Computerization Movements and Technology Diffusion: From Mainframes to Ubiquitous Computing

This edited volume of papers examines how computerisation movement theory may be applied to computer use (or not) in organisations, online communities, the development of open source software and the ideas around ubiquitous computing. The book is a tribute to the work of Rob Kling, who was one of those researchers who asked questions about the reasons why some computer developments worked, and why others were less popular in use although they had many proponents at a policy level advocating their use. The research on urban information systems, office automation, artificial intelligence, computer‐based education and personal computing pointed to five ideological themes, the assumptions (often unspoken) that practitioners, developers and policymakers employed when discussing the importance of proceeding with computerisation. These are:

1. 1.

   computer‐based technologies are central for a reformed world;

2. 2.

   improved computer‐based technologies can further reform society;

3. 3.

   more computing is better than less, and there are no conceptual limits to the scope of appropriate computerisation;

4. 4.

   no one loses from computerisation; and

5. 5.

   uncooperative people are the main barriers to social reform through computing.

An introductory chapter discusses the ideas around frames of interpretation, and action frames, which serve to provide a collective understanding of how a technology should work and should be used. If, over time, there is a gap between what is proposed, and what happens in reality, the contending discourse in research and the media will result in the emergence of new frames, to replace the older dominant frame. The level of analysis varies – from acceptance by the individual (where the technology acceptance model applies) through group and organisational level analysis to the level of analysis at society level. Four computerisation eras are identified as the eras of the mainframe, the PC, Internet and fourthly the ubiquitous computing eras of 2000 and beyond. These eras are used to structure the book, and probably work better for the earlier eras of computerisation where “the computer” was a distinctive item. Once we reach time periods when information and communication technologies are converging, and mobile devices combine communication, entertainment and computing functions, the society perspective might be better described as mobile communication, mobile networks, but the term ubiquitous computing is consistent with the computerisation theme of the book.

Chapters 2 and 3 are reprints of papers by Kling and Iacono, published in 1988 and 2001. The first discusses the derivation of the five ideological themes, the second adapts these themes to internetworking. The next chapters are organised into sets of papers that discuss productivity, democratisation, the “death of distance (intranets and virtual team working), freedom and information rights, and finally, ubiquitous computing. A concluding chapter by the editors considers the usefulness of the computerisation movement ideas and what the chapters reveal about the likelihood of predicting the success of a particular computerisation movement. The structure of the book is coherent and the editors should be congratulated on doing a marvellous job of editing. Too often edited volumes consist of a ragbag of diverse chapters with a couple of pages by the editors to introduce the volume. This book makes cross‐references, the introductory and concluding chapters do their proper job, and most of the contributors have kept to their brief very carefully. The only problem is the index – the topics and page numbers do not match in my copy, and I suspect the wrong index was inserted.

Chapter 3, on the automated underwriting computerisation made for interesting reading as the book was published before the horrors of the sub‐prime lending were apparent. Although automated underwriting may have cut the cost of originating a loan, it is easy (now, in hindsight) to appreciate that the emphasis on productivity (at first for very large lenders, later for all brokers and consumers) and data standards might have been accompanied by more attention to the likelihood that a large number of less reliable borrowers would be able to maintain payments. The ideological theme that nobody loses from computerisation, was (unfortunately) never challenged. Chapter 4 examines the lack of success of PDAs, set against the amount of hype about their advantages. What followed was rationalisation of the reasons for lack of progress. In contrast, digital photography has been accepted by professionals and amateurs, and Chapter 5 discusses how the understandings about digital photography changed, and how the advantages for some (manipulation of images) lead to new problems for others (such as lawyers, forensic investigators and the courts).

Chapters 6 to 8 discuss aspects of democratisation – Chapter 7 discusses the Blacksburg electronic village, and Chapter 8 the BTX forum of the Backstreets.com web site, a Bruce Springsteen fanzine. Chapters 9 to 11 examine the death of distance, virtual working within and across organisations. In Chapter 11, Roberta Lamb and Mark Poster adapt the five computerisation movement themes to intranet movement themes to discuss the discourse around intranets. This chapter, like some of the more interesting chapters for me, wove in other theoretical ideas, such as Bijker's social construction of technology, and Foucault's ideas on self‐monitoring and professional identity, to explain how doctors expanded some of their professional roles in different ways to deal with the shift in control that an intranet produces.

Chapters 12 to 14 include discussions on the development of free and open source software. One contribution suggests that the environmental movement offers some useful models, another traces the history of the free software movement, and another (Chapter 14) examines the intersection of computerisation movements (open source software, games development and grid computing) and some of the sub‐worlds that emerge. Other chapters explore the urban myths around reliability of open source software and the reasons why organisations actually adopt open source software.

The final part on ubiquitous computing discusses the practice and problems of those trying to make rhetoric match reality in ubiquitous computing (most readers could probably empathise with much of the experiences recounted in one of these chapters). Chapter 18 notes how the semantic web and pervasive computing rely on previous technology – and that renaming the type of computerisation will not necessarily make it more successful than its parents. Chapter 19 suggests that a perspective that uses the ecology of games can help expand the computerisation movement themes. This perspective identifies the main players and their goals, and the games that are being played (e.g. secrecy versus open government, jurisdictional turf struggles over internet names).

As someone who can remember the early development of computers, I found this book interesting and many of the chapters offered useful frameworks for reflecting on some of the developments. I found myself giggling over the list of five ideologies as I often present computer science undergraduates with a similar list of assumptions that I suspect they possess, consciously or subconsciously. And most do, as their puzzled expressions tell me – how could anyone doubt these views?

It would be interesting to apply the framework to more recent debates, such as the open access movement for journals. Is it fair to say:

• •

  open access is central for a reformation of scholarly communication;

• •

  improvements in open access can further reform society (by making access to research easier for less developed countries);

• •

  there should be more open access;

• •

  no one loses from open access; and

• •

  uncooperative people (for‐profit publishers) are the main barriers to reformed scholarly communication through open access?

At the same time as reading this book I have also been reading Castells on the mobile network society (Castells et al., 2007). This has pieced together the evidence from many studies across the world on the drivers of technological change in mobile communications. The approach is different – Elliott and Kraemer are focusing on the assumptions behind technological innovations in computerisation, and it is possible to use this framework to illuminate the problems and opportunities, policy fallacies and the histories involved. Castells examines the events, phenomena and tracks some of the developments, and synthesises the evidence to identify emerging themes that include safe autonomy, instant communities of practice, a new social psychology of rumour, and new social problems in some of the security issues. The emphasis is more on the individual in society. Neither approach is superior, but perhaps both perspectives are required for a better understanding of our current situation of ubiquitous computing or mobile networking (depending on your perspective).