Computers and Technical Communication in the 21st Century

Carliner, Saul. “Computers and Technical Communication in the 21^st Century.” In Digital Literacy for Technical Communication, edited by Rachel Spilka, 21-50. New York: Routledge, 2010.

In this article, Carliner describes how digital technology affects technical communicators, especially how technology has changed the job titles and roles of technical communicators in organizations. The author also includes a history of technology and how it has changed, starting in the 1970s.

My interest in this reading is the history of technology, especially the author’s discussion of the coming-of-age of the Internet. His discussion will be useful when I address some of the obstacles to early efforts to make public libraries points of access to the Internet. As part of the background information on my topic, I will be looking at how libraries dealt with those obstacles and which ones remain.

In addition, the section of Carliner’s article dealing with the Internet, within the larger context of the history of technology, contains useful information and interesting quotations.

Research Topic: How has people's desire to enjoy and utilize the benefits of the World Wide Web superseded the relative importance to them of on-line privacy?

I’m interested in this topic because I’ve watched technology evolve over the last twenty years, and I’m still surprised by the twists and turns it’s taken, especially in the area of online privacy.

One of my first jobs was working at a computer leasing company, and we were early adopters of Microsoft Windows and Office in the 1980’s. On the technology continuum many things happened between then and now. I was part of the dot com bust in the 1990’s, watching scores of companies with exciting new ideas come to fruition and then die on the vine before they ever had a chance to make their first dollar. All the while, there was an underlying feeling of skepticism with each new wave of technology development.

Throughout all this transformation, it appeared as though people wanted to hold on to their online privacy regardless of a dizzying array of technology offerings that were available to them. Somewhere between that time of resistance to relinquish online privacy and now, there was a gradual transition towards accepting less privacy. I can’t pinpoint exactly when it happened, but it was sometime in the last 5 to 10 years.

It surprises me that there is an almost compulsive desire to use technology now, especially in the areas of social networking and media with little regard for one’s right to online privacy. Even though people have been made aware of the dangers of revealing too much information on social networking sites and in other areas of the World Wide Web, they still continue to plunge fearlessly and recklessly into cyberspace. I’m interested in “why” and “how” this happened so quickly and whether most people are even aware that it happened.