CHAPTER 7 - STS (for finals)

• This section provides overview on how writing evolved through time and internet came into being. Discussion on how information became accessible and inexpensive thru the discovery of printing press by Johannes Gutenburg is also presented on this part. Emphasis is given on the influence of social media to people's lives.
• Gutenberg's movable type printing


  Used metal stamps of single letters that could be arranged into words, sentences and pages of text. Using a large manually operated system, the stamps would be arranged to read a page of text so that when covered with ink, it would print out a page of text. Movable type kept the metal stamp letters separate, which allowed printers to reuse the letters quickly on succeeding pages.
• Books spread new ideas quickly and sped up the process of change. For example, as a young sailor in Genoa, Christopher Columbus read Marco Polo's famous Travels, in which he described his journeys to China. Newspapers and pamphlets generated information and ideas even faster.
• The Gutenberg printing press led to the Protestant revolution, the Age of Enlightenment, the development of Modern Science, and universal Education. In other words, everything that has led to human progress and the advancement of the modern world.
• Paradoxes of Technology


  • Empowerment vs Enslavement
  • Independent vs Dependence
  • Fulfills needs vs Creates needs
  • Competence vs Incompetence
  • Engaging vs Disengaging
  • Public vs Private
  • Illusion vs Disillusion