NATS 1700: Computers, Information and Society - Unit 1: Understanding Computers, Information, and Society

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts, historical definitions, communication models, and sociological theories of technological change from Unit 1 of NATS 1700.

Computer (Historical Definition)

A person employed to perform calculations for scientific, military, business, surveying, or observatory work before electronic machines existed.

Universal Machine

A machine, such as an electronic computer, capable of performing many different tasks depending on the software installed, rather than being built for one specific purpose.

Hardware

The physical components of a computer or digital device, including the screen, keyboard, processor, memory, and hard drive.

Software

The programs and applications that direct computer hardware, defining how users interact with and experience the machine.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)

An umbrella term for technologies or systems used to gather, retrieve, transmit, convey, manipulate, store, process, or analyze information through electronic methods.

Binary Code

A digital representation system that uses combinations of $0\text{s}$ and $1\text{s}$ to store and communicate data.

Convergence

The blending together of older and newer technologies—including computing, broadcasting, telecommunications, film, and photography—into integrated modern devices and systems.

Telecommunications

Traditional communication systems, such as telegraphs and telephones, characterized by two-way, point-to-point communication between an identified sender and receiver.

Broadcasting

Traditional communication systems, such as radio and television, characterized by one-way, point-to-mass communication from one known sender to many anonymous receivers.

Digital Footprint

The record of a person's online activity, encompassing searches, posts, comments, photos, messages, and site visits that can be tracked, stored, and analyzed.

Technological Determinism

The perspective that technology acts as an autonomous, independent force and serves as the primary driver of social, cultural, political, and economic change.

Billiard Ball Approach

Claude Fischer's metaphor for technological determinism, depicting technology as an external white billiard ball striking passive society to trigger an inevitable series of social events.

Hard Determinism

A branch of technological determinism arguing that technology strongly dictates social transformation while human beings have very little control over the outcomes.

Soft Determinism

A branch of technological determinism holding that technology exerts a significant influence on society, but social forces and human agency still play a role.

Social Construction of Technology (SCOT)

A theoretical approach asserting that technology does not develop on its own, but is actively shaped and directed by human action, social groups, and cultural context.

Relevant Social Groups

In SCOT, organized or unorganized groups of users, producers, institutions, or consumers that share a particular set of meanings and influence a technology's development or adoption.

Interpretive Flexibility

A core SCOT concept describing how different social groups attach distinct meanings, functions, and problem definitions to the same technological artifact.

Closure and Stabilization

The phase in SCOT where disagreements and debates surrounding a technology diminish and one specific design or use becomes widely established and accepted.

Social Shaping of Technology (SST)

A theoretical perspective arguing that technology and society operate in a two-way street, where social, economic, and political forces shape design, and technologies simultaneously affect society.

Human Agency

The capacity of people, groups, institutions, and consumers to make choices, exert influence, and determine how technologies are designed, implemented, and used.

The Safety Bicycle (1885)

A historical case study demonstrating that technological success was not purely technical, but depended on the support, size, and influence of specific social groups, such as young male riders.

Digital Divide

The structural inequality in access to digital technologies, internet connectivity, technical skills, and online socioeconomic opportunities.

Web 2.0

A more interactive phase of the internet where users actively generate, share, comment on, and collaborate over content rather than passively viewing material.

90-9-1 Rule (1% Rule)

A principle of unequal online participation stating that approximately $1\%$ of users create most original content, $9\%$ edit or interact, and $90\%$ passively consume content.

Amplification

A concept described by Cara Wallis ($2006$) whereby a new technology does not create an entirely new function, but enhances an existing use by making it faster, mobile, personal, or more widespread.