Anthony J. Pennings, PhD

WRITINGS ON AI POLICY, DIGITAL ECONOMICS, ENERGY STRATEGIES, AND GLOBAL E-COMMERCE

Lotus 1-2-3, Temporal Finance, and the Rise of Spreadsheet Capitalism

One of the books I read during my PhD years was Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco (1989), about the $25 billion leveraged buyout (LBO) of the iconic conglomerate (tobacco/snacks/) by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR). An LBO is the purchase of a company using large amounts of short-term debt and […]

Steve Jobs Pioneering Work in Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) and Human-Machine Knowledge (HMK)

Jobs’ work bridged the gap between humans and machines, enabling collaboration and knowledge-sharing at an unprecedented scale, impacting billions of users worldwide. His contributions have fundamentally changed how we interact with technology. His focus on HMI and, to a lesser extent, HMK principles, has made technology more accessible, intuitive, and enjoyable for billions of people worldwide.

Connecting a Dangerous World: Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and National Concerns

BGP connects the world by enabling communication and cooperation among autonomous systems, ensuring that data packets can traverse the vast and interconnected network of networks that make up the Internet. It bridges separate, but networked ASes such as campuses, companies, and countries. BGP works to ensure that data packets originating from one location can cross over between ISPs and other WANS (Wide Area Networks) to reach their destination anywhere else on the planet.

The Framing Power of Digital Spreadsheets

The power of framing in digital spreadsheets arises from the ability to define what data is included, how it is processed by functions or formulas, and the visual or numerical emphasis placed on specific inputs and outcomes. Spreadsheets exert framing power through selecting and prioritizing data, formula logic and embedded assumptions, standardization and norms, simplifying complex realities, and selective presentation of results.

Google: Monetizing the Automatrix – Rerun

As we move towards the “Automatrix,” the newly forming digital environment for self-driving and wireless charging transportation, Google looks to situate its search/advertising business at its center.

The Lasting Impact of ALOHAnet and Norman Abramson

The success and influence of ALOHAnet proved that multiple devices could share the same communication medium effectively, ultimately helping shape the modern landscape of wired and wireless networking.

Legal Precedents and Perturbations Shaping US Broadband Policy

One of the major lessons I learned from Ithiel de Sola Pool’s Technologies of Freedome book was the importance of legal precedent in communication policy, and particularly telecommunications policy. Pool also acknowledged that while legal precedent provides stability and continuity in policy, it also risks becoming an impediment to progress when technology changes beyond the scope of existing laws.

All Watched over by “Systems” of Loving Grace

Adam Curtis’ documentary series, All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, delves into the relationship between technology, political ideologies, and human agency. Inspired by Richard Brautigan’s poem, Curtis explores how technology shapes our governance systems and worldview. In “The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts,” Curtis critiques the adoption of natural systems thinking in political and technological contexts, tracing the origins of ecological systems thinking back to the work of figures like Jay Forrester, Norbert Wiener, Buckminster Fuller, and the Odum brothers. These ideas, initially intended to describe natural ecosystems, were later applied to human societies and governance, conflating nature with machine intelligence. Curtis raises concerns about how these systems-based frameworks reduce humans to mere nodes in networks, challenging the Enlightenment view of humanity as autonomous and separate from nature.

Curtis also explores the legacy of systems thinking through the work of the Club of Rome and its 1972 publication Limits to Growth, which used computer simulations to model the Earth as a closed system. The documentary raises questions about the consequences of seeing human and natural systems as mechanistic, potentially leading to a distorted understanding of complex, dynamic realities.

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  • About Me

    Professor at State University of New York (SUNY) Korea since 2016. Moved to Austin, Texas in August 2012 to join the Digital Media Management program at St. Edwards University. Spent the previous decade on the faculty at New York University teaching and researching information systems, digital economics, and strategic communications.

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    anthony.pennings@sunykorea.ac.kr

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    The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of my employers, past or present.
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