Revising the Principles of Technorealism
The various URLs given here spring from an essay published in Computer 2003 January.
Some further links on Technorealism:
  • Harvard (Berkman Center Conference on Technorealism)
  • Janelle Brown, Is Technology Unplugging Our Minds?, Salon 1999 October 7 (a review of three books by technorealists)
  • Jeffrey R Young, "Technorealists" Hope to Enrich Debate Over Policy Issues in Cyberspace, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1998 (includes a debate)
  • TechnoSurrealism (some mildly dissenting views)
  • Margaret Vo, Osvaldo Jimenez, and Robert Buergi, Technorealism: Understanding the Limits of Information
  • Google (on "technorealism")
  • Ned Ludd  CTA (Constructive Technology Assessment; for the real Ludd story)
    Some further links on the various Principles, with original numbering.
    1. Technologies:  What Can Computers Do?
    2. The Internet:
  • The Myth of the Computer Revolution
  • The Profession's Future Lies in its Past
  • Paul Krugman, Digital Robber Barons?, New York Times,, 2002 December 6 (when it comes to the future of the Internet, decision makers are full of enthusiasm for the wonders of deregulation even as tomorrow's robber barons are fortifying their castles)
    3. Cyberspace:
  • Jonathan G. S. Koppell, No "There" There, The Atlantic Monthly, Vol.286, No.2, 2000 August, pp.16-18 (why cyberspace isn't anyplace)
  • The Cyberarts Web:  Cyberspace, Virtual Reality, and Critical Theory,  Cyberspace and Critical Theory,  Amanda Griscom: Anarchy and Hierarchy
  • Richard Forno: Security Through Soundbyte: The "Cybersecurity Intelligence" Game, The Melbourne Age, 2002 November 22 (some say that cyberspace is the new battlefield, with its own unique rules, challenges, and concerns for those charged with defending it)
    4. Information:
  • The Great Term Robbery
    5. Schools:
    6. Copyright:
  • The Constitution of the United States of America (in Article I Section 8 is written "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;")
    Timothy Phillips, Thomas Jefferson's copyright term, 1999 February 11
    Jerry Brito, Copyright and the Court's Right, The Docket, 2002 October 8
    Siva Vaidhyanathan, Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How It Threatens Creativity, New York University Press, 2001 (also, Copyrights and Copywrongs: Why Thomas Jefferson would love Napster, MSNBC News, same here)
  • Sabra Chartrand, The U.S. Joins Global Trademark System, New York Times, 2002 December 16 (after 13 years of ruminating, the United States has agreed to join a global trademark system)
  • BBC, Efforts to stop music piracy "pointless", 2002 November 22 (record industry attempts to prevent the swapping of pop music over the internet will never work)
  • Editorial, Campaign Finance Secrets, New York Times, 2002 November 30 (even before the campaign finance law challenge is decided, the American public is already losing, because the court has allowed parts of the record to be kept secret)
  • John Naughton, "Giants of flesh and steel" rear ugly head in cyberspace, The Observer, 2002 December 1 (the biggest question about the internet is whether it really is a subversive technology - i.e. one which undermines the established social, political and economic order and brings about revolutionary change)
  • Mark Ward, Software giants "trample freedoms", BBC, 2002 December 6 (the costs of software should be reckoned in more than just notes and coins believes software pioneer Richard Stallman)
  • John Naughton, Disney's protection racket, The Observer, 2003 January 19 (the US Supreme Court decided by a 7-2 majority that it was not going to restrict Congress's predilection for extending copyright periods way beyond anything envisaged by the constitution)
  • Protecting copyright in a digital age, The Economist, 2002 January 23 (the best way to foster creativity in the digital age is to overhaul current copyright laws)
  • Paul March, Mickey's not for taking, The Guardian, 2003 January 27 (without fanfare, a ruling has extended protection for many of the 20th century's artistic landmarks in the most important copyright decision for a generation)
  • Victor Keegan, Intellectual property? You're taking the Mickey ..., The Guardian, 2003 January 30 (at the expense of the world's poorest, our absurd copyright laws only serve to bolster the bank balances of corporate machines from Walt Disney to Victoria Beckham)
  • John Naughton, A conspiracy against the public, The Observer, 2003 March 16 (neither conspiracy nor cock-up theories are much use in explaining why so much legislation about the internet is pernicious)
  • The high price of piracy, BBC, 2003 April 3 (cutting software piracy can boost economies and create jobs claims a report into counterfeit software)
  • Greenspan mulls patent problems, BBC, 2003 April 4 (intellectual property is becoming more important economically, but the rules governing it are archaic, says the US Federal Reserves chief)
    7. Spectrum:
  • Wireless hitchhikers branded as thieves (Nokia has condemned as thieves anyone who uses chalk to mark where there are wireless internet connections)
  • New billboards the "talk" of advertisers (high street billboards could soon start talking to consumers and people walking past as advertisers look to harness new technology)
  • Peter Rojas, Thinking of Radio as Smart Enough to Live Without Rules New York Times, 2002 October 24 (what if it was possible to open up the radio spectrum to everyone, so that anyone could broadcast anything, on whatever frequency was most convenient, without interfering with anyone else's signal?)
  • John Naughton, 3G fiasco - only the porn barons win, The Observer, 2003 May 25 (John Naughton: the only services that are likely to generate the necessary revenues to pay for the 3G licences will be thoroughly unsavoury ones such as pornography, gambling, and worse)
  • Should airwaves be free?, The Economist, 2003 May 31 (should radio spectrum be treated as property, or as a common resource?)
    8. Understanding:
  • Harold Thimbleby, Smart to be Simple, The Times Higher Education, p.15, February 12, 1999 (challenges the view that lifelong learning shold equip people to cope with an ever more complex world)
  • Peter Raven, Our global future, ABC, 2002 June 22 (an interview covering technology, sustainability, global linkages and the need for global responsibility for the welfare of developing nations)
  • Leader, Rich and poor - it doesn't add up, The Observer, 2002 June 30 (print; world leaders at the G8 summit in Canada last week could offer less than £1bn of debt relief for the very poorest nations - despite a commitment three years ago in Cologne to fund £65bn of relief)
  • Charles Leadbeater, We should look forward to the future, The Observer, 2002 June 30 (print; science may bring new risks, but it is alarmist to fear that we cannot make technological advance work to humanity's advantage)