Technology and Society Flashcards
Grade 11 · Social Studies · Flashcards
Key concepts, terms, and events in the relationship between technological change and American society, politics, and the economy.
Flashcards
- Industrial Revolution
- Transformation from agrarian to industrial economy (late 18th-19th century); mechanized production created urban working class, factory system, and raised living standards while creating new social problems.
- Telegraph
- First rapid long-distance communication technology (1840s); transformed news, commerce, and military coordination; forerunner of all modern electronic communication.
- Television and Politics
- The 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate demonstrated TV's power in politics; Kennedy's polished appearance won TV viewers while Nixon won among radio listeners, changing how candidates campaign.
- Cold War Space Race
- Soviet launch of Sputnik (1957) shocked the U.S. into investing heavily in science education (NDEA, 1958) and aerospace; NASA's Apollo program landed astronauts on the moon in 1969.
- Personal Computer Revolution
- Apple II (1977) and IBM PC (1981) brought computing to homes and offices; Microsoft's Windows operating system dominated the 1990s; transformed business, education, and communication.
- Internet and World Wide Web
- Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web (1991) as a way to share information across the internet; commercialization through the 1990s created the dot-com boom and bust (2000).
- Smartphone Revolution
- Apple's iPhone (2007) created the modern smartphone; by the 2010s, smartphones gave billions of people pocket-sized computers and internet access, transforming social interaction and commerce.
- Social Media
- Platforms like Facebook, Twitter (now X), Instagram, and TikTok transformed communication, journalism, political organizing, and advertising — while raising concerns about privacy, misinformation, and mental health.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Systems that perform tasks requiring human-like intelligence; recent advances in machine learning and large language models raise questions about automation, creativity, accountability, and the future of work.
- Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
- Decentralized digital ledger technology underlying cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin; proponents argue it enables trustless transactions without banks; critics note energy consumption and use in illicit finance.
- Biometric Surveillance
- Use of facial recognition, fingerprinting, and other biometric data by governments and corporations for identification; raises civil liberties concerns, especially given documented racial bias in facial recognition systems.
- Digital Literacy
- The ability to use, evaluate, and create content using digital technology; increasingly considered an essential 21st-century skill and civil right, given how much of civic, economic, and social life happens online.
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