1st Industrial Revolution
• Started with John Kay’s invention of flying shuttle, 1733
• James Watt’s steam engine (1769) should be mentioned
• Characteristics: Mechanization.
• Impact on industry: shifted from cottage industry with craft to mass production with machine tools.
‘Products’ of 1st Industrial Revolution
• Steam engine;• Internal combustion engine;• Electricity, and its use: -• Train, automobile, airplane, ocean vessel;• Bulldozer, excavator;• Refrigerator, air-conditioner;• Skyscraper;• Weapon; -
Wright Brother’s Airplane 1903
1st Industrial Revolution: a two-edge sword?
• So many benefits and advantages it has brought to us.
• Any negativity?
Luddite Movement
• Founded in 1811.
• Central issue: Workers’ job security threatened by mechanization and automation.
• Automation vs. job has been a ‘pain’ issue in the process of industrial revolution, even up to now.
Automation vs. Jobs
• Technological progress eliminates some current jobs.
• Does new tech create more new jobs than those displaced?
• Do the new jobs pay more of less than the older ones?
• What about the workers who are displaced?
New Jobs Created with 1st Industrial Revolution
• In 1870, 31% of Americans, or 12 millions, had jobs
• In 1985, 48% of Americans, or 116 millions, had jobs.
Productivity Growth
• GNP per capita was $530 in 1870, and $3,500 in 1970 (in 1958 dollars), which increase 6 times.
• Percent of American workforce that involved in food production:
In 1900, 34%;
In 1990, only 3%.
2nd Industrial Revolution
• It is now in progress.
• Led and inspired by computers.
• It extends and multiplies our mental abilities, comparing to the 1st industrial revolution that extends and multiplies our physical capabilities.
‘Products’ of 2nd Industrial Revolution
• Computers (PCs, …)
• Internet
• Cell phones
• CD, DVD, MP3, digital camera, …
• GPS
• Gene engineering
• Embedded in most modern machines
Potential Dangers
• Humans are increasingly relying on machines whose intelligence may be as flawed as our own.
• Technology can be, and is already, a powerful ally of the totalitarians and terrorists. – This danger is real, not ‘potential’.
Product Values Less Visible
• Computers use almost no natural resources.
• Value of a ‘high tech’ product lies primarily in the ‘knowledge’ (rather than materials) it contains.
Value of Knowledge and Technology
• The value of knowledge and technology reflects the cost of research and development (R&D) of the product’s hardware and software, as well as the in maintaining the ability of continuing to advance and further the R&D.
Computing Speed Doubled Every 2 Years
• The power of computer technology (the ratio of speed over cost) has doubled every 18 to 24 months.
• This is called the Moore’s Law.
A Unprecedented Challenge to Our Superiority of Intelligence
• The 1st industrial revolution has helped human become superior in physical capability.
• The 2nd industrial revolution is helping machines achieve intelligence, which may become superior in mental capability on top of us.
• Is our intelligence unique and insuperable?
Copernicus’ Sun-Centered Theory
• It is the earth that circles the sun, rather than the sun circles our earth.
• Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish, 1473 – 1543, published his theory in book <On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres> in 1543.
An Inexorable Advent
• Machines that are getting smarter are a sword of two edges. It is looming large no matter whether we like it or not.
• It cannot be stopped.
• We need to comprehend it, live with it, harness it constructively, and turn threats into challenges.
How Far Can 2nd Revolution Go?
• The machines of 1st revolution have over performed our muscles.
• Do you think the machines of 2nd revolution will over perform our brains?
A Sustained and Divergent Process
• Comparing to the 1st one, the 2nd industrial revolution is a continued process which will last long and whose impacts on human beings are divergent, boundless, and beyond estimation.
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