Historical Studies in Computing, Information, and Society (eBook)

Insights from the Flatiron Lectures

William Aspray (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: PDF

2020
XIII, 174 Seiten
Springer International Publishing (Verlag)
9783030189556 (ISBN)

Infos

This is a volume of chapters on the historical study of information, computing, and society written by seven of the most senior, distinguished members of the History of Computing field. These are edited, expanded versions of papers presented in a distinguished lecture series in 2018 at the University of Colorado Boulder - in the shadow of the Flatirons, the front range of the Rocky Mountains.

Topics range widely across the history of computing. They include the digitalization of computer and communication technologies, gender history of computing, the history of data science, incentives for innovation in the computing field, labor history of computing, and the process of standardization. Authors were given wide latitude to write on a topic of their own choice, so long as the result is an exemplary article that represents the highest level of scholarship in the field, producing articles that scholars in the field will still look to read twenty years from now. The intention is to publish articles of general interest, well situated in the research literature, well grounded in source material, and well-polished pieces of writing.

The volume is primarily of interest to historians of computing, but individual articles will be of interest to scholars in media studies, communication, computer science, cognitive science, general and technology history, and business.

Dr. William Aspray is a professor in the Department of Information Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. His other Springer publications include Women and Underrepresented Minorities in Computing, Participation in Computing, Formal and Informal Approaches to Food Policy and Food in the Internet Age.

Inhalt

Preface 6
The Papers 7
Contents 10
About the Editor 11
Contributors 12
Chapter 1: The Time of Computers: From Babbage and the 1830s to the Present 13
1.1 Introduction 13
1.2 Babbage and His Machines 15
1.3 Smoothing Human Time: Babbage, Lyell, and Company 19
1.4 New Ontological Layers 22
1.5 Conclusion 24
References 26
Chapter 2: Expanding the Usable Past 28
2.1 Introducing Junior Republics 29
2.2 A Movement Gathers Momentum 30
2.3 What Explains the Popularity of These Role-Playing Simulations 31
2.4 From Developmental to Economic Productivity 32
2.5 Occupational Role-Playing Beyond Republics 33
2.6 Conclusion 35
References 37
Chapter 3: The Modem that Still Connects Us 40
3.1 Invention 41
3.2 Commercial Data Communications 44
3.3 Interactive Computing 49
3.4 Computer-Mediated Communication 53
3.5 Conclusion 56
References 58
Chapter 4: Values, Media, and Genres for Standardization 62
4.1 Introduction 63
4.2 Genre Framework 64
4.3 Voluntary Standardization: Nature, Origins, and Values 65
4.4 Traditional Genres for Standardization in RFI 68
4.4.1 Traditional Genres in US National RFI Standardization 68
4.4.2 Traditional Genres in International RFI Standardization 72
4.5 New Genres for Standardization in Late Twentieth Century 78
4.5.1 Genres for Internet Standardization 78
4.5.2 Genres for WWW Standardization 85
4.6 What Can Genre Analysis Tell Us About Changing Standardization Values 89
4.7 Implications 92
References 92
Chapter 5: Talking About Metadata Labor: Social Science Data Archives, Professional Data Librarians, and the Founding of IASSIST 94
5.1 Introduction: Social Science Data Archives as Cyberinfrastructure 95
5.2 Social Science Data Archives and the Metadata Crisis of the 1970s 96
5.3 Linking Data Archives to Data Libraries with Metadata Labor 101
5.4 Linking Data Librarians to Each Other Through IASSIST 104
5.5 Negotiating the Purpose and Power of IASSIST 107
5.6 Setting a Metadata Labor Agenda 112
5.7 “Off We Go!”: From Action Groups to Mutual Assistance 114
5.8 Conclusion: Success Through “Assisting One Another” in Metadata Labor 119
References 121
Chapter 6: Gender Bias in Computing 125
6.1 New Data on Computing Women Before 1970 133
6.2 Data from IBM User Group SHARE 135
6.3 Data from Mark IV Software User Group 139
6.4 Were Women Hidden Somewhere? 140
6.5 Concluding Thoughts 141
References 143
Chapter 7: An Archetype for Outsiders in Technology Commercialization 147
7.1 Introduction 147
7.1.1 Contributions 150
7.2 Nurturing Factors 153
7.2.1 Organizational Inertia 153
7.2.2 Outsiders Working with Selective Insiders 155
7.2.3 Specialization 156
7.2.4 Open Governance 157
7.3 Entry 158
7.3.1 Experimentation Built on Experience 160
7.3.2 Experimentation Inside a University 161
7.3.3 Experimentation During a Technology Rush 164
7.3.4 Summarizing Entry 165
7.4 Confrontation and Competition 166
7.4.1 Internal Conflict as a Barrier to Reaction: Britannica 167
7.4.2 Late Reaction to a New Demand: Microsoft 169
7.4.3 Reacting to the Changing Market Conditions: IBM 171
7.4.4 A Chain of Adoption as a Reaction: Wi-Fi 173
7.4.5 Chain of Reactions in a Partnership: Broadband Carriers 175
7.4.6 Summarizing Reaction 177
7.5 Conclusion 178
References 180
Index 183

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.1.2020
• Reihe/Serie: History of Computing
• Reihe/Serie: History of Computing
• Zusatzinfo: XIII, 174 p. 17 illus.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Informatik
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik
• Schlagworte: computing • Data Science • History • Informatics • Innovation • Standardization
• ISBN-13: 9783030189556 / 9783030189556