The so called machine age was brought upon due to
mechanization and innovation, we can date these back to World War I and
industrial revolutions where technology and the mass production has been
incorporated in a modern economic and social context. One of the key figures
during these times was Henry Ford, an American industrialist and founder of the
Ford Motor Company. He is credited with the term ‘Fordism’: in which mass
production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers. This allowed the working class to afford technology
such as automobiles through the means of labor. The rapid growth meant that
unemployment was a leading problem which led way to the ideas of mass
architecture in public housing in the Soviet Union. Leon Troksty, the leader
behind the revolution wrote “Technological enthusiasts expected the machine to
fulfill their visions, much as enthusiasts today envision the computer bringing
a longed-for world.” This quotation leads back to today’s society where
technology is abundant and crucial in our daily lives.
The digital age has given us
personal computers however in Mckenzie Wark’s critical manifesto dubbed ‘A
Hacker Manifesto’ Ward criticizes the commodification of information in the age
of digital culture and globalization. Wark refers ‘hackers’ as creators who can
bring new ideas into the world and this new information derives from the
‘hack’, Wark believes that whether you’re not a computer programmer or
designer, any sort of information that is produced new is crucial however it is
up to us on how we produce, distribute and consume these information.
No comments:
Post a Comment