Ronald M. Baecker - Computers and Society

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)

Technological development, be it academic or commercial, often begins with good intentions. Academics and developers envision technology leveraging and advancing both individual and social capabilities in ways that not only make people better but allow people to do things that were previously thought onerous or impossible. Yet technology often becomes a double-edged sword, where bad things accompany the good.

Computers as a technology suffer the same difficulties, but even more so. The swift uptake of diverse computer-based technologies means that change is rapid-fire and unpredictable. We begin to use particular computer technologies because we (or their developers) see the benefits, but rarely do we see the negative consequencesunintended or deliberateuntil it is too late. Indeed, we may not even be fully aware of the issues involved, simply because it is hard to comprehend the full extent of the incremental changes that occur as we live through them.

Computers and Society will help you to understand the changes that are happening now as a consequence of various computer technologies and sensitize you to look for other changes that are likely to happen in the future. While you may be reading it as a required text in a Computers in Society course, the books value goes far beyond that. If you deeply consider the issues presented in each chapter, this book will change how you think about technologys role in society. If you are a developer or product purchaser, it may help you to consider the negative implications of the computer applications you are creating or buyingthat is, to see the dark patterns in how the applications can be misused or subverted, and the various shades of grey in between. If you are a technology consumer, you may better understand and debate the issues that accompany the computer systems you or the people around you are using. If you are just living your day-to-day life, this book may help you to understand and interpret the changes you notice around you, what you hear in the news, and what you talk about with your friends and family.

Computers and Society could not have been easy to write. The breadth, depth, historical context, and relevancy of the topics covered are impressive to say the least, and the amount of work that must have been required to research each topic is somewhat staggering. It needed someone like Ron Baecker to write it. Ron is a senior academic whose career spans the period from the 1960s to 2018 and beyond. As an expert in graphics, humancomputer interaction, and collaboration technologies, he was instrumental in researching and pioneering some of the key computer concepts that we now take for granted. He not only lived through the changes introduced by computers over the last sixty years, but remained highly aware of those changes both through his knowledge of the field and his teaching of various Computers and Society courses over the decades (the first in 1972). I was lucky enough to work with Ron on various academic projects and consider him both a colleague and a friend. He has the personality to fit the authorship of a book such as this. He doesnt accept things at face value. He delves into issues and debates them. He is opinionated, but his opinions are evidence-based. He pioneers, because he is always looking into the future rather than just at the present.

The above quote by Charles Dickens echoes the books sentiment. Computers promise so much to society, but the risks are great. As this book shows, the best and the worst of computers are manifest in many niches of todays society. While you may have a passing awareness of at least a few of the issues raised in this book, Computers and Society will further inform you about those issues through its deep and thoughtful treatment.

Saul Greenberg,
Emeritus Professor, University of Calgary, Canada