1.5. Impacts of CS Blown to Bits BB

1.5.1. Introduction and Goals

Computing has transformed our lives in so many ways. And mobile computing, where we are constantly connected to others and to the world via our mobile devices, is challenging us right now to come with new norms about privacy, security, the ownership or openness of data and information, and other issues.

Like any technology, mobile computing has both positive and negative impacts. We need to reflect on these impacts in general and we also think about the impacts we will create as we build our own mobile apps.

One way we will be addressing these issues in this course is by reading and discussing Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion. The book is available entirely online with a separate PDF file for each chapter. You can access the website for the complete original book by clicking the book image to the left. Note: Given that technology is changing rapidly each day, some of the material in the original book may be out of date. To help with this, three of the chapters were updated and made available online under the name New Bits Book. The chapters with updated text available are noted below. 

In addition to the book, we will also be reading about current news and events — as well as asking you to bring in news you find!

1.5.2. Learning Activities

B2B Chapter Assignments:

  • Unit 2 - Chapter 1: Digital Explosion: Why Is It Happening, and What Is at Stake?
  • Unit 3 - Chapter 3: Ghosts in the Machine: Secrets and Surprises of Electronic Documents
  • Unit 4 - Chapter 2: Naked in the Sunlight: Privacy Lost, Privacy Abandoned New Bits Book Chapter Available!
  • Unit 5 - Chapter 4: Needles in the Haystack: Google and Other Brokers in the Bits Bazaar
  • Unit 6 - Chapter 5: Secret Bits: How Codes Became Unbreakable
  • Unit 7 - Chapter 6: Balance Toppled: Who Owns the Bits? New Bits Book Chapter Available!