Key Concepts Related to 2.1 Change

2.1A: Nature of Change

• Evolution: Gradual development over time (e.g., social media platforms evolving from text to multimedia)

• Transformation: Fundamental shifts in structure or character (e.g., digital transformation of industries)

• Adaptation: Modification to suit new conditions (e.g., businesses adapting to e-commerce)

• Disruption: Radical alterations that challenge existing paradigms (e.g., blockchain disrupting financial systems)

2.1B: Forces Shaping Change

• Technological determinism: Technology as primary driver of social change

• Social construction: How social factors shape technological development

• Economic imperatives: Market forces driving innovation

• Political regulation: Government policy influencing tech development

• Cultural factors: How values and norms affect technology adoption

2.1C: Debating Change

• Optimistic view: Technology as progress (digital utopianism)

• Critical perspective: Unintended consequences and digital divides

• Neutral stance: Technology as neutral, impact depends on implementation

• Ethical dimensions: Balancing innovation with responsibility

2.1D: Continuity vs. Discontinuity

• Incremental change: Building on existing technologies (smartphones evolving)

• Disruptive change: Breaking with tradition (streaming services replacing physical media)

• Path dependency: How previous technologies constrain future options

• Technological convergence: Merging of previously separate technologies

Theories and Frameworks

Models of Technological Change

• Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations: How innovations spread through society (innovators → early adopters → early majority → late majority → laggards)

• Technology Acceptance Model (TAM): Perceived usefulness and ease of use determine adoption

• Gartner Hype Cycle: Initial hype → disillusionment → productive implementation

• S-curve of technological adoption: Slow start → rapid growth → saturation

Teleological and Cyclical Theories

• Teleological views: Technology progresses toward specific goals or ends

• Cyclical theories: Technology follows recurring patterns of rise and fall

• Kondratiev waves: Long economic cycles driven by technological innovation

• Technological paradigm shifts: How fundamental technologies reshape entire economies

Types of Historical Analysis

• Cultural history: How cultural values shape technological change

• Economic history: Market forces driving technological innovation

• Social history: Impact of technology on social structures

• Feminist perspectives: Gender dimensions of technological change

• Environmental history: Environmental impacts of digital technologies

Key Thinkers

• Marshall McLuhan: "The medium is the message" - how media technologies reshape human experience

• Langdon Winner: "Do artefacts have politics?" - how technologies embody political choices

• Sherry Turkle: Digital technologies reshaping human identity and relationships

• Manuel Castells: Network society and information age

• Donna Haraway: Cyborg theory and posthumanism

• Nicholas Carr: Digital technologies' impact on cognition

• Evgeny Morozov: Critique of technological solutionism

• danah boyd: Youth practices in digital environments

• Shoshana Zuboff: Surveillance capitalism

• Ruha Benjamin: Race, technology, and algorithmic bias

Digital Technology Examples

Historical Transitions

• Analogue to digital: Shift from physical to digital media (vinyl to MP3)

• Web 1.0 to Web 3.0: Static pages → social interaction → decentralised web

• Desktop to mobile computing: Changing access patterns and interface design

Contemporary Examples

• Artificial Intelligence: Generative AI reshaping creative processes

• Blockchain technology: Decentralising trust and financial systems

• Internet of Things: Connecting physical world to digital networks

• Cloud computing: Shifting from local to distributed processing

• Social media platforms: Transforming communication and social relations

• Digital platforms: Restructuring economic relationships (gig economy)

• Remote work technologies: Shifting spatial organisation of labour

Future Directions

• Metaverse development: Virtual/augmented reality environments

• Quantum computing: Fundamentally new computing paradigms

• Bioinformatics: Merging of biological and digital systems

• Synthetic media: Computer-generated content challenging authenticity

Questions for Further Exploration

1. How do digital technologies both reflect and shape social values?

2. In what ways can technological change be both continuous and discontinuous?

3. How do different societies adapt to and influence technological change?

4. What ethical frameworks should guide technological development?

5. How can we balance innovation with addressing unintended consequences?