OVERVIEW

Our use of computers has had enormous consequences for each of us as individuals, members of society, citizens, and participants in an ever-more-interconnected global world. How did we get here? With such a vast topic -- one that has both spurred on an information revolution and is still very new history entangled with it -- a focus on "Silicon Valley" is one way to provide a manageable foothold. Consideration of the information ecology we experience today involves moving further beyond, and some avenues for doing this are offered below . . . but don't forget that your own experiences are part of this evolving history.

LIST OF READINGS AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Reading Assignments:

Review Ede & Cormack, Chapters 11-13 as you draft Essay #4

View these background videos:

Crash Course History of Science #36: “The Computer and Turing" [12 min]
Crash Course ComputerScience #25: "The Personal Computer Revolution" [10 min] and #30: "The World Wide Web" [12 min]
The American Experience: "Silicon Valley" / PBS, 2013 (1 hour and 22 min) / via Alexander street

Watch these videos about more recent issues:

Networld #1: "Disruption" [55 min] / via Alexander Street

"Women's Work: Insights from Silicon Valley Women in Tech" / [choose a few of the interview videos to watch] / Computer History Museum

Engage with this personalized documentary series about privacy and the web:

Do Not Track (2015) [do all 7 brief episodes, or your choice] / Upian, Arte, National Film Board of Canada, and German Public Broadcasting
[about Do Not Track]

Consider this news segment from 30 years ago and the following
question: How relevant (or not) is it to today, and why?

"Data Smog" 60 Minutes [1998] / via Alexander Street

Assignments:

Work-in-progress: Essay #4, due Friday 7.3.