Technology and Social change

Technology and Social change

SOC/100

Technology and Social change

Since the beginning of time society has changed and it has evolved. By doing so, they have created advantages for its society with technology. A social change indicates a change in human interactions and interrelations. According to Sociologist Gerhard Lenski (1966), technology is cultural information about the ways in which the material resources of the environment may be used to satisfy human needs and desires. A technical achievement like the personal computers, cellular phones and the internet have done just that. You can say that they have made the biggest impact on society. I plan to discuss them in these paper along with the three major sociological perspectives that include: equilibrium model, digital divide, and cultural lag.

Technology has given humans on the edge and every year bring new advances. Before we had to do calculations on paper, then we were able to use a calculator, nevertheless now we can just enter them into a computer and have it done. Well, you can say life is getting simple but is that a good or bad thing? It all started with the creation of the personal computer. No longer was this technology limited to the military or the government. Parson (1902- 1979), viewed society as a structure that will always find equilibrium and stability. According to Parson’s Equilibrium model, the inclusion of groups that were previously excluded because of their gender, race, ethnicity, or social class will join and create a social change. In 1975, the first personal computer was sold as kits that had to assemble and did not include screens. In this stage, mostly tech lovers took on this hobby. Some believed that everyone should be part of it, so they started to develop a new generation of personal computers. Bill Gates and his friend Paul Allen did just that. They introduced Microsoft; a pre-writing program that runs inside the computers. Today this is known as a software. (Invention of the PC, 2011) Later Steve Jobs and his friends took the challenge and started the company Apple. They created a small personalized computer that included a screen and keyboard. Others jumped on board this new technological movement and began to make the personal computer to what it is today. We can now connect to the internet wirelessly and carry our devices everywhere we go. But with the personal computer came digital divide. Digital divide is the comparative lack of access to the latest technologies. Social digital divide can mostly be found in groups of people with low-income, racial and ethnic minorities, rural residents, and the citizens of developing countries. Even though the price of personal computers was not as high as the original prototype, it still is considered a privilege to own one. Every year a new version of the personal computer will enter the market, but only the wealthy could offer to buy the newest technology each year. Then we have countries that don’t have the necessary resources to supply personal computers to their schools or hospitals. Lastly, we can look at the cultural lag, which refers to a period of instability when the intellectual culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions. (Schaefer, 2015) Even today we still have people who are not familiar with the PC. For example, the older generation of the United States. Some are now learning how to turn on their Christmas gifts even though PC’s have been out for over 40 years. But the power of the PC has come a long way since its humble beginnings and so will society and how they use it.

Before the creating of the PC, we have the Internet. In the late 1960’s the first prototype is introduced. It later made its way into our homes in the late 1990’s.) Its form has changed over the years, it started out as ARPANET which was only available to college students and the military. (Who invented which Internet?, 2012) But like the equilibrium code goes; everything will balance out and everyone will soon have access to the new technology. Before we could only access the internet inside our homes or workplace today, you can connect to it through WIFI. No more wires or telephone jacks are needed to connect to the World Wide Web. Along with the creation of the internet came the creation of emails. A new way to send mail in seconds. But the internet also created a digital divide. People now had a disadvantage if they did not have the internet. Those who didn’t lack the knowledge that those who had internet obtained. The term digital divide became famous in the late 1990’s and was used by scholars, policy makers, and advocacy groups. The internet by far has transformed society and those without it fall behind. Because the internet is not accessible to some people, we also find communities falling in a cultural lag. We have countries like the United States where the internet is very accessible and is free in some commercial locations. But we have countries like Haiti who don’t offer the internet as widely as in the U.S. They are starting to introduce the access of internet to more developed areas of the country, but it will take years for it to be at the same level as those with carrying the web in the form of WIFI.

A few years after the Internet was created, the first portable phone was announced. In 1973, a researcher and executive by the name of Martin Cooper in Motorola made the first call from this device. It has evolved since then to what we know as the smartphone. (The Cell Phone: Marty Cooper’s Big Idea, 2010)A smartphone can do some functions that can help in everyday situations. The cellular phone know allowed people to speak to each other from anywhere. Stock trade information is shared in a matter of seconds, and a call for help was in the palm of your hands. Today it is so vital to have a cell phone if you want to communicate, so companies have made them accessible to everyone. By doing so, they create an equilibrium that gives everyone the chance to be part of the social change. Today the government also offers low-income families with free mobile phones. But not everyone has access to the use of a smartphone. Without the internet, the smartphone is just a phone. It cannot serve its full industrial purpose. That’s why countries like Nigeria mostly sell flip phones used for calling and texting. Lastly the perspective of culture lag. Even though cell phones are now found in low- income houses and rural places, they do not meet the technological advances of the latest smartphones in the market today. While people in Nigeria is now being introduced to the smartphone technology while we are now looking at smartphones with 3D projectors.

Nevertheless, these technological advances have influenced the way social epidemiology, health, and the environment. Social epidemiology focuses on the study of patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in distinct populations. (Schaefer, 2015) With the introduction of the PC, Internet and cell phones scientist use this tool to conduct social surveys on the disease. For example, they can find out how society feels about Ebola or how many people in one society fell the same symptoms. Therefore expanding their research and getting results quicker. In the terms of health, technology has played a great part. We can take our pulse by using an App on our smartphones; we can even monitor calories. That’s not all doctors are now turning to electronic filing to keep their patients information on record. Doctors no longer write prescriptions on paper, they send it directly to your pharmacy. Some offices offer patient portals that let you see your files. Technology has also become influenced by the environment. That’s how solar energy was created. Even though technology has done harm to the environment, it is now trying to do its part by finding ways to replace pollution making objects with devices that do not create pollution. The internet has also got the word out about how things we do can affect the environment.

In conclusion, technology has changed society and even though some are left behind they soon will catch up. Some will be steps ahead because technology will continue to improve. You can see that in the evolutions of the PC, The Internet, and cellular phone. They have all changed and made societies lives easier. They have connected the world in a way that no one thought was possible.

Reference

Invention of the PC. (2011). Retrieved from

http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/invention-of-the-pc

The Cell Phone: Marty Cooper’s Big Idea. (2010). Retrieved from

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-cell-phone-marty-coopers-big-idea/

Schaefer, R. (2015). Sociology a brief introduction (11th Ed.). 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY:

McGraw-Hill Education

Weber, M. (2012). Who invented which Internet?. Retrieved from

http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/who-invented-which-internet/