Techno-Human Mesh: The Growing Power of Information Technologies

• Main Author: West, Cynthia K
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Quorum Books 2001
• Subjects: Change; Computer Interfaces; Digital Technology; Futures (of Society); Information Industry; Information Science; Information Technology; Man Machine Systems; Research and Development; Technological Advancement; Technology Role
• ISBN: 1567204090; 9781567204094

This book examines the intersection of information technologies, power, people, and bodies. It explores how information technologies are on a path of creating efficiency, productivity, profitability, surveillance, and control, and looks at the ways in which human-machine interface technologies, such as wearable computers, biometric technologies, and surveillance technologies, change the way physical bodies are experienced. Chapter 1 is an introduction that outlines the "Major Issues" and the theoretical framework for the discussion. Chapter 2, "The Digerati: Economic, Political, and Social Framework," discusses the digital elite, those people most involved in researching, developing, marketing, and utilizing information technologies. Chapter 3, "The Merging of People and Digital Devices: History and Practices," examines the evolution of computers and argues that the trend in human-machine interface technologies is toward the merging of machines and physical bodies. Chapter 4, "Increasing Surveillance in law Enforcement, at Work, and in the Marketplace," analyzes the discourse of biometric technologies, security techniques, and surveillance products, and demonstrates how these technologies increasingly monitor and catalogue subjects. Chapter 5, "Conclusion: Recommendations for Change," calls for both a theoretical and an ethical dialogue, and offers six levels for active participation toward positive change. An appendix and glossary are provided to give readers a deeper understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the book's argument. Includes 11 illustrations and an index. (Contains 313 references.) (AEF)