Notes for Week 6

Agenda

Film + Activity + Debate

Debate options –
1. Should we let innovations in communications technology impact the way
we work? Should employees be allowed to work from home?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-juIRRLDTj8

2. Look at this quote by Steve Jobs about innovation. What do you think?
“The computer is the most remarkable tool we’ve ever come up with. It’s the equivalent
of a bicycle for our minds.”

“It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know
what they want until you show it to them.”

3. Is Apple Innovative or just adapting other people’s technology?

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/5-biggest-challenges-
success-apple-watch-180952672/?no-ist

But one thing Steve Jobs wouldn’t have done is what his successor did this spring:
cave into pressure from hedge funds and give the company a $100bn cashpile.
When a tech firm starts buying back shares from investors, it’s as good an indication
as any that it’s run out of ideas and oomph. William Lazonick at the University of
Massachusetts Lowell says that Apple AAPL -1.56% is no longer a design and product
firm, driven by engineers and designers, but a “financialised” company focused on
returning money to Wall Street. It is, he and a team of academics conclude,
“becoming a typical American corporation”. That’s a damning verdict for the
company that Jobs built. But it’s also worrying in its implications for modern,
financial capitalism to deliver innovation.
Source
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/09/17/the-iphone-5s-
proof-that-apple-has-given-up-on-innovation/

4. Do digital devices (examples include augmented and wearable

technology) have a dumbing down effect? Or should we have a device for
just about everything? http://www.cnet.com/news/wearables-with-
augmented-reality-are-mind-blowing-and-an-ethical-nightmare/

5. Do you agree with the video that Google glasses will increase the digital
divide?
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/the-digital-divide-created-by-google-
glass-wz5sD3lyQPWz7LlYj7dgKg.html

Points to note in the readings

What is the main message of the reading “Everyday Engineering”? What does the
author propose that designers and engineers should consider?

1
Why and how will ethnography help us understand engineers better?

The hypothesis states that it is important to observe engineers in order to

understand their field. See page 2. Do you agree with this?

Why should technical action be understood from a social standpoint? See page
3. The argument is that human beings and their social organizations are behind
all technical action. So it is important to understand social systems. Do you
agree?

Look at the point on page 4 about interdisciplinary understanding and

collaboration for researching engineering and design. Do you agree? Think
about what we do here with regards to collaborative learning. I D, 2 D etc. and
its effects on design thinking and creation. See examples
MIT Tech TV-Processes for Understanding Complex Socio Technical Systems
http://ttv.mit.edu/videos/23479-developing-processes-for-understanding-
complex-sociotechnical-systems-are-we-there-yet

What do the authors of the book, “The New Digital Age” convey in their
chapter, "Our Future Selves, What will the Future Look Like? Do you agree with
the statement on page 18 “more innovation means more opportunities”? See
page 25. How do you feel about Google’s driverless cars?

In the reading “Knowledge Management and Innovation: The Role of Virtual

Social Networks in Innovative Consumer Behaviour”, pay attention to paragraph
two on page 210. What is special about the network society? It is mass
connectivity made possible through telecommunications. Think about the role of
social networks and virtual social networks and how they influence innovation.
The “strength of weak ties” by Granovetter (1973) basically means the more
people you know –the more likely you are to create both information and
opportunities. Overall the article basically argues that virtual social networks
(i.e. the ones on the Internet are so diverse that they encourage consumers to
create and comment on various products. Think about the example of app
developers and reviews. See page 211. Why do we need to involve consumers
in the innovation of products and services? Look at the table? Which social
theories can be used to analyse this table? What about functionalism? I suggest
you start reading more about these theories from the resources provided or go
online to Google Scholar.
See video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phiRjv-bQok

Let us understand more about social networks.

Pay attention to page 212. Look at the various definitions of networks. Look at
Levy’s (1999) definition of networks as “ intelligent collective spaces”. The
cohort classroom, the lab, creativity can happen anywhere there are people.
Networks in essence mean social ties. The structure of our social ties gives us
more information and opportunities. Can you tell the difference between an
emergent and network and an affiliation networks? See Recuero (2009).
Compare Facebook to Blogs.