Culture and Technology
Interview Paper Assignment
Length:4-5 pages

Find two people who have experienced a significant change in the technology available to do something. Interview both people about the same technology (to accomplish the same task).You may add your own relevant experiences and insights to theirs in the paper.

Briefly identify in your paper the people you interviewed.
Find out what the original technology was like, how the people experienced the change, and what the advantages and disadvantages of the new technology are.

Here are some questions to ask:

1. What were the advantages of the old way of doing things?
2. Which of those advantages were lost and which were retained in the change to the new technology?
3. What was the period of transition like? What were you most aware of during the change? Was the transition comfortable or uncomfortable?
4. What were the important questions or issues concerning the change to the new technology? Which of those questions or issues are still important?
5. What were the problems that were anticipated? Have any of them turned out to be true?
6. What are the "costs" (not just monetary) of the technology?
7. What values are reflected in this technology and the way it is used? (For example, does the new technology favor efficiency, ease of use, productivity, speed, human contact ?)
8. Are you satisfied with the new technology?
9. What have been unanticipated results or byproducts of using the new technology?

Possible topics:
A change from one technology for doing a job to a different technology
The change from no telephone to using a telephone
The change from no television to having a television
The change from writing by hand to writing with a computer
The change from playing music on an acoustic instrument to playing music on a synthesizer
The change from playing vinyl record albums to playing music CDs
The change from....

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