Joselito Salvado M7 BSIT

Inventions of the 21st Century

Hydrogen-powered Vehicles

Most of the cars and vehicles you see on the road have one thing in common – they
all burn some type of fossil fuel-derived power. Fossil fuel plays a huge role in
people’s lives and it is easy to see why people get so distraught over supply and
demand and fuel prices. Wars have been fought over fuel yet the arrival of hydrogen-
powered vehicles may change all that and wean people from their dependence on
gasoline-powered cars and free them from fossil fuel slavery.

Robotics

Robotics
There was a time when functional robots were just figments of the imagination but
that is not so. Today, technology has progressed to a point that people can enjoy the
benefits of robotics in their everyday lives. From robot pets to robot vacuum cleaners
and even robotic limbs these inventions are going to change the way people live for
sure. This is very promising especially in the military field because pretty soon,
soldiers will no longer need to be sacrificed in the front lines.

Artificial Intelligence

This is another recent invention that used to belong only to the imaginations of
movie writers. These days, scientists and developers are coming up with some truly
stunning artificial intelligence that can learn and think. This is bound to be a very
exciting development and will surely fill the dreams of every sci-fi fanatic.

Cloning

The jury is still out on whether this is something that will become universally
accepted as some groups have problems with it. However, ever since the sheep
Dolly was cloned the development of cloning technology has been growing and
advancing by leaps and bounds.
Joselito Salvado M7 BSIT

INNOVATIONS
By Jim Thomas, ETC Group

A guest blog in the Alternative Perspectives on Technology Innovation series

For a fresh perspective on how to do technology governance consider starting somewhere else. I suggest
York Castle in Northern England – a stark stone tower from the thirteenth century.

It was here in 1812 that the English state first executed fifteen men for the newly established crime of
machine-breaking. They were Luddites – the original kind: artisan weavers who saw the factory system
as an assault on their livelihoods and communities. At the time England was convulsed by the ‘machine
question’ – with fiery debates in parliament and hundreds of fiery attacks on cloth mills by followers of the
mythical Ned Lu dd. As the first industrial revolution gathered steam, literally, the political class made a
deliberate decision to side with the new industrialists. 12,000 Soldiers were deployed to quell the Luddite
uprising – more than were abroad fighting Napoleon. The Frame Breaking Act made Luddism punishable
by death and in time the word Luddite itself was transformed into a term of contempt and abuse that
lasted all the way to 21st century science debates. Its fair to say the Luddites lost – big time.

I should admit right now that I’m a big fan of the Luddites – Not that its much fun supporting an extinct
political movement. Unlike sports teams there’s neither merchandise to buy nor Facebook groups to join
(not unless you count this: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ye-Luddites/121981285761?v=info ). But I
like Ned Ludd and his gang for two reasons.

Firstly I think they were right in ways they didn’t even know at the time. Our contemporary crises of
climate change, overproduction and industrial pollution trace back in obvious ways to the industrial
revolution as do the emergence of urban and labour problems that flowed from the factory system and the
urbanization that it gave rise to. The new
Ye Luddites
cloth factories made possible a level of demand that justified establishing cotton plantations and a vicious
slave trade setting in motion cycles of violence and racism that still persist today. Did the industrial
revolution also bring benefits to society – of course it did although those benefits remain very unevenly
distributed. Did the Luddites know they were fighting the roots of future racism. No – but their instincts
were good.

Secondly I admire the Luddites for their success (albeit brief) in creating a large-scale truly popular
debate about emerging technologies. The widespread uprising of 1811-16 was more than just a wave of
hysterics. Popular geek culture casts a ‘Luddite’ as a technologically inept dunce, fearful of change.
Historical accounts reveal nothing of the sort. Real Luddites were adept users of complex hand weaving
looms. They often espoused nuanced views on the technological revolution happening around them.
They were not uniformly anti-technology: Their grievances, as recorded in song and declarations , were
specifically with technologies that were “harmful to the common good” – as good a standard as any
against which to asses technological appropriateness. In their night time raids they would break some
mechanical frames that they considered unjust while leaving others untouched that they considered
benign. They recognised technological power as political, entwined with monopoly power and responsible
for a lowering of standards and production of shoddy goods. They even practiced a radical form of
democratic technology assessment that we haven’t seen the like of since: dragging bulky mechanical
looms to the market place to hold public trials in which all the community could pass judgement on the
new machines – a public consultation process of the most inclusive kind.
Joselito Salvado M7 BSIT