08 - the information age begins

Copyright Gershon Weltman, 2015

Engineering and Society:The Information Age Begins

Dr. Gershon WeltmanEngineering 183EW, UCLA SEASLecture 8

2Copyright Gershon Weltman, 2015

Technology Timeline1960 20001950

Network Television

Infrastructure

Space Satellites

Atomic Energy

Commercial Jets

1970 1980 1990

Electronic Computing

Consumer Products

Car Production

Korean War Vietnam War


Key Elements…… Tract Housing Highway Infrastructure

Interstate highways Urban freeways Rise of the suburbs

Consumer Products Television sets Electric appliances Transistor radios

Automobile Manufacture Ford, GM, Chrysler, Others Steel & aluminum production

Airline Transportation


Network Television: The Promise Fulfilled

Public Forum Political Conventions Political Commentary Daily News

Entertainment for All Good Drama & Comedy New Sports and Pageants Old Soaps and “Schlock”

Advertisers’ Paradise Newly Interconnected World

Real time, real life Everybody seeing the same thing “Seeing is believing”


Television is “Real-Time”…

Kefauver HearingsCarey Estes Kefauver was chairman of the Special Committee on Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, referred to as the "Kefauver Committee." He was a Democrat from Tennessee who had been elected to the House 1939-49, and would serve in the Senate 1949-63. The hearings began in May 1950 and lasted for 15 months, held sessions in 14 cities, and questioned 800 witnesses. It was not the first congressional committee to be televised, but it was the first to attract a large audience. Although few homes owned TVs in 1950-51, many people were able to watch in bars and restaurants and businesses.

Senators O'Conor, Kefauver, counsel Rudy Halley, Life 1951/04/06

Kathy Fiscus TrappedApril, 1949

Joe Adonis watches Costello's hands, Life 1951/04/06


…and Everyone is Watching

The TV set becomes the new focus of family life

People watch TV on sidewalks in front of electronics stores

Television is the next societal progression of communications from oral, printing, and radio


Technical Milestones

Thomas Watson, Sr. (seated,) the CEO of IBM, using the IBM 701 computer, the company's first fully electronic model. This computer had the ability to read/write magnetic tape, but at this stage it still relied mainly on punched cards for I/O. Nineteen 701’s were installed during its 3 year lifespan at a lease rate of about $15,000 per month. Many more 700s were to follow.

History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a basketball, weighed only 183 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path.

Sputnik I Satellite, 1957

IBM 701 Mainframe, 1952


Key Science-Based Technologies Atomic Energy

Atomic power: Unbounded electricity, radioactive waste H-bomb development: Escalated “Balance of Terror”

Electronic Computing Main frames: Punched card input, batch processing Semi-conductor components: Diodes, transistors Distributed computers: Stand alone “minis”

Space Satellites Sputnik as “Wake-up Call” to U.S.A. The Space Race Begins Socio-Technical Fallout:

Humans become space travelers Instrumentation gets miniaturized Math and Science dominate education, vocational training suffers

1st Transistor, 1947


Postwar Design I: The Jet Aesthetic


Jet Car Design….1950Ford

1957Thunderbird


… and Auto Exuberance

1957 Cadillac El Dorado1960 Chrysler Imperial

1956 Chevy Bel Air


Postwar Design II: The Space Age

Los Angeles gives “Googie” to the Western World

Googie’s Coffee Shop, Sunset Strip


Bauhaus Evolves to the “International Style”

Richard Neutra house, Silverlake, Los Angeles www.laokay.com/RichardDionNeutra.htm


Chemosphere HouseJohn Lautner 1960

‘Modernism’ Evolves: Plastic and Mushrooms

Monsanto House of the Future, Disneyland, 1957


..and the ‘All-Electric Kitchen of the Future’

RCA/Whirlpool Miracle Kitchen, 1957

Marketing tries to turn Rosie the Riveter into a “Homemaker-Manager.” But things don’t happen that way, for many reasons.


Two Other Postwar Inventions

1950s Teenagers: America’s New Consumershttp://studentweb.providence.edu; http://www.sohoblues.com

1960s Coffeehouses: Folk Musicand Revolutionary Ideas

http://studentweb.providence.edu/


1950s Futurism: The Jetsons c. 2050

Advanced technology Push button world Flying cars Robot helpers Video everywhere

Space age clothing 3-hr work days Conservative values

Breadwinner husband Stay-at-home mom All white family and

neighbors Soon to be challenged!


Reactions: Sociology & Literature 1949 Arthur Miller, “Death of a Salesman”

Personal America ends, technological America begins 1950 George Orwell, “1984”

Technical totalitarianism – “Big Brother is watching you.” 1951 Eric Hoffer, “The True Believer”

Mass movements and fanaticism 1953 David Riesman et al, “The Lonely Crowd”

“Other-directed” vs. “inner-directed” character 1957 William Whyte, Jr., “The Organization Man”

The costs of security and high living standard 1958 John Kenneth Galbraith, “The Affluent Society”

The economics and societal effects of opulence 1959 Vance Packard, “The Status Seekers”

Consumerism, occupation and class in the new America


Reactions: Coffeehouse Satire & Cynicism

"I'm totally corrupted. I mean, really. My whole act, my whole economic success, whatever that is, is based solely on the existence of segregation, violence, despair, disease and injustice. And if by some miracle, the whole

world would suddenly tranquilize, be pured, I would be standing in an unemployment line somewhere. So you see, I'm not a moralist."

Mort SahlJules Feiffer


Reactions: Civil Rights

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; August 28, 1963,

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.


Reactions: Women’s Rights

Dick Gregory, Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem march with Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made illegal racial segregation and discrimination Based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited racial discrimination in voting, and gave the Government means to enforce the Act.These sweeping social changes were not without violent reaction.


Reactions: Political Assassinations

M.L. King, April 1968

John Kennedy, Nov 1963

Robert Kennedy, June 1968

Malcolm X, Feb 1965


Reactions: Anti-War and Free Speech

Mario Savio and the UC Berkeley Free Speech Movement 1964

Anti War Demonstrations at the Chicago Democratic Convention 1968

Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies


A Turning Point

Kent State University, Ohio, May 4, 1970. Ohio National Guard Troops open fire on war-protesting students, killing 4. The US tips on its power axis.


Reactions: The Effects of Technology

1962 Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring” Effects of chemical pollutants on natural ecosystems Beginning of environmental activism

1965 Ralph Nader, “Unsafe At Any Speed” Corporate and engineering culpability in car accidents Beginning of consumer activism

1967 Marshall McLuhan “The Medium is the Message” Power of television and modern media “The Global Village,” connectivity imagined


Reactions: The Effects of Technology

1962 Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring” Effects of chemical pollutants on natural ecosystems Beginning of environmental activism

1965 Ralph Nader, “Unsafe At Any Speed” Corporate and engineering culpability in car accidents Beginning of consumer activism

1967 Marshall McLuhan “The Medium is the Message” Power of television and modern media “The Global Village,” connectivity imagined

1968 Joe McGinnis, “The Selling of the President” Lessons from the Kennedy-Nixon debate 1960 Politics and politicians as packaged products Beginning of good hair, sound bites and voter apathy


U.S. Car Industry Challenged (’55-’90)

o

32

o

100

North America Japan

Japan is clearly doing something right. What is it?

1955 19900 0

1955 1990


Lean Production vs. Mass Production1

Example Change body panels dies MP: skilled workers, 24 hours LP: standard workers, 3 minutes

Elements of Lean Production Meeting customer needs/desires The factory as a total process Emphasis on automation & robots Coordinating the Supply Chain “Statistical Quality Control” (W. E. Deming) Bridging the ‘management-labor’ gap

Sociological Effects Outsourcing, off-shoring – following labor costs International manufacture – new industrialized countries De-unionization – benefits, wages, security, power

1Womack, J.P, et al, “The Machine that Changed the World”, Rawson Assoc. NY, 1990


U.S. Car Industry Begins to Respond

c. 1955 Car Collision

Corvair Rear Suspension, ’64 & ‘65

Unsafe at Any Speed (R. Nader) Identifies ‘built-in’ safety defects Kills the Chevrolet Corvair Blames uncaring auto industry:

engineers and management Empowers consumer action

Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering, UCLA SEAS Controlled and instrumented

collision of consumer vehicles Use of anthropometric dummies Dangers of unrestrained impact;

high G loads even at low speeds Begins process of legislating seat

belts and car body collapsibility



Network Television

Infrastructure

Space Satellites

Atomic Energy

Commercial Jets

1970 1980 1990


Detroit Iron

Agriculture

Consumer Products

Lasers & Fiber Optics

ARPANET

Integrated Circuits

Dynamic RAM

Microprocessor

Ethernet

Personal Computers

Spreadsheet, WP

Man on the Moon

Korean War Vietnam War


We Win the Space Race!

July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong walks on the moon:“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”


And the Information Revolution Speeds Up

The Whole Earth Catalog is created by Stewart Brand in 1968 as a modern, “counterculture” version of the Sears Catalog. It lists machines, tools, books, clothing and even techniques but does not offer items for sale.. only information.Apple introduces the Macintosh in 1984 as the first personal computer featuring a graphical user interface and a mouse. It is targeted at the home, education and professional markets. Although overtaken by the IBM PC in sales, it sets the standard for easy-to-use personal computing.


Reactions to the Faster Pace

1979 Alvin Toffler “Future Shock”

1989 Richard Saul Wurman “Information Anxiety”

Commentators examine the societal and personal implications of the information revolution, characterized by rapid changing and extensive new sources of data – and consider what can be done to achieve a “soft landing” in a future world.


Future Shock: Effects of Rapid Change Keeping Up

The accelerating pace of life, how to stay “with it” Transience

Throw-away society, new nomads, modular man Diversity

Too many products, subcultures and lifestyles Adaptability

Psychological and physical effects Survival

Coping skills Education for tomorrow Taming technology

“In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” Andy Warhol, Artist, c.1975


Information Anxiety: Post-Explosion Stress

The Non-Information Explosion Language: Babel, Seduction, Content Landmines in the Understanding Field You Only Learn Relative to Something You Understand Cultural Information: Personal Vision The Map: Mankind’s Ability to Perceive Technomania: Information as Commodity Prescription for Anxiety: Better Organization of Information

“The information explosion has backfired, leaving us inundated with facts but starved for information.” Richard Saul Wurman

Wurman’s Concerns:


Wurman’s Accesstm Publications

Text and pictures organized in clear, geo-centered graphical formats


New Age Information Organization

3D Movie Map Narrated Tour

Dar-el Mara Plan Map

Information as text and pictures organized by computer pages and hyperlinks



Network Television

Infrastructure

Space Satellites

Atomic Energy

Commercial Jets

1970 1980 1990


Detroit Iron

Agriculture

Consumer Products

Lasers & Fiber Optics

ARPANET

Integrated Circuits

Dynamic RAM

Microprocessor

Ethernet

Personal Computers

Spreadsheet, WP

Man on the Moon

Personal Electronics

Bioengineering

Internet & WWW

Artificial IntelligenceKorean War Vietnam War


The Cold War Ends

www.mon-photo.com

www.dantoc.net

In 1989 the wall separating East and West Berlin came down, and the Soviet Union was in the final dissolution process. The Cold War was effectively over.


“Post-Modernism” Begins

“A house is not a machine! It’s something else for living – but not a machine.Architects like me grew out of modernism and we evolved it further.”

Moshe Safdie, Architect

Habitat 67 Apartments, Moshe Safdie, Montreal, 1967

AT&T Building, Philip Johnson, NYC, 1984


…and Continues

Disney Concert Hall, Frank Gehry, Los Angeles 1999

Jewish Museum, Daniel Libeskind, Berlin, 1992Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts,

Moshe Safdie, Kansas City, 2011

The computer and modern materials technology have given architecturethe ability to achieve new forms and to express new functional visions.


Societal Reactions: Starting to Get It 1981 Tracy Kidder, “The Soul of a New Machine”

Computer engineering as a dramatic undertaking 1986 Alvin Toffler, “The Third Wave”

Information dominance as a source of power 1995 Nicholas Negroponte “Being Digital”

Strategies for living in the digital future 1996 Katie Hafner, “Where Wizards Stay Up Late”

Geeks and others who built the ARPANET and the Internet 1996 J.C. Herz, “Joystick Nation”

Growing up with electronic and online games 1998 Esther Dyson, “Release 2.1”

Preparing for the dot com explosion 2000 Michael Lewis, “The New New Thing”

The technology investment bubble stretches to bursting


20th Century Summary Revolutionary Progress….

The accelerating pace of change and acceptance 50 Million radio users 38 years 50 Million PC users 16 years 50 Million Internet users 4 years

Building new “frameworks of reference” Balancing technology’s expectations and realizations

….and Persistent Problems A century of war and destruction


Spain Civil Afghanistan

20th Century Wars1920 20001900 1940 1960 1980

World War I

Russia Civil

World War II

China Civil

Korea

Vietnam

Iran-Iraq

Gulf War I

Estimated Total Military Deaths = Over 40 Million!Estimated Total Civilian Deaths = Over 50 Million!





Persistent Problems A century of war and destruction No solutions to long-standing societal problems


Jack London, People of the Abyss, 1902-5

Poverty in London (1905)


Poverty in Los Angeles: 100+ Years Later!





Persistent Problems A century of war and destruction No solutions to long standing societal problems

Anti-technology reactions Technology as a malign force Technology as creating more problems than it solves Agnotologistics: Science of ignorance & false controversies Pseudo-science & pseudo-technology

Real Society-Wide Issues -- Next Module


...and Perhaps Some 21st Century Hope

EmpathyMoralityReason

Self Control

SadismRevenge

DominancePractical Violence

Ideological Violence

Inner Demons

Better Angels

In his 2011 book, author Steven Pinker argues statistically that the Better Angels of our Nature have been conquering our Inner Demons for

centuries, largely as a result of “reason and science and knowledge.” If true, this gives us considerable hope for the future.

08 - the information age begins

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