition bound by the desire to commercialize the web as quickly as possible."

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• SOURCE: The Nation
  6/13/2022
  

  Reviewed: The Bio of Hippie Capitalism Pioneer and Technofuturist Stewart Brand

  by Malcolm Harris

  From LSD to the computer revolution, Stewart Brand appeared in some way in the biggest cultural trends to emerge from California in the late 20th century. A new authorized biography tells a version of his story, but is it the whole story? 

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• SOURCE: The Baffler
  6/9/2022
  

  Meet the New Middleman, Same as the Old Middleman

  by Kathryn Judge

  The internet's promise to cut out any number of middlemen from the consumer experience has been a failure. 

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• SOURCE: The Baffler
  4/6/2022
  

  The Automation Myth (Review Essay)

  by Clinton Williamson

  Neither utopian nor cataclysmic predictions about the effects of automation made in the 20th century have come exactly to pass; technology has changed, but not replaced, work. Several new books try to connect the past and future of work.

• 
• SOURCE: Fast Company
  3/13/2022
  

  Jill Lepore Debunks Elon Musk's Futurism

  Is Elon Musk's worldview based in a singularly weird interpretation of the sci-fi books he devoured as a kid? Jill Lepore discusses the rise of the self-styled comic book hero CEO as a matter of confusing dystopia for a how-to guide. 

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  10/11/2021
  

  Computer Space Launched the Video Game Industry 50 Years Ago. Why Haven't You Heard of It?

  by Noah Wardrip-Fruin

  The first effort at a commercial arcade video game didn't fail because it was too complicated. It couldn't deliver a quality game-playing experience because it relied on technology developed for television instead of the new, but expensive, processors for computers. 

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• SOURCE: The Guardian
  8/30/2021
  

  "Selling a Promise": What Did Silicon Valley Learn from Theranos?

  Tech historian Margaret O'Mara offers insight on the culture of Silicon Valley and the safeguards against hype and fraud as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes goes on trial. 

• 
• 8/22/2021
  

  Can the Nuclear Genie Be Put Back In the Bottle? Must It?

  by David P. Barash and Ward Wilson

  We won't eliminate nuclear weapons by expunging the science behind their creation but by comprehending their uselessness and letting them join the ranks of abandoned technologies.

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• SOURCE: Public Books
  8/18/2021
  

  Prison Tech Comes Home: Tenants and Residents in the Surveillance State

  by Erin McElroy, Meredith Whittaker and Nicole E. Weber

  Landlords have combined technologies developed for screening tenants in the 1970s with more recent digital surveillance and facial recognition systems developed in prisons to dramatically increase control over their tenants during an affordable housing crisis. 

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• SOURCE: Electronic Frontier Foundation
  7/29/2021
  

  It’s Time for Police to Stop Using ShotSpotter

  by Matthew Guariglia

  Surveillance systems intended to detect the auditory signature of a gunshot are inaccurate, meaning "police officers routinely are deployed to neighborhoods expecting to encounter an armed shooter, and instead encounter innocent pedestrians and neighborhood residents."

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  6/16/2021
  

  The Rise and Fall of an American Tech Giant

  Writer Kaitlyn Tiffany considers the impact of the Kodak company's product on American culture and the city of Rochester where she grew up, and the way that digital technology has changed both. 

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• SOURCE: Perspectives on History
  5/20/2021
  

  Colorizing Photos From the Past: The Ethics of Making History

  by Tara Tran

  Digital technology allows historians to change images, raising a host of ethical dilemmas. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  5/18/2021
  

  Children of the Holocaust Who Are Anonymous No More

  Researchers using digital enhancement have been able to identify some passengers filmed on a train transporting them to concentration camps; some of those identified are survivors. 

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• SOURCE: Wired
  5/2/2021
  

  Josh Hawley’s Virtual Reality

  Writer Gilad Edelman says that Josh Hawley's book twists the history of antitrust policy to fit the needs of today's Republican culture war against the social media giants. 

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• SOURCE: Data & Society
  4/14/2021
  

  House Arrest: How An Automated Algorithm Constrained Congress for a Century

  In 1929, Congress adopted a formula for apportionment based on the Census. While made political disputes a matter of law, it also capped the size of the House, which has not kept up with population growth and contributed to the disproportionate influence of small states in the House and the Electoral College.

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• SOURCE: Democracy
  3/14/2021
  

  Why America Needs a Tech New Deal

  by Nicol Turner Lee

  The pandemic has shown that internet technology is key for how Americans work, connect, and access learning and services. Making access more equitable and widespread should be at the center of economic recovery programs following the example of the Tennessee Valley Authority. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  3/10/2021
  

  Your Loved Ones, and Eerie Tom Cruise Videos, Reanimate Unease With Deepfakes

  Emerging technology has captivated many with facial animations based on old photos, but it raises serious questions about the integrity of source materials and the news media, and about the way the technology could further destabilize trust in the news.