Technology, consumption and the future: The experience of home computing

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This study of the home computer boom is of relevance to wider discussions of consumption, innovation and popular attitudes towards science and technology. Based primarily on empirical work with computer users, it also explores the various media, commercial, academic and political discourses which contributed to the boom. The home computer boom was an event which amounted to more than the sum of individual decisions to purchase and use micros. It is testimony to the influence of visions of a world shaped by technology in the public imagination. Contact with the home computer was mediated by powerful beliefs about the future significance of information technology both inside and, most importantly, outside the home. Many buyers had only vague notions of the nature and capabilities of their micro and how it would fit into their lives - these were issues to be resolved after purchase. Obtaining a machine was just the first stage in 'computer careers' which were often marked by shifting commitments to computing. Any simple ends-orientated view of micro use is inadequate. Much computing, even with advanced and, supposedly, practical hardware and software, has a strong exploratory element. The example of home computing shows how, rather than being an absolute which determines demand, the usefulness of goods is constructed and negotiated in specific social contexts. An issue which preoccupied many was 'finding a use' for the computer. They can be seen investigating and debating the value of various applications. This is not simply resolved at a individual or household level. It is part of a process of innovation - yet to be fully resolved - which takes place across the spheres of production and consumption.This work is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Innovative Tokyo

This paper compares and contrasts Tokyo's innovation structure with the industrial districts model and the international hub model in the literature on urban and regional development. The Tokyo model embraces and yet transcends both industrial districts and international hub models. The paper details key elements making up the Tokyo model-organizational knowledge creation, integral and co-location systems of corporate R&D and new product development, test markets, industrial districts and clusters, participative consumer culture, continuous learning from abroad, local government policies, the national system of innovation, and the historical genesis of Tokyo in Japan's political economy. The paper finds that the Tokyo model of innovation will continue to evolve with the changing external environment, but fundamentally retains its main characteristics. The lessons from the Tokyo model is that openness, a diversified industrial base, the continuing development of new industries, and an emphasis on innovation, all contribute to the dynamism of a major metropolitan region.Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Health Promotion,ICT Policy and Strategies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,ICT Policy and Strategies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Innovation

The Emerging Role of Robotics in Personal Health Care: Bringing Smart Health Care Home

Affordable, accessible health care is in short supply in the U.S., due to the rapidly aging population; robotics can provide a solution to this problem. This project developed user requirements for a personal health care robot. From interviews with robotics professionals and focus groups with caregivers and the elderly, the team gained an understanding of potential users’ desired functionalities and acceptance of robots. The team developed a taxonomy to characterize robots’ interaction with users. The requirements generated by the studies were used in conjunction with this taxonomy to recommend a robot for use in personal health care. An in-home monitoring system was found to have the greatest potential to benefit the health care industry and the target demographic

The Cult of Liberation: The Berkeley Free Church and The Radical Church Movement 1967-1972 volume 1

The Berkeley Free Church was a major actor in the drama of church social action in the sixties. The emergence of the Free Church coincided with the high water mark of social action, and its dissolution paralleled the receding waters of church based social action in the early seventies. The and fall of the Free Church, as this study point out, indicates that there were forces outside the churches that were also dictating the ebb and flow of the waters of church social action. As much as the church activists were involved in social reform movements in the sixties and early seventies, most of the leadership and impetus for these movements were not church based. The growing oppositional youth culture, composing the new left and the counterculture, was the source and inspiration for much of the church social activism. Therefore, the Free Church\u27s identity was shaped not just by its relationship to church based social action but also by its role in the oppositional youth culture of the sixties and early seventies. The flounderings of the youth culture and social protest in the early seventies coincided with the flounderings of the church social action, a fact which indicated that church social action was not an independent force but more a dependent product of the oppositional youth culture

What Type of Leadership Does Africa Need to Join the First World?

Internal conflict and lack of leadership are becoming major prohibiting agents that are hindering African countries from economic growth and prosperity. Many countries in Africa have ethnic, racial or political conflicts that are progressing and most of these conflicts are the result of negative leadership. Resolving internal conflict in Africa requires taking responsibility for the people and for the country. Taking responsibility requires a hard study of the effects of internal conflict, the effects of war, and other contributing factors that hinder Africa from economic growth. The only way that African countries can take charge in solving the problems of internal conflict/war is to understand the long term damage it creates not only for the country involved in the conflict, but also for the continent. Leadership can play a great role in solving the problems faced by African countries today. A strong and determined leadership can promote peace, unity, and security within a country and throughout a continent. Challenges such as lack of education, the spread of disease and negative effects of globalization can be addressed only when there is a strong and determined leadership that bases its interests and work practices on the needs of its people and the country. Since most African countries have similar problems, it would help if these countries work together in solving their problems and claiming the 21st century as their own. With the right set of leadership priorities, African countries can some day become members of the First World