CS100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Thomas Edison, Phonograph, Star Chamber
Document Summary
A completely new technology very rare innovation: New way to make a previous technology used. The phonograph predicted to be used as: speaking doll or toys. Explaining how to get to next place. Aid to biz men to dictate letters to their secretaries as a musical instrument". The best design does not always win! In fact, it loses more often than it wins. Quality usefulness and whether something spreads widely is not highly correlated. He had a strong patent: there was a lawsuit and eventually it was a lost cause to create it. Tech development seen as natural-natural progression ameliorative improve everyday life. Transformative new machines reshape social reality. Hegemonic minority gains control via technology. Apocalyptic- new technologies are agents of doom. Satiric- make life worse or reverse of intended outcomes. Standard inexpensive paper: 1st century ad in china, 12th century ad in china printing, 8th century ad in china (block printing, 15th century ad in europe (printing press)
