Prior to the interview Mr Whistance had written some notes on the changes of technology throughout his lifetime. Before the interview he read out these notes providing a background and some general observations on technology of the 20th century. Mr Whistance had 3 main points to make about technology's progress.

Firstly he felt that the combination of technology and capitalism had made our generation the wealthiest that "has existed". A young person today on State benefits can afford most of the things that his grandfather could never even have thought of.

Secondly that technology had brought about "un-looked for outcomes" he gave the example of cigarette manufacture, in that knowing what is now known about the health risks of cigarettes who would have welcomed the introduction of machinery for mass cigarette production? Another example was thalidomide. It was said that today we accept these outcomes as a by-product of technological advance and carry on regardless.

Thirdly that the use of technology has changed. In the early days, technology's main purpose was to magnify or replace human energy (i.e. via steam power, gears and levers etc.) which served to produce greater outcomes. Today however, technology is devoted to complex tasks, which relieve people from traditional work. This results in the de-skilling and depersonalising of work and industrial service. Mr Whistance was not decided if this was a good or bad thing.

The example of working at sea was given. Early technology (the introduction of steam) meant that ships could operate in all conditions of weather. Later the introduction of automatic navigational methods (a difficult skill to acquire) made navigating "simply a matter of pushing a button", the effect of which is to lose a traditional skill, and the need for a navigator. Mr Whistance provided several other examples of how technology had allowed people to work quicker, easier and more accurately, however he did not fail to mention the amount of skills lost due to the progress of technology. This loss was considered very significant because skills play a key role in providing people with identity and placing them within society. Removing these skills thus has a knock on effect on society leading to a decline. Mr Whistance here gave the example of body piercing and football hooligans. Not only this, he believed that technology has led to the depersonalisation of industry and lifestyle as a whole. Here the example of decimalisation of the currency was given, resulting in the loss of affectionate nicknames; this Mr. Whistance claimed was due to people not accustomed to the new terms and thus not considering it their money.

Computers serving as instruments for communication and calculation giving us speed and capacity

When Mr. Whistance was younger the majority of communication was via the post; there were something like 5 or 6 collections a day in the London area. It was possible, in London, to send someone an invitation in the morning to come to supper in the evening and to get the answer by tea-time. Mr Whistance reminded us that this was happening whilst the post offices were still using horse buses and steam trains (no computers and no aeroplanes). It was suggested that back in the early 19th century people had a lot more confidence in the postal service than today. For telegrams, telegram boys in uniform and bicycles would knock on your door and give you a telegram. You could expect the telegram to reach the recipient within an hour, so that an answer would come back within 2-2 ½ hours. The rise in mobile telephones, faxes etc. has given more speed in communication. Telephones existed back in the late 19th century however they were not very common and were relatively expensive and were operated through operators. It was a business to get a long distance telephone call, and to contemplate an overseas call even to France was a major operation. Long distance phone calls involved a lengthy operation of ringing up several exchange offices. Mr Whistance stated that the telephone was by no means at that time a primary method of communication. If you needed to summon the fire brigade in those days you would go to a red painted post in the street and break the glass and pull a knob and you waited until the fire engine arrived to direct them to the fire as the fire crew would not know where the fire was. Nowadays cheapness, ease and speed produces a volume of correspondence which to some extent inhibits the process of business. When things are difficult and expensive they are to a large extent self regulating. When they are cheap and easy you need some exterior regulator, because everyone will be using it. He wondered how many conversations on mobile phones were really necessary! Earlier on when telegrams were sent the news that they contained was important, and would be expressed in as short a term possible, because it was relatively expensive compared with post. Computers have made communication faster, easier and cheaper, however it was argued that is there really a need for the speed, before people managed to cope with telegrams. Today the computer can be used to work out complex calculations quickly, however there are some areas of caution. Firstly people always assume the computer is correct; a computer can produce a totally ridiculous answer yet it is taken for granted that it is correct. In the old days when people did calculations themselves that wouldn't happen as it would be checked. Secondly there is a compelling attraction towards computers; with children it is hard to wean them away from them, it becomes an obsession (much the same as television). A hypnotic situation.

Evolution of computers

Mr Whistance listed the changes that he had experienced.

• Adding up using pen and paper: people had jobs which simply involved just adding up. Nowadays this skill has been completely lost (and is only maintained by darts players!)
• Mr Whistance then showed us a collection of calculating devises (operated by hand) that were used to add up before the mass production of pocket calculators. These could be used for quite complex calculations. They were crude but did the job well.
• Mechanical hand machines were then used largely due to the growth of business (especially so in America) these were hand held and operated
• Electrical device calculators.

Travel

Previously ships would be used where you now use aeroplanes. Despite being a faster method of transport, Mr. Whistance felt that if we had known what we know now about them they would not have been made. It was felt that comfort and safety had been jeopardised by the demand for faster travel. Despite the fact that aeroplanes have made travel more affordable to those on lower income it was felt this was of little significance because most of those going on holiday do so to "sit on beaches" and so the introduction of the aeroplane has had little impact on culturing people. Mr Whistance brought up the fact that road rage was becoming more frequent, yet he had never experienced this previously, it was felt that people's high expectations today were the cause of their misery, whereas before people were more homogenous and demanded less from life and were thus more content. A general change in attitude was seen as the cause of social problems. Mr. Whistance felt that his generation had held a lot more respect for people of authority than is held by the younger generations of today. The cause for this change Mr. Whistance blamed upon society and which he felt had been induced by technology, (i.e. the de-skilling of people as previously discussed). A result of this social change has been an increase in the amount of drug- taking (which has become a lot more affordable - previously it was reserved for those who had a lot of money and little else to do) and an increase in the amount of unemployable people, simply because technology had wiped out the need for un-skilled jobs.

Military changes in technology

. The development of aeroplane bombing and atomic bombs etc. has made the civilian population part of war. Aviation has extended the horror of war. Previously with the exception of siege and starvation, civilians were little effected by war. Aeroplane bombing is indiscriminate, but it was accepted that this could not be un-invented, and that war cannot be stopped. Mr Whistance said that the use of technology within the army did have some advantages, particularly the introduction of the walkie-talkie and wireless. Previously once an attack had been launched you had no means of influencing it through lack of communication. Not only this, the better medical care meant that in World War 2 there were fewer amputees in comparison to World War 1. However it was suggested that the system was made more "fragile" because of dependence upon computers and technology. 60-70 years ago there would not be the havoc caused by an electrical power cut today as people used coal and oil for heat and light. Mr Whistance mentioned that a lot of the time new inventions are not wanted or needed; here the example of genetically modified crops was given. The risks are not thought out before the invention has been put into use. Effect of the advent of the nuclear age. Caused problems such as Chernobyl Resolved the peace between capitalist and communist countries as it took the price of war up to an unacceptable level, however it was noted that should these weapons get into the hands of "irrational" people then it could be potentially disastrous). Nuclear power needs to be developed if coal and oil supplies are to run out, as it was believed that the "whole of America" could not rely on natural power. It would be impossible to revert to older methods of power production as the economy is built upon electricity. Mr Whistance believes that today's society has got into the mode of loose thinking where there is a belief that all problems can be solved. Mr Whistance stated that the younger generations are more likely to rely on modern technology, than their parents' generation due to the fact that the older generation lack familiarity with the technology. It was noted that Mr Whistance's parents' generation had experienced fewer technological changes than his own generation; there had been change but the pace of change was a lot slower in comparison with today. Mr Whistance summed up the development of technology in that it provided niceties, but was not a necessity to the common citizen. It was also stated that when he was younger Mr. Whistance never imagined that technology would have developed to the extent that it has today, simply because there was not the technology around then to trigger such ideas. Mr Whistance does believe that there are limits to man's development, purely because there has to be a boundary to what humans can achieve. To summarise technological change over this century Mr Whistance stated that "there is no such thing as a free lunch ….. there is always another side" this other side can often out-weight the advantages of the technological development.

Conclusions from interview with Mr Whistance

• Cheapness ease and speed has made caused us to exploit them and use what we don't need
• The computer has made thing cheaper in his lifetime
• Important records can be obtained more quickly, in hospitals etc. there are certainly advantages, which are life saving, however it was felt that this effect made little impression and only helped just a minority of cases.
• Mr Whistance felt that he could cope to going back to a world without computers and not really miss very much
• The computer is becoming more and more powerful is there a danger of creating a computer dependant population. What effect will this have on distribution of wealth and power?
• A social change has been brought about by the lack of jobs for less educated people.

What do you think about the impact technology has had on society?Contribute your memories and reflections

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