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CHAPTER 11
THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
Technology is an unmistakable economic and social force in both business and the world
where we live. Global and local communications, business exchanges, the science that
affects the quality of our lives, and the simple tasks that make up our daily lives are all
PREVIEW CASES
Russian Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election, The World’s First Digital Pill
Technology is a major factor in our lives, helping us communicate with others around the
world and across town, providing new opportunities for business to promote its activities,
and improving the quality of our lives. But what are the consequences of the
extraordinarily rapid pace of technological change? Has technology replaced human
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. TECHNOLOGY DEFINED
A. Phases of Technology in Society
Teaching Tip: The Constant Re-defining of Technology
The chapter quotes Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee and Michael
Spence stating: “Technology has sped globalization forward,
dramatically lowering communication and transaction costs and
moving the world much closer to a single, large global market for
labor, capital, and other inputs to production. Even though labor is not
fully mobile, the other factors increasingly are. As a result, the various
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II. THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN OUR DAILY LIVES
A. The Presence of the Internet
B. Unwanted Technology Threats
III. PUBLIC ACCESS TO AND USE OF TECHNOLOGY
A. The Digital Divide in the United States and Worldwide
Teaching Tip: Technology as a Powerful Force
Compare access to technology for a first-grader, high school student,
and business manager. How is technology influencing educational and
business opportunities? The video linked here shows how technology
Teaching Tip: Unwanted Internet threats
Students may want to discuss whether these unwanted threats – spam,
phishing, etc. – are simply an acceptable intrusions and tolerable given
the benefits of technology, or if something should be done to minimize
Teaching Tip: Digital Divide
This topic may provide for an in-class debate or discussions over (a)
does the digital divide exist, (b) if so, where, and (c) is it diminishing
or growing, and (d) are various program seeking to address the divide
effective and, if so, why?
Teaching Tip: Behavioral Addiction
Students may share their experiences with technology or their
observations of others using technology from the perspective of
“behavioral addiction.” Is it simply inevitable given our dependence
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B. Mobile Telephones
C. Social Networking
IV. ETHICAL CHALLENGES INVOLVING TECHNOLOGY
A. The Loss of Privacy
B. Free Speech Issues
V. GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP OF FREE SPEECH
VI. THE IMPACT OF SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS
B. Sequencing of the Human Genome
C. Biotechnology and Stem-Cell Research
D. Medical Breakthroughs
Teaching Tip: Scientific Breakthroughs
In a world of genetically modified food, human genome,
biotechnology, and stem-cell research, are we truly better because of
these scientific breakthroughs or not? Students could investigate and
Teaching Tip: Bitcoin
A lively discussion might center around Exhibit 11.B – Bitcoin: The
Currency of the Future. Is Bitcoin a technological step forward or an
emerging disaster? Students could investigate the currency rate of
Teaching Tip: Technological Invasions of Our Privacy?
Students might want to debate this topic to determine if, as a society,
we are losing more privacy due to technology or, even if we are, is this
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GETTING STARTED
KEY LEARNING OBJECTIVES
LO 11-1: Defining technology and its characteristics.
LO 11-2: Recognizing how technology has evolved throughout history.
LO 11-3: Analyzing and assessing how technology impacts individuals in society.
LO 11-4: Understanding the potential for unwanted threats arising from
individuals’ use of the Internet and other social media platforms.
LO 11-5: Examining inequalities in public access to technology.
LO 11-6: Assessing the ethical challenges posed by new technologies.
LO 11-7: Identifying how some governments act to control or censor the use of tech-
nology by its citizens.
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www.bio.org Biotechnology Industry Organization
www.digitaldivide.org Digital Divide Institute
www.ecommercetimes.com E-Commerce Times
www.isscr.org International Society for Stem Cell Research
www.internetsociety.org Internet Society
www.socialmediatoday.com Social Media Today
DISCUSSION CASE
TO LOCK OR UNLOCK YOUR PHONE: PERSONAL PRIVACY OR
NATIONAL SECURITY
1. In the dispute between the FBI and Apple, which side do you support and why?
This question evokes a personal opinion response and both sides have arguments in
support of their position.
On the one hand, the FBI is arguing that they need access to users’ phones for matters
of national security, as relevant in this case. As former FBI director James Comey
stated, “There has to be some solution that will allow us with lawful authority to be
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2. How would you counter the arguments offered by those on the other side of this
debate?
3. Are there any circumstances in which you think the government’s right to information
should take precedence over an individual’s right to privacy?
Again, this is highly subjective issue. One might argue that when terrorism and
national security are at risk, as they are in this case, that individuals must give up
some of their rights for the “good of all.” This occurred after the September 11th
Chuck Cohen, of the Indiana State Police task force on Internet crimes against
children, is quoted at the end of the discussion case and focuses on another issue.
What if the lives of children are in question? Should individual rights be protected
then?
4. Should any technology firm be allowed to create a privacy protection system that is
so impenetrable that it could never be overridden, regardless of the government’s
need for this information?
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The theme that runs through the discussion case questions may lead to a response of:
“it depends.” As the case indicates, Apple argued that by creating a separate
operating system for all future versions of the iPhones, the new system, which would
It also seems possible that the government will be able to “crack the code” and find
ways on their own to access private phone data, as they eventually did with Farook’s
phone. Is it impossible that a technology firm could create a system that the
government eventually could not override the protection and access?